Cairns and Cairns City
From the plane we got our first glimpse of Australia.
After checking into the hotel and getting to our room, Dave and I decided to explore the area. We walked toward the ocean, dodging rain drops. There is a really neat pool that looks like it empties into the ocean but doesn’t really; it is just very close. Then we walked to a bar on the esplanade where we had a beer on the esplanade, followed by pizza a block further down. Then we found a place to purchase beer and G&T premised drinks and returned to our room for the night. It had been a long day.
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Michaelmas Cay
Thursday February 23, day 25 started early. A bus picked us up at the hotel, after we enjoyed a buffet breakfast. We were headed to the wharf where we boarded the “Ocean Spirit” catamaran for a 8 1/2 cruise to Michaelmas Cay along the Great Barrier Reef.
The trip started smoothly but once we hit open water, the waves were pretty high. most people could walk around easily but I could not! I had to hang on to Dave or an object but that just added to the fun.
While on the trip, we enjoyed both morning and and afternoon teas. We listened to a talk by a marine biologist. The topic we chose was sea turtles. How informative and interesting.
The crew fed fish along the way. They sure enjoyed and easy meal. Then we took turns going out on a glass-bottom boat for views of the fish and the reef. Wow, words can not describe the reef. When we got to the cay, some people went scuba diving. Some scuba experts in our group were concerned because the divers apparently were not required to show training certificates and they did not agree diving should be allowed by those people.
We also got on tenders and went scuba diving wearing lycra suits and snorkel gear. i was not able to do the snorkeling but it was fun to watch other people, including Dave. It was also fun to see all of the birds on this cay which is a bird sanctuary.
Looming clouds turned to rain as we headed back to our catamaran. Since we were already wet, it really did not matter.
Back on the catamaran, we enjoyed a beverage and desserts. Apparently our wedding anniversary was announced over the PA but we were on the outside deck and did not hear it.
Returning to the hotel, Dave and I went out to dinner to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. We chose a restaurant recommended by some others in our group. We had an outside table and decided to split a meal. We chose Peking Duck with Fried Rice. Apparently I had misread the menu. There was no “AND”, just pieces of duck in the rice. It was a pretty small meal for two but we enjoyed it. Last stop of the day was a return to the bar we visited yesterday, for one more beer.
Kuranda, Cairns, Barron Gorge
Friday February 24, day 26 was another busy day. Have I mentioned, we were BUSY the entire 39 days. Everyone in the group commented that we are RETIRED and never quite this busy!!
A bus picked us up at 8 AM and took us to the Freshwater Station to ride the Kuranda Scenic Rail Heritage. This was a 1 1/2 hour ride through scenic rugged rain forest. It was an engineering triumph. One stop along the way was at Barron Falls for picture opportunities. While waiting for the train, we saw our first kangaroo. It was in the wild and moved very fast. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a picture.
We had about an hour free time in Kuranda. This area is known for its opals and I really wanted one. I thought I wanted a black opal, which is a neat blue color but ended up with a white opal necklace. So beautiful. Thank you for letting me get it, Dave.
Our next stop was to the Rainforest Station Nature Park. It was lunch time when we arrived and we had another delicious buffet before exploring the park. We saw kangaroo (which we got to pet) koalas, Tasmanian Devils, salt and freshwater alligators and much more. Then we had a duck boat ride through the rain forest where our guild told us a lot about the plants. Some of them are edible, some poisonous!
Returning to the park, we were treated to a demonstration of the didgeridoo, boomerang throwing, spear throwing and an aboriginal dance. The didgeridoo can actually be quite musical. Only men are allowed to play it, never women. We all got to try our hand at throwing the boomerang. None of us got it to return. Dave’s started to return but was too low and stuck in the ground.
We returned to our bus by a gondola over the top of the rain forest. It is so neat to see, from above or within.
