After having breakfast with two friends in the morning I made my way to the airport at noon. At 3.40pm my flight left for Cairns. After three hours in which I mainly slept, the plane landed. When I left the airport it was already 6.30pm and the sun had already set.

Since it was still a little bit from the airport to the hostel, I already downloaded the Uber App in the morning so that I could call myself an Uber. It was the first time for me that I called an Uber and it took me a while to find my way around the app. When I had finally made it and my Uber should be there, I stood of course there where an Uber can´t pick up people. I talked to the driver on the phone who tried to explain to me where he stands, but on the phone it is still a little difficult for me to understand English. Fortunately I found it quickly and was able to drive to the hostel.

Welcome to backpacker life

The distance there was not far and after about 10 minutes I was already at the hostel. There I first checked in and was shown my room. The hostel is new and really nice. The design is very nice, there are cleaners who clean the rooms daily, breakfast is free and really good, the lounge is also very nicely furnished and there is even a terrace where you can stay and eat with a view on the city.

For me it was the first time in a hostel and I was really positively surprised. That evening I went to bed early because I was still tired from the flight.

Exploring Carins

The next morning I got up early, took a shower, got ready and had breakfast.

After breakfast I set off, I went to the supermarket to buy my food for the day. Then I went to the harbour of cairns and then walked along the whole promenade at the water to the Botanic Garden.

It took me quite a while to finally get there. When I finally got there I was sweating a lot because it was pretty warm that day. The Botanic Garden was really beautiful.

After I walked through the garden once, I made my way back to the city.

I took another break at Munro Martin Parklands and looked around before I went back to the hostel. There I first rested a little and recharged the battery of my phone.

In the afternoon I walked a little bit around the city. I was in a shopping Center, at the Railway Station in Cairns and then at the esplanade lagoon. Where I sat down with my feet in the water and enjoyed my time there. In the evening I sat down in the lounge and ate dinner before I went to bed early because I had to get up early in the morning for my daintree rainforest tour.

I thought there would be so much more in Cairns to explore but one day was definitely enough to explore the whole city.

Crocodiles in the rainforest

For the next two days I had booked a tour to the daintree rainforest.

In the morning I got ready, packed my things together and had breakfast, I was picked up by a bus in front of the hostel by our tourguide, which brought me together with other people to the rainforest.

After a two hour drive, on which we had collected even more people and the bus driver/tour guide told us many stories about the rainforest and crocodile attacks. First we were greeted by another tour guide who told us about the traditions of the rainforest. Then we were allowed to participate in a short ceremony of an Aborigine. 

After that we continued by bus, where we had a little tour through the rainforest.

We then took a break at a small river to swim there. Shortly afterwards we went back by bus. From there we took another bus which took us to a boat tour across a river where all the crocodiles live. There we actually saw three crocodiles.

When the tour across the river was over we took the bus to the Rainforest Resort. There we had a big lunch.

Alone in the rainforest

While everyone else drove from there by bus to finish the day trip, I stayed in the resort because I had booked a night there.

Had I known before that I would not have had a tour for the next 24 hours from then on and I only had the opportunity to look around alone, I would only have booked the day trip, but the woman from the agency with whom I had booked the trip to Cairns had not said that before. She didn’t even mentioned that they also have a one day tour so I thought the whole time everyone would stay overnight and not just me.

I was a little disappointed. There was also no WiFi or reception, as life in this resort was supposed to be like on an island. After all this disappointment I didn’t feel like doing anything on my own anymore, which is why I only stayed in the room that day, wrote my blog entries and then went to dinner in the evening. In addition, I was a bit afraid of all the animals that could possibly cross my path.

Where the rainforest meets the ocean

The next morning I went to the beach after breakfast. On the way there, where I had to walk a little bit through the rainforest, I was already quite tense, because I was a little afraid of the spiders and snakes there. But the beach was beautiful. It was very quiet there and apart from two other people I was alone there. It was just incredibly beautiful. But I have always been careful not to walk too close to the water, as we have been warned already during the tour about the crocodiles lurking everywhere in the water.

After that I went to the Ferntree Rainforest Resort again, because there I was safe from any animals haha. At noon I had lunch in the resort and then the 24 hours were finally over and my tour through the rainforest continued. We were once again on the beach but with such a large group you cannot enjoy the sight of the water and the sand so much as if you are alone there.

So I was glad that I was already alone there on the beach in the morning. We were then at a lookout point, the Alexandra Lookout, where we had an incredible view over the rainforest. In the afternoon we took the bus back to Cairns. But before we made a quick stop in Port Douglas.

Exploring the reef

One of my biggest dreams has always been to see the Great Barrier Reef. I fulfilled this dream, too. From a friend I got a voucher for a free Scuba Dive, because she didn’t had the time to travel to Cairns anymore.

With the boat we went out to sea for one and half an hour and were explained how the oxygen mask, the communication and the breathing under water works. We were all divided into groups and as soon as we arrived at the reef we already got our wetsuits and diving masks.

My group was snorkelling first because not everyone could dive at the same time. And the first time I was underwater with my head and looked down was incredible. I can hardly describe with words what a sight it was.

No scuba diving for me

Shortly afterwards my group was already diving. So I got my oxygen bottle, which was incredibly heavy and then I was in water with my group. We should do a few underwater exercises first if we for example lose our oxygen mask. I already got a little panic because it is a strange feeling to not be able to breathe properly and it is only bound to an oxygen bottle. I was then awarded well and we wanted to explore the reef. But the more we went underground, the greater the pressure on my ears. I also gave a hand signal and then I was shown an exercise to get better, but it didn’t get any better. Then I swam back to the boat, because I couldn’t stand it at all.

After lunch we went back into the water. But I didn’t dare to dive again, so I just snorkeled. Even so I could see an incredible amount of the reef. Unfortunately we didn’t see turtles or sharks but many other fishs and plants. I could have snorkeled for hours more. It was incredibly relaxing to swim slowly through the water while exploring the Reef. In the afternoon we drove back to Cairns.

Waterfalls over Waterfalls

On my last day in Cairns I did another tour in the rainforest to different waterfalls. We were at the Babinda Waterfalls, Josephine Waterfalls and Milla Milla Waterfalls. At the Milla Milla Waterfalls we even saw small turtles. After that we went to a pub in Malanda for lunch. Afterwards we drove to a crater and another waterfall before we went back to Cairns in the evening.

I always imagined Cairns to be beautiful, but then I was a little disappointed. The city is still very beautiful but not as expected.

There is also no beach in Cairns and the water does not look really nice. The only alternative is the lagoon, which is very beautiful. But at least the rainforest is very interesting to explore and an absolutely must seen to everyone who is travelling to Australia.