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Published: July 18th 2017
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Geo: -16.9254, 145.775
Plans for today meant another early start to the day. When your time is limited in one location you need to pack as much into a day as you can.
Our plan for today was to do an excursion to Green Island where we would see the Great Barrier Reef. Our intention was to do a half day trip in the morning but it was overcast and misty so we got our tickets for the afternoon departure. That proved to be a good decision because the skies cleared and the sun was shining by departure time.
We spent the next few hours on more exploration of Cairns after a leisurely breakfast stop. We went to Rusty's Market finding it only to be open on Friday and Saturday so we will return on Friday. We moved on to The Cairns Shopping Center to check it out since it was an attraction on the city map provided to us. It's a huge shopping mall similar to those we have at home. It has the big name anchor department stores and then all the smaller specialty stores.
We made at stop at Woolworth's next. I remember Woolworth's from my childhood as a dime
store. Here it is a supermarket chain. The store here in Cairns is unlike the one in Sydney because it is less crowded and so much less hectic. In Sydney the store was jammed with people and all were frantic and rushing. We picked up some fruit and drinks for our afternoon boat ride.
Another city, another casino. On our way to the wharf we walked through the Reef Casino. It occupies two floors of a hotel with slots, gaming tables and areas for betting on races and various other sports.
The afternoon excursion was great. We boarded the Reef Rocket which took us for a 45 minute ride to Green Island. Once docked we got on a glass bottom boat to carry us out to the reef. We were able to view portions of the reef and various species of fish and reptiles under the water. A few times the boat captain stopped to feed the fish to bring them to the surface for us to view. It was amazing how many would gather. We returned to the dock to board a second boat which was a semi-submersible one. We were seated below the water level with glass windows around
us to view more of the reef and fish. A crew member was below with us identifying everything we were seeing. It was so interesting. After our second ride we went to spend some time on the island before returning to the boat taking us back to Cairns. By the time we reached the dock the sun was setting.
On our excursion today we met a very nice couple from another part of Australia. They come from an area of Australia where the temperature can reach 120 degrees in the summer with less than 10 inches of rain a year. He is a grape farmer so depends on irrigation for his water. His area of Australia provides 65% of the grapes for wine made here. All of the vine pruning and grape picking is done by machinery. His wife had a different career. She works with providing services for elderly people so they can remain in their homes for as long as possible.
Good night mate!
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Kathy Nichols
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Beautiful pictures!