I'm addicted

Every morning I rush up and turn the computer on to see what the picture is today. Sometimes there isn't a picture, and I check every few minutes until I go off to school. Then I have to rush home and see if they were VERY late putting it on. The day is not complete without my boy. Here he is with the new chair in his bedroom. However this seems to have changed its format and is a bit blurry. But the cuteness still shines through. Its tough being long distance grandparents but this does ease the pain.

Out to the reef

The next morning was quite cloudy with a bit of a breeze. We drove into Cairns and joined the line for the catamaran. Lots of Asian tourists on board - and soon a collection of people were throwing up as the winds became more brisk as we headed to Green Island which is the island of the Great Barrier which is closest. Our promised morning tea was not allowed as the seas were too rough, so it was with relief that we arrived at the long wharf. We were whisked off to do the glass bottom boat trip, and I must say the fish were huge, but what I loved the most was the turtles. This is a picture of a turtle just out of view. They were massive too. The coral was very varied, but quite muted in colour. And massive too.

Next we set off to do the snorkelling off the beach. Unfortunately the fish close in weren't as spectacular and as soon as you ventured out the water became quite hazy with the disturbance of the wind.

Here's Duncan just setting off. He has the confidence to go a bit deeper than me, but there's nothing better when you are relaxed into a steady breathing rhythm with the seafloor and lots of fish - mainly small (but I was massive) swimming around you.

By this stage we had worked up a good apetite and headed to the food court which was inundated with birds. I had to be very brave. We then went for a walk around the resort part. It was lovely in the bush area with a good path, but as soon as you poked your nose out onto the beach area the wind was whistling.

The trip back was much smoother however and once back in the car we decided to investigate Port Douglas. It was a much longer and more testing drive than we thought and we were pleased we had not stayed there as it would have been quite a trip to get to the sights that we had done. We quite liked the look of Palm Cove, so maybe in a few years we might go there.

It was with very high hopes that we set out to the Blue Moon Cafe for dinner (that's what Jill and Simon always called their cafe) as it is regularly booked out. However the lighting was not good, the service was not good, but all the same I was dumbfounded when the waitress asked Duncan how his meal was and he replied "Its dry and its tasteless" It was Kangaroo - although we've had very tasty Kangaroo before. My crocodile puffs were fine. But the whole experience was a disappointment! Maybe I feed him too well.

Tjapukai

The next day was still drizzley so we got the local bus onto Cairns. It took us on the scenic route so it was quite late in the morning when we arrived. We went and organised our trip to Green Island which is the nearest part of the Great Barrier. We decided to take this shorter trip because of the weather. the nice young man from Christchurch on the information desk did advise us that the trips to the outer reef had been a bit disappointing because of the weather. The Green Island trip was quite heavily booked so we made our mind up to go the next day. After an early lunch we set out to track down a rental car. This was proving quite difficult as Cairns was very heavily booked with the Coral Reef Symposium and also some states still on holiday. We managed to track one down at the third place but would have to pick it up at 5.00 so I suggested we go to the Aboriginal display village Tjapukai, say Jab - u - kai. We got the bus out there. Our first activity was in the Theatre with Didgeridoo and dancing.

They showed us how they made fire - this proved a little more difficult than usual because of the wet weather, but they took turns at the rubbing sticks and eventually the smoke became fire. They also did so dancing which tells story - the central performer here was the rainbow - which was quite hypnotic.

after a talk on the foods and medicine they used we went out to the field to try our hand at the boomerang throwing. And lets just say we would not have killed an enemy, or a kangaroo with our throws. some of the young kids were suprisingly good. Obviously it was a knack, not brute force and ignorance.

We then went to a very informative video. There are over 500 tribes in Australia and all speak different dialects and/or languages, and unlike the white inhabitants they are spread all over the country, not just on the coastal areas. We had a browse in the gift shop before a multimedia production combining people with video visual effects about the dreamtime - the beginning - as all of the tribes throughout the land have very similar legends regarding this.

We then went out to catch the bus into town.
And now we see the flip side of the aborigine story. The poor behaviour of the children with their families, and we drop them all off at a big liquor outlet.

We have a rental car to pick up. And the bus winds through the suburbs, caught in rush hour traffic. We ring the rental car and tell them of our progress. Cut and paste that sentence again. Duncan is so worried that we will miss out.

