Cairns/ Port Douglas

Wow... its hard to believe we have been in Port Douglas for almost a week now. Port Douglas is a beach town right outside of Cairns. To the right is a picture of Four Mile Beach. This beach is about 400 meters from our Villa. We have been spoiled here and I'm not letting myself get used to this cause when my mom is gone I will be back on my backpackers budget of 20 dollar hostels!

The picture of the left is the Bay Villa Apartments we are staying at. Since it is so expensive to eat out here we have been going to the local supermarket called Coles and cooking in. The first two days here were packed full with tours. First we went up the Skyrail that takes you over the rainforest. We then came back down by train. It was beautiful traveling through the rainforest and mountains in the train. The next day was The Great Barrier Reef.
By FAR my FAVORITE. It was incredible. We went on three different dives and various spots throughout the reef. It was and hour and a half boat ride out to the reef and we spent about an hour at each of the three dive spots. At the first stop I went scuba diving for the first time. When I was through I came to the surface to find my mom in the water snorkeling. This was a great surprise because she had been doubtful about getting in the day before. Needless to say she had the time of her life pointing at various little fish swimming by and talking throughout the day about their colors and beauty. On our trip back to port we saw two Humpback Whales breech directly in front of our boat. Everyone on the boat (about 80 people) were silent watching these huge beautiful creatures play in the sea. I wrote my dad previously and said that some of God's creations bring people to totally silent and all we can do is simply stand in awe.