Airlie Beach ~ Great Barrier Reef Prt 1

Remember that issue we had in Cairns with nursery closing at 1pm? Well same thing happened this time. Airlie Beach was supposed to be a day for Will and I and the kids were to be safely tucked away in Adventure Ocean and the Nursery. Thank goodness Will and I are flexible and adapt well to change because this was certainly a curveball. 

I was on the fence about even going and was just going to let Will go by himself and I was going to take the 3 kids on the Crocodile Safari. It is the Great Barrier Reef!! What was I thinking!!! Kids or no kids, we are SCUBA diving that reef! So kids came along and truthfully I am so glad that I took them. This is an experience that should not be passed up. Granted, they had no idea what they were doing but we got some pretty cool pictures to share with them later in life and we are definitely going back to Australia and diving other parts of the reef off Cairns. 

Will is a Dive Master and I am just Open Water certified (taking the course for Advanced and Adventure certification). Both of us dove quite a bit in Cuba and then stopped for a while. Starting a family and life just seemed to get in the way. I had forgotten how much fun diving was!!!!

Before I get ahead of myself, lets start from the beginning. Our cruise ship was tendered in the middle of the Coral Sea and the Charter out to the reef docked alongside and we all got on. There was about 200 of us and we were not the only ones who brought little-ish kids :-) It was 2 hours on the boat out to Knuckle Reef and this was the part I was most worried about. 2 hours on a bout with kids.... bringing the Kindles!!!! They were great! It was a rough ride and several people got sea sick. Thankfully my kids were troopers.

I thought Mike was going to toss his cookies - he stated to turn white and seemed very calm. He was just tired. Nothing as getting through CJ and his Iron Gut!! Motion in the Ocean didn't seem to bother the Princess

After the 2 hour ride we docked alongside a Pontoon that is permanently out at Knuckle Reef. A small crew live on it as well. It was really cool actually. No bathrooms for guests to use so we had to use our boat for that. But everything was provided for us. SCUBA gear, sting suits, masks, snorkles, fins... You name it, they had it. 

Our Pontoon with another boat pulling up and two happy kids thrilled at what they just did!!!

Will and I dove in different groups - there were about 8 of us who were certified to dive. Will went in the first group and I went second. It was not that big a deal to me that we could not go together. It's not like we could have talked under there :-) However.... His group saw the massive Bumphead Parrotfish and our didn't. Plus I had the GoPro with me so we didn't have a picture of it :-(

While he dove, I stayed on the pontoon with the kids and we went into the water. My dive was at 1130am so I was watching my time closely. It did take a good while to get the kids in to their sting suits (Irukandji Jellyfish can be a problem in Australian waters). Nothing like stuffing two slightly over sized boys into a second skin suit!!! HAHA it was not easy feat but it was accomplished and they looked amazing!

Next was the life jacket, mask, and fins. None of the kids actually snorkeled but they wanted to look cool like everyone else. 

Love my little "SCUBA Steve's"

These next pictures were taken with our GoPro Hero 4. This little thing takes great pictures!!!

He looks absolutely ridiculous but oh so fantastic at the same time - He's quite happy about it too!

Words can not even express how excited Ash was to swim with fins! All Smiles All Day

Ash and Mike wanted the added protection of a pool noodle - Mike was determined he was going to sink and that the sharks were going to eat him. I told him Nemo was down there and that he was safe. He was convinced the little clownfish would keep him safe because Nemo's father outran Bruce the Shark in Finding Nemo. Love how his logic is movie related.

I stuck CJ on a boogie board so he could float and he was so happy! Ash took to the water like a natural! She immediately put the noodle under her arms and started fluttering her legs. She LOVED the fins!!! She was really enjoying herself and just swimming around like everyone else. Mike was a bit more cautious did not leave my side. 

Lets talk about this ridiculous cage the kids and I were put in shall we? I was NOT happy. So apparently people get overwhelmed and start freaking out when they see a mom, by herself, with three kids. Seriously.. I am not the first person to take my kids in the water without my other half.... But whatever. Ash was swimming just fine, Mike was fine, CJ was fine but the people who were in charge wanted me out of the water even though there were 200 other people around me if I needed help. So we got put in this foot and half foot deep caged pool to make everyone happy. 

Funny part is that when Will took the same three kids in the water by himself, sans boogie board and noodles, not a single person said anything to him. It was all fine that they were swimming about. Apparently they thought I could not handle my kids even though I added the extra safety features that Will did not :-) 

Mike was not happy about the stupid cage either :-)

This lasted all of 10 minutes until they started screaming. They went from happy and content in the Sea to mad and miserable in a cage. Way to go crew... Then they asked "oh whats wrong? They were so happy a few minutes ago?" - DUH! 

