Cairns, Queensland, Australia

My last trip in Australia was a tour to Daintree Rainforest, Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas north of Cairns. It is hard to takes pictures of a rainforest, being so dense. Conveniently one can follow the  board walks and get an impression of the rich vegetation and swampy ground without getting wet feet and being blood-sucked by leaches or entangled in spider webs.  A popular place to stay overnight is Cape tribulation ‘where the rain forest meets the reef’.

On my very last day in Cairns I booked a day on a catamaran to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. The skies cleared in the morning and we took off at 8 am. 'Paradise Reef' where we had our first snorkeling trip, was much more colorful than I have seen before, totally clear water and lots of fish. Beautiful!

Our second stop to snorkel was at Michaelmas Cay, a small island which was brooding place for numerous birds. We were just finished with snorkeling when the weather changed and the horizon got darker, as usual displaying a great dramatic composition for a photograph so I asked the crew on the boat to bring me in the dingy to the beach to take a few pictures. All shot in less than 10 minutes – the sky went from blue to gray to almost black.

From Cairns I flew to Auckland, New Zealand, the next destination on my trip. On the flight 'Eat Pray Love' was playing. Inspired by the movie, I thought about the first part of my own trip and what it was all about. Lots of adventure and action, for sure. Getting rid of the stress I brought with me from busy little Holland. By doing all kinds of things. Not exactly relaxing though I did chill out whenever I was on a beach. I have no idea what New Zealand will bring, except for great hikes and stunning nature. Lord of The Rings kind of nature. More peaceful, I believe. Or stormy, who knows. Time to reflect.