THURSDAY, MAY 8

On the way to the Skyrail terminal,

we passed fields of sugarcane. Apparently they begin to harvest in June (the dry season). We were told that most rain in the tropics is in the summer months.

I did it! I went on the Skyrail without any (well not much) problem. I didn’t like the leaving from the stations or the going over the towers but otherwise it was great – and this is such a good time to go. It wasn’t crowded and we had the cable car to ourselves. Fantastic views – and the boardwalks at the two stations were neat. When we got to Kuranda we went to the Butterfly Sanctuary – it was a bit of a letdown. The zoo in Sydney had more varieties of butterflies but we managed to hit a “tour” time so we got a little more information than a normal visit would have. The butterflies were beautiful – I had one land on me but John wasn’t there with the camera.

After that, we wandered around Kuranda – can’t say I was impressed with most of the stores but I found what I didn’t know I was looking for. A little background – when I was born, my uncle gave me a stuffed koala that was made of kangaroo fur – I slept with it for years and it was bare when I finally put it away. Today we found a toy koala that is almost an exact replica – his toes are different but he’s made of kangaroo fur (and is so soft) and he wasn’t much more expensive than a plush koala.

There is also a “hippie” area in Kuranda – tie-dyed clothing, beads, etc. Looked just like a flea market or craft fair at home – needless to say, we didn’t buy anything there.

We were booked for the 2:00 train back to Cairns and found we were in the very last car at the end (and not beside a window). Shortly after we started out, the hostess came along and said that if anyone wanted to move – the #5 carriage was completely empty and we were welcome to move to it. When we stopped at the Barron Falls lookout, John made a beeline for #5 and got 2 window seats so that we were on the side of the train that overlooked the gorge. That was almost worse (at times) than the skyrail. *s*

Temperature: 25 C – sunny with some cloud

FRIDAY, MAY 9

Awesome, Superb, Fantastic, Breathtaking, – there aren’t enough adjectives to describe the Great Barrier Reef. We had booked an all day (5 hours at the reef) tour withReef Magic with an added option of a 5 minute helicopter flight over the reef. The boat was a catamaran which docked at a platform on the Moore Reef. The cruise out was a bit rough (but not bad by BC Ferries standards) and there were quite a few seasick people. But not John and I! The water was so clear and warm (26 C) – although there were not many people who opted for just a bathing suit – most hired wet suits. On the way out, there was a brief talk by the on-site marine biologist and plenty of offers of “extras” at the site (most at an extra cost). I decided to take an introductory snorkelling tour as I have never snorkelled before and John decided to join it too. We were glad we did – Eric, the biologist, showed us how to adjust the mask (they even had prescription ones so that John could see underwater) and snorkel and then floated us around and pointed out various corals and fish.

John met Wally and

I met Sarah, both Maori Wrasse who live at the reef.

After the tour, we headed to the platform for lunch (a buffet – and I even found stuff to eat – including huge prawns.) There was lots of food – and the tropical fruit salad bowl was refreshed a few times over the afternoon. Our heli tour was booked for 1:10 so we stayed dry and looked at the fish through the underwater observatory and went to the sun deck for a look around.

Then it was time for the helicopter tour – we were tendered over to the heli pad and taken on our 5 minute tour – we saw eagle rays and sea turtles. Best of all though was the view of the reef from the air.

Back on the platform, we headed to the snorkelling area again for an hour or more of snorkelling, until we were exhausted. 5 hours wasn’t enough time for everything though – we had wanted to go on the semi-submersible but the times weren’t right for the activities we had signed up for. The crew was wonderful – the proportion of crew to tourists was about 1 to 5 – and most of them remembered names by the end of the trip. We bought a few photos of ourselves from the on-site photographer and she included 90 shots of the reef and the platform. We did take some photos with disposable marine cameras but we’re not sure how well they’ll turn out so it’s nice to have some good ones *s*

The trip back in was much smoother (although some people were still seasick). We passed a fire on an island and the crew called it in to the forest service so they could check it out.

Cairns from the ocean

We got back to port about 5 p.m. and wandered our way back to the hotel. All evening, we kept talking about the reef and all the things we’d seen. It was one of the best experiences ever and I’d recommend Reef Magic to everyone.

Sorry no pictures with our Caps jerseys at the Great Barrier Reef – we didn’t have room to carry them in a backpack as we had to take our own towels with us.

Temperature: 28 C – sunny with high cloud

 

SATURDAY, MAY 10

It was a scheduled lazy day today – the only things on the agenda were waiting for Lizz and Erik to call, getting the films from the disposable cameras developed and figuring out how to pack everything we have with us into the 3 suitcases. We’ve decided that after Brisbane we can fit everything into 4 bags as we’re each allowed 2 on the flight back.

We walked into town along the promenade along Esplanade Street – still hoping to see a saltwater croc *g* We didn’t see one but when we got down to the pool area, there was an open air market with lots of craft stalls. We decided to find a store to develop the film and then browse through the market. Luckily we went looking for the shop when we did – a lot of the stores (not the souvenir shops) close at 1 or 1:30 on Saturday afternoons – actually the town was pretty empty except for tourists.

There were some interesting craft stalls – one that was impressive sold boulder opal necklaces. They were gorgeous. John learned a lot about them when he was talking to the people who made them. Oh – and there was a stall selling natural products including a tropical strength mosquito repellent – it was very similiar to your Camper Cream, Lalena. Soon it was time to go back to pick up the photos – we weren’t holding out much hope that they’d be very good but we were surprised – there are quite a few good ones. Unfortunately, they are in print form so you’ll have to wait until we’re home to see them.

We puttered around in a few more souvenir shops and then made our way back to the apartment where we ate the juicy, fresh local grapefruit we had bought at the local fruit and vegetable market (Fridays and Saturdays only). They had all kinds of fruits and veggies that are grown just northwest of Cairns in “The Tableland” area. We saw passion fruit, dragon fruit, melons – did I mention that cantaloupe are rockmelons here?, papayas and something that is like a lychee nut. For veggies, there was everything from lettuce, cucumbers, carrots to asparagus, bokchoy, and fresh corn. There was even one stall selling sugar cane – both raw and as juice. John found the macadamia nut stall right away – the fellow running it recognized our accent as Canadian and we had quite a chat about travelling and tourists.

One thing we’ve seen a lot of is Wicked Camper rentals. They are wildly decorated and usually have some weird sayings on them – today we saw this one:

but we’ve seen a lot of others – like Homer Simpson, the Beatles, anime and some that I don’t even want to mention.

Off to do the laundry – well some of it anyway and then to pack up everything we’re not going to need in the morning. Next stop – Worldmark, Golden Beach in Caloundra where there is supposed to be internet access *s*.

Temperature: 30 C – sunny with high cloud