It's All About the Dogs

Bye Bye Australia

Our time in Austraila was immense. We had no hitches and our plans couldn't have gone better. With two months spent there, I think we saw as much as we could in that time. There are many more sights to see and places to visit in Austraila, which hopefully I will get to see again as I would love to return and Andy is very keen to visit for the first time.

In the coming days we will be posting about our recent trip to Malta and a big surprise that happened to me!

Atherton Tablelands

Atherton Tablelands

Atherton Tablelands

The Atherton Tablelands comprises of some wonderful, lakes, craters and rain forests. There is a huge variety of flora and fauna including birds, butterflies, reptiles, plants and ferns each with many different kinds of species. The Atherton Tablelands is made up of thirteen regions.

We decided to hire a car with a couple of friends to explore this area of natural beauty.

I think photos will be able to say more than words.

Green Island

Green Island is 45 minutes from Cairns shore. We opted to go there as part of our snorkeling trip at the Great Barrier Reef. We took a small speed boat there instead of the larger boat we took the initial trip in.

Green Island is a relatively small island surrounded by coral reefs. Apart from being an exclusive resort, Green Island is also a National Park and takes great care in its balance of visitors.

While on the Island, we took the rain forest walk. This consists of trails of boardwalks that wind you around the island's rain forests. You can hire a guide or do it alone.

The beach has gorgeous white sands and warm, clear waters, ideal for snorkeling and swimming. There are water sports available and also an Underwater Observatory.

We enjoyed exploring and relaxing on the Island, a worthwhile excursion from your Great Barrier Reef experience.

The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef contains the largest collection of coral in the world and is an obvious site of natural beauty. The Reef is also home to 1500 different kinds of fish and 4000 different types of mollusc that live amongst its 400 types of coral. The dugong and green turtle can also be found at the Great Barrier Reef, but are threatened by extinction.

We paid through a cruise trip to go snorkeling at the Reef. We chose a smaller boat and company as to try and avoid too many crowds. It worked as there were no other cruise company's around us when we reached our snorkeling area.

The company supplied our snorkels and wet suits, although wet suits were not needed as the sea was so warm. I had an underwater camera, but the pictures weren't great as the water was quite cloudy. I did manage to see plenty of coral and fish though. Some quite big fish accumulated around the bottom of the boat, so we snorkeled around there for a while.

We were told about the reef sharks, but not to be alarmed by them as they have no teeth! We swam around for ages, but were aware not to swim too far from the boat as the captain had placed some rules before we were allowed into the water.

When we returned to the boat, the captain had his binoculars, staring out into the ocean and then double checked everyone was aboard. I asked him if everything was all right and he said that he thought he had seen a large fin! Our captain thought he had spotted a shark not far from the boat! It turned out to be a very large sea bird on closer inspection! I was quite disappointed as I would have loved to have seen a shark (from the boat though!!).

Cairns, The Lagoon

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but we've been away in Malta, which will be featuring in the blog after Australia.

Cairns has no beach, so they built a man-made Lagoon. There is a sandy area around the Lagoon, boardwalks and an esplanade. The water in the Lagoon is salt water from the sea, which is filtered through to reach safety standards. The area is patrolled by lifeguards and is safe place for all.

We spent the odd day here and there relaxing at the Lagoon. There are plenty of shops, restaurants and cafes surrounding the area.