Cairns

I left Papua this morning and I am back in Australia. My Port of entry is Cairns, only two hours by plane from Port Moresby. As there is no connection back to Darwin until 9 hours later I took a car to explore the coast up North. It is dotted with an incredible number of beautiful and 'wild' beaches. Dozens of them all the way up to Port Douglas and above. I ferried across the Daintree River to Cape Tribulation and came back to Cairns before the sunset. I did not stay long but I found the city to be pretty similar to Darwin but with a much more touristy feel, tons of backpackers (obviously using it as the gateway to the Great Coral Reef) and a funny but great idea - since it is virtually impossible to swim in the sea because of the usual box jellyfish, sharks and the rest - of having an open sea water pool in the middle of the city.