The tropics. Cairns is located at 16,5° latitude below the equator. At the end of November, the sun reached its zenith above 21,5° latitude below the equator. That was pretty much right above us and boy did we feel it. Take into account that there is a big hole in the ozone layer above Australia and you'll understand that it was hot. Over the course of the next 5 weeks, our trip takes us down the east coast to end in Sydney for New Year's Eve. We'll be passing directly underneath the sun somewhere along the way (remember Chief Wiggum in The Simpsons?).

Cairns is also known as the gateway to the 3000 km long Great Barrier Reef. It has been officially declared dead by some seeking attention for the impact of global warming. But the sections that we personally inspected are still very much alive and flourishing. The coral ranged in color from bright blue to vibrant green, yellow or orange, but they were no match for the fish. Clownfish were easy to find in their anemone homes, parrot fish with their distinctive beak and rainbow colors were having their gills cleaned by smaller fish, all under the watchful eye of a massive barracuda. A turtle came up for some fresh air in the middle of our snorkeling group, after which it went back to the coral it was snacking on. Stingrays hid in the sand or in coral caves, and were only betrayed by their eyes and tail. It's not that there was an abundance of fish, but it was the variety of both fish and coral that sets this place apart from other places we have seen.

But it's not all paradise:

• #1 pet peeve when snorkeling: water in my goggles. And facial hair does not help. A mustache is the perfect location for water to come into the goggles and mess up your experience. Snorkeling protip: apply liberal amounts of vaseline to your 'stache to fill in the gaps between the hairs!
• #1 pet peeve when going in the water in Australia: something will try to hurt or kill you. Summer here is also the stinger season, when all kinds of jellyfish float up to the coastal water. The Irukandji is the worst: transparent and the size of a thumbnail, with tentacles the length of a finger. These fuckers are impossible to see and they also pass through the 'stingernets' that create a safe area to swim. Worst of all, their sting can actually kill. Stinger suits provide protection but most leave your neck, hands and feet exposed. A week after we left Cairns, a woman got stung in the neck and spent 4 days in the hospital. No thank you very much. We're a bit paranoid about all these things, while many Australians seem to have accepted their fate and don't even wear suits anymore. And if it's not the jellyfish, a crocodile or shark may want to take a nibble. And it doesn't even have to be a living organism. The currents on a lot of beaches are so strong that you could get dragged out to sea. The latter may well be what happened to the Australian Prime Minister in 1967. Went for a swim and was never seen again. As an answer to the dangers of the sea, many beach cities have 'lagoons': free (salt water) swimming pools at the waterfront with sun bathing possibilities galore. Added bonus: no sand!

We also had our first real encounter with Australian Christmas spirit. The northern hemisphere has created some firm Christmas traditions that are also respected in Australia. Unfortunately, many of these traditions and expectations revolve around it being winter. In this sense, the Australians are 'seasonally' challenged. The giant christmas tree is flanked by palmtrees on the promenade. Volunteering to be santa is the most effective way to lose weight fast, as you'll sweat off a couple kilograms in the traditional outfit. You can buy fake snow to have a little pile of it sitting in a tray on a cabinet. Which is the worst idea ever, since contrary to regular snow, this stuff doesn'f melt but the small flakes will definitely hide anywhere they can. You might as well pop a glitter filled balloon inside of your house.

Now, those of you that know Caroline also know that she would never, ever, ever even consider the possibility of jumping out of an airplane. But that is exactly why Mission Beach was the next stop after Cairns. I don't know what happened along the way, but it must have been somewhere around Taupo in New Zealand when she started to change her mind. There were plenty of previous opportunities for a skydive, but there was always an excuse not to do it. "What do you mean this afternoon!! Nonono, I don't have enough mental preparation time", or "But there won't be a cameraman! Nonono, we need a separate cameraman". On December 2nd, 2016, we were all geared up and ready to go, nerves racing, ... but the plane refused to start and we had to wait two hours for another plane to be flown over from Cairns. More luck the second time! The plane ascended over a croc-filled estuary before we took the plunge above the relative safety of the beach. Caroline was fine with it all until the first tandem swooped out of the airplane. It really is swooping, not just dropping. They dissappeared from sight instantly. That's when she realized what she was doing and freaked out. You can see this exact moment on the pictures, as she looks away in horror. Overall though, it was an incredible, complete experience. There's the 'Holy shit' in the first couple of seconds while you accelerate to terminal velocity, after which you can really enjoy freefalling to the ground that doesn't really seem to get any closer yet. Then the parachute opens and you can soak in the views of the green inland, the beach, the islands, and the Great Barrier Reef in the far distance. And then, because it's big business, you can get the rollercoaster experience when the instructor spirals you down in record time for a landing on the beach. We were not fans of the spiraling. There have been so many 'firsts' on this trip. Altitude records, physical feats, skydiving, tattoos (lol jk), .... You might say we are moving our own limits further by crossing borders. And that last sentence sounds a LOT better in Dutch.

Like the rest of our trip, we didn't plan ahead for our east coast road trip. We thought we'd just book accommodation and activities on the go, never more than a couple of days ahead. Big mistake. December and January are peak season, even the Australians have their holidays (it's the summer vacation). We also found out that booking everything ourselves would be much more expensive than booking through a travel agent. They offer discounts on everything, which makes you think. What is the actual price of an excursion, if a middle man can offer a discount while still making a profit for the tour operators and himself? Is this why Australia is considered so expensive to visit? But I digress. We went into a travel agency for extra information and left with a fixed and booked itinerary for all our major excursions on the east coast. Protip when traveling to Australia in December/January: Book ahead. Preferably through a local travel agency that will offer extra discounts.

Last stop this week: Magnetic Island. It was a lot less exciting than it sounds. The underwater snorkel trail was extremely dissapointing after having done the Great Barrier Reef. But we did get acquainted with the locals! Considered the #1 pest in New Zealand and an all-time favorite for 'roadkill of the year', the possum looks uncanningly cute! It was shy at first, glancing at us from its tree. It took 15 minutes for her (she had a pouch) to build up the confidence to come and have a look at our foodbag on the table while I was calling the homefront. They seem very suitable as pets, were it not for the razor sharp claws and teeth, and diseases.

Week 17 will have us boarding another small plane. We'll tell you later whether we jumped out of that one as well. Also: close encounters with Australia's deadly creatures.

PS: There was an appalling lack of nice pictures to document this week. They'll be better next week. I promise.

Geschreven door BigTrip