The next four dives I did were all at Flynn Reef. Flynn reef has some wall dives, swim-throughs, overhangs and good night diving. You can expect to see an abundance of marine life combined with plenty of hard corals such as staghorn, table, plate and boulder coral heads and many species of soft corals.

Flynn Reef Gordons Dive 5

So this was my 5th open water dive ever and my first one that I got to do without an instructor. I was assigned a partner on the boat and off we went. Our bottom time was 32 minutes at a max depth of 11.8 metres. On this dive I saw an orange spine unicorn fish (they have cool spikes that come off the sides of their tales), a few Christmas tree worms (check them out in the video, they are neat) a flowery cod and I got to swim through a large school of glass fish. This was an awesome experience, the glass fish filled the entire area between two spots on the reef (a swim through) when I swam into them they would part and let me in, and then fill in the spaces around me. It was truly amazing, everywhere I looked I saw little fish. I did not get any pictures BUT I did manage to get this on film on a later dive.

Flynn Reef Gordons Dive 6

This was my first night dive so I had to do it with a supervisor and in a group. The prodive guys sat us down and told us all kinds of stories to try and scare us, then while we were prepping on the deck they played horror music and shrieks, plus the jaws theme. Did I buy it? well maybe a little. It is pretty neat to dive a night, one cool thing is that you can use your flashlight to play god. When the big fish see your light they use it to hunt, if you don’t like a little fish all you have to do is point your flashlight at it and a big fish will come and try to eat the little fish!

On this dive I saw a grey Whaler shark, a sleeping parrot fish (they are supposed to sleep inside a big snot bubble to protect themselves but this one wedged himself in between some rocks so there was no snot bubble) and a mooray eel (really cool) I did not have my camera for the night dive because I figured it would be hard to get anything on camera.

Flynn Reef – Gordons – Dive 7

This dive was not to excitting, we were left to our own devices and ended up getting lost (apparantely this happens a lot even with more experienced divers. We had to re-surface and find the boat. I did not see anything new on this dive.

Flynn Reef – Traceys - Dive 8

This was my last dive with Prodive. In total I got to dive 8 times on the Great Barrier Reef, the total price for certification, the course in the pool, and 8 dives over 3 days on the Great Barrier Reef was $700 AUD (not to shabby) I also bought my own equipment because I plan on diving a lot more.

On this dive I saw another Mooray Eel, a trumpet fish (they are really long and look like trumpets), a checkerboard wrasse, Harlequin Tuskfish, and a really big bumphead parrot fish. I have added all of the cool pictures and videos that I took on the previous dives below.

This is a Blue Spot Butterfly Fish 

I believe this is a Seal face puffer fish

I’m not to sure what this is, but it sure looks pretty! I think it is a type of purple coral

Here are a few pictures of a Parrot Fish. You can see the big goofy teeth they have. They are funny fish I think 

Harlequim Tuskfish

I also got a few video clips. I have added them below

This video is of an orange spine unicorn fish and a big spotted fish! I think it is a cod, but not to sure.

The video below shows a black backed Butterflyfish

This video shows a Napoleon Wrasse (my favourite type of fish) I have more videos that are even closer (I will post them later)

And this last video just shows the sea life on the Great Barrier Reef

Related posts:

1. Milln Reef “Petat”
2. Milln Reef The Whale and Tennis Courts
3. Milln Reef – Great Barrier Reef

Dive # 2 – Milln Reef “Petat” Great Barrier Reef

The second dive was also at the Milln Reef at the same site. This time we did a few new skills such as a buddy check, entry, controlled descent, regulator recovery and clear, partial mask flood and clear, full mask flood and clear, buoyancy control with low pressure inflator, alternate air source use, an underwater tour, ascent and a safety stop. We also did a cesa which stands for Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent. All of these skills are practiced first in the pool and done with the group and scuba instructor.

For this dive we had a bottom time of 26 minutes and I got to see a parrot fish, a yellow trumpet fish (they are so cool!), a goat fish and a trigger fish. I a video that I took of a Parrot Fish at the bottom of the blog, enjoy

You can see the Parrot Fish poop at the very beginning of the video. Parrot fish actually have two GIANT teeth, and they gnaw away at the reef. They travel in big herds and soemtimes you can hear them eating the reef. When they pooh, they are actually pooping sand! 80% of the sand in Queensland is actually parrot fish poop (well that’s what I was told). There are many different types of parrot fish.  I will add a post with more information, pictures and videos of parrot fish soon. Subscribe to my blog to see more pictures, videos and stories.

Related posts:

1. Milln Reef – Great Barrier Reef
2. Milln Reef The Whale and Tennis Courts
3. Flynn Reef Gordons and Traceys

DIVE 1 – Milln Reef – Great Barrier Reef – Cairns, Queensland, Australia

My first dive ever was at the Milln Reef on the Great Barrier reef in Australia. I had such a great time traveling Australia and thanks to my girlfriend registered with Pro Dive Cairns to get my open water dive certification. Check out my Pro Dive Cairns Review if you haven’t already.

