Today's port of call was not a new one for us….Cairns, Australia. Nothing much has changed here over the years with this city of museums, art galleries, gardens, an aquarium, and colonial library and government buildings to match. On the other hand, Cairns is a fun town filled with cafes, pubs, restaurants, and bars. It may be quiet during the day, but we suspect the nights are just the opposite with the party crowd.
There are plenty of attractions out of town and the first one has to be the jumping off point for the Great Barrier Reef. The ship offered a tour for 7 ½ hours with a 90 minute high-speed catamaran ride to the reef for snorkeling with a tropical buffet lunch on a pontoon we think. It cost $320. Other excursions went to Babinda Boulders, a train ride to Kuranda, a drive to a crocodile park, and a rainforest army duck tour with a stop to see some local wildlife. They ran from $90 to $190 with a duration of 4 ½ to 7 hours. We have been lucky enough to have done each of these at least once, some more than twice.
One thing for sure, it was going to be another hot and steamy day, and although the sky was mostly cloudy, there was no rain during most of the time we were here. We stuck around until most of the tours were taken off and a crew drill with "man overboard" was being conducted. The first thing we did, was pick up a local map in the cruise terminal.
The street map was far superior to the ship's little map, and a docent pointed out the highlights and how to walk to them. We did know this already, but he did such a nice job, we just listened. Crossing the street, we made our way to the Cairns Central Shopping Centre, which is a very nice multi-level mall with major stores such as Target, Kmart, and Woolworths. The best thing here was the air-conditioning. The center of town was still sleeping as the area is full of night time venues for the most part. Other than folks in cars, there were few people walking in the heat. We spent about an hour wandering in and out of mall shops and simply exploring. If we had needed anything, this would be the place to find it. It cooled us off long enough to go back outside and make our way to the Esplanade.
Something unusual occurred when we left the mall. Prior to going in the mall, a grocery store vendor reported selling a bottle of wine to one local Aboriginal fellow, who proceeded to drink this wine with another native friend outside. The store vendor had called the police and was asking them check this situation in case there was trouble brewing. There must be a law prohibiting this practice of drinking outside in the streets. It did not seem to bother the fellows drinking the wine since they were still there when we left the mall.
There is a place called Rusty's Market, which offers fresh produce and a souvenir market. It was not opened on Tuesday, and was totally fenced off. There are food truck-like venues here and is a busy place on days they are opened. There is also a Night Market near the lagoon, but we did not check that out to see if they were opened. Truthfully, the last thing we need are more souvenirs.
We passed by the museum, library, and government buildings where we used to see hundreds of fruit bats hanging in the tall trees. Today they must have been there, but we did not linger under these huge fig trees to locate them. Then we continued on to the Esplanade that offers a very nice wooden boardwalk along the shoreline. The tide was up this morning, so the mud flats were underwater. Normally, there are hundreds of wading birds and gulls feeding, but today there were only a few. Perhaps the heat of the day made a difference as well. We went from bench to bench, tree to tree finding what shade we could along the way. There is a railing along the water's edge with pictures and descriptions of the birds seen here, which is nice. One such migratory bird is the Australian pelican. Way down the far end of this shoreline were three large pelicans on a grassy mound along with several waders and gulls. They were comfortable where they were, and made no attempt to leave. They are a large bird weighing up to 20 pounds and 6 feet from their bill to their tail.
From here, we continued past the Muddies Playground where a group of little ones were playing under the shade of many trees. This was a good spot to turn around and head back with the breeze in or face for a change. Running into friends from the ship that like to walk as much as we do, the general agreement was that it was time for refreshments….namely beer. And pizza, hopefully. We went past the Cairns Esplanade Lagoon which had many locals cooling of in the shallow water. We asked a lifeguard if the water was salt, and he said it was fresh and salt water mixed. It seemed to be circulating and was extremely clean for as large as a lagoon it was.
Continuing along the side of the cove, we ended up at the Marina and a restaurant we discovered a few years ago. It is built at one end of the marina and actually extends over the water. The breeze in their open-air dining room was more than welcomed. We ordered two Peroni draft beers and a tropical pizza (Hawaiian). The pizza was delicious and wood-fired as well. We added a shared dessert of a different type of banana split with monkey bananas?, peanut butter ice cream, chocolate toppings with something crunchy over the top. Fun for a change.
We were not too far from Trinity Wharf, so we took our time walking back around 4pm. We passed by hotels with more dining options that face the marina. This is where you can book and take a catamaran to the reef at the Reef Fleet Terminal. This pathway took us to the terminal where a brewery is located very near to the ship. You don't have to go far to find good local draft beer. Once through the security check, we were very happy to enter the coolness of the ship and our room. Ice cold Cokes were in order.
All aboard was 5:30pm, but a bus and later a mini van arrived after that. And to our surprise, it began to rain while we were sitting on the veranda. Boy did that feel good or what? The white pigeons and small swifts sure did not like that, since they came out flying in droves from the mature trees in the park area surrounding the wharf. Captain Friso came on the speakers and explained the exact path we had to take to get out of the Trinity Wharf safely. The channel was narrow as well as shallow with only 2.6 meters under our keel. He did say we had very experienced pilots onboard and he personally has taken ships in and out of here previously. Nice to know.
While we were waiting to leave, we spotted some fruit bats coming out of the trees and condo buildings from the center of town. First there were a dozen, which increased to hundreds of them. Wave after wave of large bats traveled across the inlet to the mangrove side of the bay in search of food…..namely tons of fruit and insects. These creepy creatures do serve a purpose for keeping down the insect population as well as pollinating the plants and trees. By 6pm, the ship had pulled away from the wharf and headed slowly out to sea with the aide of tugboats. At one point while watching birds, we saw a large fish jump high out of the water. It resembled a dolphin, but was all alone. We figured it could have been some type of large fish. It disappeared after three high jumps then it was gone. One boat of kayakers passed us, then that was it.
The time had arrived for dinner, although, we were not really hungry. We did have a shrimp cocktail, Caesar salads, and one bowl of chicken pho soup. This soup would have been perfect if they did not add a tiny drop of spicy hot oil that floats on the surface. It was enough to burn your lips off. So trying to sop up the oil with bread worked a little, but not enough. We both had the turkey dinner entrée complete with cranberry sauce or cranberry soup. We think they had to stretch it with jam or something. It was nice having a Thanksgiving-like dinner in February. Of course, it was a comfort food of the evening. Dessert was a chocolate cupcake with gooey marshmallow on the top, and one scoop of strawberry sorbet.
There was a new group of two fellows called the Foenander Brothers. We had expected Aussie tunes, but the theme was American timeless classics. What happened to Waltzing Mathilda?
The next three days will be dedicated to sailing in and among part of the Great Barrier Reef Region. Also known as three sea days.
Bill & Mary Ann
