Cairns, a Great Way to End Our Australian Adventures

Driving south from Port Douglas back towards Cairns, we stopped a few times to admire the north Queensland coast.  The combination of lush green hills and sandy beaches was really stunning.

We spent most of the day at Hartley's Crocodile Adventures, where we observed lots of Australian Saltwater Crocodiles and other animals, too.  Feeding time for this group of crocodiles involved a lot of snapping jaws and some pretty impressive lunges up and out of the water.

We took a short lagoon boat ride where crocodiles swam all around us.

We walked through an Australian animal section for one last encounter with kangaroos and wallabies.   Colin watched a couple taking a selfie with this guy and decided to try it himself.

The boys were able to feed the wallabies and kangaroos one more time.

This was the "senior citizen" of the group, named Skippy.  He definitely looks like he's lived a long kangaroo life.

Emmett got some food and took it over to Skippy, who feebly ate it out of his hand.

There were koalas, including this guy with his nose-balance sleeping position.

And we were able to see a Cassowary, which was nice since we hadn't spotted one in the Daintree.  Someone described them to us as an "emus in drag", and we could definitely see the emu resemblance.

We walked through a small aviary and saw a few last Australian birds.

This Veiled Chameleon's colors and separately moving eyes were really interesting to see.  He's not Australian, but he was still cool.

The finale of our visit to Hartley's Crocodile Adventure was a Crocodile Attack show, which highlighted the strength and swiftness of the Saltwater Crocodile.  Fortunately, no one was actually attacked during the show, but this keeper was often incredibly close to a massive crocodile.

A big part of the show was stressing safety in crocodile-prone areas (exactly the opposite of what they're modeling here).  It was clear these keepers are very knowledgeable about and respectful of the animals that they work with.....but this would definitely not be a job for everyone.  Especially me.

The boys were also able to hold a koala......we all jumped in for a quick photo with this adorable guy!

We ended our day in Cairns, which would be our final stop in Australia.  The next morning we attended an ANZAC Day dawn service on the Cairns Esplanade.  ANZAC Day is a public holiday commemorating the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps forces that fought in WWI battles.  It's also a day to more broadly recognize all of the individuals who have served in the ANZAC.  It's quite similar to Veterans' Day in the United States, and it is a well-celebrated holiday with dawn services, parades, and other events held all over the country on April 25th of every year.  It was impressive how many thousands of people came out for the 5:30 AM service.

Later in the day, we walked back along the Cairns Esplanade.  It was low tide and the water was really out far.

Pelicans always make me think of Northwest Florida, where I grew up, because they're frequently sighted on the water there.  We'll be seeing those NW FL pelicans very soon.

We stopped at the cenotaph to take a picture of all the wreaths that were laid in honor of ANZAC Day.

We also visited the Cairns Lagoon, an awesome park/swimming space right on the Esplanade.  Cairns doesn't have a beach, so the Lagoon is the city's alternative.  There were a lot of people picnicking, swimming, and hanging out, but the Lagoon area was so big that it never felt crowded.  The kids played in the salt water pool and dug in the beach sand for hours.

The next day, we got up early again--this time for a day trip to Fitzroy Island.

We stayed close to land as we transited through the ocean waters.  That fact, combined with calmer weather, meant that the ride to Fitzroy Island was nothing like the bumpy ride to/from the Great Barrier Reef.

Fitzroy Island is about a 45 minute boat ride from Cairns.  There is a small resort hotel on the island and not much else that's man-made.

We picked up snorkel gear and hiked a short trail to Nudey Beach (contrary to the name, not actually a nude beach).  Nudey Beach was rated Australia's #2 beach, so that was very appealing, as was the promise of great snorkeling right off the beach.

The colors of the water reminded us a bit of Koh Lanta, Thailand.  Nudey Beach was made up mostly of hard coral bits, which made it a bit uncomfortable to walk barefoot on, but the seclusion and beauty were worth it!

We got fully geared up to snorkel and got in the water.

We saw beautiful coral in all different colors.  There were some corals that we hadn't seen on the Great Barrier Reef, so it was neat to see even more types.

At one point, Colin spotted a stingray beneath us....he's definitely got the best wildlife-spotting eyes in the family (perhaps it's due to his carrot intake and habit).  The stingray was so well camouflaged that it was difficult to get a picture of him, but we were able to watch him glide just above the ocean floor.

We also observed lots of brightly colored tropical fish--some that we'd seen on the Great Barrier Reef and some new ones, too.

And we found a baby giant clam!  We all think these things are so cool to watch as they open and close their shells.

After snorkeling, we ate a very scenic picnic lunch.

Then we hiked back to the main stretch of beach.

We borrowed stand up paddle boards and roamed around--Bob and I were able to go further away and view another reef from above the water.  For the boys, it was their first times trying paddle boarding, so they stayed in one area as they figured it out.  They both loved paddle boarding!  Emmett was able to maneuver pretty easily.

We joke that Colin is part sea turtle because, as soon as that kid hits the water, he heads straight out towards open water.  His sense of direction in the ocean always leads him to hightail it away from land, and paddle boarding was no exception.  At one point he got out as far as the boat in the photo below, which was past my comfort level (I was watching from the beach).  He couldn't turn himself on the board, so I had to swim out and turn him around.

Both boys also really enjoyed the water trampoline, and they bounced up and down for a long time.  At times there were other kids on the trampoline, too, and they were all laughing and having fun pushing each other off, doing silly jumps, etc.

Eventually it was time to head back to Cairns, and the boat ride back was as beautiful as the ride out.

With that, the sun set literally and figuratively on our time in Cairns and Australia itself.  We spent the evening doing laundry and getting our bags ready for a very early morning flight the next morning that would take us from Australia.......to Fiji!