Day 62: Cairns, Australia

Thursday, 9 March 2017
At Sea — Coral Sea

Stats @ Ship’s Time 8:40p (AEST) … UTC 10:40a (9 March)
Temp: 83.3F (28.5C)
Position: 16.50.16S / 145.49.75E

The World is a book, and who do not travel read only a page.
~ Saint Augustine ~

We were in a wet sauna today — especially when we were walking around Cairns [pronounced Cans] … Australia’s gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.  I later learned that the day’s high was 90F (32C) … and that was without taking into consideration the sky-high humidity.  I felt like I had just gotten out of a shower — except that I didn’t feel refreshed.  No “misty glow” here — the sweat was pouring down my face and body in rivulets that I was powerless to stop.  Got to get used to these conditions, I suppose … there will be plenty more of it in the days ahead.

We were off the ship when it was cleared by the authorities at 8:00a, our plan being to go for a wander around the city before returning to the ship to collect our swimwear for our afternoon adventure on the reef.  At first, the sun was out … and it was bruuuutal.  We walked along the waterfront promenade, hoping for some breeze … none was to be had.  But the weather gods eventually took pity on us and shielded the sun behind clouds.  Works for us.

Our feet first took us to the Lagoon — the only place one can swim in Cairns unless you go to a few specific beaches north of the city.  You see, the waters offshore have some of the deadliest creatures one might find in Aussie Land — box jelly fish (tiny and barely visible) and salties … salt water crocodiles.  That said, most of the deaths, our destination lecturer told us at a lecture yesterday, are caused by horses and bees … neither of which we planned to be around.

Without the lagoon, there would be nowhere to swim in Cairns.

At the early hour when we arrived at the lagoon it was quite deserted.  The water looked very inviting, but we didn’t have enough time before our planned excursion to take a dip.  Instead, we continued our meandering walk around town, with no specific destination in mind — until we reached the casino and went inside … not to gamble, but to check out the Wildlife Dome on the roof of the building.

The brochure describes the dome as a place to “combine native Australian wildlife with adrenaline-inducing challenge activities” … which are referred to as zoom activities … and are done high up over the exhibits.  At AUD $24 (~ USD $18) admission is a little pricey, with wildlife photos extra … as are activities such as ziplining over the enclosure of Goliath, a truly gigantic crocodile.  No thanks … I don’t need to prove my womanhood by doing crazy stunts!

For us the attraction was the free-flight aviaries and the glassed- and fenced-in exhibits.  We were given a 10% discount for being cruise ship passengers, so that was nice … and we were invited to return at no additional cost later in the day to check out some of the included shows and talks.  We did so, but still missed all but one since the schedule didn’t mesh with ours.  It was a nice visit, nonetheless … and the place had the advantage of being indoors and not nearly as humid as it was outdoors.

We especially enjoyed the birds in the free-flight aviaries … laughing kookaburra; tawny and Papuan frogmouths (owls); bush thick-knee; zebra finch; chestnut-breasted mannikin; double-eyed fig, eclectus, and Australian king parrots; rainbow lorikeet — which fell in love with fellow-passenger Vanessa’s purple sneakers; noisy pitta; pied-imperial pigeon; diamond dove; buff-banded rail; wandering whistling duck; radjah shelduck; and more that I was unable to identify.  There was also a section with cockatoos, but I never did get a chance to see them as the hours for that area didn’t work out for us.  In addition to the birds, we saw reptiles — Merten’s water monitor, blue-tongue lizard, Eastern water dragon, several species of snakes, and salt, freshwater, saltwater, and estuarine crocodiles.  There were a couple of koalas as well, but they didn’t feel like cooperating, too busy sleeping, hidden behind foliage.  But the red legged pademelon, a marsupial that is one of the smallest macropods, had no qualms about hopping out of its enclosure for photo ops.