Eventually we make it and to our great relief we pile into the squashed tomato. We are squashed and it is red. However Duncan masters the gears quicker than the indicators, so we are continually having the windscreen wipers turned on.

Tonight we go to the Lime Tree, a wonderful restaurant were we end the poshest of tapas - washed down with decent kiwi wine!!

Train Trip from Kuranda

After the butterflies and the Venom zoo we tackled lunch. I thought a panini with ham and some sort of acacia seed mustard sounded interesting, so we both chose panini. Unfortunately there was a tourist party just about to be served when we arrived. "I've just gotta do a food run, darl" shouted the waitress so we sat down and waited with our beers. When it arrive it wasn't a panini, but two slabs of focaccia, making putting it in your mouth almost impossible. So were were very full when we boarded the train which takes you back on a very historic railroad. It was one of these engineering feats that had cost many lives, but which really came into its own in getting injured troops up to the cooler Tablelands as they were fearful of Japanese attack on the coastline.

The commentary was very good and there were historic photos on a screen as we passed by places of note.

The seats were a vinyl bench type, so not all that comfortable. It was a long slow haul up and then we rattled quickly down the slope to the depot at Freshwater and met a bus which took us back to our accommodation.

Of course, the waterfalls were spectacular again!

Tonight it was a Thai Restaurant. Our experience with a glass of Australian reisling tonight meant that we paid the extra and bought NZ wines the rest of the trip.

Sanctuary

Once we reached Kuranda we decided to split up. I went to the butterfly sanctuary, and Duncan went to the Venom Zoo. This is particularly daring on two counts - 1. we make to make a rendezvous at a certain time, and 2. I am well known for my inability to cope with birds flapping inside - how would I cope with Butterflies??? I was entranced from the moment I entered the enclosure! The butterflies are feed syrup from large white discs with artificial stamen on them.

As you can see they are quite large. Why a sanctuary? Butterflies only lay their eggs on one specific plant - a bit like the monarch butterfly and swan plant, so this enclosure is full of plants that each species likes. As the landscape has been farmed or forested in other trees, these particular trees have been destroyed leading to the reduction in habitat for butterflies to lay their eggs on. The caterpillars are voracious feeders and in terms of body weight its like a 6month old baby having eaten 9 elephants!!!!!

The Ulysses butterfly with the iridescent blue wings looked fabulous when it was flying, but the wings folded together when they were at rest so it was very hard to get a good shot of them. Attached to the butterfly enclosure is a museum with all the different types on display.

Each day they collect up any laying of eggs they can identify and they are removed to the nursery where the lepidopterists made sure that they had enough of the correct sort of leaf to chew on. They are allowed to stay in the nursery until after they have spent time in the chrysalis hatched out, and then they need about 24 hours until their wings dry out. Then they put them in the enclosure. I was lucky enough to be there just after a release.

It isn't long before they start to get a bit raggedy. How long they last depends on how much flying they do. Some last a few days, others live for about 9 months.

A great place to visit and the rendezvous with Duncan occured without a hitch!

A Wet Start

We had a good flight from Brisbane to Cairns and a very pleasant man met us with a board saying Gwen and Duncan Bush on it and whisked us through the drizzle to Trinity Beach. Our apartment looked out on the surf with this lovely, if grey view. After an Italian meal we chose our bedroom - it was a two bedroom apartment with a very supportive kingsize bed which did wonders for my back. But the exciting bit was that we also had two bathrooms so I never had to wait for Duncan to finish, and he never had to wait for me to get my makeup on!
Next morning it was still raining so we thought it would be appropriate to visit the rain forest. they have a sky rail over 7km long which whisks you over the tops of the trees. It stops 3 times for you to get off and take a walk on boardwalks which weren't to slippery. Here we are amusing ourselves with the other people in the pod by taking photos of one another.

And here is the view out the window........

However we have to say the waterfalls were most spectacular, so we just had to laugh and make the best of a bad situation.

By the time we arrived in Karunda the rain had almost stopped so we set off to explore. More news tomorrow!

Obsolete

There's nothing quite like finding yourself obsolete to make you feel old.
This weekend we took the caravan up to Tolaga Bay to try towing the caravan with the new car. It has a backing camera so I dont need to stand there and make all those funny hand signals and shout Right hand down - whatever that means. Duncan can line it up himself.
We even used the Tomtom to give us directions - even though we knew the way.
It even has a seat warmer!!! so I'm not needed for that anymore either.
No wonder Duncan says "I love my new car"