The end of the line, otherwise known as the Great Barrier Reef

After Airlie Beach, there was a long drive to get up to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef but it was all worth it. We loved Australia but honestly, the best part of the whole trip was Airlie Beach and the Great Barrier Reef...it made the hours and hours of driving worth it!

Our first few nights in Cairns, we stayed with a woman named Leslie, who was actually originally from Chicago, and who lived with her husband and two adorable dogs in a open-air home that felt like a tree-house! She took us to the botanical gardens and the arts center that she used to be the director of. We also had a lovely afternoon swimming in the artificial lagoon on the promenade in downtown Cairns.

Our second to last day in Cairns, we went on a boat tour out to the reef to snorkel and also try scuba diving for the first time. It was magical...we saw giant clams, sea cucumbers, and some of the most brilliant colored fish I've ever seen. We wanted to purchase a disposable underwater camera but they didn't have any on onboard...bah humbug!

The first dive that we got to do, about four of us linked arms with our instructor and honestly, I hated it; I felt claustrophobic. But our second dive, we were allowed to swim around as long as we were less than ten feet from our instructor and I think the freedom helped me feel much less claustrophobic. It was amazing down there!!! Like another world!

Because we didn't have photos from the reef, we had to take pictures of our empty plates of delicious boat buffet

What's going on in this picture is that I don't know what's going on

Oh, heyyyy!

Drinking a glass of wine on the boat ride back

BEAUTIFUL.