Double-Eyed Fig Parrot	Red-Legged Pademelon	Papuan Frogmouths

It was after 10:30a when we left the dome.  The ship was a short 5-10 minute walk away.   We grabbed some snacks from the Waves Grill and ate them in the cabin as we prepared for the real adventure of our day — a helicopter and snorkeling excursion to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR).

The ship’s 8:00a arrival meant that the boats going out to the GBR in the morning would be gone by the time we got off the ship and made our way to the Reef Fleet Terminal.  Not wanting to do a ship’s tour, we looked for alternatives.  Fellow-passenger Alice initially found — and shared with me — a tour through Viator that packaged the Kuranda train and sky rail with a fly and cruise snorkeling experience at the GBR.  We got as far as booking it when the operator suggested the ship’s arrival time was too risky for the scheduled train departure.  So we went to plan B.

I was intrigued by the idea of seeing the GBR, and for a non-snorkeler like me, flying over it was ideal.  But it would cut into Mui’s snorkeling time.  So I left the decision to him — do a multi-hour snorkel … either off a boat or off a pontoon.  Or, do the fly and cruise.  He liked the idea of seeing the GBR from the air as well and said he’d be OK with an hour of snorkeling.  And that’s how we came to book the adventure we did with Nautilus, the helicopter company that partners with Down Under Dive for the snorkeling part of the excursion.  At AUD $608 (~AUD $456) for the two of us, the price was decent and now, in the aftermath, we are very pleased with our decision.  By the way, there’s an AUD $20/person (~ USD $15) conservation fee payable in cash directly to the boat operator … standard for all tours out to the GBR whether it is included in the total fee or paid separately.

At 11:30a, we joined Alice & Tom just outside wharf 3 of the cruise ship terminal for our ride to the airport.  We picked up one more person — another passenger from our ship, and there was an additional person already at the airport, waiting to join us.  At the Nautilus office we paid for our tour, completed disclaimer forms, got weighed — along with anything we were taking aboard the chopper … so we can blame the bags for any weight gain ;-) — and watched the safety video.

Shortly before 12:40p, our pilot escorted us to a bright red 7-pax helicopter … three in the cockpit; four in the row behind.  In charge of weight distribution on the aircraft, he seated Mui and me up front … although we would have preferred to have side views as there was quite a bit of distance between the glass bubble of the chopper and our cameras … thus more glare.  Nonetheless, we had a fantastic flight, with beautiful views.  Even though I did not necessarily get the best aerial shots, I have the experience all recorded in my brain.  A fellow-passenger on Insignia later told me they did a fixed-wing flight for an hour … I might do that when we return to Cairns at some point on a land-based Australia trip.

The ride out to Endeavour, the catamaran operated by Down Under Dive, was about 20 minutes.  Visibility was great.  There was no wind to speak of — I think 5 knots was mentioned — and the surface of the water was flat calm … and I mean flat.  Our pilot was quick to say that these conditions were far from the norm.  We surely lucked out.

For a non-snorkeler, there is no better way to see the GBR than from the air.

When we arrived at Hastings Reef, the meeting point with the catamaran, the boat was just coming in from another reef where it had stopped for a snorkel/dive on its way from Cairns.  This gave us additional minutes in the air, and we flew along the reef to see if we could spot any critters since it was low-tide.  No luck, but we enjoyed the extra time over the reef.

Our catamaran, the Endeavour, arrives at Hastings Reef just as we do.
The small vessel in the background is the semi-submersible.

After the pilot set the helicopter on a floating helipad, we waited inside while the Down Under Dive people came over to pick us up in a small motorboat.  A photographer took photos of us with the chopper and on the boat — extra cost and available for purchase on the catamaran.  Five minutes later we were onboard and being directed to a table by Mali, our hostess.  She gave us a rundown of how the afternoon would proceed, briefed us on emergency procedures, and also gave us the rules and hand signs for snorkeling.  She also suggested that to make the most of the limited time in the water, we hold off having lunch until the catamaran was underway to Cairns… good suggestion.

