We were staying in Port Douglas, which is a sleepy town 50 miles north of Cairns. We were eager to stay away from the wild young partiers that make up the Euro backpack circuit, and Port Douglas sounded perfect as it's much more upscale, not as touristy and quieter, yet still has a quaint business district, good restaurants and was right on the beach. From Cairns, the Coast Highway leaves the populated area behind for sugar cane fields, which eventually are replaced by tropical vegetation. The road hugs the coast, and passes many nice beaches and their accompanying resorts. As we were the only passengers in the shuttle, the driver said he'd wait for us to check in and drop our bags off at our condo, and drive us into the business district (which was only a 4 block walk anyway).
We ate dinner outside and as it was still about 90° and 95% humidity, we concluded it was rum weather and ordered a round of mai-tais, made with Bundaberg (Bundy) rum, a local product made in Queensland (and not available in the States, as I think the Aussies drink the entire supply). While waiting for the waitress to take our orders, Erin screamed as something moving had leaped off the umbrella, and onto her t-shirt. The culprit was a gecko, who seemed equally startled -- the gecko quickly disappeared from sight. Welcome to Queensland.
I had originally booked a condo at the Port Douglas Terrace which is on 4 Mile Beach. As it turned out, we had been upgraded for free to the Beaches at Port Douglas, a nicer complex adjacent to the Terraces, also on the beach (actually just across the road from the beach). The next morning we took a walk on 4 Mile Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Since there were other people in the water, I went for a swim and noticed that the Coral Sea that time of year is even warmer than the Pacific in Hawaii.
We booked some activities for the next couple of days, which included the mandatory tour of the Great Barrier Reef via Poseidon Cruises, a tour of the Rainforest, Daintree River and Cape Tribulation, and a trip to Tjapugai (pronounce Jabba-guy) Aboriginal Cultural Centre, combined with a trip to Kuranda, inland on the Atherton Tablelands, via Skyrail and the Kuranda Scenic Railway.
After our walk on the beach, we decided to brave the heat and visit the The Rain Forest Habitat, an aviary/zoo/botanic garden with with many different kinds of birds, including the cassowary (a very rare ostrich-like bird with bright blue tail feathers and a bony helmet-like crown, found in the wild only in the Queensland rainforest and Indonesia) and many different native parrot species, in addition to crocs, kangaroos and koalas. Thankfully, the aviary was in the shade, although the heat and humidity were still oppressive. The Rainforest Habitat was actually very well done, with different areas for each of the animals, i.e. the crocs were separate from the kangaroos. The visitor is given a chart with pictures of all of the different birds -- we were able to see a majority of them, although the bright colors of the parrots made them easier to spot in the trees. Erin decided she wanted to feed the kangaroos and wallabies. Unfortunately, the kangaroos and wallabies were in the same area as the whistling ducks and magpie geese. Although I didn't think it was possible, the ducks and geese proved even more aggressive than their North Americian counterparts, for as soon as they saw Erin with the cup of food, they formed an angry, whistling scrum, and chased her around while the wallabies and the 'roos made a bee line to the opposite side of the yard, 75 yards away. The Rain Forest Habitat had a nice canteen, complete with full bar, in an open area with the birds, allowing us to enjoy a much-needed cold 4X, while picking off a few more birds from our bird chart. When we were there, Rainbow Lorikeets were perched on the counter, helping themselves to sugar cubes and a social one legged green parrot, named Alex according to the staff, landed on Rich's shoulder and later mine.
Rain Forest, Daintree River and Cape Tribulation
The following day we were to visit the Queensland Wet Tropic Rainforest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tour, which included a boat trip on the Daintree River to see crocodiles in the wild. We were picked up at the condo complex by Ross, our driver, in a 4 wheel drive mini-bus. When locals complain about the weather, it usually validates its extremes. In this case even Ross was complaining about how bloody hot it was. After driving 15 to 20 minutes north from Port Douglas, we stopped at the Daintree River for our boat ride. The water of the river was the color of tea, due to the tannins from mangroves in the water. We saw several crocodiles sunning themselves, the longest of which was 11 or 12 feet long. After the river trip, we crossed the river on a cable driven ferry, and were taken to a swimming hole, which was a small stream in the rain forest (out of croc range we hoped), where the water was refreshingly cold. The next stop was a rain forest visitor center, where we were warned about the gympie vine, a.k.a. the stinging tree, one of the world's nastiest plants, contact with which creates intense pain, similar to putting flesh in the fire, which lasts for weeks. It was said to drive horses that brushed against it insane. We were nearing Cape Tribulation, the northernmost point on the paved road. Ross slowed down, as there had been cassowaries seen in the area. It's best to view cassowaries from inside a large, high 4WD bus, as they are bad-tempered and defend themselves by jumping in the air and kicking with both legs, disembowling their enemies. Unfortunately, there were no cassowaries out that day.
Next was Cape Tribulation, named by Captain Cook, in one of his darker moods. It had a beautiful pristine beach and a boardwalk through the mangrove forest that went out to the point on the south side of the beach.Due to the nearness of box jellyfish season, Ross warned us not to even put a toe in the water. It was at Cape Tribulation that we heard that the other bus on the tour lost its air conditioning (!!!) We hope those poor souls got their money back and then some -- we couldn't even imagine. The final leg of the trip was a 4WD jaunt up the Cooktown road. At a vista point high above the water, Ross parked the bus, allowing all of the passengers to climb on top and take pictures, not for the acrophobic! Along the way, there were numerous tea farms, as well as a durian orchard. Durian is a large, spikey brown fruit, with the most foul odor on Earth (smelling of dog excrement), but treasured as a delicacy in China, Hong Kong. There was a second stop at another swimming hole, this one down a dirt road through the jungle. The hole was in a deep spot on a small stream with crystal clear water full of dozens of large turtles, swimming and doing backflips.
