Kirra Beach – 3

Two lazy days on Thursday and Friday. The idea was to sit in the sun and just relax but the weather had other ideas. We woke up to rain showers on Thursday morning putting an end to the idea of sitting in the sun. After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to go and find the Currumbin Rock Pools – which were shown on a local map as a tourist location.

Hmmm, okay…. I guess we’re just used to rivers and pools on the river. The only animals we saw were a few cows and horses and this alpaca.

Next up was looking for a few souvenirs from this area – not a very successful mission. There doesn’t seem to be many stores with souvenir items – mostly just surf stuff. We drove up to the cliffs above Point Danger and watched the surfers for a while. They are definitely more advanced in this area than the spot where we were watching earlier in the week.

When we got back to the apartment, there was a short period where we had sun so we sat on the balcony and watched the beach (and wondered why there were 4 boats and 3 trucks parked on the edge of the water but were never used).

Friday started out nice and sunny but the clouds quickly moved in. We took the car out to get gas (it’s $1.49/litre now) and then found a fish and chip takeaway shop for lunch. You wouldn’t believe the portions! We only ate part (maybe a little more than half) of what we got and we’re still not hungry 7 hours later. The sun came out for about 1/2 hour and we enjoyed it until it started to rain so we watched Australian Rules Football on the television (and I knit while watching).

Evening sky

We’re leaving Kirra Beach a day earlier than planned so that we can make it a leisurely drive to Pokolbin Hill (it’s about a 9 hour drive). Not sure where we’re going to be tomorrow or how much internet access we’ll have at Pokolbin Hill. I’ll post when I can.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when we were in Springbrook National Park, John saw a bandicoot peeking out from under the bushes to see if it was safe to cross the road.

Temperature: 20 C – cloudy, showery

Kirra Beach – 2

TUESDAY, MAY 20

The bus from Australian Day Tours was ready and waiting when we got to the lobby 10 minutes before pick-up time. We were the first passengers – and the only ones until we got to Surfer’s Paradise. The driver, Neville, entertained us with a variety of stories before we picked up the next people.

It was a full day of touring around Brisbane – both on the tour bus and on a river cruise. Our first stop was the cliffs at Kangaroo Point where we had a view of Brisbane’s Central Business District and the Brisbane River. Neville offered to take photos of anyone who wanted one so, of course, we had him take one of us with Brisbane in the background.

We had morning tea at the

Breakfast Creek Hotel.

They served tea or coffee and scones (or you could purchase something “stronger” at the bar which opens at 10 a.m.). After tea, we were dropped off at the dock for the hour long river cruise. Some of the homes along the river are fantastic – and we saw a lot of examples of “Queenslander” homes – houses that are built on “stumps” so that they are raised up off the ground. There were also a lot of old factories and storehouses which have been made into apartments. The cruise ended at South Bank, at the site of Expo 88 (it reminded us a lot of the Expo 86 site) where we had just over an hour to explore on our own before meeting the tour bus again. As it is the 20-year anniversary of Expo 88, there were a lot of photos and

markers on display commemorating the event.

Once back on the bus, we toured around Brisbane a little more before heading to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary for an hour and a half. There were a lot of koalas – and they were separated into different pens – there were the mothers, the “kindergartners” (koalas who had recently been separated from the mothers), the bachelors and a retirement centre. We spent most of our time watching the kindergarten – it was time to change the feed trees so the little guys were quite active. I found the map of the complex, that we were given, confusing. We really didn’t see many of the animals at all. We were looking for the pademelons (a type of small kangaroo) but couldn’t locate them. We did see a kookaburra and a

Tawny Frogmouth. Isn’t he cute?

Our last stop was at Mt. Coot-tha Lookout – where there was a panoramic view of the coastal area and some of the mountains. It was a short stop at the lookout and then we started for home. We were the last drop off and were pretty tired when we got back. It was a great tour, though, and Neville is a walking encyclopedia. It seemed like he could answer any question thrown at him and he didn’t mind all the questions.

