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Published: December 7th 2009
Its been a grand time so far so thought I share it with you before my young Bruv arrives and we all get too drunk to record anything
Arriving at 5.30 am on Saturday morning anywhere after travelling all night is not for the faint hearted . here in Cairns on the North Queensland coast the sun was up, well nearly, it was hot and humid, so not much sleep to be had that day! Still I was in another rather lovely place set in a spa resort and this time I have my own apartment with acres of space to make untidy . It was a hard first day plodding around finding which of the four pools took my fancy and then just swimming reading and taking the sun (hope the weather is not too dreadful where you are!) I really feel bad writing this but it has to be done!
This part of Queensland is home to some moderate mountains and sub tropical rain forests , the whole area is listed as a world heritage site. and it has a mass of wildlife and wonderful fauna ,flora and hosts of unusual tropical trees. Back in the 1880s
gold was discovered in them there hills near a small place called Kuranda and so started the mining rush. They built a railway by hand to help transport the men and gold back and forth, because of the terrain and the tropical storms and cyclones it proved extremely difficult but build it they did and today you can ride on its 50 minute journey up and across the mountains. I have to say it doesn't quite match the zig zagging of the Cuzco to machu picchu train that pat and i experienced when she had to comfort me as we moved back and forth up the steepest mountain ever! Still this was a treat and i was able to look out and appreciate the views which is more than I could in peru!.
Not so for the journey home later in the day when what most people do is take the sky rail which runs for nearly 5 miles above the forest canopy. So that's what I did . It is a cable rail reaching at its highest point 543 metres with 114 gondolas each with almost 360 degree views. I cant honestly say i enjoyed it ,
in-fact i felt quite sick and pathetic as the cabins swayed in the not insubstantial wind . I wanted it to end and have my feet firmly on the ground but it took about 55 minutes plus a couple of stops to view the forest and mountain highlights. well if i could have walked down i would have!!!. A few basic words just flewout of my mouth unrequited , good job on this leg, no one else was in the cabin. Still I did do it and what is more i did look and take photos though I must admit I sat where I couldnt see where i was going only where I had been - Oh my god I knew I could never be a skier!!!!
The views were stunning , I only wish I could have relaxed , sat back and enjoyed the whole show but I couldnt.
It was a very good job that i had rewarded myself with a very pretty floaty number bought in the charming village of Kuranda- I just knew I would need cheering up! half a bottle of rose when I got back, was a bit of a help too!
Part of the package of the day was a visit to learn about the Aborigine Tjapukai Tribe and the horrors they suffered over scores of years. To counter act that sadness we were treated to brilliant displays of dancing, didgeridoo playing and were able to try our hand at boomerang and spear throwing - all great fun.
Monday, was great Barrier reef day and what a fantastic day that turned out to be. We were bused to port Douglas a trendy resort about 40 minuites from cairns where we were to pick up our fast catamaran that would speed us in 90 minuites to the pontoon on the outer barrier reef. This structure is equipped for people to do most things ,you can snorkle, scoooper dive , deep sea dive , and much more. The reef stretches for hundreads of klms and is now heavily protected. We had access to marine biologists and researches who happily tok us through what is currently happening and what we must do to help protect this wonderful environment. I met a very friendly lady "B" we spent the day together and decided we should try most of what was on offer and
within our capabilities.
So first thing, up in a tiny helicopter for 10-12 minutes to circle part of the reef. That was amazing though the pictures I took do not do justice to the views. I am getting braver and really enjoyed the flight . We then donned lycra suits to protect us from the stingers , jellyfish that are in abundance at this time of year , and went snokleing. There were more fish and I saw greater varieties of coral than on the west coast as I ventured a little further from the pontoon.. I managed to glide about for probably 30 mins and that was great too.We also viewed the reef from a semi submergible a boat that has a glass and steel cabin in its hull, rather claustrophobic and very warm but great fun and we saw loads.
Time went very quickly and all to soon we were heading back. This had ben a wonderful day and i didnt feel sick or pathetic once !
On Wed my lovely brother and his lady arriive in cairns to start a 6 week jaunt ostensivly to see their daughter hannah who started a round the
world trip 15 months ago and so enjoyed Australia , she has stayed on here doing various jobs. So Jules and Sue will be in cairns for over week then they will strike out into the bush with Hannah , hopefully we will all meet up again for Christmas at Mark and Tans our nephew and his lovely wife - what good souls they are!
So thats it for now flolks and i await the family gathering!
love
caro
xxxxx
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Patricia
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Getting prouder of you by the minute ....
Well = again my darling you seem to be getting braver and braver and more and more the adventurer that I knew you were deep inside = continue to have a lovely time = especially with bruv etc. I will email you with my news when I get back to UK t end of week = enjoy enjoy, Brisbane is great and the south even more so = reember I spent 6 weeks on one trip and 3 weeks on another between Adelaide and Brisbane .... but that wa back in th 80çs = will have a changed a bit since then I expect. xxP