A week in Cairns (part V/V)

 In a few paragraphs

Cairns, you would have probably gathered by my previous posts that I didn’t really think much of Cairns at first.  With it being a coastal city close to the Great Barrier Reef I had imagined a small tropical paradise with golden beaches, clear inviting waters and friendly chilled out locals.  In reality Cairns was pretty much like any remote Australian city.  Dusty, sparse and a bit tired looking.

I suppose coming straight from Sydney (which is ranked in the top 10 of the world’s most liveable cities) to Cairns was a bit of a shock to the system as well.  Basically what I’m trying to say to Cairns is probably a nice place and not nearly as bad as I may have made it out to be.

I really enjoyed my time at the hostel Asylum.  The atmosphere was always great, though I didn’t get much sleep during my stay.  The same could be said about Captain Matty and his barefoot tours.  Both were awesome because the people involved went the extra mile.

The Great Barrier Reef was the only reason we went to Cairns and like Cairns it wasn’t quite how I imagined.  Brightly coloured photos from brochures and leaflets let me to believe the reef would be an underwater jungle of colour and life in warm tropical waters.  The reef I saw and swam in was a much more modest affair and the water was deep blue and cold.  But the experience of swimming in the Great Barrier Reef was a great one and definitely worth the trip.  Especially if you listen to environmental nutters who say there will be no reef in the future.  Don’t you just hate pessimistic people who bang on about the negatives?

So on our last day we said goodbye to the awesome people at the hostel and headed to the airport via shuttle bus (which was late).  Overall, our holiday in Cairns, was pretty damn good.

Someone had obviously tipped off the media that I was in town

The typically Cairns highstreet

Much goon was drank here

Bromance

Cans, in Cairns, get it?