Australia!!!!

May's trip was to Cairns, Australia. Cairns is a sleepy town on the east coast of Oz and is where you want to go to dive the Great Barrier Reef. Cairns isn't as cosmopolitan as Sydney but we were looking for a family adventure not a wild night out and Cairns fit the bill. My sweet sister was visiting us in Singapore and I was delighted when she agreed to tag along.

Driving a car for the first time in a year was a joy. In Singapore cars are very, very expensive (like $95,000 for a used Honda CRV!) so we walk or take the bus, MRT, or taxis everywhere. While I had enjoyed not paying for gas or car insurance for a full year, I did miss the freedom of having my own car. It was odd to drive on the right side of the car but we quickly adjusted. The man at the rental car company said he knew we were Americans as soon as we tried to use the turn signal and activated the windshield wipers instead. Our trip to Australia also gave us a break from the unrelenting heat of Singapore. It was about 80 degrees during the day and slightly chilly at night in Cairns in May. In Singapore it's basically 92 degrees all day, every day.

Ariel view of the Great Barrier Reef

The first day we drove up the coast to the zoo where we watched a bird show, fed kangaroos and held koalas. The drive up the coast was amazing. We had mountains on one side and miles of beautiful beaches on the other. After the zoo we stopped by a crocodile farm but were so tired we couldn't hardly keep our eyes open. We had taken an overnight flight from Singapore and no one had slept very well on the plane so by late afternoon we were dragging.

The second day we dove the Great Barrier Reef. The water was so clear you could see just as much snorkeling as diving and we got to see our first shark, tons of tropical fish, and some really nice coral. A giant wrasse stays close to the dive platform and followed us around wanting to be pet like a dog. Miniman was the only member of our group that wasn't a certified diver but he was able to free dive fairly deep and stay down long enough to see many of the characters from the movie Nemo. We had dinner that night at a restaurant called the Naked Nut and it was some of the best food I've ever eaten. Australia produces much of the world's wine supply and we enjoyed a glass or two during our visit. Actually, all of the food we ate in Oz was fabulous. One thing I noticed was that even places geared towards kids had real food on their menus - not just junk like nachos and hot dogs. They had healthy salads, grilled meats, and so on which was appreciated. I've noticed that my family travels better when we eat well and sleep well so I'm more than happy to pay a little more for better quality food. I tried Vegemite but won't be buying any of my own any time soon.

My sister and her adoring nephew

The third day we went jungle surfing. Jungle surfing was zip lining through the jungle in Cape Tribulation and was something we all really enjoyed. Half of the drive to Cape Tribulation was following the coast line and the other half was through the rain forest so the drive was enjoyable in and of itself. Miniman was quite brave and insisted on going first. Watching my children jump off a platform several hundred feet off the ground is one of those times where I just had to have faith that everything would be ok. As a parent I was at the mercy of a harness to keep my offspring in the air and worrying wouldn't have done any good so I didn't waste my time. We did chuckle at all of the cassowary warning signs in Cape Tribulation. Cassowaries are very large, colorful, flightless birds found only in northern Australia and New Guinea. Cassowaries are shy but extremely territorial and aggressive with razor sharp claws that can seriously harm or even kill humans.

The Tjapukai by Night show was touristy but entertaining none the less. The show consists of Aborigines telling ancient stories and performing traditional music. The food was good, the performance was good, but best part of the show was that every child in the audience got to participate and received a nice gift. BGC walked away with a wood boomerang and Miniman scored a set of clapping sticks (which are now hidden in my closet to preserve my sanity).

We left Australia with a lot of good memories and a didgeridoo that our neighbors now hate.