Saturday, April 25

John was awake before the crack of dawn and headed down to the park at the shore (2 blocks from our apartment) to be a part of the Dawn Anzac Memorial. He said the cars were double parked on the streets, some blocking other people in. Not sure how many people were there but the paper says over 5000. Later in the morning, there was a parade to another part of the park. We watched that from our apartment and then decided to go for a drive.

We ended up at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park and thought it must be closed for Anzac Day because there were no cars in the parking lot. To our surprise, it was open and there were only about 30 visitors. We wandered around taking in the demonstrations (Hunting and Weapons, Bush Tucker, Digeridoo, and a dance performance). John also took part in boomerang throwing.

It was an interesting look at the culture of the indigenous people of Australia. It took a couple of hours to see the exhibits and then we went looking for something for dinner (preferably, fish and chips). For a city that is right on the ocean, it is really hard to find a fish and chip shop – and then when you do, they use egg in the batter. Ok, plan B – in the morning we had noticed a sign on a fishing boat that they had fresh, cooked prawns for sale. They were wonderful!

After eating, we were watching out the window and thousands of bats flew by. A lot of the bats roost during the day in trees right in Cairns and they make a lot of noise (and excrement). Once the bats were gone (I did try to take a photo but couldn’t quite manage to capture them), we went down for a nice soak in the hot tub, or so we thought. Turns out the hot tub was less warm than the pool. Oh well, it was refreshing.

Sunday, April 26

Another wonderful visit to the Great Barrier Reef with Reef Magic Cruises. We had debated going with another company just to see what they might offer but, in the end, we went with Reef Magic. One of the reasons was that we had had such a good time 7 years ago when we went out with them and the other was that they offer snorkelling off an anchored pontoon instead of just off the boat.

It was a beautiful morning and the day was just as good. It takes 45 minutes to get to Moore Reef which is on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. When we got there, we were given a safety briefing and it was recommended that we rent lycra suits as it is still stinger season – we weren’t going to but then we had second thoughts. John paid for the rentals, and when I went to pick up my suit the staff person handed me and XS! I told him he must be joking, I’ve never ever been an XS so he gave me a small and said they stretch 🙂
Well, the small fit but the sleeves were about 12 inches too long!

On top of the lycra suits, we wore life vests and I also had a pool noodle. We were set! I thought I might have a few minutes of panic as usual when snorkelling but I was floating around before John even got into the water. And yes, it was still like bath water in temperature.

It wasn’t long before we were being amazed by the fish and the corals.

A short stop for lunch and we were back in the water. After tiring ourselves out (and drinking a lot of very salty water), we decided on a semi-submersible trip which was a lot of fun – even the old fellow who wanted us all to sing “My Bonnie lies over the Ocean” complete with hand actions and the other fellow who wanted everyone to sing Yellow Submarine.

Before we were ready, it was time to leave the reef. If anyone goes to Cairns, check out Reef Magic – they’re great.