Looking back at our ride as we head to the catamaran.

Mui, of course, lost no time getting into the water.  He already had on a full-body rashie — as they call rash guards in Australia — and dive gloves as well, so he didn’t have to rent a similar suit … recommended as protection against the deadly box jellies.  The good news — the jellies weren’t around anyway, so he was safe.  The flat calm conditions were perfect for snorkeling and there was plenty of light to capture what he was seeing on his GoPro.  Video to be posted when we get home this summer.  In general, Mui was thrilled with his time in the water.  His only negative comment was about how regimented it was, with the “whistle blower” making frequent use of the whistle to reign people in … and thus disrupting his rhythm as he had to look up each time to see if he was the offender.

While Mui was snorkeling, I went for a look-see by way of the semi-submersible.  I was a little apprehensive about this at first as the last time I went on one of these boats, it was so hot inside that I felt claustrophobic and had to go up on deck, thus missing the experience.  This time they left the hatch at either end open, so there was plenty of air coming in.  The big windows were clean and provided a good view of the reef.  But the thick glass added a bluish-green tint to all my photos, so I gave up and just enjoyed the experience.  The ride was extra — AUD $10 (~ USD $7.50) — and worth it for a non-snorkeler to at least get an underwater glimpse of the GBR.  Would I do it again?  Probably not — I am looking forward to Mui’s natural-colored GoPro videos for a truer, but second-hand experience.

Somewhere out there, Mui is enjoying snorkeling at the GBR.

Mui and the rest of the snorkelers were called back to the ship shortly after the semi-submersible disembarked us.  At about the same time, Mali delivered the food that had been kept for us — everyone else had eaten while cruising from the first reef to Hastings.  Our plates held portions of green salad, potato salad, pasta salad, and rice.  As well, there was grilled fish and steak.  It was OK … probably better when it was fresh-cooked.  The disappointing thing was that all beverages were extra … a little nickel-and-diming I thought. No matter, I scarfed down my food and rather than stay indoors, made my way up to the aft deck for the boat ride back to Cairns.

There wasn’t much scenery to speak of — just open water all around us — but it was nice to sit in the shade and enjoy a little breeze once the catamaran got under.  Behind the boat the skies were clear — some puffy clouds out on the horizon.  But looking forward, it was obvious the 100% rain forecast was holding true for Cairns.  As we got closer, we had a few sprinkles fall on us, but that was it.  And by the time we arrived at the marina, the rain was over.  So, Cairns treated us well when it came to the wet stuff … although once ashore, we started sweating buckets again, so I guess we didn’t stay dry after all.

Splitting from our fellow heli-adventurers, who had plans of their own for the last few hours in port, we went our own way.  It was 4:30p, and the first order of business for us was to get some gelato — that smooth, creamy treat that was introduced to Australia by Italian immigrants.  Our meandering walk took us pretty much to the same streets we had wandered in the morning, but we found what we were looking for — the Lindt chocolate gelato was particularly yummy and went well with the mango sorbet I paired it with.

By this time we were drained.  Despite all the water we were drinking, we were unable to keep up with the rate our bodies were losing through sweat.  So, we decided to head back to the ship … by way of the Wildlife Dome, where our ticket from the morning gave us free admission.  As was the case in the morning, we had the place to ourselves.  It was 5:15p when we arrived, giving us an hour before the place closed down.  We got to see some of the critters that weren’t visible in the morning, so it was a good decision to stop by again on our way to ship.

Zebra Finch (Male)

We were on the ship shortly after 6:30p.  The ship wasn’t scheduled to leave its berth until 8:00p, but we were done.  In fact, we were so tired that we skipped dinner entirely.  A shower did wonders to restore some of my energy, but not enough to keep me up for long.

Tomorrow is another Australian port of call … this one a small town not too far from where we are now.

For a few more photos from our day click here to visit the online blog gallery.

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