Temperature: 23 C – sunny

John with the kindergarten koalas

Artwork statues from Expo 88 – now along the Brisbane River

Brisbane from Mt. Coot-tha

A mommy koala

WEDNESDAY, MAY 21

Refreshed again, we decided to drive to the “hinterland” and look at the

Mt. Warning caldera

and mountain. We didn’t have a very good map of the area, so we stopped at the Murwillumbah Info Centre. The gentleman there liked to talk – and we heard all about the area we were interested in plus a lot of others *s* We finally got on our way again, only to be stopped rather suddenly. A campervan was backing out of his parking spot and didn’t see our car. Luckily, his bumper hitch hit our tire and the only damage was that the plastic bumper popped out – easily fixed. It turned out that the fellow driving the van was from Canada (originally) and he and John had a great talk before we got on our way again.

The drive was beautiful – a lot of it seemed to be on the mountan ridges, with steep drops on either side of the road. We saw quite a few banana “orchards” in the distance but the road was too narrow to stop for photos. The first place we were heading to was a

Natural Bridge. It was well worth the hike down (and back up). One of the viewing areas was under the bridge.

Springbrook National Park was the next destination. We stopped at Purlingbrook Falls lookout – there was a loop walk that actually took you under the falls but it was closed because of recent flooding.

John had looked at photos (on Google Earth) that were taken at “The Best of All” lookouts – we were disappointed when we got there as the lookout was closed due to maintenance on the trails.

On the way down the mountain (a 15% grade, very narrow and full of switchbacks), we decided to check out the Hinze Dam. Guess what – it was closed to the public due to construction. We weren’t having a very successful day.

On Wednesday (and Friday) nights, there is a beachfront night market at Surfer’s Paradise. We decided to go there and see what goodies they had for sale. When we got there we discovered that most of the vendors are of Chinese descent and were observing the 3 days of mourning so there were not many stalls to look at.

It was a good day though – we really enjoyed the Natural Bridge and the trip through the mountains. I think Thursday is going to be a laid-back day though. We might go to Point Danger to watch the surfers for a while but not much more than that has been planned.

Temperature: 21 C – sunny (in the mountains)

Tree root

Kirra Beach area from the Canyon Lookout

Strangler Figs making a pattern

Caloundra – 7 / Kirra Beach – 1

SATURDAY, MAY 17

Lazy day today. We checked out a “garage sale” (don’t fall over Karen!) at the Caloundra refuse site – kind of like the “free store” at our landfill. This one was run by the air cadet association and had everything you might possibly be looking for. No, we didn’t buy anything *s*

Then it was off to the Holden car dealership (the same as GM in Canada and the States) to find out what the car-type truck we see everywhere down here was.

This is a Holden Ute – and John wants one. Apparently, they’re starting production of these in the States soon.

Next stop was the mall – we hadn’t done any shopping other than for groceries so we wanted to see if there was anything we desperately needed (there wasn’t). While we were there, we saw a shop called “Baaz, Mooz and Oinkz” – would you believe it was a butcher shop?

That was about it for the day – we went back to enjoy the balcony and some good-sized beers.

John after a few too many of these beer

Temperature: 23 C – sunny but windy

SUNDAY, MAY 18

The first thing we heard this morning was the sound of a helicopter very close to the condo. Turned out that it was a search and rescue team and they were searching Pumicestone Passage before moving off. There was a terrific windstorm last night – and when we went to bed at 10:30, there were still pleasure boats fishing out in the passage. We didn’t hear what the team was searching for but hopefully they found their target safe and sound.

Since we were up so early, we finished packing up and then headed south. On the way, there were more wild kangaroos – only I didn’t realize that was what they were at first (thinking it was cows grazing) so I didn’t mention them to John in time to stop for a photo. Oops….. Our first stop was

Iceworld at Boondall.

