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Cairns. No R.
Aug. 2nd, 2018 02:00 amIt's pronounced like the French city: Cannes. We got here on Monday evening, found our house--a lovely and quirky "Queenslander," a style of workman's cottage from the 30s--and then ended up at Bushfire for dinner, a Brazilian barbecue place
On Tuesday we were up early for our big day on the Great Barrier Reef. We boarded the Ocean Spirit, a huge catamaran, about 8:15 and reached Michelmas Cay two hours later. The snorkeling was amazing. This reef is so much older and larger than the ones I've explored in Hawaii and Mexico. We saw so many fish and giant clams and sea cucumbers and ...and...and... I could have drifted for hours, but Alice was done after about an hour. We went back to the boat, had some lunch and got our turn in their "semi-submersible," a boat with a glass keel for viewing the reef. Then we turned back for Cairns, spending most of the return trip dozing, or playing games on our phones. We were very glad to find dinner just around the corner from the house at the Green Ant Cantina, and then fall into bed.
Yesterday we took it easy. I went shopping in the morning while Alice slept in, to replace the pair of jeans that bit the dust in Uluru. Then we went to see "Ant-Man and the Wasp" at the mall across the major street from the house. That left us with enough time to see the aquarium before it closed. It's relatively small, but focused on the local environments and organisms, so very interesting and different from what we see at home. After that we strolled along the waterfront and found Prawn Star, a restaurant on a couple of boats moored at the pier, serving only cold seafood. We shared the Jumbo Platter: 6 oysters, 6 "mudbugs" ( local Crayfish) a big pile of mixed prawns, and about half a pound of the most amazing salmon sashimi I have ever tasted. I was so happy! And Alice was game, trying at least a bite of everything, but ended to asking to stop at McDonald's on the way back to actually fill up.
Today we were out of the house at 8am. We caught a shuttle bus to the Skyrail which took us up over the mountains to Kuranda. It was so cool to sail just over the top of the rainforest canopy, stopping along the way to see the Barron Waterfall and enjoy the view from Red Peak.
Arriving in Kuranda we decided to start with a cruise on the Barron River, where we saw sooty grunters, two different kinds of river turtles, and a couple of freshwater crocodiles, while hearing about the history of the river and surrounding forest.
After a nice, casual lunch on the veranda of the Kuranda Hotel we went on through town to catch the shuttle out to RainForeStation. There we got a duck tour of the rainforest and saw Ulysses butterflies dancing above the treetops. Then we watched a performance of dances by members of the local people--the oldest of them was just amazing in his focus and control--followed by demonstrations of spear-throwing, digeridoo, and boomerang before it was time to get back on the bus to catch the Kuranda Scenic Railway back down the mountain.
That arrived back at the Central Station a block from the house and we had a short break before heading out to a slightly more formal waterfront dinner. Our meals featured many local ingredients, of which my favorite was the salt & pepper crocodile. Now we're back, Alice is asleep, and it's time to get our bags packed so we can leave in the morning.
Next stop: New Zealand!
On Tuesday we were up early for our big day on the Great Barrier Reef. We boarded the Ocean Spirit, a huge catamaran, about 8:15 and reached Michelmas Cay two hours later. The snorkeling was amazing. This reef is so much older and larger than the ones I've explored in Hawaii and Mexico. We saw so many fish and giant clams and sea cucumbers and ...and...and... I could have drifted for hours, but Alice was done after about an hour. We went back to the boat, had some lunch and got our turn in their "semi-submersible," a boat with a glass keel for viewing the reef. Then we turned back for Cairns, spending most of the return trip dozing, or playing games on our phones. We were very glad to find dinner just around the corner from the house at the Green Ant Cantina, and then fall into bed.
Yesterday we took it easy. I went shopping in the morning while Alice slept in, to replace the pair of jeans that bit the dust in Uluru. Then we went to see "Ant-Man and the Wasp" at the mall across the major street from the house. That left us with enough time to see the aquarium before it closed. It's relatively small, but focused on the local environments and organisms, so very interesting and different from what we see at home. After that we strolled along the waterfront and found Prawn Star, a restaurant on a couple of boats moored at the pier, serving only cold seafood. We shared the Jumbo Platter: 6 oysters, 6 "mudbugs" ( local Crayfish) a big pile of mixed prawns, and about half a pound of the most amazing salmon sashimi I have ever tasted. I was so happy! And Alice was game, trying at least a bite of everything, but ended to asking to stop at McDonald's on the way back to actually fill up.
Today we were out of the house at 8am. We caught a shuttle bus to the Skyrail which took us up over the mountains to Kuranda. It was so cool to sail just over the top of the rainforest canopy, stopping along the way to see the Barron Waterfall and enjoy the view from Red Peak.
Arriving in Kuranda we decided to start with a cruise on the Barron River, where we saw sooty grunters, two different kinds of river turtles, and a couple of freshwater crocodiles, while hearing about the history of the river and surrounding forest.
After a nice, casual lunch on the veranda of the Kuranda Hotel we went on through town to catch the shuttle out to RainForeStation. There we got a duck tour of the rainforest and saw Ulysses butterflies dancing above the treetops. Then we watched a performance of dances by members of the local people--the oldest of them was just amazing in his focus and control--followed by demonstrations of spear-throwing, digeridoo, and boomerang before it was time to get back on the bus to catch the Kuranda Scenic Railway back down the mountain.
That arrived back at the Central Station a block from the house and we had a short break before heading out to a slightly more formal waterfront dinner. Our meals featured many local ingredients, of which my favorite was the salt & pepper crocodile. Now we're back, Alice is asleep, and it's time to get our bags packed so we can leave in the morning.
Next stop: New Zealand!
