Around the Great Barrier Reef

April 1
Australia Continued
What a day! Here we are cruising by the Great Barrier Reef and suddenly we hear this huge bang and horrible scraping noise and the ship lurched like I have never seen before. Stuff fell off the shelves, glasses breaking everywhere, and people running around looking scared and wondering what was going on. Unbelievably we did what old Captain Cook did when he first came to the little town of Cooktown back in the 1770: hit the reef! Captain Cook dumped all their ballast and canons and finally got off the reef finding refuge at the bay now called Cooktown where they stayed several months and repaired the ship. Our captain did warn us that the area we were navigating was very shallow but we had on board a special pilot to guide us through the reef. Guess he missed. Now they have pumps working like crazy to try to keep ahead of the water and we have to find a port fast to get repairs. All right, you already guessed it: April Fool – we did not hit a reef; we are just fine, but we did go to Cooktown and now you know how it got its name.

We left Sydney at 11 p.m. and made our way up to coast to Newcastle where we spent the next morning. It is an old coal mining community, the source of that expression “coals to Newcastle.” When we arrived we were told it was a local holiday and there was a big funeral at the cathedral for a young man killed in Afghanistan. A shuttle bus took us on a brief tour around the town and to a nearby beach. We walked around the business district where a few shops were open, and the took the shuttle back to the beach area where we walked out on a promontory of land to the lighthouse. Honestly, there was not much to see there although the people were quite nice. Sailing away at 1 p.m. the locals saluted us with three shots from a canon on the hill above the beach.

After a couple more sea days we arrived at Cairns. The climate there was more like Florida, quite warm and humid. We felt right at home although others really noticed the heat. We debated whether to take one of the many promoted trips to the Great Barrier Reef or to go into the rain forest to the little mountain village of Kuranda. We are trying to save up for the overnights in Bangkok and Beijing, and since we live on the ocean we decided to pass on the reef and go take the bus to Kuranda. Someone told us about an inexpensive bus, even though most people were taking the train/and or sky tram for $113 a person. The bus turned out to be a nice air conditioned mini-bus that cost us $8 a piece round trip. It didn’t leave until 11:30 a.m. so we walked around the Cairns downtown area and I was able to get a new watch band since mine was totally falling apart. We also saw an amazing huge beach side pool and walked along the board walk by the ocean front.

The trip to Kuranda was an adventure. It took us about 45 minutes to get there and our driver was super nice (as most everyone from Australia has been) and he stopped at a lookout on the way so we could take some photos. We arrived at this quaint mountain village and knew we were going to enjoy our time there. We walked around the town with many shops selling native crafts (oh, no!) and then took the jungle walk into the rain forest. It reminded me of the rain forest in Costa Rica. Afterwards we saw the Koala Gardens wildlife park, and when they gave us the senior discount, we were there. Not only did we see koalas and kangaroos, but I got to hold one for the old sucker photo shoot. It was worth it. Ronnie actually stood next to me holding the koala for another photo, but as you can see from the photo she was a bit terrified. And I got to pet a kangaroo, and watch the little Joey (baby kangaroo) peeking its head out of the pouch. Priceless.

In the market next to the park was an Aboriginal man selling his own art work. And yes, big “Oh No” I could not resist one of his hand painted boomerangs, and wished I had taken a photo of him. It was about 3:15 and all of sudden everything was closing. Apparently the last train and sky tram left at 3 p.m. so everything just closes up. Luckily we had seen everything earlier, but we felt like we were in an instant ghost town. We did find a few places open, and then waited for the 4:15 bus which took us back to Cairns. After a lovely dinner on our balcony, we went back into the town and stumbled on something called “The Night Market.” It was just that: a market open late at night with all kinds of wares for sale at many stalls. Lots of message and jewelry booths. After a tour around we walked back to the ship with the fitness instructor. Okay, we did buy a couple of small items, but nothing really to add to our craft store.

After one sea day we arrived in Cooktown. One photo above overlooks Cooktown. We tendered ashore to this small town that looked like a throw back to a gold rush town in Colorado. Again not a lot to see, but I did get to hold a baby kangaroo for another photo op in a semi-museum kind of place. We saw the place where the Endeavor (Cook’s ship) beached for repairs and started to walk to the lighthouse until we realize how far it was. We still got a few photos from up on the hill, and in the middle our climb a kangaroo jumped out of the bush right in front of me (see photo above). Those things can move. Ronnie told me not to get too close, but it was much more wary of us and simply hopped away.

Again people complained about the heat, but we had brought plenty of water and soda from the ship, so we were fine and the heat didn’t really bother us. Ronnie didn’t like the Aboriginal art as much as I did, but even she appreciated this simple painting of some fish at a little stand on the way back to the ship. We had seen native paintings of that size (about 8 x 10) for $45-$200+, so this one for $20 was a true bargain. I talked with the artist for a while and realized I only had $15 Australian dollars on me, so, yes, she gave it to me for $15 ($11 US). Again I wish I had taken her photo, which I realized in the tender going back to the ship. A truly sweet lady. Don’t worry, it is just a canvass and takes up almost no room.

So now we are on the way to Darwin, the northern most city in Australia. A diverse and incredibly friendly county, from our experience.

Good news that my sister Karin is doing better, but please keep up your prayers.