Wot I learned in my first half hour in Cairns

[tieke]

- Don't swim in the estuary or the crocs will eat you

Comments

[tieke]

/slap

[tieke]

Nah, this place is far more dangerous. Apparently.

[kimeros]

Heh, I love it.

I hope you survive your trip in Australia in once piece.

[tieke]

slightly digested

[russiandolls]

This is exactly the advice my parents came back from Cairns with.... Did you go to the crocodile farm by any chance?

[tieke]

No ... I just arrived and people started telling me this stuff.
I should note, that I have yet to actually see a crocodile, cassowary, tree frog, spider, snake, or stinging needle.

[bekitty]

I think the "stinging needle" thing is a myth they make up to scare newbies. But the rest of it sounds true.

Something that I found interesting about Cairns was that instead of sparrows, they have budgies. Seriously. They've totally filled that ecological niche.

Also, it's likely that you'll enounter rainbow lorikeets at some point while you're there. They most probably won't try to kill you, but don't get too close.

And another thing - check out the lagoon pool near the waterfront. Nice outdoor pool, lots of eye candy. And cool fish sculptures in it!

Yet another thing

[bekitty]

Ifd you have the chance, and have a day free at some point, go to Kuranda and visit the butterfly sanctuary. It's seriously awesome.

And if you ever want to swim the Great Barrier Reef, I recommend the Frankland Islands tour. It's relatively small, and you're snorkelling off a beach (on a protected island) instead of a pontoon. And the coral starts about 3m offshore.

At this time of year, it's safe to swim in the sea. But look out for crocodiles, stingers and sharks.