Atherton Tablelands

The Atherton Tablelands are a fertile plateau in Queensland that includes rainforests, volcanic craters, farmland, waterfalls, lakes and rivers. There's so much to see here that we spent a good 8 hours exploring as much as we could. We head through the Tablelands via the Gillies highway.

[Healds Lookout]

On the Wallaby with Cousin Brad

After a night of partying at 3 different bars (Gilligan's, Rhino Bar & the casino) and hanging out with the rest of the group (who went back to Sydney this day), "cousin Brad" from On the Wallaby Eco Adventure Tours greets Allison & I at Dreamtime VERY early in the morning. He was exploding with so much energy at 7:45am that he memorized all of our names within 15 minutes of picking everyone up. One of these people was my new friend Jamie from Manchester who has been traveling for the past 4 months on paid leave from his company. Knowing that people from other countries except the US have these types of benefits (and utitize them to the fullest) really makes me feel unappreciated in the states - makes me want to move to another country. Everyone in Cairns laughed at the fact that I get 21 days of PTO a year. Apparently they get that much just for sick time. Every other country travels for insane periods of time, paid!

Anyhow, back to our guide Brad, he's actually from NZ, came to Australia about 7+ years ago for a wedding and loved it so much he never went back. In the next post, you'll see a few highlights of where he took us in the Atherton Tablelands.

The Lagoon

The Cairns city center doesn't have any beaches (they're about 20 minutes north), but they do have a salt water lagoon which is open to tourists & locals. It's open from early morning to about 10pm at night. The lagoon water is sourced directly from the sea and filtered every 3 hours to keep its cleanliness.

Upolu Cay

One of our stops on Ocean Freedom was Upolu Cay, a small island of sand formed on top of coral reefs. It's crazy how you're in the middle of the ocean and there's a strip of land that you can actually walk on.

The sand on this cay comes from a build up of reef animal skeletons and other debris that has collected over the year. As you can see in the picture, the cay is covered by water, but on other days the sand is a lot more exposed.

We boarded a speed boat from where our other boat was docked and got dropped off at this cay and snorkled all the way to the boat. You can actually still get great views of the reef/ sea life just by snorkeling.

Under the Sea

...at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the world's largest coral reef system. A structure of living organisms so large that it can be seen from outerspace. A place where you can find clownfish (Nemo's), many types of coral, giant clams, green sea turtles, reef sharks, sea cucumbers, emperors, and so much more...

I really wish these pictures could show you its true colors!














...a place YOU need to see while it's still around.

Scuba Diving

Step 1: Put our gear on (waddling around with flippers, 25+ pounds on your body & goggles is not easy) and practiced breathing through the mouthpiece

Step 2: Spit in our goggles and rinse with water - it's a natural anti-fogging solution

Step 3: Walk over to the back of the boat and jump off

Step 4: Now that we're in, we hold onto the bar while they deflate our vest and bring us down 1 meter and make us do all 3 test

Step 5: Once the instructor gets an okay, they bring us down another meter while we try popping our ears. From here, we begin the journey 50 feet below.


I underestimated the difficulty of scuba diving. Although it gets easier once you've been in the water long enough, the first 5 minutes are terrifying. The first meter I went down to, I started to panic because I thought my goggles were getting water in them. I also thought I was the only one freaking out (Allison ended up feeling the same exact way & 2 other people from our group didn't even make it through the whole way). I gestured my instructor to go back to the surface and once I did, I took a breath, cleared my goggles, cleared my mind and told myself I really have to do this. I went back down, reached the next meter and before I knew it I was on my way exploring life under water. Popping your ears while trying to breath at the same time is a challenging task, and if you don't do it each time you go down another meter, the feeling in your ears can be a little painful. I can explain more about the sea life, but I'd rather just show you.

FYI - these photos don't do the reef justice, but enjoy!

The Great Barrier Reef

I've never been scuba diving before, but I knew I had to do it for the first time at the Great Barrier Reef - otherwise, I knew it'd be something I would regret missing out on. I'm so glad I did because this ended up being the highlight of my entire trip. Words cannot express how unreal this experience was. At about 7:30am, Tom dropped Allison and I off at the Reef Fleet Terminal where we met the rest of the group at the Ocean Freedom docking area and from here, our boat took us to one of the outermost parts of the reef which was about an hour away.

As we sat on the nose of the boat, we watched the water colors change before our eyes and even though I wasn't in the water yet, I was still amazed (nervous at the same time). We had diving 101 on our way out and learned everything we needed to know to keep us at least somewhat sane for our first 30 minute dive at 50 feet below -- clearing water out of your goggles, popping your ears under water as the air pressure changes and what to do if your mouthpiece comes off.

As we docked (in what looked like the middle of nowhere - surrounded by nothing but water), everyone separated into groups and we were ready to go. Some groups started with a glass bottom boat ride, others started with snorkeling and the rest were getting equipped with their scuba gear.

My group wasn't going for awhile, so I decided to get a feel for it and head out for a snorkel. I've been snorkeling a million times, but this time was different. The water was a depths that I've never swam in, there was marine life in these waters I've never heard of and well, it was starting to make me more nervous about diving. After enjoying the snorkel for awhile, it was our turn to go...

The Woolshed

This bar unites backpackers from all over the world and it was recommended by a friend (hi Caroline) who had an "unforgettable" time here so I couldn't pass it up. During our stay in Cairns, the whole city seemed to be invaded by Europeans - not a bad thing, they were actually quite entertaining (see photos below). We strolled in on a Wednesday night unaware of what was in store until we all looked at the dark stamp on our hand after we passed the entrance that read, "Wet T-shirt Wednesdays." I should also mention that after 11pm, everyone in this place starts dancing on the tables. Try it, you might like it.

P.S. In case you're wondering, I omitted the wet t-shirt contest photos for obvious reasons.