Blogs from Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 5

Today was the day - chucking myself out a plane. I woke up at 5:30am, so nervous, it hadn't quite sunk in yet. We were meeting at 7:30am so I had a couple of hours to kill so I tried to read my book, but it didn't calm me down at all. Anyway, the bus finally arrived and I was sh*tting one. We got to the skydive 'hang out' and put our harnesses on and signed our lives away. There were only five of us in our group going ahead with it, me, Fabio, Malissa, Meghan and Griffin. I met my instructor who I was relying on to keep me alive - Ryan. Lovely guy, very ozzie, so chilled and laid back. We went through all the procedures such as make a banana shape, tilt head ... read more

Geo: -16.9254, 145.775For my own reference at a later time (we would certainly be keen to go back) and for anyone that is thinking of going to Japan there a quite a few things that we learned about that are a little unique to the country and that are worth knowing before you travel.ItineraryPlan to visit some rural areas not just cities. The cities are fascinating but can wear you down after a while. The cities themselves are not that attractive but there is alot of beauty there once you start looking for it. Its hidden away though. Even the cities that boast multiple stunning gardens, shrines and temples are not pretty on the surface. Hotel rooms in these cites can sometimes be a little depressing. I lost count of the number of times we walked ... read more

Geo: -16.9254, 145.775... read more

Sunday March 12, 2017 And on the seventh day the Lord rested; and that is what we did today. Did some research on where to attend mass and found few places. Finally we ended up in the cathedral of Cairns dedicated to St Monica. A nice church with exceptional glass windows. From the sight of it a relatively new building, apparently due to the fact that the previous version burned down a number of years ago. After service we went to do some shopping at the local mall, surpisingly modern and well assorted. The rest of the day we walked around some more and had lunch at a nice italian place where we had dinner a couple of nights ago. Simple, but nice food. Later in the day we spent some time at the pool of ... read more

Friday March 10, 2017 Time to move. We are flying to Cairns today. We had to vacate our room at 11.00 AM and we were leaving for the airport at 1.15 pm, our flight is at 3.00 PM. We had ample time to go and see a dramatized version of a local story about an eagle and a black crow. Too long to explain here, but interesting and well performed. Pity that the airconditioning of the theater was not working, but then again, you are in the outback of Australia. Our flight to Airns is uneventful. The change from the outback where silece is the norm to the city of Cairns is remarkable, but at the same time unavoidable. Again, we find ourselves in a very pleasant hotel in the middle of the city and with ... read more