Cairns on our own

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Blog 11



Cairns – On our own day - March 21, 2018 – Weather forecast: partly cloudy - daytime temperature of 31°C; overnight temperature of 23°C - 20% of rain, which it did on and off



Being that today was scheduled for us to do whatever we wanted we opted to venture down the block from our hotel to the Cairns Aquarium, which has only been open in their new building for 6 months. Well laid out building, great exhibits, very knowledgeable staff made the experience extremely enjoyable. Not to mention that they gave us the Seniors Admission price without having to prove citizenship. We wandered throughout the building, took in several presentations and watched divers hand feed the rays. The aquarium incorporates glass tunnels that go under the tanks so you have fish all around you to view from all angles.



The exhibits are laid out in such a manner that you are introduced to the fauna and flora from the rainforests down to the coastal mangrove forests and then out to the reef. While they have some monstrous tanks they still have ample floor space to establish some smaller free-standing units for smaller exhibits.



Following our visit, we had lunch in the adjoining restaurant that had as one of its walls an enormous fish tank. We always wonder if the fish know that some of their fellow brethren might actually be on the menu.



After lunch we walked down Esplanade, a green belt along the ocean. This public space has walking paths, exercise stations, benches, picnic tables, a water play area just for children and call “Muddies Playground”. At one end the city has constructed “The Lagoon” which is a free public swimming pool, which was being well used when we walked past even though the UV Index on the notice board was rated as Extreme.



After dropping in to a gallery to view some Aboriginal Art, which was both too large for transport and too expensive for our pocketbooks, we ventured on to the casino called “The Reef”. No, we were not there to play the slots but to go us to their roof. On top of the casino they have constructed a dome and have miniature wildlife zoo there.



We did get to see some of the animals that have eluded us during our trip including: a saltwater croc, a Kookaburra, two Koalas, two Pademelons, some freshwater crocs and turtles along with a lot of little very colourful birds.





This evening the group went out to a local restaurant for our dinner as this is our last evening in Cairns; tomorrow we fly down to Sydney for the last portion of this 18-day tour. Back at the hotel I did our last laundry before we board the ship next Wednesday. Where has the time gone?

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Photos

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Mass of fish

2
Feeding the rays

3
Underside of a starfish

4
Ghostly white shark

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Looking back at you!

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Pademelon info

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Pademelon

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The problem koalas face

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Nellie asleep

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Male koala ready for photo

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The sign says it all!