Friday 23 March 2012 - Cairns, Australia

Friday 23 March 2012 – Cairns, Australia

Walking at 6:05 am --- lovely view with a marina and mountains in the background as we approach Cairns, AU.   The tug boats are so skilled at positioning the ship just right. 

We breeze through Australian Immigration on the ship – walk directly to the Information Center to  book a round trip to Kuranda – a village in the rain forest.  Going up  we will take the Skyrail (rainforest cableway) coming back  on the Kuranda Scenic Railway.   The cable car was wonderful --- even Phil and Dave enjoyed it.  There were two stops --- one allowed us to walk through the rain forest on a boardwalk – at the second stop we had a close-up view of the Barron Gorge Water Fall --  spectacular.  

A walk through Kuranda takes us to the  Kuranda Koala Gardens where visitors are encouraged to have a photo taken holding a Koala Bear.  These animals sleep 18 to 20 hours a day.   One of  the  Aussie passengers on the ship told me  the reason they sleep so much is that their only food is Eucalyptus leaves which ferment in their stomachs --  they are in a perpetual state of drunkenness.   There were other animals in this park such as kangaroos, lizards, wallabies – all were pretty calm as we walked right by them. 

We went in different directions  through town – with plans to meet at the  station for 2:00 pm train.  Beth, Lynn and I browsed through the shops – Phil went to Fannie O’Reilly’s Irish Pub and Patte and Dave wandered through town.

Once on the train – we wished we’d taken the cable car back.  This was like the “slow boat to China” and it was hot and humid.   The views were outstanding  but we’d seen it  from the  cable car.  We had snacks from the grocery store  ---  there was one stop  to take photos so for two hours we made do.

Back in Cairns –  Phil, Lynn and Beth went for a walk around town.  Patte, Dave and I retrieved our computers and went in search of an internet café.   We found the Coffee Café.    Free internet as long as we purchased something  -- which we were happy to do.  Dave and I were there for two hours walking back to the ship after dark – back on board time is  7:30 pm.

The Terrace Café is having Indian food tonight so Patte, Dave, Phil and I opt for the Grand Dining Room – can’t complain we had another great meal.

Another good day Down Under!

Thanks for Reading!

Pat