Straddie and Cans

Nate's sister and brother-in-law, Eliza and Andrew, showed up about a week and a half ago from Philadelphia. After a day or so of acclimating, we took advantage of the perfect Brisbane winter weather and went on a few adventures.

View of the Pacific from Straddie.

We took the ferry out to North Stradbroke Island, also called "Straddie" by the locals. The island is about a half hour away by ferry and a prime location to watch the migrating whales. Lucky us, we spotted some while eating lunch. We also watched a pod of dolphins surfing and playing in the waves for about half an hour. We would have joined them if the water was just a tad warmer.

Eliza and Andrew on Frenchman's Beach.

We forgot the baby carrier and had to fashion a sling from a blanket. Here's Nate carrying a sleeping Roxy down the epic staircase to Frenchman's Beach.

The next day we drove over to Mt. Coot-tha and hiked up to the summit for a great view of Brisbane. I didn't have my camera (but I remembed the baby carrier!), but I have no doubt we will head up to Mt. Coot-tha again in the future.

My sister Becky and her travel buddy Linsday arrived a week ago. The next day we all boarded a (delayed) flight to Cairns. Cairns (pronounced Cans), is the most popular place for tourists to depart the mainland and visit to the Great Barrier Reef and Far North Queensland.

Waiting at the airport for our delayed flight.

Cairns is full of hostels, tourists, backpackers, rental campervans and tour companies. We stayed at the Bellview Hotel, a family-run hostel across the street from the marina. It was clean, cheap and had a night guard imposing quiet hours from 10 pm - 6 am. The staff was very friendly and helped us book our tours and car rental. I think we will definitely stay there again if we go back to Cairns.

Perfect weather for our trip in Far North Queensland.

Sidewalk just outside of our hotel reception.

The Bellview from the street.

We had two full days in Cairns. On the first day, we took a day trip out to Green Island, which was about a 50-minute boat ride from the mainland and we snorkeled in the Reef right off of the beach.

Nate and Roxy enjoying the beach on Green Island.

Lindsay on the beach at low tide.

One of the pesty "ducks" that steal chips right out of your hands! (Duck is our nickname for this bird. When we arrived on the island, a little girl was pointing at one and calling it a duck. We didn't figure out what it actually was, so for the rest of the trip, any pest bird was called a duck.)

Walking out to the boat at the end of the day.

Becky brought everyone underwater cameras, so you'll have to wait until those get developed to see anything under water. Nate, Linds and Becky swam out the furthest and spotted a sea turtle, giant clam amongst all of the colorful fish.

It was Eliza's first time snorkeling and was her last for the rest of our trip. After the choppy boat ride and fear of the open ocean, Eliza and Andrew decided to stay on land for Day 2.

Our friends Eddie and Lisa flew down from Papua New Guinea and met up with us after we returned from Green Island. They get plenty of snorkeling where they are, so they decided to accompany Eliza and Andrew in the hills for Day 2 while Becky, Linds, Nate, Roxy and I booked a snorkeling trip to the Outer Reef.

I get quite seasick, but decided that I could tough it out for a day if it meant seeing more of The Great Barrier Reef. Our tour departed at 9 and returned at 4:30, with 1.5 hour boat rides there and back.

Becky and Lindsay had no problems with seasickness. Roxy threw up her breakfast about an hour into the ride, but was just fine after that. I took ginger pills (dramamine and breastfeeding don't mix), and threw them up just as we arrived at our first snorkel spot. I felt queasy for the rest of the trip and threw up again on the way home. I felt great once I got into the water and would have just as soon swim 60 kms back to Cairns than get on the boat again.

Becky and Roxy

Sadly, Nate fared the worst on the boat and getting into the water didn't help at all. He spent about half an hour snorkeling around, but the rest of the time he was hunched over a puke bag aboard the boat. If you ask him about it, he will tell you that the half hour of snorkel time was worth all of the suffering!!

Poor Nate!

Roxy enjoying the boat ride more than either of her parents. She didn't go into the water, but we got her dressed in her swimsuit so she would fit in with everyone else.

The other half of our party spent the day in the hippie rainforest village of Kuranda. They took a skyrail up and the scenic railway back down. They wish they would have taken the skyrail both ways.

Coming up: Daintree River, Cape Tribulation, Coral Sea, Crocodiles and much more!!