Last Day in Cairns!

Also, it's Friday Funday! ICE CREAM TIME. I spent two hours last night debating whether or not I should walk two blocks to grab some gelato and ended up pulling several people into my debate as well.

Cairns is my new Disneyland. I love this town.

And ignore how much I ate.

Breakfast:

Banana, plain Greek yogurt, apple & ginger juice (drank throughout the day, finally finished around the time I bought the other juice)
(Ran a little over four miles along the pier! I wish I took my phone with me so I could have taken a picture of the sun and water.)

Snack from a Filipino stand at Rusty's Markets, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Potato & carrot curry roll
(Oily fried goodness.)

Snack from Rusty's Juice Bar at Rusty's Markets, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

"Liver Cleanser" juice: beetroot, apple, carrot, celery, ginger, a hint of lemon + pineapple (I wanted some pineapple)
(Felt like I probably needed this. I've missed fresh pressed juices!)

Snack from one of many bakery stands at Rusty's Markets, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Chocolate covered cream puff
(Only got this because the sign was in Japanese. I can't eat American-based cream puffs because the custard is too rich and sweet. This custard was light and just sweet enough. Mmm.)

Snack from a frozen fruit purée stand at Rusty's Markets, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Sample of banana & mango fruit purée

Banana, strawberry & mango fruit purée
(I used to make this at home! I miss my blender.)

Snack from the Macaron stand at Rusty's Markets, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Chocolate almond croissant
(Apparently the best almond croissant in Cairns, but doesn't even compare to Filou's in Melbourne. So disappointing. This croissant was way too heavy and didn't have the flaky layers I wanted.)

Samples at Coffee Works, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Orange chili dark chocolate (+ lemon myrtle dark chocolate, chili dark chocolate, lemon & pepper dark chocolate, not pictured)
(More orange chocolate than chili orange chocolate. The lemon myrtle was actually really good; it tasted like lemongrass chocolate. I got some to bring back to Melbourne.)

Snack from Gelocchio, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Pistachio gelato covered in dark chocolate w/pistachio
(THE BEST GELATO I'VE EVER HAD. And the guy custom made it for me too! I really wish I wasn't allergic to hazelnuts though, because the other flavour sounded incredible. Oh well, pistachio's an all-time favourite flavour and this was magical. The gelato was rich and creamy, but not overwhelmingly so. Perfect balance of sweetness, richness and creaminess. The pistachio flavour was prominent, the dark chocolate was strong and the pistachio bits on the outside provided a beautiful texture contrast. Absolutely beautiful stick of gelato. Too bad it was so expensive!)

Snack:

Carrot, apple, orange & ginger juice (sipped throughout the day, finally finished around midnight)
(Why can't I find this stuff in Melbourne!?)

 Snack from a fruit stand at the Night Markets, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Strawberries, honeydew, cantaloupe, kiwifruit, watermelon, pineapple (ate several chunks)
(Can't leave tropical Cairns without buying fruit! Mmm so good. I'm saving the rest for breakfast the next day.)

Dinner at Sushi Express in Orchid Plaza, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Salmon roll
(Started out with "real" sushi.)

Beef bulgogi roll (scraped out as much mayo as possible)
(Apparently this is quite popular. The beef was tender and well marinated. I don't eat bulgogi much so I don't really know what it should taste like, but the roll tasted good!)

Takoyaki
(Been craving these balls! I love that they put the mayo on the side!)

Okonomiyaki
(Not enough cabbage.)

Grilled beef roll
(Did not look like the pictures at all. Very disappointed. I guess I got my "steak" for the trip. People like steak here.)

More takoyaki
(There's actual octopus in these! Unlike the ones I got in Melbourne.)

Sample from this souvenir shop at the Night Markets, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Teensy tiny little bite of emu & roo jerkies
(Was walking around the Night Markets killing time before my flight and this nice lady approached me, asking if I wanted a sample. She all but thrusted the jerky containers to me so I was compelled to get a piece and try it. The roo jerky was very tough, not very spicy at all and a bit sweet. Apparently the regular jerky is even sweeter, and she told me the spicy version was good for drinking.  The emu jerky was very soft and also a bit sweet. I felt kind of sick after my little nibbles -trust me, they were tiny- and finally told the lady that I only eat meat once a month to stop her from forcing more random meat samples down my throat. She was really sweet though and proceeded to tell me about all the "unique" meats, the best way to cook them and all that. Good to know for future reference but I think I'll stick to the four "usual" animals. I always want to try new meats, but then I get so psychologically weirded out that I feel sick. But I suppose now I can say I've consumed emu and roo!)

