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Published: March 30th 2008
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Hi Everyone,
After our stay in Brisbane we flew to Cairnes further up the East coast. We'd originally planned to see some of the must-do's between the two cities but time wasn't on our side and we had to trim the itinerary so we could do justice to the places that we were visiting.
The first few days in Cairns were pretty quiet: the weather was very humid and we both came down with a short virus that meant we were tired pretty much all of the time. It was Easter weekend but it passed pretty quietly. Come the Tuesday though, it was time to go for the trip that was the basis of our visit to Cairnes, the Great Barrier Reef.
We sailed out on a large catamaran called Passions of Paradise at 8am for the near two hour trip out to the reef. Eventually we got to the spot where the boat anchored and we were taken on a smaller boat to a small sand island that is also a marine bird sanctuary. This allowed us to snorkel out to the reef from dry land, which was a big help for beginners like us. We both
couldn't scuba dive unfortunately, me because of asthma, Jaime because of ear problems!
The reef was stunning and it was fun to swim just centimeters from the colourful fish, large and small. We'd hired an underwater camera for the day and took lots of shots of each other and what we saw below the surface.
After an hour or so it was back aboard for lunch before sailing to the even better outer reef. Here again we were able to snorkel in deaper water and the colours of the reef were even more striking. From here the catamaran put up it's sail for a lazy trip back to shore. Satisfied, we went for dinner at a nearby pub while we waited for our photos to be put on CD at the hire shop.
It was another early get up the following day for our flight to Ayers Rock. We were booked to stay at the Ayers Rock campground which is the cheapest of four or five accomodation choices at the Ayers Rock Resort which is run by one group and is your only choice if you want to stay close to the rock itself. When we tried
to check in, we were told we'd been upgraded for no apparent reason from the tent that we'd booked, to a cabin; this meant a mini kitchen and tv as well as less potential exposure to dingoes, snakes and spiders.
With limited time at the resort we had to act fast to plan our time. Thankfully we got on a tour for Ayers Rock at Sundown. At 5:30pm we were driven the 20minutes or so to the sunset viewing area and came face to face as it were with Ayers Rock (Uluru). It was strange seeing something close up that you feel that you're already so familiar with from the TV but it took away none of the excitement. Unfortunately there was a quite a lot of cloud in the sky so the sunset itself wasn't spectacular but as we sipped the free wine and ate the nibbles as the areas descended into darkness we were sure we'd made a good choice.
The next day we'd booked to see the rock at sunrise, which involved being picked up at 5:30am. We were driven to a place where we saw the rock from a different angle to the previous
night, and things seemed to progress pretty much as the night before. Suddenly though, as sunrise came towards it's end, the rock suddenly for a few minutes lit up spectacularly and suddenyl in a rich red that seemed to illuminate the whole area. It was probably the most spectacular thing we've seen on our travels.
After sunrise we went on a free walk provided by park rangers that gives insight on what the rock means to the local Aboriginal people and the myths and stories attached to it. It was fascinating to hear about the rock's long history and how it came to be formed. For fact fans, the reason Ayers Rock is so red in because of the amount of iron in the ground - it's literally rusting.
After the talk we walked around the base to get a better look at the caves and pot marks in the surface. It's about 9km round and there were loads of flies getting in our faces, enabling Jaime to unveil her newest piece of headwear. We thought it was bad but apparently if we'd been there a month before it would probably have been about five times worse.
Walking at the Base of Uluru
Vivienne Westwood's latest collection showed she'd lost her touch In the afternoon we had another tour that took us to Katja Tjuta, (The Olgas) a less well known rock a few kilometers that has split into four seperate mountains. The tour started with a walk through the Valley of the Winds which took you up to a vantage point that enabled you to see the rocks in much better detail. This was followed by a climb up to another vantegae point with more views of the area.
After returning to the coach we got some sparkling wine and watch the sunset over the rocks. With the weather being clearer the rocks changed colour many, many times. Back on the bus we headed for a secret location in the bush where we enjoyed a barbeque before the organisers turned out the lights in the barbeque area. Being in the middle of the bus there was no light polution so we saw the most amazing night sky: you could see the Milky Way, and even the planet Mars. Truly incredible.
Tired, we returned to base for a good nights sleep, knowing how lucky we are to be able to do this and reflecting on what a great few days
it had been. We'll pick up next time in Alice Springs.
Best Wishes,
Martin and Jaime.
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