It was my turn to dive anyway so I saw no point in making a case that I was fine in the water with everyone else :-)

Cruising, Rock Climbing, and Kids Verbage

We had a day of cruising  between Cairns and Airlie Beach so we dropped the kiddos of from 9-12 in Adventure Ocean and the Nursery. On all the cruises we have been on, we never tried the rock climbing wall. It was so fun!! Will went first and went up the yellow pegs which were the medium difficulty side. Went all the way to the top and rang the bell. 

My turn!! It looked really easy but it was ind of hard. I did the green ones on the far right. These were medium easy. It took me a minute to get up there but I did it. 

Will attempted he red ones now. These were the hardest ones and if he made it up using just the red ones he would have received a medal. He made it about half way up the wall before he fell off.

This is where he fell off and tried to make a recovery. It was a great effort but in the end the wall won.

At each cruise location they take your picture when you get off the ship. We never buy them but this time we did. The kids photos were so cute and they were exited about the pirates.

Ashlynn told the pirate in Newcastle "by pirate! See you in Neverland!!" ~ I laughed so hard!!

While I was looking for these pictures on the wall I heard the kids talking about the pirate. Ash kept calling him Captain Hook and Mike's response was epic...

"That is not Captain Hook Ash, this is Captain Hook's minion"

Seriously... What almost 4 year old uses that word!

CJ has also exploded with vocabulary over the last 2 weeks. Poor guy everytime we walk up to the nursery he repeats "not that way, not that way, not that way!" Then he gets in there and is fine. 

Other notable phrases from my precious 2 yr old....

"big butt momma!" - Yep, hes a charmer

"Bad Daddy!" - Will did not share his cookie

"I have a PeeYou" - We hear this a lot!

and two of my favorites... "NEED THAT NEED THAT NEED THAT" and "NEED WATER!" they are always screamed and very exaggerated.

And now for my scholarly conversation with Mike. The other night in Adventure Ocean they were doctors and photographers. Ash was the photographer and told me all about the fish and sharks she took pictures of. Lots of prompting but she explained pretty well. Then there is Mike... He was they doctor. When I asked what he did he replied very matter of factly...

"I shot a butt" - Excuse me, you did what? was my response

"Yea that's what doctors do, they shoot butts and that is what I did"

Mike did you do anything else? Did you me people feel better?

"Nope, shot a butt." 

Well then...... 

Cairns, Australia Part 3 ~ Army Ducks & Wildlife Park

Army Duck! These were so cool and I was actually excited for this adventure. They are the original WWII Army Ducks used by the Australian Army during the Battle of Coral Sea in 1942. Built by women in Michigan! They were only supposed to last 7 to 8 months and in 2015 they are going strong! This battle against the Japanese was the first time that the Australians and Americans fought alongside one another. Now they are used for tours through the rainforest. 

The only thing that I have a gripe about in this beautiful country is the fact that the plants, bugs, creatures, anyother wildlife can just about kill you :-) This is a Female Golden Orb Spider (look in the center of the picture). She is not full grown!!!! That's ridiculous!!! A spider should not ever be that big!!

Rainforest canopy - Ferns

Traveling in the water. Saltwater and Freshwater Crocs do not come this far north in the forest - According to the guide

Coffee plant and Banana tree

It is a modern art masterpiece when this kid eats anything

KOALA BEARS!!!!

Yes, Ash is holding a real live Koala Bear and she LOVED, and I mean LOVED, every second of this. The lighting was awful and I needed to crop the rest of us out of the picture. It was TERRIBLE!!! I have the original if my family wants to see it. 

At first I was irritated that Ash would not keep her eyes opened after several pictures were taken but then I realized this is the face of a truly happy girl who is beyond thrilled to be holding a real crocodile :-)

Yep - She's cute

Tasmanian Devil after a fight 

While we walked through the wildlife park, Kangaroo were just out and about walking around. SO COOL!!!! CJ was asleep so once again he missed out on an awesome photo opp!

Joey's

CJ didn't take his eyes off the Kangaroo - probably wanted to make sure it didn't make any sudden movements :-) Oh and Mike found a new hat - Kangaroo leather this time.... Cowhide went to Ash as she really wanted it to begin with.

Freshwater Crocodile

These pictures were taken almost 15 minutes apart. Bus = Sleep

So long Cairns - Until next time!