Cairns

While I am sure that the conference Adam attended in Cairns a couple of weeks ago was interesting, the sights and experiences were even better. Despite issues regarding acquisition of swim gear due to intense chocolate consumption, Adam did indeed go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. While he did not buy an underwater camera, the water is so clear that he was actually able to take photos of fish from the deck of the pontoon.


The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef. The reef is located in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia. It stretches over 2000 kilometres in length and can be seen from space. The Great Barrier Reef is a large system of about 900 islands and over 3000 coral reefs, which mostly lie some distance from the mainland coastline. The Great Barrier Reef was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1981.


Aside from the Reef, Adam was able to see some of the Rainforest by taking a trip on the Skyrail. Most of the tropical rainforest in Australia is a found in a small area of north-eastern Queensland known as the 'wet tropics', which sits roughly between 15 and 20 degrees south of the equator, well above the tropic of Capricorn.

Being in the tropics means there is much less variation in many environmental factors during the year than in temperate areas. The tropical rain forests of North-east Australia and other areas of the western Pacific are now believed by some scientists to be the oldest in the world. Their evidence is provided by what appears to be the highest concentration of primitive flowering plant families in the world.

Last bit of news from Cairns... as many of you know, Adam's favorite type of restaurant is a steakhouse. To put it succinctly, he is a big fan of the cow. This isn’t to say he dislikes other types of food. On the contrary, Adam is very adventurous when it comes to eating. While in Cairns this sense of adventure and experimentation reared its head when at the suggestion of a friend Adam dined at a Hare Krishna restaurant.

What is that, you ask? Well it’s a vegetarian vegan dining establishment. Adam ate at Gaura Nitai's Hare Krishna Restaurant, which is described as having pure vegetarian cuisine, three seating areas, air-conditioning when required, and peaceful ambience. For those of you who really know Adam, you might have trouble reconciling Adam in this establishment, but I kid you not he did eat there.