Cairns The Great Barrier Reef

Once in Cairns it was time to realize one of my dreams, to learn to dive and to see the Great Barrier Reef!

Because it was raining non stop the first days and the weatherforecast was predicting the same for the next week I was unsure if it was a good idea to book the course. I talked to a backpacker who works for one of the many diving tours companies in Cairns and Rafa the guy at the hostel's reception and they told me the weather could be completely different once on the Ocean and that it didn't really matter when it comes to diving.

After comparing the deals that are on offer I chose the 5 day one from: http://www.downunderdive.com.au

Conveniatly the company was just across the street from the hostel.

The first two days we had class in the mornings and practice in the pool in the afternoon, the last two days we spent on The Great Barrier Reef. 

There were 6 other students, all of them great people! We had a good 4 days! 

I really loved the experience, will have to exercise working with the diving table and I have serious problems with my ears. So will have to descent really slowly in future.

Because it is the wet season the visibility under water is 15m tops so next year I will come back during the dry season and will go to the Whitsundays with my friends Brenda and Cydie.

The 5 day open water course ( 4 day course with two days and in total 4 dives in the Great Barrier Reef, fifth day three fun dives) costs $640 but with the 10% discount from booking via the hostel I paid $582. It was really worth every penny!

We got a great lunch on the boat and crackers, cheese and wine on the way back with great entertainment provided by Elvis!

After we all received our diving license we celebrated by having some beers in The Pier and O' Briens. I am lucky to have met so many amazing beautiful people!

Our boat.

Hey dude! 

Our guide JC a top bloke! He helped me by descending real slow after I told him about my ears.i asked him if it was a possibility for someone with so much ear probs to become an instructor and he said that would not be a problem. 

The amazing shell that closes when you stroke it.

A stingray!

Some unidentifiable creature..

Nemo and his dad in an anemenomene...

Where we suit up.

Elvis the hilarious entertainer!

Nice view...

There was always a crew member keeping an eye on the snorkelers, telling them to not stand on the reef or to stay within the perimeters that were created.

The awesome view on the way back to the mainland.

Other than the reef Cairns doesn't really have much to offer. It is city that lives from tourism. So lots of hostels, pubs, diving clubs, souvenir shops, etc...

The weekend fruit market. 

Cairns by night!

The hostel I stayed at was the http://cairnscitybackpackers.com one of the cheapest places in Cairns, $14 a night and stay 7 nights, pay 6. The hostel is not on the Esplanade but it only takes about 25 mins to walk to the Esplanade. It is however a not so clean place. The rooms don't get cleaned..the first days the fridges were disgusting and the wifi doesn't always work, the airco in my room is next to the top of a bunk bed and is very noisy! But I guess for this price it was ok.

One of the four kittens staying at the hostel. Very cute and gave the place a homy feeling.

The last thing I really wanted was to get a tattoo. My niece and nephew and I have a very special bond and to symbolise that my niece had made a design of a Taurus (horoscope Sanne) and a Sagitarius (horoscope Seppe). I took the design to http://trademarkink.com. A South Korean artist who is visiting Australia (it was ment to be, Seppe and Sanne are half South Korean) named Il Soo Jang aka Dark Maru took the design and started working on it.

The result blew me away!