Great Barrier Reef
The most renowned site in Queensland is the Great Barrier Reef, at 1,000 miles long, one of the largest natural wonders of the world. The reef itself ranges from 30 to 90 miles off the mainland, approximately 40 or so from Port Douglas, where our trip began. Our trip was booked on Poseidon Cruises, which promised 3 different stops along the reef. We were lucky, it was a calm day, as the 1 1/2 hour trip out to the reef can be choppy, as evidenced by the offer of free motion-sickness medicine. Although the tour company offers a "first-time scuba" lesson allowing a novice try scuba gear without providing a scuba certificatation or license, we opted for snorkeling rather than trying to learn breathing through regulators, and monitoring tanks. The best part of the trip was being able to stay cool in the water. You can relax out here, as there are no box jellyfish or crocs to worry about (however there are sharks in deep water.). The reef itself is amazing, with all shapes and colors of coral and tropical fish. In between the stops, a guide educates you on the diversity of life in the Reef and the Reef ecosystem. In our case, it was hard to understand the guide due to her thick French accent. One other warning: if you're fair-skinned, bring (and apply frequently!) the strongest waterproof sunscreen you can get your hands on. Despite numerous applications, I was unable to escape the frying of my back, which provided a painful reminder for the next week of the hazards of overexposure to the sun.
Tjapukai and Kuranda
The Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Centre gives the tourist an easy entry to learning a little about Aboriginal culture, not always easy, due to mistrust between aborigine and outsider. The center may be a bit touristy and contrived, but the shows are educational and the actors friendly. After watching a musical show, where the actors in native dress, perform dances and create a fire by rubbing sticks and tender, the visitor can watch a number of exhibitions and interactive activities, including boomerang and spear throwing and didgeridoo playing (you can substitute a 6 foot long piece of PVC pipe for a didge if you don't wish to try to carry the didge onto the plane!) From the Tjapukai Centre, the visitor can take Skyrail, a 4.6 mile cable gondola that gives the visitor a birds-eye view of the rain forest up and over the ridge of the Atherton Tablelands to Kuranda. Kuranda is a sleepy (although congested with tourist foot traffic) artist town, known for its arts & crafts market. The market wasn't open when we were there, and a large (2 feet plus) electrocuted fruit bat tangled in the power lines was drawing most of the attention from the tourists. From Kuranda, we had arranged a return to Cairns via the Kuranda railway, a creaky vintage railway, which slowly descends a lush canyon through the rain forest, to the cane fields of Cairns, with waterfalls and rugged mountains along the way. Although not air-conditioned the open windows and mist from the waterfalls provide some relief from the heat.
Return to Sydney and Bondi
The next morning Rich parted ways from us, as he had a job interview in Brisbane, to which he was taking the Queenslander train, and we were flying out of Sydney the following day back to the States. As I had read an article which recommended staying a night on the beach rather than in central Sydney, I had booked a hotel in Bondi (pronounce bond' eye) Beach, Sydney's best known beach about 15 minutes SE of the city center. We stayed at the Bondi Beachside Inn, a non-descript high rise hotel right on the Campbell Parade, the road along the beach front. Although the hotel was dingy and cockroach-infested; If you have the money, stay at the Swiss Grand. Fortunately, the hotel couldn't take away from the beach is spectacular, albeit a bit windy and chilly the day we were there (not so different than home!) The center-piece of the beach is the Bondi Pavilion, an art deco building with a restaurant, washrooms and changing rooms. The water is an aqua blue (impressionable enough for Apple Computer to name one of the colors of their iMacs "Bondi blue"), and the sand a golden-yellow color, different than the gray sand seen on California beaches. There is a paved pedestrian path that winds along the bluff above the ocean south to Tamarama and Bronte beaches, although bring something to protect you from the wind. Tamarama is a much smaller less-famous beach popular with the surfers. Bronte is larger, but not as well known as Bondi.
A Nation of Punters
Airports are a great place to learn about sports popular with the locals. Just about anywhere in the world, there will be a television mounted near the ceiling in a waiting room or lounge with a local sporting event on. I can remember seeing sumo wrestling and baseball in Japan; hurling (a variation of lacrosse where paddles rather than webbed rackets are used) in Ireland; rugby in New Zealand; soccer in Mexico, UK and France; curling in Canada; and cricket in the UK.
Although I don't remember the specific date, our day of departure back to the States was the first Tuesday of November. At the Bondi Pavilion, the tables of the restaurant were all covered with the finest linen and crystal, and the staff were dressed in tuxedos. Having been tipped off by a banner hanging somewhere in the pavilion, I remembered it was Melbourne Cup Day, Oz's equivalent of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont all put together and multiplied by a factor of 100. In the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, the date is a holiday. Being a country of punters (or gamblers), horse racing has always been popular in Oz, and the granddaddy of all horse races Down Unders is the Melbourne Cup. Although the main event hadn't started yet on our way to the airport. (The cup is features 10 races, with the main event a 2 mile race with an $A 4.6MM purse, starting at 3.10 PM AST, 8.10 PM PST, 4.10 AM GMT), our taxi driver was listening to the preliminary races on the radio. He gave us a full explanation of the significance of the race in Oz, and also why he wasn't placing a bet this year, as he had lost too much money in previous years. By the end of it all, we started to feel guilty about having a flight that day, making the poor guy work. Unfortunately, we had boarded our plane by the start time, so I can't say who won that year.