Research and Rainforest

By Jen.

In Cairns, first on the list was to get me a new camera. I would really like to upgrade to something with higher dynamic range and more manual controls, but that pretty much means going to a dSLR, which is expensive. And, since I found out you can’t get cameras worked on in other countries, I decided I should just get a cheapo that should last me another 6 months (seems to be the about the max before they need repaired or cleaned), focusing on the major thing I need to take pictures on walks (good zoom). There weren’t a lot of options in Cairns, so I just bought the cheapest point-and-shoot they had decent zoom (above 20x). Turned out to be the Nikon B500 at the Camera House. I was really hesitant about it, mostly because it is such a big camera. I mean, it isn’t massive, but is about twice the depth than I am used to with the compact, superzoom point-and-shoot cameras that I normally own. I couldn’t go smaller without losing a lot of zoom or spending several hundred dollars more. As a plus, it has less moving parts, which should make it a bit more robust. This should also help me figure out whether I can actually handle a camera with a removable lens (as opposed to the retractable, built-in ones that I normally have), since, similarly, I won’t be able to put it in my purse or pocket. The plan was to see if I liked it during the next event (Skyrail), which was also in Cairns area, then if I didn’t like it, I could return it.

Next day was the Skyrail. It is a gondola ride above the canopy of the rainforest. It was really well-rated so we thought we would give it a try.

 

While we were passing over the river, we saw bird of prey swoop down and grab a snake off a dead tree. It was pretty cool.

We upgraded to the glass bottom for the first half.

At this point, I am just thankful to have that annoying purple smudge out of my photos!

While we were in the area, we decided to do research on how we were going to visit the Great Barrier Reef. We didn’t really feel like trying to learn how to dive, so we focused on finding a snorkeling tour. I had been kinda hoping to do it somewhere outside of Cairns, but I was having a hard time finding information on most of the tours. Then, the few that I found ended up being more expensive, or not as good a place to snorkel. By the end of research, I had narrowed it down to these three, based upon reviews, snorkeling location quality, and price: a Green Island visit ($93pp), Seastar Cruises ($195pp, visiting Michaelmas Cay and Hastings Reef), or Wavelength Reef Cruises ($239.50pp, visiting Opal Reef). We decided that since we really only wanted to do this once, we would go on one of the more expensive cruises and avoid the larger, not-directed crowds at Green Island. I checked both, but Seastar was already booked for the next day. Wavelength had only 2 spots available, so we took them! Time to knock that one off our bucket list.