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Australia e-journal |
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Cairns, Australia |
September
18, 2002 |
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Factoids: · McDonald’s Australia – McOz = a
traditional Aussie burger with BEETS! · Activities completed today –
Skyrail, armyduck tour, railcar ride · Kuranda - Aboriginal word for City of Platypus · Fine Australian dining @ The Red
Ochre Restaurant costs $$$! |
(12:00PM local time) One thing I forgot yesterday to mention was our stop to McDonald’s. I wanted something not commonly available in Canada. What could be more perfect than a McOz (get it?) – an Aussie cheeseburger with all the fixin’s. Apparently Aussies are big into beets. I looked at the photo and wasn’t quite sure about the mystery condiment in the burger but kept an open mind. Alas… when I saw the red dye on the bread and took a bite – my worse suspicions were realized! 
Today, we started the day for 9:30. We had a great breakfast buffet at the hotel. We’re at the ‘rainforest’ outside town and now visiting the hamlet in the hills of Kuranda. The ride up via the Skyrail (cable car) gave us an opportunity to a bird’s eye view the rainforest above the canopy. At the end, we looked around the town. 
For lunch, I took my chances and ordered a burger for lunch – less the beets, of course. It was nice little place with outdoor seating. Too bad a Zamfir wannabe was playing his skin-flute in public and trying to convince tourists to drop a coin or two into his tip bin. He went high-tech – has a little mixer and amp to play karaoke background music while he fills in the melody with his ‘instrument’… After visiting Kuranda, we proceeded to take a ride on army ducks – vintage WW2 amphibious vehicles. Aaron, the guide, was quite entertaining and provided a wealth of information about the natural surroundings. We did see quite a bit of wildlife – a emerald dove (took a pic or tried to, at least), lizards, turtles, a Ullyses butterfly (blue), and a Queensland butterfly (green and brown). We also saw a stonger plant – something that would leave a 6-month painful impression of Australia. 
Our final stop was a train ride back to Cairns. That was a really boring 1+hr ride home. At least Dorothy and I got a chance to meet up with some of the European members of the tour, who by the way, are also the younger people on this tour (< 35 years old). We were back into town by 5:30pm. The evening was free for us to look around. We stayed in a bit – wrote in the journal and to write postcards back home. It was getting dark so we went for a quick swim. Actually I went for a swim and Dorothy got her feet wet. (To her defense, the water was on the cool side…) Then we went out for supper. We were looking for The Red Ochre Restaurant as recommended with the couple guides we had on hand. Along the way, we did some shopping, particularly at the Quiksilver store. We did find the restaurant, and this is what we had: · Australian antipasto – duck springs roll, calamari, emu pate, ostrich prochuto, oyster shooter · Crocodile and prawns with veggie preserves in a saambal sauce · Scallops in the shell · Quandong pudding dessert The presentation was amazing – the eating experience was worth the A$85 bill. On the way home, we went back to the Quiksilver shop and picked up an orange t-shirt for A$30. It’s a little on the big side, (room for me just in case I ‘grow’ over this holidays) but it’s nice. The bonus: it has ‘Cairns, Australia’ on the back! 
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