We arrived in Cairns from Alice Springs on Dec. 29. It was rainy season and it was overcast most of the time in Cairns and we also had some very heavy rain. We got a little lucky in that it did not rain all the time so we could do some things. We walked about town a bit and found it a pleasant city. At night we went to a center set up for people to see and hear some aboriginal people talk about
traditions and play some music. We had dinner after and tasted crocodile and kangaroo meat.
The next day we were supposed to ride an old train on a scenic route, but were told it was closed due to land slides about 10 days earlier. We went to the aquarium in the city instead. It was quite nice but crowded since it was a Sunday, but also a Holiday period.
On New Years Eve Janet was to go snorkeling on part of the Great Barrier Reef, but the stormy weather made the sea to rough, so that was canceled. We had a nice dinner on the ship that night.
New years Day was probably our most pleasing day in Australia. We signed up for a trip to Magnetic Island. Apparently, James Cook noted that his compasses behaved strangely when his ships passed there in the late 1700's and named the island accordingly. We got a little tour of the island and then our guide took us through a residential area to a small grove of trees where we found 5 Koala's in the trees. They were mostly sleeping, but they moved a bit. It looked like two were adults and 3
wereyounger, but they each had their own tree. They were very cyte and it was good the see them free to go wherever they wanted. We were told their biggest enemies are dogs and cars when they are not up in the trees. After this we went to a sanctuary which is really a small zoo. Here we got hold a koala female who was very cute and did not seem to mind too much. We also got to pet a wombat! We could not remember ever seeing a wombat before. He was quite big- we were told about 60 lbs!
He was quite curious and wa slooking all around and seeing who was scratching his hip. There is a cute video on the web titled "george the baby wombat" it is quite cute. Our wombat was full grown though, but still rather cute.
The next day was on a sail boat out to an island where Janet could snorkel while Jim just watched.
The next day was a day at sea on the way to Brisbane.
At Brisbane we visited a zoo where we saw more koalas, wallabies, birds, kangaroos and had a short stop at a park that overlooks the city.
We got off the group bus in the city in order to visit the art museum and any shops that looked interesting. The museum was very nice and free to visit. We saw lots of aboriginal art works that we liked and had a good lunch at the museum cafe.
After
the museum we walked a mile or so to get on a shuttle bus that was making trips back and forth from our ship to the center of the city.
Our next day was at sea and then we arrived in Sydney.
traditions and play some music. We had dinner after and tasted crocodile and kangaroo meat.
We walked across a wood bridge across a river to get to part of the show. The next day we road near the place and saw how swollen the river was from all the rain. On that trip we were on a bus to Kuranda- a rather nice village that is mainly for tourists- lots of shops and eateries and galleries. From Kuranda we boarded the sky ride that went over forests and ended near the place we were the previous night. The sky ride was pleasant but it was overcast and in the clouds much off the time. We got off at one point to see a big water fall, but there was so much mist due to the huge volume of water (due to the rain) that we could not actually see the falls! Our guide said they have seen higher water levels in the past, but it was awhile ago.
The next day we were supposed to ride an old train on a scenic route, but were told it was closed due to land slides about 10 days earlier. We went to the aquarium in the city instead. It was quite nice but crowded since it was a Sunday, but also a Holiday period.
On New Years Eve Janet was to go snorkeling on part of the Great Barrier Reef, but the stormy weather made the sea to rough, so that was canceled. We had a nice dinner on the ship that night.
New years Day was probably our most pleasing day in Australia. We signed up for a trip to Magnetic Island. Apparently, James Cook noted that his compasses behaved strangely when his ships passed there in the late 1700's and named the island accordingly. We got a little tour of the island and then our guide took us through a residential area to a small grove of trees where we found 5 Koala's in the trees. They were mostly sleeping, but they moved a bit. It looked like two were adults and 3
wereyounger, but they each had their own tree. They were very cyte and it was good the see them free to go wherever they wanted. We were told their biggest enemies are dogs and cars when they are not up in the trees. After this we went to a sanctuary which is really a small zoo. Here we got hold a koala female who was very cute and did not seem to mind too much. We also got to pet a wombat! We could not remember ever seeing a wombat before. He was quite big- we were told about 60 lbs!
He was quite curious and wa slooking all around and seeing who was scratching his hip. There is a cute video on the web titled "george the baby wombat" it is quite cute. Our wombat was full grown though, but still rather cute.The next day was on a sail boat out to an island where Janet could snorkel while Jim just watched.
The next day was a day at sea on the way to Brisbane.
At Brisbane we visited a zoo where we saw more koalas, wallabies, birds, kangaroos and had a short stop at a park that overlooks the city.
We got off the group bus in the city in order to visit the art museum and any shops that looked interesting. The museum was very nice and free to visit. We saw lots of aboriginal art works that we liked and had a good lunch at the museum cafe.
After
the museum we walked a mile or so to get on a shuttle bus that was making trips back and forth from our ship to the center of the city.Our next day was at sea and then we arrived in Sydney.
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