Australia Day 1 - Arrival in Cairns

We left Little Rock on the 23^rd of February.  At length, after over 24 hours of travel and a day lost over the International Date Line, we arrived in Brisbane, Australia on the 25^th of February and then took a short hop to Cairns (pronounced Kaans).   We met the rest of our tour group (about 35 of us total) and our tour guide, a Melbournian named Luke.  We had committed to not sleeping until that night so a nap was out of the question and upon our arrival we went to explore the Esplanade, Cairns’ main drag with the ocean on one side and the town on the other.  After a nice long walk in the sultry heat, we opted for a dip in the hotel pool and had time for a quick shower and change before our group dinner with the rest of our fellow travelers.  After dinner we headed into town to rent an underwater camera for our adventure the next day.