Cairns, Queensland, Australia

It's time to say goodbye to the wonderful Melbourne. Don't fear, we will be back soon to say hello! We have had an amazing time here. We even found a new friend who happens to be called Katharina! What are the chances of that? With our flight very early in the morning, Jason and I decided it would be better to stay up all night. There's no point going to bed for a few hours. After a short trip to the airport, we were greeted (or shall I say, not greeted) by a vacant check-in desk. Luckily enough we didn't have to wait too long for the workers to begin their shift. The two of us were even upgraded to an exit row seat. Happy days. Ryanair, take note! Before we knew it, we had touched down in northern Australia in Queensland state. Our Angela Merkel wanna be friend flew up to Cairns a couple of days ago and had all ready sussed somewhere good to stay. All we had to do was jump in the free airport shuttle bus that would bring us to the lovely 'Caravella Backpackers.' With the two of us absolutely exhausted, it was real nice to be welcomed by the lovely Angie Wongie! Off course, we had one major problem, we had to wait a couple of hours before we could check-in. Rather that waiting around the hostel, the two of us decided to go exploring around the town. The hostel where we are staying is ideally located along the esplanade which runs along the sea front. While there is a beach, it is not advised to go down to it as you will probably be attacked by one of the many crocodiles that reside in the saltwater sea! Call me a wimp, but I gave swimming with crocodile's a miss! But if you want to swim with them, well feel free. While we didn't get to see any crocodiles there, we did get to marvel at the splendid pelican birds that were resting in the shallow waters. The size of their beaks are amazing. They are so long, but when they sit down, you can't see it! Further up the esplanade, we found 'The Lagoon!' Ok, it may not be a natural lagoon, and it mirrors more a swimming pool, but it is certainly a large pool of water that everyone can enjoy. After walking past the lagoon, we were pleasantly surprised to find 'Grafton Street,' except, we couldn't find 'Brown Thomas!' It was probably a good thing. I guess it is simply another reminder of our lovely fair city! After a bit more exploring, it was time to head back to the hostel and check-in. After finally making it to our dorm, poor Jason's mouth decided to give him trouble so unfortunately, the two of us couldn't take the afternoon nap we had been longing for. Poor Jason! To be fair, he was in a lot of pain. Later on, it was my turn to take up 'The Ice Bucket Challenge!' Thanks Jason for nominating me! It was only fair that I nominate Jo Jo, Kathrin and Katharina! The very next day was myself and Jason's third anniversary. How time fly's! And to celebrate this wonderful occasion, I had a big surprise planned for Jason. All he knew was that we were heading out early for a nice day out. What it involved, he hadn't got a clue! But it was a nice surprise when we finally reached the 'Kuranda Koala Bear Gardens.' Thankfully, he really liked his surprise. Thank God! Inside, we were pleasantly surprised to find a nice sanctuary filled with the best of Australian wildlife, from crocodiles to wombats, from wallabies to Kangaroos, from lizards to spiders to snakes. Of course, the main star of the show are, without doubt the amazing koala bears. Jason and I were both privileged to be able to cuddle one of them. It was definitely one of the most amazing experiences of our travels so far. They are so cuddly. Such beautiful creatures. They have a nice easy life. They sleep for twenty two hours each day and are only allowed work a half an hour a day. There work only involves giving people hugs. I wish I was a koala bear! We even got to feed the wallabies and kangaroos, which was also pretty cool! You can't come to Australia without seeing a kangaroo! It just wouldn't be right. In the afternoon, we got to see the wombats being fed and we discovered some interesting facts about our digger friends. Their sides consist of a very hard plate. If, for example, a car crashes into them at full speed, they will simply walk away but the car will have to be written off. How crazy is that. As part of our big day out, we also got to visit a bird park that was filled with many stunning birds. The colours of some of them were breathtaking. You walk into this area were they are flying all around you. Occasionally, they will land on you, particularly if you have food. Definitely another cool experience. I would definitely recommend it to anybody, especially cuddling a koala bear. It would take your breath away! Our wonderful day finished with a romantic meal for two in a lovely Italian restaurant along the esplanade. The area comes to life at night with lots of cool bars and restaurants. The food was amazing and the service given to us by our lovely waitress, Devon from Devon in England was second to none. The two of us left the place wanting to be rolled back to our hostel. The next day, Jason was forced to go to the dentist as the pain was getting too much for him. At least he finally got it sorted out. The best part of our final day in Cairns was Katharina's 'Ice Bucket Challenge!' The poor German girl got saturated. It was very funny. What a great way to end our Cairns adventure. We will definitely be back as there are a lot of cool adventures one can do. It's definitely a nice place to simply chill, and with nice warm weather all year round, it certainly has lots of reasons for us to return!

By Andrew

#australia #koalabears #queensland #esplanade