This is the rink that Justin used to play at (and where the Brisbane Blue Tongues played last year) so of course we had to stop. There was a figure skating competition taking place and no hockey scheduled until late in the afternoon. We were surprised at how small the seating area was but the rink was nice and bright. They have netting that is pulled around during hockey games and this sign

was on the end boards

Off south again, we found ourselves on the Gateway Toll Bridge – luckily the toll was only $2.60 which we had in our pockets. Soon we were at our next stop

Iceland at Bundall.

This is where the Blue Tongues are playing this season – if we thought the rink at Boondall was small this one is tiny. There are only 3 rows of seating (on benches that make the old ones at the Cowichan rink look wonderful) and the seating is only on one side and it doesn’t go all the way down. The seating stops at the player benches (at least as far as I could tell – there wasn’t anyone sitting further down and I think they’d have to walk through the player benches to get there).

It was public skate when we arrived ($15 for adults/$14 for students – with ID/$12 for children. Of course, these prices do include the skate rental). We discovered that there was a Divison III hockey game on at 5 before the Blue Tongues scrimmage at 6:50 so we headed for Kirra Beach to check into the condo. Of course it was too early to do that, so we decided to

explore the coast a bit and find some lunch (which ended up being Pizza Hut). We came back to the timeshare and spent some time sitting in the pool area until our room was ready. John had noticed the number 125 as our room number and we were disappointed that we wouldn’t have an ocean view – to our surprise, 125 means apartment 5 on the 12th floor.

We have a fantastic view.

Once checked in, it was back to the ice rink at Bundall to watch some hockey. What better way to celebrate an anniversary than to do something you both love, right? We arrived at 4:45 and the players arrived just after us! Guess they don’t get to the rink 2 hours early – the game started at about 5:10 and was quickly a blowout for the visiting team. There were only a handful of people watching – parents, grandparents and a few friends. The home team had only 6 players dressed so no one got a rest and the time between periods is only 1 minute (no ice cleaning until the game is over) so they were pretty exhausted when the game finished.

Then it was time for the

Blue Tongues scrimmage game. It was a pretty good game (although you could tell it was not as intense as a game against a rival team would be). The blue team dominated the game – guess they were making up for losing the week before. There weren’t many fans (or curious people) there and it was a pretty quiet crowd. The periods were 15 minutes long with 1 minute between periods (again, ice clean only after the game was over – if then!). After the game, we met up with Wendy (secretary of the Blue Tongues booster club) and her husband, Sam. They are hockey nuts and we really enjoyed meeting them and their friends (sorry can’t remember the names). All too soon, it was time to head back to the condo as Wendy and Sam had a 90 minute drive back home. See, I told you they were hockey nuts!

I can’t imagine how a professional team can make ends meet playing in such small rinks. The rinks we saw today make Fullers Lake and Lake Cowichan Arenas look huge.

Kirra Beach kitchen

Kirra Beach living room

Kirra Beach master bedroom

Kirra Beach second bedroom

MONDAY, MAY 19

John was up early and went for a walk on the beach – he got some wonderful pictures of the sunrise and saw about 50 people doing this:

Looks like a great place to use walking poles. When he was on his way back, he spotted me on the balcony of our apartment.

It’s the 3rd from the top on the left hand side of the front section.

Weren’t sure what we wanted to do today so we spent the morning on the deck soaking up some wonderful sun. Unlike yesterday, there was no wind at all. We’ve kind of planned a couple of trips we want to do in the next few days – one of the things we were hoping to do was to go into Brisbane but we really are not fond of driving in cities (especially since it’s difficult to find a road “map” – most of the ones you can find are either very basic or they are in huge books like a telephone directory). We looked at the brochures in the lobby and found a day trip to Brisbane that covers what we wanted to do – so the tour is booked for tomorrow (Tuesday) and we get picked up at 6:45 here at the condo.

