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Published: April 30th 2011
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From Melbourne I flew to Cairns in the far northeast corner of Oz and the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Into the tropics. The heat and humidity reminded me of Florida. I stayed in a wonderful hostel, Tropic Days. Nice rooms around a quiet courtyard with a pool and hammocks hanging under the palm trees (and free wifi and friendly people!)…..pretty much paradise. The first day I was there was Monday, the night of the big Aussie BBQ. Great fun! They cooked up Kangaroo, Emu, and Crocodile for everyone to try out. All were good. The Kangaroo and Emu tasted like steak and the croc tasted like a mix of chicken and swordfish (sort of). Afterwards, the owner showed everyone how to play the didgeridoo and had a contest. I tried it…..much harder than it looks!
I had a great time in Cairns. I took a two day dive trip on the reef. It was great spending the night out on the water and sailing back. The diving was pretty good. I did 6 dives in the two days including a night dive. During the night dive the best part was seeing some glowing blue things in front of me
(sometimes it pays to have a crappy light). My favorite sight under the water were the giant clams. Really colorful insides and when you tapped on the shells they snapped shut which I thought was great fun.
The great thing about hostels is meeting people. Two of the people on the dive trip were staying in my hostel. A Swiss couple who were taking a couple of years to travel the world. They gave me the underwater pix that they took since I didn’t have an underwater camera. A group from the place usually went out to a bar/restaurant in town which would entice backpackers in with a free meal so they would buy drinks. I went out a couple of times with the kids (I don’t think they realized I was as old as their momsJ) Also met a new friend from Holland who is just starting her traveling year. We took a tour through the mountains above Cairns (saw a cool python and swam through a waterfall!) and then rented a car for a road trip up to Cape Tribulation. Had a great time hanging out, looking for non-existent cassowaries, eating homemade ice cream, swimming in clear pools
(saw the croc warning signs after the swim), and generally just enjoying the scenery. We went on a cruise on the Daintree river. I though the banks would be loaded with crocs…..Saw one big one and a couple of babies…..kind of a bummer not to see more, but at least we didn’t see them during the swims!
I decided to not head down the east coast to Sydney, but make the flight inland to see Uluru. I wanted to see the outback (wow, lots of nothing in the middle of Oz), cool off, and do a little hiking. It was pretty neat to see. I hiked around the rock, watched the sun set and rise a couple of times and hiked around the nearby Kata Tjutu rocks. I had read that the local Aborigine group doesn’t like people to hike to the top of the rock, so the first day, I hiked around the base with an American girl who was traveling around Oz after finishing med school in Melbourne. The next day I went out to Kata Tjuta for sunrise which was absolutely spectacular and hiked with an English lady living in Sydney. She had read a different
version that said that the locals aren’t as against the climb as they are against people dying or getting hurt on the rock. So in the afternoon we climbed it. It was a hard climb, but I must admit that the walk around the base was more interesting with all the little caves and gorges. I feel a little conflicted about my choice, but felt better when while climbing down we came up to a young exchange student by herself who was struggling to get down. She was starting to cry (its pretty steep and she was getting rattled) and ask if I could climb with her. I got in front of her and talked with her on the way down. So I guess it all worked out for the best.
That night everyone gathered at the bar or in the lounge to watch the royal wedding. It was fun especially since there were several English folks around to explain what was going on who was who. The pre-wedding entertainment was making fun of all the silly hats as the guests walked in. How many folks can say they watched the royal wedding from Ayers Rock?!
Just 2 more
weeks to go. Wow!
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