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FNQ - reef and rainforest
as in: Far North Queensland.
We took advantage of the long weekend to take an even longer weekend trip, jetting up to Cairns to take in the wet tropics and the Great Barrier Reef. Our flight was at noon, and the weather was clear giving us our first look at the largest structure made my living organisms (it can be seen from outer space!). Very cool.
We ambled around the city and met up with some friends who by chance had the same idea for their long weekend. Enjoyed a delicious meal together, complete with belly dancing
I woke up early the next morning to have a stroll around the waterfront.
The Cairns esplanade:
A good start to another beautiful day (what else would you expect from Queensland, really?). We decided to take a drive up to Port Douglas, a quaint seaside town at the entry to the Daintree National Park.
Four Mile Beach
Just be careful if you want to go swimming... No, that's not a newspaper tube, it's a bottle of vinegar.
We took advantage of the long weekend to take an even longer weekend trip, jetting up to Cairns to take in the wet tropics and the Great Barrier Reef. Our flight was at noon, and the weather was clear giving us our first look at the largest structure made my living organisms (it can be seen from outer space!). Very cool.
We ambled around the city and met up with some friends who by chance had the same idea for their long weekend. Enjoyed a delicious meal together, complete with belly dancing
I woke up early the next morning to have a stroll around the waterfront.
The Cairns esplanade:
A good start to another beautiful day (what else would you expect from Queensland, really?). We decided to take a drive up to Port Douglas, a quaint seaside town at the entry to the Daintree National Park.
Four Mile Beach
Just be careful if you want to go swimming... No, that's not a newspaper tube, it's a bottle of vinegar.
Erik
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20km up a very winding road, you reach the small town of Kuranda where they have a scenic railway which also climbs up the hills from the coast:
And if you pan right from the photo above (try to keep the train in mind for size reference), a pretty huge River gorge - Barron Falls (this was unfortunately VERY dry, normally this is absolutely raging!!!)
Further down the road in a protected rainforest section, we had a peak at a great example of a curtain fig - a typical sight in the bush around here although maybe not at this scale. Strangler figs climb up the larger gum trees creating a substantial network. In this case, its "curtain"-like.
A little bit further through the bush, we found this:
A volcanic crater lake, and it was filled with... FRESHwater!!!
No sharks, no rips, no stingers... I have nothing against salt, and I looove the Queensland beaches, but man, for a New England boy who grew up with ponds and creeks, this was nice.
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Arrival at the first coral cay - Michaelmas Cay. We picked this trip primarily for this reason, it givs not so-confident ocean swimmers a chance to warm up to reef snorkeling by starting on a sandy beach and going in at their own speed. MrsIt was pleased.
(bit of a quality dip in photos here as I switch from the very capable but NON-waterproof G9 to my rusty trusty underwater Optio).
In we go:
Our ship, a really nice catamaran, the "Passions of Paradise"
We lucked out. The weather out at the reef was gorgeous all day. Not quite so as we headed back into Cairns harbor:
What a great trip.
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I wanna go there!! Take me with you next time!! Not just with pictures!
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It's a shame the GBR is 'under attack' from those crown-of-thorn starfish and rising water temp. Coral is amazing. Reminds me of my sister and brother in law's large marine aquarium with lots of amazing tropical fish and anemones.
Some great shots here
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You should definitely get up there - as far as travel destinations go, I have to say it was a bargain. Including things like the snorkeling and even renting a car, we spent far less up there than we did on a quick trip to Sydney a few months ago, where all we did was walk around.
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I especially like the underwater shots. That world of color only happens in the drink doesn't it.
An old Pentax Optio eh? How deep? I've been planning to make a 'splash bag' that could take my dlsr to 3 feet down or so, this is yet another reminder that I need to get off my whatsit and order the parts
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Funny, you should mention it... that world of color also only happens with some serious levels and curves adjustment! When I took those photos off my card, they were literally all just blue. Even a quick auto levels adjustment, however, very quickly revealed the actual world I saw down there. Very cool.
Deep: 1-2m, maximum. Just snorkeling. I don't recall what the rating on the Optio WP is, but I'm pretty sure I took it to the limit. That's the good part of it being "old" and "cheap", I don't worry about it as much.
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Haha, shows my snorkeling experience comes from tv
There's always a layer of adjustment to get from what camera recorded to what you saw.
0-2m is about how deep I was thinking of. I looked up the Optio WP and they say 1.5 meters down max. There's a lot happening in that first meter though
What I want to do is waterline shots and, after failing it last summer, shooting goldeneyes and their chicks (and possibly other diving birds) in the drink. I've actually got the bag part, but I should order a big step-up ring with a window fitted to it and then attach the bag to that to make a rudimentary diving kit.
See how inspiring your shots are?
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Cool stuff doc ..im glad you liked your visit. Been a long time since ive been up that way. Good time of year to avoid the stingers also....not a creature to be messed with.
Spasibo (Thank you) for your interesting report!
I also use Pentax W30 for underwater along with SONY R1 for 'over' photos.
Agree - autolevels make underwater photo filled with color!
This time I was in Turkey and after Red sea with corals, the Mediterranean sea looked 'dead' for me...
Again thank you,
Yuri
And cheers, Yuri, thanks for stopping by!
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