We drove to Tweed Heads and found a grocery store and

a Big W (better known to us as a Walmart). We spotted a few other signs that made us think we’re in an area that drinks a lot – there was a Liquor Barn, a Liquor Warehouse and this:

After leaving the groceries at the condo, we drove up the Gold Coast Highway in the opposite direction (from Tweed Heads) and found a surfing beach where we could watch the surfers. There were quite a few surfers as well as two kayakers and a jet ski. They all seemed to be having fun.

Temperature: 25 C – sunny

Surfer’s Paradise at night

Surfer’s Paradise at dusk

Sunrise

Caloundra – 6 (Fraser Island)

No glitches this time. We were up at 4:45 and were picked up at the condo at 5:30 in a passenger vehicle. While we were waiting in the lobby the only living thing around was

– I think this is the Worldmark, Golden Beach mascot *lol*

The driver explained that we were the only pickups on the south end of the run – we felt bad until she said that she lives in Caloundra and has to go up each morning anyway. We met up with the tour bus

at Noosa. The bus holds 18 passengers and there were only 10 people on the tour so there was lots of room to spread out. Another really neat thing was that there are two seats beside the driver and everyone got a chance to sit in the front.

We started out by crossing the Noosa River on a small cable ferry that only took a few minutes to cross and then we were driving up the Teewah Beach.

The sun was just coming up when we started up the beach. The dunes were very exposed and the driver explained that there had been a huge cyclone in January and a lot of the sand was swept away leaving large rock exposed. The sand is coming back now but will take a while longer before the dunes are softened again.

There is a large camping area along the beach – you just need a permit to camp there (and to be self-contained). Ken, the driver (who reminded us of Gordon Nikirk – without the cowboy hat and with an Aussie accent) told us that at Christmas and New Years there can be up to 6,000 people camped along the beach. We had a quick stop at

the Teewah Coloured Sands

and then continued up the beach. We couldn’t go all the way to Rainbow Beach on the beach road because the tide was in too far to go around Double Island Point so we headed inland on the Freshwater Road – a 4 wheel drive track. We weren’t far along it when we spotted a road construction sign – no photo as it was hard to take photos on the bumpy road *lol* We were going to have morning tea on the beach at Rainbow Beach but Ken took a look at the sky and predicted a shower so we went to a picnic shelter at the park.

Not sure if you can see from this photo, but the spots are heavy rain.

The crossing to Fraser Island is via a barge which loads from the sand (like a double ended landing craft).

There is no set schedule – it just goes back and forth as required. The crossing only takes about 12 minutes and then we were off on the beach road. It was funny to see speed limit signs on the beach – and signs warning that you were sharing the road with a runway.

We left the beach at Eurong (a resort area) and travelled through the rainforest. Ken explained what the trees were and what they were used for as well as the history of the island. We stopped for a lunch break at

Lake McKenzie where we had the opportunity to go swimming. John made it in all the way but I chickened out at the tops of my legs. Lunch was fantastic – when we booked we were given a choice of steak, fish or vegetarian and we both chose steak. Ken bar-b-q’d while everyone else was relaxing and when we got back to the picnic area (fenced to keep dingoes out), the meat was ready, there were about 5 different salads out, and we were offered either beer, wine or soft drink. For dessert, we had fresh cantaloupe and pineapple. It was great to be able to eat what was offered (the second tour that has happened on).

Once back in the bus, it was time for John and I to ride up front. It was a good time to be there – we saw rainforest and the beach. On the beach road, the tide was starting to come in which made it interesting in spots – especially when other vehicles didn’t want to move over so that we were driving in the surf. We saw a dingo – who wasn’t interested in us at all – and a sea eagle who didn’t want to move and then reluctantly took off right in front of the bus.

