Cairns Journal~

THIS IS THE POST WHICH I SAID WAS ALL GONE WHEN I HIT PUBLISH -
hix~
...i guess ill update bit by a bit again.. =((((

We went to Cairns last Easter break. Well, to be exact, weekend after the easter break.
It was a long story, but who am i to say not to have time, when all i need to do after this post was to eat.. Hehe.
Pardon my (potentially) not so energetic posts lately, i've been blaming the weather a lot. But truth is, i think its more to do with my weird period cycle lately. Oops, sorry, woman talk..

Anw, back to topic.. CAIRNS!
We bought our ticket to go 2 weeks after the easter break, assuming the ticket and the hotel price will be a lot cheaper (which was true) and we got to sort of enjoy 2 breaks in a month instead of just 1. Got all itenary and stuff ready, before Gian found out that his leave form has been rejected since there is a new progress on the project at work that he need to be testing rite away.. So lame, we end up having to change our dates and everything, going thru the pain of being in hold with those operators, and ofc not to forget, the pain of paying admin fee for change of date.. We end up paying a lot more, but what can we say? Right? sigh..
I dont want to dwell about the bad part too much, thats not what i wanted to put in this journal post anw.. so.. lets see what was going on back there, shall we? =)
ooh, and also, i wanted this post to be my reference if next time am goin to Cairns again..
so...

What i know?
Cairns vs Port Douglas
When we first decided to go to Cairns, I was confused about where to stay, Cairns or Port Douglas. To be honest i was not even sure where or what was on Port Douglas. But we got this amazing deal staying at Shang Ri La and it was at Cairns. So drop all of my research and just be happy about it.. But here's what i found from all over the web regarding the 2 destination. Trust me, its been a split opinion on both sides, and you just get to decide depending on what was ur purpose of goin to Cairns..

Cairns
Bigger city centre
More crowd - local and tourists
Easier access to restaurants and bars
More shops
Multiple cruises departing Cairns going to different reefs for snorkling and diving
45 miles away from Port Douglas

Port Douglas
Much quiter and smaller than Cairns
More to resort sort of accomodation than hotels
Easier access to Cape Tribulation
Closer access to Quick Silver cruise for Great Barrier Reef diving / snorkling
More appeals to those that like village atmosphere with many eaterie

What we did?
Kuranda Sky Rail 
A must do activity for anyone who decided to go to Cairns. All you need to do is buy the ticket and it brings you all the way up to Kuranda Village. You can buy a ticket going up with sky rail and going back to Cairns with train or vice versa. Regardless, you got to enjoy this amazing view on the way there. If you're taking the skyrail, your ticket include 2 stops, which was just a short walk from where you catch your skyrail back.
One of them was for the famous waterfall, it was so awesome, i feel like jumping in and swim all the way under neath it. Well it was not the best idea in the world obviously. This waterfall was just really strong, it looks like heavy water pouring from up there. =)

Hartley's Crocodile Farm 
To be honest, i was not all so interested to go to the croc farm at all at first. But as the wise old man said, you should try everything in life at least once. So I went. It turns out to be really fun and entertaining. Make sure you watch the Crocodile show if you go there. I really like it, the guy who did the show was so funny and convincing. He showed us how crocodile think and hide and stalking its victim.
I just loveeee it. Oh.. and we got to see some Koala, Kangoroo and Cassoary as well over there.

Cock and Bull Bar
Done with the Hartley's Farm visit, guess what we had for dinner? CROCODILEEE..
We went to this famous bar called Cock and Bull, they got massive portion on their food, and with this in mind, a very cheap price as well. Oh ill upload my dessert pic which was the best $7 i spent on dessert at Cairns.

Blazzing Saddles
We were forced to cancel our Quicksilver tour due to bad weather, so we decided to go horse riding. The same place also had this ATV ride going on, but I just dont feel like doing it that day. We went for a half day tour doing the horse riding only.
Oh man... i couldnt be happier. The subtle rain just made it even better. I love when we go uphill, and then downhill, riding really fast, trying to keep control of the horse, and the best part was when we crossed the river. Half of my leg was dipped in the water. aaaa...
If only taking horse riding lesson is more affordable here, I wouldnt complain to do some more lesson really...

Quicksilver Cruise - Great Barrier Reef
I know most people will be talking about how pretty the Great Barrier Reef is when they go to Cairns. But really, it was not the highlight of my Quicksilver Cruise ride. Not that i was complaining, and the Reef was beautiful, but really.. i was too happy playing around with this rented digital underwater camera. We took almost 200 pics on itself for our day trip to the Reef. Oh yar. and ofc the lunch buffet..
I remember how happy my tummy was..~

Night Market

Call me uncivilised or anything, but I paid just $15 or so to get this plastic plate, and I can serve myself as much crab as I can get, as much prawn and fish and squids and beef and chihcken and everything really...
I was telling myself "You have to go back here if you go back to Cairns"..
and ofc a bit of shopping from the market itself.. Found this sweet looking bracelet at a stone jewelry place, but decided not to buy one for myself..
=)

So, if I were to go back to Cairns again.. what would I do?

What else is there?
Cape Tribulation
-Paddle Kayak Trekking
-Jungle Surfing Canopy Tour through the trees on flying fox ziplines
-Night walk in the Daintree Rain Forest

Cairns Tower Bungy Jump
Our tour guide once said, when they first started their bungy jumping business at Cairns, they had this crazy ads saying "Jump Nude, Jump Free". They soon were forced to take this ads off due to massiveee amount of (damn-cool) European backpackers who's willing to do so
Haha.. im not sure if it was just a joke or not, but i found it really funny ~

Helicopter Scenic Flight
I just wanted to do any helicopter scenic flight really, but i guess Cairns would be a good one, righto?

River Tubing and White Water Rafting
River Tubing is this exciting floating along on a twin chamber tubes at the beautiful Goldsborough Valley for up to two hours, just enjoying the beautiful scenery, while drifting and drifting...
And ofcourse the famous Tully River for extreme white water rafting

~gosh this post is really tiring but worth it..~
am gonna update with more pics soon enoughhhh