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Daydream Island

Daydream Island, Australia

Daydream Island was one of my favourite places that we stayed in Australia. It was this incredible resort with it’s own Living Reef! We got to see a feeding of all the fish, I got to hold a baby shark, some starfish, a sea cucumber (yuck) and pet and feed some sting rays (Pancake & Pikelet). One of the other things I got to do was feed a barramundi, which was a really neat experience! I didn’t get it on video, but check out this video to see what it was like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPmOP0JheA4, scary and fast and so unique!

Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia
Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia
Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia

Daydream island is so beautiful, it had a unique view from every side of the island. There was “Lover’s cove” and the coral beach, a HUGE screen that made an outdoor theatre, and nice big rooms with balconies that overlook the living reef. It’s also got a bunch of wallabies and kangaroos that live on the island as well as various birds and reptiles, like a monitor I saw building its nest on the beach.
Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia
Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia
Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia
Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia

Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia
Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia

We had lots of great food, including this amazing honey straight from the comb! After breakfast we laid on chairs on the coral beach and went kayaking through the water. Around dusk you could spot sea turtles just off the beach swimming around.
Daydream Island, Whitsundays, Australia

I think it was the most relaxing time we spent on our tour, I loved every minute of it.

The Great Barrier Reef, not just “great”… incredible.

Probably the biggest highlight from my entire trip was snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. I love documentaries about it and watch National Geographic Channel all the time. This was like a cross between being in National Geographic Channel and Finding Nemo. It blew my mind. I managed to get 3-4 hours of snorkeling in between the tour in Cairns and the Whitsundays tour. It’s an experience I’ll never forget.

This is Wally, he’s Reef Magic’s own mascot… he sure did love his rubs!
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Wally… you’re in my shot. I know you just want some attention… but this is ridiculous…
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

Not Wally, another maori wrasse – this photo taken in the Whitsundays
Maori Wrasse, Whitsundays, Australia

Cairns Botanical Gardens

On one of my free days, two of the girls and I decided to go to the Cairns Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately it absolutely poured halfway through our walk, and all the way home, but it was still a beautiful place to visit. We even saw a kookaburra!

kookaburra, Cairns Botanical Gardens, Australia

Cairns Botanical Gardens, Australia

Cairns Botanical Gardens, Australia

Cairns Botanical Gardens, Australia

Cairns Botanical Gardens, Australia

Cairns Botanical Gardens, Australia

Saw this ugly bird… not sure what it was, but it liked this flower….
Cairns Botanical Gardens, Australia
Cairns Botanical Gardens, Australia
Cairns Botanical Garden, Australia

Learning how to throw a boomerang.

We went to see an aboriginal dance show, saw them throw spears and got the chance to throw a boomerang ourselves! Mine went straight in front of me and then hit the ground. I don’t think this is the type of thing were you can throw it once and think it will do anything much, but then again that’s what I thought about learning to surf and that actually went astoundingly well (that story to come).

Spear throwing, Australia

Throwing a boomerang, Australia

Jungle surfing and giant spiders.

One of my biggest fears is heights. I got it in my head years ago that I wanted to go ziplining. Why? I don’t know, challenge the fear maybe? I think mostly I wanted to see the rainforest from a really unique perspective. I was pretty freaked out before we went for obvious reasons, the height, spiders falling on me as I flew through the rainforest… you know, the usual. I did conquer my fear and despite them forcing me to go first (never admit you’re nervous, just sit there and look like you can’t wait to do it. Trust me.), I did try “Jungle Surfing” as they call it in Australia. They tell you to go ahead and just “scoot off the platform”, yeah, right. Just scoot off, 19m above the rainforest floor… try not to think about the enormous Golden Orb Weaver spiders you know live here, because one lives at the Jungle Surfing Headquarters… Overall it was great, a beautiful view, a personal life event checkmark, and I’m so glad I did it!

Jungle Surfing, Cape Tribulation

Jungle Surfing, Cape Tribulation

Jungle Surfing, Cape Tribulation

Jungle Surfing, Cape Tribulation

Jungle Surfing, Cape Tribulation

“Scooting” off the edge.
Jungle Surfing, Cape Tribulation

This was the size of a dinner plate. A DINNER PLATE!!!
Golden Orb Weaver spider, Cape Tribulation

Golden Orb Weaver spider, Cape Tribulation

Golden Orb Weaver spider, Cape Tribulation

Flying Foxes = giant bats.

Aussies call the bats we know in Canada “micro bats”, I can tell why… they have flying foxes. They’re SO big, I thought it was a crow at first. You could hear their wings swooshing as they flew by. Also known as fruit bats.

One morning at breakfast, my roomates and I saw them in the trees and they started to fight and punch each other while hanging upside down. Fighting over the best spot I guess. I don’t understand why they would hang in the sun and then fan themselves with their wings. Why not pick some shade??

Flying foxes/fruit bats in Cape Tribulation
Flying foxes/fruit bats in Cape Tribulation
Flying foxes/fruit bats in Cape Tribulation

For my Aussie friends, this is what bats look like in Canada (about 7cm long), literally a mouse with wings:
microbat

Hiking through the rainforest

It was usually about 35C, and very very very humid, but so neat to see all the little creatures and beautiful plants and flowers that live in the rainforest.

We were told about the green ant, and how the aboriginals would eat the ants due to their extremely high level of vitamin C. Because of where we were, we weren’t allowed to kill anything, so we couldn’t eat the ant, buuuuuuut we could lick it. So I did. It was tangy. (actual size was comparable to the black ants we have in Canada)
green ant

Cape Tribulation

Cape Tribulation

The people that worked on the land would know the day was over and they could go home when the hibiscus flowers started to fall from the trees.
Cape Tribulation

Saw a monitor on a tree:
monitor - Cape Tribulation

Fig tree that killed its host:
Fig tree - Cape Tribulation

Cape Tribulation

Cape Tribulation

Mangroves:
Cape Tribulation

Cape Tribulation

Cape Tribulation

One of many many spiders I saw:
spider, Cape Tribulation

A dragon:

Gecko friends in Cape Tribulation

When we arrived at the Daintree rainforest, we learned it’s not only a World Heritage site, it’s also older than the Amazon! We stayed at the Ferntree Rainforest Lodge, a really neat place with bright windows and a long porch we sat on each night with a glass of wine before dinner.

It seems like everything there is bigger, grasshoppers, bats, bugs, spiders… spiders… spiders… but the geckos were delightfully the same size as I’ve always seen. They were shy, but I got a couple of shots.
gecko

One of them was about 5cm long, and decided to hide in my bed. (I checked my bed every single night with a flashlight before crawling in)
gecko

This is about the actual size of the grasshoppers:
grasshopper

View from the porch:

En route to breakfast:
Cape Tribulation
Where we had most of our meals:
Cape Tribulation

Daintree Ice Cream Company

We stopped off at the Daintree Ice Cream Company to taste the homemade ice cream made from the fruit right there on the farm!

Jakfruit tasted like “bubblegum fruit salad” apparently. I didn’t really like it. Mango and Raspberry were both delicious, and the Wattleseed was like espresso!

Daintree Ice Cream Company

Daintree Ice Cream Company

Lots of little lizards around:

There were some really pretty gardens there too:
Daintree Ice Cream Company Garden
Daintree Ice Cream Company Garden
Daintree Ice Cream Company Garden
Daintree Ice Cream Company Garden
Daintree Ice Cream Company Garden
Daintree Ice Cream Company Garden