Adventure Great Barrier Reef and buying a car

Now it's been a week since we left and first of all we can say that we arrived in Australia very tired but well. After a first day of getting used to, the first challenge was to find a suitable car for the next few months. Initially, this proved to be very difficult because many backpackers are desperately looking for a campervan in Cairns. And yet, we were lucky enough to find our travel van on the second day! The previous owner, an immigrant from France, had really taken care of everything and randomly thrown it all in the back of the van, so now we have equipment ranging from kitchen utensils to surfboards and fishing gear to solar panels for power supply at the campsite (see the photo). It took us quite a while to get some order and coziness in our van, but now it's great!

And then there was our snorkeling tour to the Great Barrier Reef... Wow! We're both totally excited about this experience. First, we spent 1.5 hours on the catamaran, with quite rough waves, out to the open sea. Not everyone felt well ;) On arrival at the reef, three different spots were approached and at each spot you could either snorkel or dive. We dived at the second spot and otherwise explored the underwater world with the snorkel. Especially the diving was amazing! Swimming very close to the turtle and almost being able to touch Nemo is really exciting! On the way back, the sea calmed down a bit and we arrived in Cairns happy and tired.

Today we drove to Port Douglas through the rainforest towards Cape Tribulation (the northernmost point of civilization on the east coast). Once again, a completely different world... and that's what's impressive, whether you come from the beach to the city or into the forest, it's always a completely different world for us.

We're heading back into the rainforest now. See you soon! :)