Once back on the mainland, we took a short trip down Rainbow Beach (on the beach) and had our afternoon tea at some of the coloured sands there. Apparently it’s a good area for paragliders too – we saw one guy packing his parachute and another one playing in the thermals above us (we thought he might be checking out what we were having for tea and deciding whether to come and join us). We couldn’t stay too long as there was one spot the bus wouldn’t be able to manouevre over if the tide came in too far. The trip back to Noosa was interesting – we had a scenic tour past and through Queensland’s largest pine forest (planted) – the good thing was that John and I saw real, live wild kangaroos – they were in the distance but they were definitely kangaroos.

Ken dropped everyone else off and then took us for a tour of Noosa before we met up with another bus that was coming back towards Caloundra. It was filled with school kids who had been on Fraser Island on a field trip. We rode part way down on the bus and then transferred to the same vehicle that took us up.

I can’t say enough about Fraser Island Adventure Tours – they were very safety conscious, eco-friendly (not one piece of anything we took with us was left behind on the island or the beaches), knowledgeable and friendly. We had a really good day – just wish we could have got out and looked around more often but the roads really weren’t wide enough (even though the signs kept saying 2-way traffic) for Ken to stop safely. We did have a walk at Wanggoolba Creek that was really neat – it’s at Central Station which used to be a forestry camp. The information centre there is an old forestry worker’s home.

Temperature: 23 C – sunny with heavy rainshower in morning

King Fern

Chris and John at Lake McKenzie

4-wheel drive road

Wanggoolba Creek – there is water there, it’s just so clear that you can’t see it!

Caloundra – 5

While having breakfast this morning, we looked outside and discovered that it was raining quite heavily. We still weren’t sure what we were going to do today so we took our time with breakfast and when we were done, the rain had stopped.

We were debating between a 1 1/2 hour “cruise” along the Pumicestone Passage and driving down toward Brisbane and going to Bribie Island (the island you can see from our apartment). The drive won out and we hopped in the car to head south. First thing, though, was to fill the gas tank – at the first gas station we saw, the price had jumped 10 cents a litre overnight. We drove up the street a little further (two more roundabouts) and saw a station that still had $1.35 on their sign so we filled up there. That was the only place we saw at yesterday’s price so I guess they just hadn’t put their price up yet. Gas costs here are like in the United States – instead of all the prices in town being the same, they can vary up to 7 or 8 cents a litre.

On the way to Bribie Island, we saw the Glasshouse Mountains and they were so clear. We thought we would take a side trip to a lookout on Wild Horse Mountain and get views of the island and the mountains. Once we got to the parking lot, we realized that wasn’t an option – there had been a fire (turns out it was a controlled burn) and the hiking trail is closed until Monday.

Once on Bribie Island, we drove around to the beach area –

we had a nice view of Brisbane (across the water) from Red Beach (no idea why it’s called that – the sand is white) and then we drove to the east coast – the weather was beautiful, not even much wind; however, there isn’t much to see on the island as most of the area is a national park accessible by water.

We came back to Caloundra and went to Kings Beach for a picnic lunch and then walked along the rock shelves looking in

tidal pools. There were a few big ones that held some fish and crabs.

We also found an area full of crushed shells and small rocks and spent some time sifting through the shells looking for interesting pieces.

Then it was back to the condo to relax before our long day (and early morning) tomorrow. I probably won’t post until Saturday since I’m pretty sure we’ll be tired when we get back and there’ll be too many photos to sort through.

Temperature: 25 C – sunny with heavy rainshower in morning and some cloudy periods

John at King’s Beach

Flower

Blowhole

Caloundra – 4 (Australia Zoo)

The Australia Zoo is an amazing place. The employees are very helpful and obviously enjoy their jobs – the main message of the zoo is conservation. There’s a lot of opportunities to get close to the animals with showtimes, photo sessions, wandering wildlife (with a keeper), and the main show at the Crocoseum.

