Cairns and Great Barrier Reef

The ultimate Great Barrier Reef experience: looking a sea turtle in the eye:

The shells in this picture are the Giant Clams. The are the largest mollusks on Earth that can grow to more than a yard across. The ones you see here have been exposed by the low tide, but most of them live their 100-year lives fully underwater.

This is a small crown-of-thorns starfish. Its spikes are venomous, and it can grow to more than a foot in diameter. In large numbers, they are dangerous to the reef: they actually eat coral, faster than it can reproduce. 

At the Cairns airport:

Cairns beach:

And warnings about the Cairns wildlife:

A few more marsupials around Cairns and Port Douglas:

Night visitor to our house:

Fruit bats, also known as flying foxes:

Parting shot - just a picture of the reef blue: