Australia: Cairns

Cairns Australia
November 16th, 17th and 18th 2019

Off on our flight, and soon we were in Cairns. Once we landed and gathered our luggage we made our way to the awaiting coach. No time to rest we were off to yet another adventure. 

We went from the airport to the Crocodile Park-Hartley's. We had time to get some lunch, although we had breakfast in the hotel and they offered breakfast on the plane. (International airlines are the best.) I got some food from the park restaurant. Chicken nuggets. I am still not venturing off my accustom foods. Although they did have crocodile if anyone was interested. 

While we dined we had these little guys below the table awaiting a scrap.





This little guy with GIGANTIC feet, is the baby. I was humored by his feet, they were nearly bigger then he was. I heard that birds are not the only animals that made their way under the lunch tables. I didn't see this, but apparently there was at least one crocodile who awaited a falling bite below one of the picnic table. 
He is sure cute all fluffy and soft...and then there's his FEET. Mom and Dad seemed to have grown into their feet, but they all have genetically BIG feet don't you think?

Once lunch was finished we began our tour. It started with a baby crocodile. I'd like to say that all baby animals are cute, but this isn't the case; most reptiles are NOT cute at all. 

I didn't know the difference between an alligator and a crocodile, but the easiest way to tell the difference is in their snout. Crocks have a V shape nose and gators have a U. They also tend to be found in very different areas of the world.  Gators are generally fresh water creatures and are found in North America (some in China) and Crocks like a more salty waterway and are found all over the world. 

My mom and I got to hold this guy. I will admit I was excited for the opportunity but a little intimidated. I watched this guy flex his little body enough to nearly wiggle free from another holder and he may be small but he is STRONG.

He only has a little rubber band over that little jaw and I could tell he was NOT enjoying all the attention.

We also got to hold a python. Although pythons are not venomous, they do have the ability to kill humans. They constrict!!!!! Generally, they are not a threat to humans, BUT they can kill if they are hungry enough and big enough.

Either way, I was not to sure how I felt about this guy slithering around my torso. My mom looks FEARLESS!!!!

I look a little unsure. What was getting me all freaked out, was his tail tucked under my coverall. I could feel him or her, flick the fabric quickly with his tail and this was making me just a little uneasy. Some of the the Bernese Pythons can be 18 feet long and weigh nearly 200 pounds.

Crock's cant hide their teeth, their jaws wont let them, If I had to choose a gator or a crock to be chasing me, I would take a crock. They are slower on land then gators, but when it comes to size and aggression CROCKS are the kings. They generally grow to be larger then gators and they are much more likely to attack.

Having fun posing with the not so scary crock. (Below are the couple we meet at the airport on our first day, very lovey people.)

There were birds everywhere in Australia, several I had never seen before. Apparently there are over 830 different species of birds populating Australia and 45% of all the world bird species are only found in Australia.  

Up next was the Koala's, unlike the southern parts of Australia, you can hold a Koala here. (The only thing I wish I did differently in Australia; was wait for the photo opt. so I could actually hold the Koala.)

While waiting for some of our tour to get Koala pictures we listened to an information session about snakes. 10 of the most deadly snakes are found in Australia, but there are only about 6 snake bite related deaths per year on average. There are over 170 different species of snake found in Australia. . 

I don't recall what kind of a snake the speaker is holding here.....

Enough  about snakes, up next were the Kangaroo's.

I offered a lot of details about these guys in my Melbourne post, so I wont mention much here except are they not the most adorable?

After a period of free time with the Kangaroo's we were lead to visit with this creature. The Cassowary. This was a new animal to me. I had never seen or heard of the Cassowary before today and they are actually a pretty well know bird in Australia.

They are also the WORLD MOST DANGEROUS birds.

These prehistoric looking birds are indeed captivating but they are deadly. Okay, so they are not like predators stalking for human prey or anything, but they can kill humans.  

He sure looks scary. Although they typically are not aggressive animals, they do have deadly protective features that they will use when they feel threatened. They weigh over 150 pounds standing nearly 6 feet tall being the second heaviest bird behind the Ostrich.

