HAL warning: You may go "troppo" in Cairns where lush rain forests run all the way down to the sea, and jewel-toned fish and giant coral-encrusted clams populate the Great Barrier Reef. OK, we assume troppo is Aussie slang for tropical, because without doubt, we have entered this humid zone of North Queensland.
We docked at Trinity Wharf, named after Captain Cook, who landed here on Trinity Sunday, a Christian holiday, in 1770. A gold rush followed years later, building up this part of the country.
There are major sites to visit from here. The most popular land excursion is to the tropical rain forest on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, a fun trip we have done at least twice. Next there are boat trips to the Great Barrier Reef on a high speed catamarans for an 8 hour day. We have done this twice as well. These days, the ship's tour runs $300 per person. We discovered later today that due to a broken down boat, this tour was cancelled. Considering the stormy, wet weather, this was a lucky thing for those who booked it. The snorkeling would have been terrible, and the ride may have been a really bad experience. Seasick comes to mind….
Two other islands, Fitzroy ($126) and Green ($210), were also an option for those who did not want to go on a 2 hour ride each way to the outer reef. These tours ran up to 7 ½ hours and came with a box lunch. Years ago, we took the Green Island option , but were greatly disappointed with every aspect of it. And once again, we did hear some negative stories that matched our experience 11 years ago.
As for us, we stayed in town, leaving the ship around 10am. Armed with umbrellas and local maps, we went out into the driving rain for the long walk to the terminal. We noticed that we were docked far from Trinity Wharf Terminal, and soon discovered it was being re-done. Only one end of it was open to pass through. Once outside, we figured come hell or high water, we were going to take our usual path, even if we got half soaked. It was still warm, and we would have no chance of getting chilled. It was windy with gusts that almost took our umbrellas away.
We headed to the Cairns Central Shopping Center, detouring to Rusty's Market. This usually bustling arts, crafts, and souvenir market only had produce for sale today. The only day of the week it is full of vendors is Friday. So we carried on to the mall, which is where we discovered most of locals go when it is raining. It is a very modern mall with the boutique-like shops, but there are also big chains like Target, Kmart, and Coles. Not needing anything, we strolled around all levels, cooling off in the air-conditioning, before leaving again.
Staying mostly under the overhangs of the of the local shops and restaurants, we headed towards the library. This is where the huge banyan trees are located, and are home to the fruit bats. They were so full of hanging bats, it was unbelievable. Taking photos, we realized they were hanging directly over our heads, so it was wise to keep our umbrellas up while walking under them. Signs were posted warning all not to touch any bat, or report any unexpected bites. Rabies come to mind, but also the bacteria and viruses they can transmit to people. Don't have to tell us twice. A surprise sighting of these creatures of the night would come into play later in the day.
By now, we were mostly wet, but trudged on to the Esplanade, a 1.5 mile shoreline trail, which was pretty much empty of walkers. We entered close to the Cairns Lagoon, a shallow saltwater pool with fountains, and includes a sandy beach entrance at one end. Even in the rain, there were some people swimming there. Park grounds surround this lagoon with many BBQ stations and picnic benches for anyone to use. Restrooms were also available and were extremely clean and well-supplied.
Walking the wide wooden boardwalk, we noticed that the tide was up. Many of the shore birds were gone, but we did see a trio of Australian pelicans. Not the largest of the species, these birds were about 5 ½ feet long (beak to tail) and weighed up to 21 pounds. Perched on some rocks, they were waiting for the tide to go out to fish in the shallows. Further up the road, we did find flocks of waders, more pelicans, and gulls.
Other public places along the way included Muddie's Playground, tennis courts, a skate park, beach volleyball courts, and a funship playground. Further up, the boardwalk ended, and we continued on the concrete walkway. Bikes, skaters, and skateboard riders were allowed here too. Getting up to the hospital area, we remembered watching a helicopter land on the grass. Today there were none, but the hospital would come into play later in the day.
The airport was close to this end, and we watched many planes taking off. We had hoped our friends Bill & Leta had flown here today after their disembarking in Sydney. Unfortunately, they are still there, with more testing taking place. Hope they make it back to the ship soon and in improved health.
We had reached the mangroves at this point, so we turned around to head back. Along this promenade, there are signs describing the behavior of the waders, shore birds, gulls, and pigeons we were seeing. It's wonderful for bird-watchers like us, so we can easily identify most of the species.
Making our way back to the Lagoon, we saw even more locals swimming – rain or not. It was time for lunch for us, so we made our way to Marlin Marina, and found the Salt House, an Italian restaurant recommended by friends Ginger and Bill while we were here last year. Thanks to them, we discovered a very nice waterside restaurant , bar, and pizzeria. Much larger than we though, it over-looked the marina, and by 2pm, it was not crowded. The waiter was most friendly, and we ordered two local draft beers and a carnivore pizza (meat-lovers). He said that the pizza chef liked to add a lot of hot jalapeno peppers, but he promised to put on only a few. Need we add how nice it was to relax in the open-air dining room, protected from the driving rain? Heaven. So was the pizza…..delicious. We added one slice of cheesecake to share, which came with a sprinkling of marigold blossoms, considered edible here. Now that was different.
Heading back reluctantly, we passed the row of restaurants along the marina. The Cairns Fleet Terminal is located here, and we saw that all of the catamarans were in their slips. Wonder if the HAL reef tours went out today? No, they did not.
We got back to the Cruise Line Terminal by 3:30pm, and headed straight to our room to dry off. The 5:30pm sail away was actually held in the Crow's Nest, but we went to the Seaview Pool and watched the rope guys get ready to drop the lines. Well, this did not happen, and shortly, the Captain came on the speakers saying we had a medical emergency, and a passenger had to be taken to the hospital. As a result, we were delayed until almost sunset.
That's when we began to see flocks of small birds, possibly swifts or swallows, flying in large flocks from the nearby mangroves to the city areas. Shortly after that, we began to see something larger coming from the downtown area. Then suddenly, hundreds, if not thousands of fruit bats began flying in thick flocks to the mangroves. They literally erupted like a volcano from where we had seen them earlier in the day. It was a surreal scene that could have been taken from the Alfred Hitchcock horror movie, The Birds. There must a huge source of food for these creatures for them to go in that direction. By now, many folks began joining us at the aft railing, including Christel and Henk, who could not believe what they were seeing. Upon their request, we promised to send them the best of our pictures tomorrow.
We all stayed back there in the dark watching the tugs guiding us out of the harbor, and into the well-marked channel. The pilot boat followed as we all got to watch the lights of the city fade the further out we got. It was a pretty site, now that the rains had let up.
At dinner, we all shared the stories of the day, and ended up staying until 10pm. Really tired, we are all looking forward to some days at sea now as we head towards Darwin.
Bill & Mary Ann
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Report # 126 Cairns, Australia March 12, 2020 Thursday Chance of thunderstorms & 84 degrees
