Sunday was day two of our Great Barrier Reef diving expedition. This time, we toured three of the southern outer reefs with SilverSwift, another of the many diving companies that operate in Cairns. SilverSwift has a smaller boat (perhaps 40 people on board, as opposed to over 100 on Down Under Dives), which made the experience much more pleasurable. We did three dives in total and found two turtles, numerous fish, several eels, and two sharks. Sharks in the Reef are not Jaws-like at all. In fact, that are smaller than most people and are scared of us. For anyone visiting Cairns, the Reef is a must...SilverSwift also offers a nice snorkel package.
Both Zach and I were exhausted after two days of diving, but we did make our way about 20km north of Cairns to our new hotel, the Mango Lagoon, in Palm Cove. Through Zach's barter program, we were able to get an awesome two bedroom suite, complete with two bathrooms, a full kitchen, and (much needed) laundry facilities. Palm Cove itself is just a small beach town, with a handful of restaurants along the coast and numerous "relaxation spas." As opposed to Cairns, which was full of international tourists, Palm Cove seems to be a destination for Australians more than anyone else.
Today is a lazy day in Palm Cove. It's 11:15a and we just made it out of our hotel and down to the internet cafe. Shortly, we are going to try to sit on the beach, but overcast skies and high winds look a bit ominous. Tomorrow, we are off to Sydney, the last destination in our Australian tour.