On the plane flying from Sydney to Cairns. Note to those traveling through Sydney, give yourself at least 2 hours to transit through the airport from international to domestic. No joke. 2 hours. 

When we arrived, we took a taxi over to our hotel/apartment for the next 3 days. Then I took a much needed shower (I was getting super grumps at this point) and headed out to walk to town to have dinner for my Uncle George's birthday.

Google maps failed us in getting to this restaurant but we finally made it. It was located along the water near the wharf and was chosen because they had the exotic meat options.

The farther plate is a mix of kangaroo and wild boar and the closer plate is a mix of boar, kangaroo, and crocodile. I think? Pretty tough and chewy

This was my seafood mix. Not good. But the scallop on the shell was a nice touch.

The next day we boarded a bus for a Daintree rainforest tour. We drove out of Cairns and up north to Port Douglas to start the tour. My dad and I were the back seat bandits trolling on the rest of the family. 

We had an awesome driver/tour guide/chef. Although, he did ask my great aunt if she wanted a husband because he wanted a rich wife. Well, actually, don't we all? No judgment here, man. You do you.

I don't remember the name of this area, maybe Cooya beach, but we stopped here for a bio break before heading into Mossman to see the gorge. 

Parentals

Apparently this is how the crabs dig their holes, they push the sand out into little balls that make intricate patterns outside the entrance. Of course, my mom had to squish a few of the openings because she's...special.

And into the gorge. I know, we're a walking joke. Big group of Asian tourists. With hats. So many hats.

Anyway, plant formations. Seeds fall into cracks in the tree and grow bushes. Bushes on trees.

Parentals again. I think they brought me only so I could take stupidly cute photos of them.

I think this may have been the start of the gorge. The water was gorgeously clear and drinkable.

Next we went to an area for crocodile tours. They had a large garden of giant trees like the one above.

On a boat

The crocodiles were pretty tiny since they were only a few years old so I took pictures of the roots and the mangroves instead.

Make sure to pay the monkey for his bananas

I forgot where this was too. 

I would make an awful tour guide. Sorry! I guess this is why you don't pay me?

For lunch, we stopped at a bug museum where we got to see some giant walking sticks and display after display of bugs.

That butterfly would make a gorgeous tat if only the colors would come out that vibrant.

They also had a large selection of dead beetles and some giant bugs that I would never want to meet in a dark alley at night. Ugh.

This was our lunch spot. We met up with another tour bus and their guide and ours cooked us a steak and fish lunch.

Barramundi and potato salad

Next it was on to Cape Tribulation. The water was super warm which is very strange compared to the arctic that is the California coastline.

Twisting branches in the rainforest

Asian taking pictures of Asian taking pictures of plants

This was our second rainforest walk of the tour which wound its way through these giant trees and over an estuary that was full of mangroves

Last stop was to an animal sanctuary to buy some Daintree chocolate and tea which, sorry, tasted like Lipton tea.

Fun fact: Kangaroos are giant in real life

They had lots of gorgeous parakeets and parrots that they had saved including a giant cockatoo that mocked my laughter. What a jerk

Fun fact: one parakeet, not so loud. 20? God, no. It's not enjoyable.

And finally, the tour guide said, "I know a place where you can get excellent mangos," so of course we say, "TAKE US THERE!" Which led to this photo of Asians picking up mangos from the ground. Never underestimate the appeal of free fruit. They were super juicy, incredibly fragrant, and overly fibrous. I finally gave up trying to suck on them and ended up squeezing them to make mango juice for breakfast. The tour guide said these were the type of mangos that you eat naked in the bathtub. Thank goodness my great aunt can't understand english, or that would have been suggestively awkward. For everyone.

On the second day in Cairns, I split off from the family (gasp! No more family fun time!) and went scuba diving in the great barrier reef. Here I am, in a boarding picture (probably in case we go overboard, kidding) looking extremely excited to be on a boat

This was the awesome fish that followed us around underwater. I forgot his name but he was pretty game for being tossed around underwater.

In other news, stinger suits make you look super sexy

Here he is again, putting on his serious face

Last day in Cairns and we split the family into two groups. One group went on a tram ride up a mountain and the other group went fishing. We didn't catch too much, a few angelfish and tiny barramundi. I had the weirdest catches of the day which included a puffer fish and a sting ray. We ended up having fresh sashimi on the boat, freshly steamed crabs, and took mom's catch home to prove to my dad that we caught something.

The next day we packed up and took a plane to Melbourne where we ate. A ton. The first night was a giant multi-course roast duck meal where I probably packed on 5 pounds of food. Delicious, delicious food.

The next day we had a BBQ lunch with some very old family friends. My dad has a picture of me and the girl, Denise, when I was about 1 in Hong Kong. I'll try to upload if I can find it.

After the giant BBQ lunch, birthday cake, and ever-present pavlova, we rolled ourselves over to the botanical garden to walk off the calories. Saw some gorgeous flowers and giant trees

Then we went to my aunt's place in order to cook up some gorgeous wagyu steaks and chow down on the biggest platter of salmon sashimi that I've ever seen.

Steak glamour shot!

Such a fun trip. I ended up heading back after this in order to go to work.

Note to travelers: try to check in online if you fly out of Melbourne. The international check in area is pretty horrendous and they do not have any ticketing kiosks. Then you go through security. Then customs. THEN you sprint to your gate. 

The trip back was pretty painful too and I ended up not sleeping at all. Needless to say, I needed some recovery time. The parentals stayed on to do a two week cruise around New Zealand and then flew back home. 

Can't wait for the next reunion!