Refreshed: September 2026
Seeing the Great Barrier Reef had always been high on my list when planning my journey through Australia.
Stretching for more than 2,000 kilometres along the Queensland coast, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I had seen all those beautiful photographs of colourful coral and tropical fish, so naturally I was excited about finally seeing it for myself.
My experience, however, wasn’t quite what I had expected.
Visiting the Great Barrier Reef
My visit was included as part of my wider tour of Australia. From Cairns, we travelled by catamaran out to a platform on the Outer Reef.
The journey took around an hour and a half and was surprisingly smooth.
I had a great time on the boat, helped enormously by the people I was travelling with.
At one point, a fellow traveller offered to take a Mollywozhere photograph for me. Unfortunately, I was rummaging around in the bag between my feet and didn’t hear her calling me.
When I eventually looked up and smiled, she took the photograph and then announced that she’d caught me sitting with my legs wide open!
That generated plenty of laughter.
So we tried again.
This time I crossed my legs, smiled nicely and behaved myself.
Success at last!
Seeing the Reef
There were several ways to experience the Reef, including snorkelling and diving, but I chose the semi-submersible and glass-bottomed boat tours.
Some of my fellow travellers went snorkelling and came back disappointed by what they had seen, particularly the lack of colour in the coral in the area we were visiting.
I had snorkelled in the Red Sea in Hurghada and remembered seeing much more colourful and vibrant coral there, so I decided to experience this part of the Great Barrier Reef from the boats instead.
Both trips included commentary from a marine guide, who talked enthusiastically about the Reef and the marine life around us.
There were fish and other marine life to see, but it was the coral that held my attention. Unfortunately, much of what I saw looked pale and dull.
My experience of the Great Barrier Reef
This was difficult to reconcile with the images I had seen before my trip. I had expected brilliant colour, but what I saw from the glass-bottomed and semi-submersible boats was very different.
Of course, the Great Barrier Reef is enormous, and what I saw represented only one small part of it on one particular day. I couldn’t possibly judge the condition of the entire Reef from my own visit.
But I could describe what was directly beneath me.
The coral I photographed looked largely colourless and subdued, and I found that genuinely sad.
Our visit also made me more aware of coral bleaching and the pressures facing reef ecosystems. When corals are stressed by changes in conditions, particularly increased sea temperatures, they can lose the algae living within their tissues, causing them to lose their colour.
Seeing pale coral for myself made something I had previously only read about feel much more real.
I was disappointed. I think it is important to say that because travel doesn’t always live up to the picture you have created in your mind.
I had also booked a helicopter flight over the Reef but decided to cancel it. It wasn’t cheap, and after seeing the Reef from the water, I felt that I had experienced enough for that day.
Do I regret going? Absolutely not.
I wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef for myself, and I did. The experience also made me think much more seriously about the fragility of places we sometimes assume will simply be there forever.
St Monica's Cathedral
The Great Barrier Reef may have been the reason I came to Cairns, but one of my favourite discoveries was somewhere I hadn’t expected at all.
St Monica’s Cathedral.
Our guide suggested that we visit, and from the outside I wasn’t particularly impressed. It looked quite ordinary, and I could easily have walked straight past.
I’m very glad I didn’t.
Inside were the most beautiful stained-glass windows.
The Creation Windows
The cathedral’s Creation Windows tell the story of creation through a series of stained-glass panels.
The interior itself was simple and modern, which made the windows even more striking as the sunlight illuminated them.
I just stood there looking.
For once, I didn’t immediately reach for my camera or phone. I was so absorbed in what I was seeing that taking photographs simply didn’t occur to me.
Eventually I noticed some printed information about the windows on a nearby table. I was wondering whether I was allowed to take one when a woman appeared and asked if I was all right.
I asked whether I could take a leaflet as a souvenir.
She told me I could take as many as I wanted and simply leave a contribution.
So I did.
At the time, I had grand plans to give some away as little souvenirs when I returned to the UK and perhaps make a collage using the prints.
I must confess that I did neither.
But I still remember walking into an unassuming cathedral in Cairns and being completely surprised by what I found inside.
Bats in Cairns
Cairns had one more surprise for me.
Bats. Hundreds of them.
They were hanging upside down in trees right in the city centre.
I had never seen anything like it. What fascinated me almost as much as the bats themselves was the fact that everyone else seemed completely unconcerned.
People walked underneath them, going about their everyday business. Even tourists seemed not to notice.
I kept looking upwards thinking, Am I the only person seeing this?
When the bats became active you could certainly hear them, but still people carried on as though nothing unusual was happening.
What was extraordinary to me was simply part of everyday life in Cairns.
Cairns Esplanade
I also enjoyed walking along the Cairns Esplanade.
The waterfront promenade was perfect for an early-evening stroll when the heat had eased. People were walking, relaxing on the grass and enjoying the public spaces along the foreshore.
It was a lovely way to spend some time in Cairns away from organised excursions.
I had gone to Cairns expecting the Great Barrier Reef to be the unquestionable highlight of my visit. It wasn’t quite that simple.
I’m glad I saw the Reef, even though what I encountered didn’t match the colourful image I had carried with me. But Cairns gave me other memories too: a beautiful cathedral I nearly overlooked, hundreds of bats hanging above a busy city and a relaxing evening walk along the Esplanade.
And, of course, three photographs proving that sometimes getting the perfect Mollywozhere travel photograph takes more than one attempt.
You can also read my posts on
Australia – A Country and a Continent → overview and first impressions
Australia’s Red Centre – An Unforgettable Experience → the big landscape experience
Have you visited Australia? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below.
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