The flight from Sydney, Australia to Cairns is a quick three hours. We stayed with Sarah through AirBnb and could not have had a better time. Sarah and her roommate were extremely welcoming and her two pups were ADORABLE. The roommates gave us a much-needed rundown of things to do and see and were at our disposal any time we needed help. I HIGHLY recommend staying here.
If you’ve never been up close and personal with a crocodile, check out Hartley’s Crocodile Adventure. You can hop on a medium-sized tour boat that travels along the river in search for a sight of their 24 crocodiles. Obviously the crocs are familiar with the raw chicken Hartley’s feeds them, so they come directly to the side of the boat in search of food. The grounds also host a plethora of Australian animals. As badly as I wanted to stand in line to take my picture with a koala, we opted against it as the koalas didn’t seem very happy with their day jobs. If you continue to walk from the croc area, past the koalas, and further into the property, you’ll find an enormous enclosed area FILLED with wallabies and kangaroos. Fresh fruit is laid out across the grounds so you can hand feed these adorable creatures.
Mossman Gorge is a waterfall filled portion of the Daintree Rainforest. There are dozens of pools of water perfect for swimming, but ALWAYS be on alert for crocodiles, ESPECIALLY if you have a small dog with you. Guided walks are offered, but we grabbed a map and explored on our own for a few hours.
Granite Gorge is the go-to location for playing with wallabies. The gorge itself was closed due to extreme flooding, so we really only experienced Wallaby Rock. WORTH IT. We spent a couple of hours being chased by hungry wallabies and their babies. I’m sure the gorge is equally as amazing. Close to Granite Gorge is the Waterfall Circuit, which consists of five impressive waterfalls/swimming sites. If I’m being completely honest with you, I think your time would be better spent elsewhere. Once you’ve seen Niagara Falls it’s hard to compare.
Paronella Park provides small group tours with fantastic leaders. The park is extremely beautiful and filled with unique points of interest. You can pet an eel (it was disgusting) or feed dozens of baby turtles – take your pick!
We took another small hike through Babinda Boulders – unfortunately it was pouring so we didn’t spend much time here, however, the site was GORGEOUS and much more impressive than the Waterfall Circuit.
If you don’t go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, did you even go to Australia?? This was one of the most memorable moments of the trip and I HIGHLY, HIGHLY (did I say HIGHLY??) recommend dedicating a day to this adventure, even if you’ve already been scuba diving. So far the most magical place I’ve dived is this reef. This being said, we took our tour with a very business-oriented cruise boat that treated its customers as an assembly line. Although the experience itself was surreal, the process could have been much, much better. We were literally thrown into the water with nearly no training, aside from an introductory video, and given no time to acclimate. This was also our first time diving, as it was for most people there, so the initial panic of breathing underwater was too much for some people to be thrown into. These individuals were not coached or helped in any way, they were merely told “too bad” and to wait on the boat. In every other location I’ve gone diving I’ve had a better, more humane experience. Another HUGE bummer is that our GoPro broke the second we took it underwater, so I can’t share any of the breathtaking footage here. WHAT UP GOPRO??