When threatened these creatures can head butt, peck and kick upward hard enough to break bones, but it's their razor sharp talon that is the real deadly force. Cassowary's can run up to 30 miles per hour and can jump up to 7 feet. When jumping they make a swift swing of the foot and the Cassowary dagger is swung. There are only 2 reported deaths associated with the Cassowary despite their ability and any attacks were a result of a perceived harm.
The male Cassowary does all of the child rearing. Once the egg is laid, the mother will abandon the nest while dad will sit upon the egg refusing to leave even to eat or drink. The fathers are also the ones who help the baby become self-sufficient. The Cassowary makes a strange noise. It is more of a grumble that shakes the earth when they call. Very strange creatures indeed.

Cassowary have a hard calcium like dome on their heads. It is unknown what purpose they serve, but they sure are unusual. It is illegal to feed wild cassowary in Australia.

Once we had our fill of the Cassowary we headed off to the main event, the CROC's!!!!


We boarded a boat that took us into the waterways filled with CROC's.....

They seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The water would be still then suddenly a head would pop out of the water. 

Croc's are pretty territorial and will sometimes fight off other crocodile.

Our tour guide would send chucks of meat out to attack movement.

Holding chicken on a rope offered the viewers a chance to see these guys in actions.

I shot a video, but I don't think I can upload it here.

And.....CRUNCH. Their jaws make a sort of popping sound when they grab at the food. Its all that force coming out ...pretty scary.

No swimming allowed.....

Florida is the only place where you might see a croc and an alligator living in the same areas.

Once we had our fill of the Crocodiles, we boarded our coach and headed to the town of Cairns. along the way we were told about the countries

Cairns pronounced "CANS" is located on the farthest North Eastern shoreline of Australia's Queensland. Considered the entry to the Great Barrier reef....

We took a few drives around the area before we checked into the hotel, once we got our luggage in the room and freshened up, Mom and I took a nice walk along the Esplanade.

We visited this lagoon, which is a pool with sand right next to the beach. The beach is not used often in this area due to the tide, potential for croc's, stonefish, mucky beach and especially jellyfish. I found that despite being surrounded by water, there are not many beaches that offer SAFE swimming. Sharks are a big factor, but jellyfish are the biggest concern. The beach area in Cairns is NOT pretty either.  The view out over the water however is amazing.....

And the lagoon is simply perfect.

Below is a picture of the beach....

not very welcoming is it.


Not exactly what you think of when you think beach....


Even with the beach covered in water, I'm not sure I would want to go in here.

More of the area and what really draws people to Cairns.......

Cains is the gateway to the Great Barrier REEF......

A little more exploring before we decided on dinner at this corner pizza place. We ended up having a great personal sized pizza with some of our new friends from the tour group. Later we walked the market place to find some souvenirs.

Back at our room we enjoyed sitting on the balcony overlooking the main street of Cairns.

What an amazing full day we had...tomorrow invites even more fun!

The Following morning, we enjoyed a wonderful buffet breakfast at the hotel before we headed out to see what the locals feel is a big nuisance. The BATS!!! 

Located right next to the public library is one of two tree in town that are home to thousands and thousands of BATS!!!!

In our quest to find the Bat tree, we asked a police officer where to look and he told us he was surprised we couldn't smell them, and suggested that we bring an umbrella. Clearly these little guys (ok, not so little) are not a favorite of the area. 

As we walked...soon we could SMELL them, and looking up we couldn't miss them.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the tree from the ground as well as these close up shots. It would have clearly shown just how many bats filled these trees.

They are kindof cute despite their unwelcome to the area. I do have to say, I never complained about bugs while visiting the area.

After the visit with the bats we headed back to the hotel, enjoying some of the cities artwork. 

Near our hotel was another casino. Australia has the highest gambling rate in the world. 80% of adults regularity engage in some form of gambling. Although we didn't go to the roof top of this casino (we did exchange money and I got a $1- chip- still the best exchange rate ever.) there is a small wildlife encounter said to be located there.

Back at the hotel, swimsuit on and towels ready...we made our way to the lobby to meet our group. Today was to be our day at the Great Barrier reef. We walked the short distance to the pier before we entered the boat to take us way out to sea.

It was absolutely beautiful. Our boat stopped at a popular Island, Green Island. We did not descend the boat, but from what I could see of the Island, it looked beautiful.

The whole boat trip took about an hour, and there was some parts of the ride that was pretty rough waters, but we soon made it to our metal Island in the middle of the ocean feet above the barrier reef.


