Cairns is located in the northeastern part of Australia, closer to the equatorial tropical zone. Contrary to Alice Springs in the outback’s hot and dry desert, the weather took a complete turn around and changed into a wet and muggy one. In just a couple of hours of plane ride (actually more like three hours since our small plane took a short detour to Uluru at the last minute – that’s when we got our aerial photo of the Ayer’s rock), we were in an area where flooding had occurred. Not surprisingly, when we landed early in the evening, it started to drizzle. We quickly grabbed a cab to our hotel on the waterfront and retired for the night, eagerly anticipating what this new town had in store for us.
When we woke up the next morning, the drizzle had become a downpour. What we had hoped to do while in Cairns, which was to go snorkeling and diving in the outer Greater Barrier Reef, had to wait another day. We learned through the hotel concierge that the only option we had on a rainy day was to visit the tropical rainforest – of course, what else? So, we opted to visit the area of Kuranda, which is only about 15 miles away by car. We first went up on a long cable car ride, with two stopping points where we got off to take a walk in the middle of the rainforest.
The rainforest was a dense jungle of tall trees, plants, and vegetations. They were all striving to grow taller or somehow find a way to get their share of sunlight. This resulted in canopies of leaves high above the ground, and in some cases vines and plants growing high on top of trees.
Unlike the other vast parts of Australia, water is abundant here. At times, the scenery looked like we were in the middle of the Amazon jungle.
The small town of Kuranda is located on top of a mountain at the end of our cable car ride. There, we had a chance to visit some of the Australia’s native animals in a small local zoo.
These are fresh water alligators. They are much smaller than the ferocious, meat eating, saltwater alligators. The locals say they will swim along the fresh water alligators, but never with the saltwater kind. One can tell from the size of it – the saltwater kind is much larger, some growing up to 30 feet.
The Koala bears are nocturnal animals and they mostly sleep during the daytime. There were several in the zoo, sleeping away but luckily this one stayed awake just for this photo moment.
Joanne got a chance to hold a Koala for a photo (of course, for a price). This one is called ‘Princess’ and she should be on their payroll (she works 4 hours per day and is trained to be docile), being a star attraction. Do not try to hold a wild Koala – they have sharp claws and could be dangerous.
The wallaby is the smaller version of the kangaroo. They weren’t shy; they came right up to our palms to feed.
On the way down, we got on the slow trains (took an hour) stopping in a couple of places for photos. Originally, the trains were for the use by miners, a long time ago.
The next morning, the view from our hotel balcony indicated that it was going to be sunny. But, with a cyclone warning the night before, all the boat companies had decided not to operate. So, we went out and rented a car and drove up to the Daintree National Park, about 100 miles northwest of Cairns.
The road hugged the coastline and the view was spectacular.
On our way out, a friendly porter told us about a restaurant called the Salsa at Port Russell where we must stop for lunch. It must be good since this is where even Bill Clinton stopped for lunch. Take a closer look at the date. You now know where he was on that fateful 9/11 day.
I don’t know what Bill Clinton ate but we asked to be seated where he sat and ordered jambalaya. It came with alligator sausage and it was delicious.
We continued through the national park. We even got on a ferry with our car, which took us across a river and deeper into the jungle.
This was one of our stops, where the so-called rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef at the beach. It reminded me of a scene from a movie Papillon when Steve McQueen escaped from the jungle to reach the sea. The beach was totally deserted without a single person to be seen except one.
We saw something on the sand that looked quite unusual. It looked like pearl-sized sand balls scattered in a floral pattern.
In the midst of this sand balls were tiny sand crabs (called “Bubble Crabs”) busily making these things and then spitting them out of a small hole. I caught one in action. That single person we saw on the beach told us that once a year some scientists from the US come and measure the size and shape of these sand balls for study.
This photo is deep inside the national park, near Cape Tribulation. Cape Tribulation was named by Captain Cook in 1770 after he experienced a great deal of tribulation – “here began all our troubles” when his ship ‘The Endeavor’ crashed on the rocky reefs near there.
Although the distance we covered was only about 200 miles, because of the narrow and winding roads through the jungles, as well as stopping for lunch, it became a full day affair. We were recommended by Kevin and Tess to stay at a place in Daintree, but having booked a trip to the Outer Great Barrier Reef the next morning, we drove back to Cairns. The ever-changing, beautiful colors of the sunset followed us as we left the rain forest behind us.
The night before, we were notified by our hotel to fill the bathtub with water, in case the Cyclone Hamish (like a hurricane) hit the city and we needed fresh water. Fortunately, the cyclone decided to move southwards, missing Cairns altogether. The next morning, sun came out blazing and it looked like we were going to have a fine day of snorkeling and deep sea diving.
By a high-speed catamaran, it takes about an hour and a half to get to the Outer Great Barrier Reef. They say it is where the reef is more beautiful.
With the boat filled with excited young Chinese, Japanese and tourists from other countries (our boat had mechanical problems and all of us had to be merged into another boat), we got there in about two and a half hours. The day was fine but the sea was not as calm at all and by the time we got there, and trying to have lunch on a floating platform, many people were already wishing to be taken back to firm ground.
Our dive instructor, Chris was excellent. He was as patient and gentle as an instructor could be. Despite our stomachs churning from the boat ride, we had a wonderful time diving and experiencing the Outer Great Barrier Reef. It was an amazing experience that we will cherish forever. With the oxygen tank on our backs and with the weight belt around our waists, we could barely stand up, let alone walk, due to the extra heavy weight. However, once we were in the water and once our fears were gone, the time that was spent underwater was incredible. While I had to come up early, Joanne stayed longer to enjoy swimming in the beautiful underwater world.
The fee to rent a waterproof camera was prohibitive, so we have no pictures of all the beautiful corrals, giant stingrays, the largest shell-fish, and thousands of fishes. But this photo that we took on our plane ride to Sydney over looking the Great Barrier Reefs was free.
The Sydney harbor from the airplane – Joanne is learning to take good pictures from the window seat.
The Opera House is “THE” landmark in the Sydney Harbor. Some Sydney residents thought it was an eye sore when it was first built. Now, it is considered to be one of the most beautiful and recognizable architectural structures in the world.
The Sydney skyline from the Opera House – it turned out to be another fine day to tour around the city.
The Opera House from the other side of the harbor presented more classical lines.
We met up with Julie, Simeon and their young daughter Jamima at a restaurant in China Town. We first met them on our trip to Halong Bay in Vietnam when we took the over-night cruise. Julie and Simeon treated us to the best seafood restaurant in China Town. We gorged on delicious crabs and spent a wonderful evening talking about our trips and their lives in Sydney. With our hearts filled with love, we had to say good-bye to the family until we hopefully meet again, in the states.
Before leaving Sydney, we had one last day to enjoy the city; we took a bus that took us around to all of the attractions in the city and the surrounding suburbs.
This is the famous Bondi beach with its white sandy beach. It reminded us a lot of the many beaches in southern California.
Where there’s surf, there are surfers. Again, I’ve seen crazier looking vehicles around the beaches of southern California.
Our journey down under had taken us to many beautiful places and gave us a chance to meet beautifully kind people. If it’s not as expensive to live there, as it is in the states, we almost wanted to pack up and move right in. Actually, we don't need to worry about packing since whatever little that we have left has already been packed.
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