We arrived at the zoo at 9 (when they opened) and spent the whole day wandering around until we left at 4:15 p.m. (they close at 4:30)

Our first goal was to get my photo with a koala, so we went to the wildlife photo area after checking out the croc pens. I got to cuddle “Ash” – a 2 year old male koala and he was so soft and cuddly. Can you tell I really enjoyed the experience? I wanted to smuggle him home but the keepers were watching too carefully.

While we were waiting for the photo session to start, we spotted this

reticulated python in a pen nearby – she’s 7 metres long and weighs 150 kg. and she hasn’t finished growing yet.

After the photo, we checked out a few more of the enclosures and then headed to the Crocoseum for a fun-filled, informative show called the Wildlife Warriors Show. There were birds (flying and swimming), snakes, elephants and,

of course, a crocodile. John got too close to one of the crocs

– luckily he managed to escape. Actually we did get close to one croc – it was a baby that was being shown around by the staff – we had a photo taken but it’s in print form so you’ll have to wait to see it.

We finally found the wombats – one of the keepers was “exercising” one of them by playing tag.

He was so cute (the wombat in case you’re wondering which he I was talking about). The next animal we really wanted to see were the echidnas – and they didn’t disappoint. They kind of waddle when they walk (I took a lot of video with my camera but can’t post them because they’re too big).

Just before we left, we headed for the Cassowary enclosure again – they had been hiding in the back when we were there at the beginning of the day. We could spot one of them moving around so we waited (along with another couple who were from Sudbury, Ontario) and our patience was rewarded.

He came right up to the feeding bucket in front of us.

It was a great day and definitely a place to visit if you’re in the area.

Temperature: 21 C – sunny with cloudy periods

Wallaby

Tucker, a 4 year old koala

Sleepy kangaroo

The Irwin Family Statue

Caloundra – 3

Okay, I know no one was expecting a post today but….

The day started off beautifully – yeah I had to get up and going early but the sunrise was beautiful and made up for the early rising. We were on the road to Noosa at 7 a.m. and arrived there at 7:50. We had 1 hour and 10 minutes to wait for the Fraser Island pickup so we walked along the streets and window shopped and met these fellow window shoppers (there was more than one of them):

Bush Turkey

At 9 a.m. we spotted a 4-wheel drive multi-passenger vehicle and gathered up all our stuff. The driver asked for our names and then said – “oh you’re the ones booked for a 2-day camping tour. They had to cancel it but you can come on the 3-day tour for the same price.” That would have been fun except for the problem of my food allergies for 3 days – we had prepared for 2. When we asked why we hadn’t been notified of the cancellation, the driver just shrugged and said he didn’t know but that he could give us a full cash refund if we didn’t want to do the 3-day camping trip. (The company was Sunrover and I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone – they had our email address so it should have been easy to get in touch for a cancellation. Also, I had re-confirmed the trip (with the owner) on Sunday and he didn’t ask for a phone number or mention that there was a chance of it being cancelled.)

I guess that we couldn’t expect the whole trip to go by without any glitches but we’d really wanted to go camping on Fraser Island overnight.

We took the refund and decided to drive down through the “Hinterland” (in Queensland, it means the land away from the coast). Our first stop was Nutworks – a Macadamia Nut factory. You can watch them cracking and sorting the nuts through an observation window and then browse through the shop. I didn’t know they flavoured macadamias with so many different seasonings – there was honey roasted, sour cream and onion, wasabi and more. They also had macadamia fudge, chocolate coated macadamias, and other candies. It was mind boggling – but John settled on some honey-roasted and some dark chocolate coated nuts.

After that, we headed on the Blackall Range Tourist Drive – through some small villages on the way to the viewing area for the Glasshouse Mountains. There is a really neat legend of how the mountains were formed.

This is Coonowrin, the son who disobeyed his father and

Beerwah, his mother.

When we got back to the condo, we decided that we still wanted to see Fraser Island but not with the same tour company so we have booked a 1 day tour with pickup right at our condo (at 5:25 a.m.!) with Fraser Island Adventure Tours for Friday. The tour was booked through the condo so there shouldn’t be any problems this time.