The boat docked on this large metal made dock that housed everything needed for a days adventure in the reef. Our group found picnic tables and began to get ourselves ready for the desired activities. There was scuba diving, deep glass bottom subs, lunch to eat, plenty of sunshine, and snorkeling. Mom and I headed to the equipment and began getting dressed.

I brought my own snorkel, and mom found a snorkel mask that mimic her glasses. Soon we were in the water....the GREAT Barrier REEF!!!

I didn't have an underwater camera, and I was a little nervous to use my phone holder in the ocean, so there were no pictures. 

All I can report is that it was AMAZING. (Adding some pictures from the internet for an example.)

 The great barrier reef is the largest living eco systems in the world. It is so large is can be seen from space. The corral that inhabits the reef system is actually alive and is home to over 1,500 species of fish, wales, dolphins, sea snakes, turtles and porpoise.

 The reef system is threatened and this has become a concern. Each year the reefs warmer waters are causing the coral to bleach. Once helpful algae, with the warmer weather this becomes poisonous.   Climate changes is the biggest threat, but also pollutants from humans touching the reef, sunscreen and garbage.

 There are ways that the reef may be saved, and the Australian government is taking action to protect this amazing environment.

 The pictures above are insanely beautiful, but this one below was more like what I saw. I saw several fish, and the many colors, but I did not dive down with my snorkel so I only saw from the top down.

My mom and I snorkeled until we were to tired of our snorkel mask sucking in our face and just tired from all the fun/energy. We made our way back to the metal dock, had a little lunch and took a ride in the semi sub.

The semi sub gave us an opportunity to see the ocean and reef from behind a protective glass.

It was really difficult to capture any real beauty through the glass, but it was sure neat.

The day went way to fast and soon we heard the boats horn blow calling us all to board. Simply an incredible day. Once Mom and I were back at the hotel we decided on an evening getting souvenirs at the Market Place and made our way down the street from our hotel.  We had dinner at Rattle and Hum. I enjoyed a baked mac and cheese

and mom had tacos. It was a long wait for the food, but a nice place and the food was enjoyable.

On our walk back to the hotel we stopped and watched this street performer. He danced, juggled and did all kinds of crazy tricks with fire.

It was pretty cool.

What a LONG day we had. Tomorrow promised to be just as adventurous and Mom and I scheduled a date to meet up with some of our fellow travelers for a 6am swim.  

We met Barb and Carol in the lobby the following morning and walked down to the lagoon for our early morning swim. It was BEAUTIFUL with the sun coming up off the ocean the five metal fish sculptures reflecting off the water and the sun. 

Nothing but good morning Australia.....

Surprisingly we were not the only ones swimming this morning. We even found a nice women doing laps to take our picture. No laps here, we just enjoyed the cool refreshing water and the on coming sun. Heavenly.

Not much time to lavish in the pools as we still had to prepare for the day. Mom and I headed back to the hotel to clean up, have breakfast and gather for the next leg of our tour. 

Next adventure was to the Kuranda  Scenic Railway...

This railway system was built as a link from the coast to the rainforest. It supplied the miners in the town of Kuranda and linked gold and tin to the ocean for shipment. The railway system constriction began in 1886 and was completed in 1891.

The construction of this uphill climbing railway included 15 hand made tunnels, 55 bridges and reached over 328 meters in height. The railway spans a total of 23 miles from the railway station to the town of Kurandra.

The station itself is very welcoming and pleasant.

When the train rolled in it was magical., the engine painted with colorful rainbow serpent Googialla. Below is a link to the Aboregian story of Googialla.

http://www.ozjthomas.com/dreamtime.html

The Rainbow serpent is said to be the creator. I did learn other stories about the creation of all things later in the day, but this is the one about the Rainbow Serpent.

We all settled on the train for our hour plus ride up, up, up the mountain.

The landscape is breath taking.

The bridge spanning over the Barron Falls was once where the Governor held a banquet. There were no speech's made that day as the flowing water made it impossible to hear.

On this day, as I visited during the dry season, there might have been a speech made. I can only imagine the lush waters falling over these rocks during the wet season.

Below is the Barron river.

In this picture you can get an idea of how steep the climb was. 

There was some symbolism about this rock at the top of the mountain. I can't remember what. If anyone has any ideas? Please comment below. 

A stop was made at Barron Gorge.




Very pretty.

