The Great Barrier Reef has always fascinated me, as I’ve seen many documentaries featuring it. The first one must have been while I was still in primary school. Teleenciclopedia was the name of a TV program on the Romanian state controlled broadcasting station, which showed a mixed topic of National Geographic type short documentaries every Saturday. That was a rare glimpse of the outside world allowed under communism.
This was a 5-day adventure and sightseeing packed trip. I’ve hiked the gorgeous island of Fitzroy, seen the Great Barrier Reef from above and below, ventured to the quaint town of Kuranda in the middle of the rain forest and taken the scenic sky-rail and then the train, took a trip to Cape Tribulation to see crocodile and snakes on a river cruise, seen a fascinating butterfly sanctuary, seen the Mossman Gorge, was rained on in a rain forest, snorkeled near Green Island, and seen some beautiful beaches during sunrise and sunset.
Overall, I was very satisfied with this trip and I made sure to sample as much as I could during this (probably) once in a life time trip. The highlight was seeing the reef from above while taking a helicopter tour, and having a brand new GoPro (parting gift from my PHS guest services team) helped immortalize these memories. The weather was more than adequate with lots of sunshine and majestic clouds, which looked so beautiful in the pictures and videos. Cairns is geared to accommodate the tourist hordes headed its way and it does so seamlessly with a great infrastructure and warm and welcoming staff.
The one slight disappointment was not being able to see the vibrant colors and abundant wildlife that I was hoping for when getting closer to the barrier reef. I know I had very high expectations before my trip, and I knew the expectation will not be met. It was explained during the multiple organized tours that I took how the reef was damaged by global warming and over-tourism, and those facts were not new to me. The disappointment was only partially selfish. I was so happy to finally being able to see this world wonder regardless how vibrant, but the concern is that the reef is degrading as a result of us humans.
All in all, I consider myself fortunate for being able to explore the Cairns area and witness the Great Barrier Reef. This will definitely be one of my vivid and cherished memories for many years to come.
