Fitzroy, The Reef, Cairns

We finally get to run away to a rainforest covered deserted Island - almost.  Fitzroy used to belong to the mainland and now belongs to the Great Barrier Reef.  The only thing on the Island is the abandoned Lighthouse, some remnants of WWII batteries, and the hotel.  There are no cars but the worse was NO internet!  And we soon learned that when the sun slowly set then other living creatures slowly appeared.

The next day, we went out to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel for the day. These pictures do not even start to show the great colors and variety of the coral. Even though we also saw plenty of fish, they were just a sideshow to the great coral.

Cairns our last day.  We didn't have time to go very far so we thought we would visit the local museum, they are usually unique and this one did not disappoint.  We had a crusty tour guide who swore up a storm, told a few raunchy stories but all in all was a lot of fun.  He shared a lot of interesting history and took a picture of our only shark encounter.

On the way back from the museum we heard some loud shreiking birds and could smell a foul smell and when we looked up the trees were covered with large hanging bats.  They were each about the size of a cat.



Our hotel is an open air court with a tropical jungle with stone walkways and a couple of fish ponds.  In the fish pond were barramundi (approximately 40 pounds and three feet long).  We helped feed the fish. Barramundi are native to Australia and grow to 60 pounds. They seem to be a slow lazy fish, until presented with food ; at which point they become the fastest biting fish known. See the video below. Fortunately, they have no teeth, so it is safe to feed them. They are the ultimate sport fish here, and often take several hours to land.

So tomorrow, our walkabout is over. It was great, but as they say down under, No worries and Gday mate.