Tomorrow, we are going to spend the day (or most of it) at the Australia Zoo where I hope to get the chance to cuddle a koala.

Temperature: 22 C – sunny

The Glasshouse Mountains

Sign

Pumicestone Passage at low tide

Caloundra – 2

I slept in today – well, if you can call 7 a.m. sleeping in *lol* After that, we had breakfast (with me sitting on the balcony in the sunshine) and then made a picnic and started to Noosa Heads. We timed the trip – and found that it takes 55 minutes to get there from the condo. So now we know we need to leave between 7 and 7:30 to be sure to be at the pickup location at 9. There is a parking lot right near where we’re being picked up so we’re leaving the car there (and keeping our fingers crossed that it will still be there when we get back on Wednesday.)

We walked around Noosa for a bit – and found that it’s a really busy town. This weekend they are having their Mayfiesta – a food and wine festival, a boat race and a marathon swim challenge. Sounds like a good place to avoid – considering it was hard enough to find a parking spot today. Actually we just got an email today from the Blue Tongues Booster Club and there is an intersquad hockey game on Sunday, May 18 – and the rink is on the way to our next condo. So guess where we’re going to be on Sunday..

We drove back along the coast – and were a little disappointed that for most of it you can’t really see the beaches. But it was still a pretty drive and there

were some scenic views.

Once back at the condo, we packed our bags for our Fraser Island camping trip and made sure there’s no food left lying around the apartment. I’ve already killed a bunch of tiny ants and would rather not leave them a feast while we’re gone.

Next post will be after we get back from Fraser Island

Temperature: 24 C – sunny

Lifeguard stand at Coolum Beach

Very large pelican

Interesting root system on these trees

Caloundra – 1

The day started off interestingly – we were sitting in the room, making sure nothing was left behind when the power went off. It was light enough to finish packing though so we did and then headed to the reception office to check out. Another problem – the computers were down so the clerk couldn’t check us out – John told him the only charges were 3 local phonecalls (75 cents each) to the wireless internet help desk (the problem never was resolved), so he reluctantly let us leave. The cab didn’t take long to get to the hotel and soon we were at the airport – where the power was also out. They were working on auxiliary power and managed to get the check in done and our baggage checked. Another easy trip through the security screening – and you can even take water on domestic flights here. Of course, then we had over 2 hours to wait for our flight but we browsed through the gift shops (more expensive than the ones in Melbourne – maybe because it was the domestic terminal?) and had a cup of coffee and then our flight was called.

After an uneventful 2 hour flight, we landed at Brisbane, found our luggage and the rental car agency. We have another Toyota Corolla – not as nice as the last one but it will do. We headed north to Caloundra, got groceries and found the condo with no problem. We’re on the 5th floor and we have a nice view from here. I see now what Karen (my sister) meant about the bedroom set up. The louvered doors in the photos are surrounding the bedroom area – a different kind of set up.

To counteract that, the doors to the balcony open up completely so that you have an open fronted living area. It’s kind of neat.

We settled in and then went for a walk down Esplanade Street. The pathway takes you through

a mangrove swamp (on a boardwalk) and is quite sheltered from the breeze.

That’s it for now – tomorrow we’re going to look for somewhere to park the car overnight (in Noosa Heads) while we go to Fraser Island on Tuesday.

Temperature: 23 C – sunny with some cloud

Cairns from the air

Worldmark Golden Beach bathroom – finally a bathtub!

Bedroom

Kitchen – it’s tiny

Living Room

View

Cairns – 2

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

Tree Frog in Kuranda

Stoney Creek Falls

Tree at Red Peak Station, Skyrail

Poinsetta tree in Kuranda

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

Chris and John boarding the Reef Magic cruise

Nemo (photo from Reef Magic photographer)

Parrot Fish (photo from Reef Magic photographer)

Coral (photo from Reef Magic photographer)

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

Lorrikeets