Snack from the Crepe booth at the Night Markets, Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

Green tea crepe (w/green tea ice cream, azuki beans, cornflakes, condensed milk & fresh whipped cream)
(Yum. Cairns is surprisingly much cheaper than Melbourne even though it's a total tourist area. I guess the huge Chinese population has some influence, but I'm not complaining! I wish the crepe was cooked longer since I like it more brownish, but everything else was fine! Especially liked how light it was.)

Another view

Late late night snack at the Cairns International Airport:

Banana walnut bread slice

Great Barrier Reef!

I finally got to see a part of the Great Barrier Reef today (only the inner water parts; I get too seasick)!!! It's been over a decade, but my third grade goal has finally been accomplished.

Breakfast:

Cashews (2)
(Finished all of the cashews!)

Several gulps of apple & carrot juice
(One litre of juice is a lot.)

Snack:

Tea
(Would have drank the coffee, but I would have been hopping all over the place. Eek! So excited to go snorkeling.)

Buffet lunch on board the ship:

Mixed greens, lots of watermelon, beetroot, corn, grated cheese, cucumber & tomato feta salad, pineapple & veggie pasta bake
(See? Vegetarian dishes always signify some sort of pasta dish here. Whatever, it was good. A bit creamy, but tasted delicious with the watermelon.)

Watermelon, pineapple, cucumber & tomato feta salad, veggie pasta bake, beef curry w/wholemeal bread
(Went back half an hour later to grab more watermelon and pineapple. The curry tasted like the Viet beef stew I used to eat so that was kind of nice.)

Watermelon, cucumber & tomato feta salad, beef curry w/wholemeal bread, veggie pasta bake, corn, stir-fry noodles
(About an hour later. I didn't eat all three dishes in one sitting - that would have been a feat, but then I would have probably ended up feeding the fish later. Wasn't a fan of the stir-fry noodles.)

Snack:

Apple & carrot juice

Snack:

Banana walnut bread slice
(I like that they have sour cream in here instead of butter. I still think I make better banana bread.)

Snack:

Mango & passionfruit frozen yogurt, banana walnut bread slice
(I want ice cream so badly. Why is it not Friday?! This frozen yogurt was really good though!)

 Snack:

Apple & carrot juice (finished the rest of it!)

Snack:

Banana walnut bread slice w/Chobani apple cinnamon Greek yogurt
(I must be more famished than I thought, but I guess the buffet went toward the three hour snorkeling and the bread went toward my run.)

Late night snack:

Banana walnut bread slice

Cairns, Day One

Went to Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest today!

Breakfast:

Several gulps of apple & carrot juice
(Running out of memory space on my phone, camera and USB stick, so I have to re-use photos.)

Cashews (2)
(Almost done with this bag of cashews!)

Snack:

Lemon candy from Tom

Snack:

Apple
(I wanted to get the pretty background in too, but the camera focused on the bg instead of the apple.)

Snack on the bus:

Chocolate chip biscuit (all the biscuits were from the bus driver)

Tiny bite of this Anzac biscuit
(Wanted to try this since I read about their history with the Australian army. Unfortunately, there's a lot of desiccated coconut in here and that's the form of coconut that I'm most allergic to. For some reason, desiccated coconut will cause my throat to constrict faster than any other form of coconut - even fresh coconut! So I was really happy when the bus driver handed these out. I wasn't a fan, but maybe that's because the coconut irritated me.)

Lunch at Cape Tribulation Beach House, Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia:

Olive focaccia bread

Pasta w/pesto, olives, cherry tomatoes, spinach & parmesan cheese (didn't finish)
(For some reason, vegetarian dishes always mean pasta. At least the pesto and cheese were good. It was very garlicky.)

Fruit platter (shared w/the table)
(Best part of the meal!)

Some of Clare and Shenshen's barramundi
(The non-fried one tasted like Asian steamed fish.)

Snack:

Chocolate candy from Clare

Snack:

Chocolate chip biscuit

Dinner:

Cashews (2)

Several gulps of apple & ginger juice

Several gulps of apple & carrot juice

Good-bye Brisbane, hello Cairns!

My last day in Brisbane! I'm flying off to Cairns in a few hours and will be spending the next few days in the rainforest, on a beach or in the Great Barrier Reef. Isn't life grand? ;)

Breakfast:

Vanilla yogurt w/pinapple slices, banana slices, pb, cashews, macadamia & cereal

Snack:

A bit of cereal

Snack:

Vanilla yogurt w/banana slices & cereal
(Finished off the vanilla yogurt and cereal for Trang.)

Snack:

Cashews (2)
(The start of the handfuls of cashews...)

Snack:

Cashews (2)

Snack:

Cashews (3)

Snack:

Cashews
(My plane got delayed for over an hour. Ugh.)

Snack:

Apple & rhubarb juice
(Finally arrived in Cairns!!!)

Snack:

Several gulps of apple & ginger juice

Snack:

Several gulps of apple & carrot juice