Arrived in cairns in the evening and checked into Esplanade backpackers. The hostel has a great location, right next to the lagoon which is huge! We spent most of our time at this lagoon including our evenings having bbqs and watching the world go by.We spent a day out on the Barrier reef with passions catamaran (I was sick within 30mins of hitting some waves!) Our first stop was Michaelmas Cay, a stunning protected sand dune on the reef which we snorkelled from. Just a metre off the beach we saw rays, nemos (my highlight!) small reef sharks and what seemed like a million different coloured fish. Later in the day we saw some dolphins as we sailed back to the harbour.