We left early in the morning to get out on the reef. Our first dive was at 10:45 am, and we started the dive doing surface skills. You have to do four open water dives with a group and an instuctor before you are fully certified. In order to be certified we had to complete four open water dives and complete the skills. The skills we had to complete on the first dive were buddy check, entry, buoyancy check, controlled decent, underwater tour, ascent, safety stop and exit we also did a few dive flexible skills including cramp removal (seeing how to remove cramps from your legs), tired diver tow (pushing or pulling a diver about 30 feet), snorkel/regulator exchange, remove/replace scuba, remove/replace weights. We did all the surface skills first and then went down. It was so excitting to go down for the first time and I snapped a shot of us going down (they rent underwater cameras on the boat, and you can also rent them in town for the whole weekend which is much cheaper)

That is the first group going down. I was not able to get a lot of pictures on my first dive as I was trying NOT TO DIE, ok I was not really that scared but for the first few dives I was focusing on doing the skills and really taking in all there is to see underwater! It was so exciting to be underwater, it is a whole new world and sometimes I just forgot to take pictures. But don’t worry, I took a lot of pictures over the next 27 dives (a lot of those dives I got for free )

During my first dive I saw a Blue spotted sting ray, a Giant Clam, a Sea Cumcumber, and a sand perch. I have added some pictures below to give you an idea of what I saw.

Check my future posts for the picture of the Blue Spotted Sting ray (I got a nice close-up) and lots more underwater pictures.

The first dive was awesome, it is amazing to be able to see what goes on in the Ocean and actually breathe under water. I was a bit nervous at first (I have almost died a few times in the water) but once I calmed down and breathed normally it was really easy. We were underwater for about 26 minutes and got to see quite a bit in that time. Our next dive was at 2:44pm. You can read about it in my next post

Related posts:

1. Milln Reef The Whale and Tennis Courts
2. Milln Reef “Petat”
3. Prodive Cairns Review

Pro Dive Cairns review

While in Australia my girlfriend and I booked a trip with Pro-dive Cairns to get our open water scuba diving certification. We booked the 5 day PADI learn to dive course online. On the prodivecairns site the price is $750 AUD, but on the prodive.com.au site it is only $730 AUD.  Also when we  were booking the form gave an option to entre a Prodive coupon. I did a quick google search and found the following prodive coupon: Cairnsval9 I entered it and got $50 off each booking (nice savings of $100 total)

We flew into Cairns from Melbourne. Our plan was to stay there for a week while we got our open water certification and then rent a cheap vehicle and drive down to Brisbane to meet with my brother. We stayed at a nice hotel for a good price in Holloways beach and the guys from Pro-dive even came and picked us up!

The five day open water course includes the following:

•  5 full days including 3 Day/2 Night Outer Reef Cruise on the great barrier reef.
• We had many training dives in the pool as well as 4 Openwater training dives plus 5 pleasure dives including 1 fully escorted pleasure night dive all on the great barrier reef

Here is the course timetable to get an idea of how the week went.

Day 1 and 2 are pretty easy you just have to do the exercises in the pool and write the exam. Some of the exercises before using the scuba diving equipment  include treading water for 10 minutes and swimming for 200 yards. Exercises you need to complete underwater include taking your mask off and putting it back on, taking your reg out and putting it back in, and demonstrating some useful scuba diving techniques. The exercises and exam are fairly easy and everyone who was in our class completed them with ease. NOTE: If you have any medical problems such as heart disease, asthma, epilepsy or diabetes you will probably not be allowed to get certified. My girlfriend could not get her scuba diving license because of this but she still came on the boat and snorkelled and had a great time! The picture below is of the prodive pool in Cairns

Image source prodivecairns.com

 This is where you will spend most of day 1 and day 2.  It is great, you learn a lot and they even have a lady bring lunch (which I really liked) On the second day they will bring in all kinds of equipment for you to try out and then give you the chance to buy it. If you just want to dive for the time you are there then you do not really need all the newest equipment, but if you plan on taking diving up as a hobby than I encourage you to buy the gear.

After completing my two days in the class room I was ready to go out to the Great Barrier Reef!

I was so excitted to scuba dive (and a bit nervous) the boat ride out is a bit wavy so if you get sick easily it might be good idea to take some sea sickness pills! On the way out to the reef the staff gives you all of the information you need to know and keeps you entertained as well.