Once we made it to the trains destination, the village of Kuranda we strolled up the hill away from the train and entered into this cute little tropical rain forest village nestled up in the mountains.

The welcome sign is a nice way to provide an example of what this creative and relaxing zen like village reminds me of.




There are several things to do in the village, there is a butterfly park, river tours, animal encounters, along with nature tours, shopping, dining and simple relaxation. The village definitely gives a slow down and chill feeling.

The streets are filled with artwork from the walkways, to the walls.

Even the street crossing posts are beautifully structured into animals and rain forest creatures.

This picture (below) was taken in the restroom.

Markets and quaint shops fill the streets. There was even a small  casino. (I had to get a picture for my husband. ) 

More art....

Even the bench is a piece of art. It looks to be made of old pieces of the railway. 

The creative reflection of nature was beautiful, but the real NATURE was insane.

My mother and I took a trail through the rain forest and the beauty was overwhelming.

After a little more exploring, some shopping and lunch it was time to get back down the mountain. Only we were not taking the train back down. Instead we were taking the Skyrail!

The views going down were impressive.

We caught these guys having lunch! A view down below.

There are several skyrails that you can take, we had to get off to continue to the bottom. This invited us on a nice stroll in the jungle.

A view of the overlook.

and some interesting vegetation.

Below the skyrail was an information venue.

Back on the skyrail for some more incredible views.

The ocean is out there......

Once we got to the bottom, I spent a little time in the gift store before heading to meet the coach for a trip back to the hotel. The days events were not quite over. Below is a view off our terrace. Very pretty evening. 

There was a special dinner planned and I was super excited. Trafalgar has special dinners in their tours they call the be our guest dinner. Tonight was all about the Aborigine people.  Dinner was planned at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park. 

When we arrived we were taken into a small round theater and watched on both the walls and in the circle the story of creation. I tried to find the exact story that was told, but there are many different creation dream stories that were told and passed down. There is a strong theme that Gods have the ability to change into animals, and those things found in nature. I will try and explain what I recall of the story we were told. 

In the beginning, the Cassowary formed the rain forest through the droping of seeds.From what I found there were other animals (as explained above in the Rainbow Serpent) that assisted in the creation. A Cassowary egg gave birth by a lighting crashed and twins were born. Damarri; the Wet and Guyala; the Dry.  These two brothers went about the land naming animals and trees. Damarri lived in the clouds while Guyala lived of the earth. Damarri was a bit of a trickster and came to the earth to speak to his brother. He could not get his sticks to light the fire, and Damarri became angry with his brother and struck him with a rock. Guyala then turned into a sea eagle and flew high into the mountains. Damarri was left alone. He went to talk to a crocodile, but the crock was not interested in talking he was hungry, so he bit of Damarri's leg. 

Forever after the crock has had a taste for man. Damarri's blood gave birth to the water creatures. Damarri crawled up the embankment and eventually to the top of Glacier rock where he stayed. 

After the story,  we had a cocktail hour before our entertainment and dinner. 

The dreamtime, is what is referred to how things started. The aborigine people did not write, but told the stories in song. There are over 600 different tribes in Australia and over 500 dialects spoken. The culture is believed to be the oldest living culture in the world estimated to be over 50,000 years old. 

Each tribe has a different dream time, but the Rainbow Serpent is often identified. He is seen here in the beautiful tapestry.

Our hostess allowed a picture.

Through our traditional aborigine meal of kangaroo, crock, emu and fish we were entertained with more stories and music.


The didgeridoo shown below is the musical instrument. This is a male instrument only and should a female touch it, they will become pregnant.

The didgeridoo is made of bamboo and a buzz like hum (much like a kazoo) assists in the very distinguished sound.

We were offered more stories....there are several. I will admit, it was difficult to understand the words, but I did some research and there are all kinds of stories telling of how things came about, such as why the Kangaroo has a tail, to stories about how the birds got their colors. There are also stories of special men and women of tribes.   It is all very interesting.

We were all invited to dance and engage in the music.

This was quite an evening. It was so very nice to learn about the culture. In connecting with this I recalled a watching a movie when I was a kid about Dot and the Kangaroo. I found it on youtube and watched the movie about a little girl lost in the rain forest. 
After such a busy day, I was ready to go to bed we all headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow was another plane ride as we were heading to Sydney.