To check out what my dives were like you can follow the links below (I will link them as I write them)

Dive# | Reef we dove at

1. Mill N Reef – Great Barrier Reef – Petat
2. Mill N Reef  – Petat
3. Mill N Reef – The Whale
4. Fynn Reef – “Tennis Courts”

Related posts:

1. Milln Reef – Great Barrier Reef
2. Milln Reef “Petat”
3. Flynn Reef Gordons and Traceys

While we were in Kuranda we visited the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. This was the last place to visit after Birdworld and the Koala Gardens. We had a great time at birdworld and the koala gardens so we I was excited to see what the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary had in store. In a word…..BUTTERFLIES

The second you walk in to the Australian butterfly sanctuary you are surrounded by butterflies. Big butterflies, small butterflies, colourful butterflies…..every where you look there are butterflies. They are fluttering about everywhere, and it made for some great photo oppurtunities. The one thing about taking pictures of butterflies though is that RIGHT when you think you got them framed up right in the shot, they fly away. Typical! Below are the pictures that I did manage to get (my girlfriend snapped a few good ones as well)

As you can see from the butterfly pictures there were many different butterflies at the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary!

Some of them would even land on you (as seen in the but shot ) Usually when the butterflies land on you they only stay for a couple of seconds so you have to be quick! We had a great time at all three locations in Kuranda. It would be hard for me to pick a favourite out of the Koala Gardens, Birdworld, and The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. I think if you are in the area, just pay for the all day pass and visit all three locations, you may never get the chance to go again!

Hope you enjoyed these reviews and I will continue to post more.

Related posts:

1. Kuranda BirdWorld Visit and Review
2. Koala Garden – Visit and Review
3. Milln Reef – Great Barrier Reef

Visit and Review Kuranda Koala Gardens

While we were staying in Australia we decided to visit Kuranda. After visiting Kuranda Birdworld we visited the Kuranda Koala Garden. My girlfriend had wanted to hold a Koala Bear since we had gotten to Australia but we never really got the chance before and I heard you could do it at the Koala Garden. I figured it would be some overpriced cash grab with some dyeing Koala Bear. Wrong! We were greeted by the cutest Koala bears we had ever seen (o.k one looked a bit old and grumpy, but the other two were beautiful)

We visited in April 2009 and it only cost $15 to hold a Koala Bear (on top of the price to get in) which is not that bad. They give you a big 6×9 glossy picture that is very good quality and also let you take a lot of pictures on your own camera. If you are looking for somewhere to hold a Koala Bear in Cairns, Queensland then the Kuranda Koala Garden is the place to go.

The Kuranda Koala garden is more than just a place to go and hold a Koala bear though, they also have a lot of other photo opportunities. After visiting the Koala Bears you can walk down and see a whole group of Kangaroos and Wallabies just lounging around freely.

You can hand feed the kangaroos and even pet them if they let you!

On the way out of the Koala Garden they also have a neat enclosure with snakes and spiders and reptiles roaming around. You have to look hard to spot any of them, but once you see one snake you will notice them everywhere!

Overall I had a great time visiting Kuranda Koala Gardens. We got an all day pass so that we could also visit Kuranda Birdworld and the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. Follow the links above to see my reviews and pictures from those attractions.

Questions this blog answers:

Where can I hold a Koala Bear?
Where in Australia can I hold a Koala Bear?
Where to hold a Koala Bear in Australia?
The best Place to hold a Koala Bear
The Best place in Queensland to hold a Koala Bear

Related posts:

1. Australian Butterfly Sanctuary – Visit and Review
2. Kuranda BirdWorld Visit and Review
3. Dunk Island Review

Kuranda BirdWorld

A few months I visited BirdWorld in Kuranda with a few of my friends. BirdWorld is located in beautiful Kuranda about a half hour from Cairns. My girlfriend had been bothering me for ages to take her to Kuranda and time was ticking down to the day we leave for Canada, so I decided to rent a car and go. WAS I HAPPY WE WENT!

Kuranda offers BirdWorld, Koala Gardens and a Butterfly Sanctuary. We decided to visit all three but in this blog entry I will just cover BirdWorld. I thought Birdworld would just be like a zoo, where you go and look at some birds and that’s it, but I was wrong. Birdworld is completely interactive. After showing our tickets and getting a free bag of specially selected bird food, we were instantly greeted by a flock of parrots!

That white and pink major mitchell landed on me first. Then the other two Eclectus parrots landed on me and the white bird got jealous. He climbed down my shirt, down my shorts, hopped on the ground and started trying to attack my toes! Besides this one little trouble maker all the other birds were really friendly!

The parrots were so friendly that we even had a few that would give kisses! (of course a little bird seed was in it for them)

My favourite birds were the Macaw’s, however they were not as friendly as the other birds. I tried to get the Macaw’s to sit on my shoulder but they were happy where they were.

I think that if you are in Australia and have time and money it is definitely worth the trip to Kuranda. If you are in Cairns or close to Kuranda you HAVE TO GO. We went with a girl from Perth, Australia and she even had a great time so it isn’t just for tourists.

This is a great place to go for anyone.

The birds here are very friendly and look very healthy and colourful. These little yellow guys took a bit of coaxing before they would warm up to us, but we got them eventually.

We spent a lot of time meeting and greeting the birds near the entrance, but they have a path you can follow around to see other birds. They have a few interesting ducks, and even a Cassowary. I did not even know what a Cassowary was until I went to Australia but they are very cool birds and very rare. We were lucky enough to see one in the wild, which most Australians don’t even get to experience, but for now I’ll show you a picture of the one at Birdworld

We spent most of the day in Kuranda and stuck mostly to the markets, but Kuranda has many attractions to offer. After Kuranda there was still a bit of daylight left so we decided to stop by the Barron Gorge. We had an amazing time and have memories that will last forever. I recommend the Kuranda BirdWorld to anyone who can make it out there, and it would be great for a family.

I will post a blog and more pictures of the Butterfly Sanctuary and the Koala Garden where we got to hold a Koala Bear!

Related posts:

1. Australian Butterfly Sanctuary – Visit and Review
2. Koala Garden – Visit and Review
3. A Day in the Life in Australia

A day in the life in Australia

If you ever wondered what a good day in Australia is like this blog post if for you. I am currently living in Cairns which is a beautiful small city located in tropical far north Queensland. Most days are hot and it does rain quite a bit during the summer.
Lately each day has been hot and sunny and I have been trying to fill each day with a task to do. Last week I went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef and yesterday I finally bought a didgeridoo. Today I do not have anything planned, so I am finally going to make it out to the local golf course to whack a few balls.

I slept in today, no big deal. Almost everyday is a sleep in day when I only work casually washing dishes. I wake up and make French toast with maple flavoured syrup, nothing compared to Aunt Jemima (or real maple syrup) back in Canada but it will do. After breakfast I book a tee time and then test out the new didgeridoo. It sounds great, but I need a lot of practice. Sitting out on the balcony, overlooking the mountains and playing a didge, now this is living.

I lounge around and answer a few emails until noon, time to bike into town. It is a short bike ride into town so I check the bus schedule to make sure I will make my Tee time (it’s at 2:00) The next bus comes at 1pm and it should take about 45 minutes by bus, no problem. I grab a sub from subway and fill my water bottle; it’s a scorcher out today. The temperature has been about 30 degrees for the last week and today is no exception. I filled my water bottle and put it in the freezer for the night to freeze, and by the time the bus gets to the golf course the water is warm. The bus ride to the course was beautiful, mountains to the left and beaches and ocean to the right. Hopefully the golf course is a good one. I check in at the Half Moon Bay Resort golf course and get my bottle filled with ice cubes at the club house. I buy a few tee’s and five used golf balls, hopefully that will last. I plan to sneak in a quick nine holes.

As I walk with my bag to the first hole a couple of sulphur crested cockatoos soar by with a loud screech. They land in a nearby tree and pose for pictures.

The scenery on the course is great; too bad the greens are not. With recent floods followed by scorching heat I can not complain though.

I meet an old European man on the course and we play a couple of holes together. He tells me about another course nearby called Palm Cove that is much nicer, maybe I will play there next week. For now I will finish up my game though. As I walk down the 8th hole I see a few coconut trees out in the rough. There are a bunch of coconuts in the palms, and a few that have fallen off. I wonder if they are ripe. I go in for a closer look and give them a shake. They sound ripe and look ripe so I decide to take a couple home with me.

After nine holes of golf, a long bus ride and a quick bike home I am sweating. This is a good time to jump in the pool. There are over 10 at our apartment complex so I have lots of options. I go for a quick dip and head up to the apartment. If you are wondering where this is the place is called CAIRNS ONE. It is THE NICEST apartment place we found in all of Cairns and it is amazing to live here. We have a two bedroom apartment (and an air matress in the dining room for our friend), My girlfriend and I live in one room, and my brother and his girlfriend in the other.  If you take a look at the picture at the top of this post that is me. I wake up in the morning, walk out on the balcony and see the mountains. It’s nice!

I figure I should put the coconuts to good use and make myself a drink! I drain the coconuts, crack them open, add some pineapple juice, coconut milk, ice and a splash of rum. Just what I needed after a tough day and I got home just in time to watch the sunset with a cold drink in hand.

To wrap it all up I settle in bed after dinner and watch a movie with my beautiful girlfriend. Just another day in paradise! I better go to bed early though because I have to be up at 6:30. No sleeping in this time, I volunteer on a dive boat in the morning. But that is a story for another time. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Dunk Island Review
2. Kuranda BirdWorld Visit and Review
3. Great Ocean Road Tour – Bunyip Review – Australia