11/21/09 Saturday Woke up early, but I'm still not accustomed to the time zone. Read for awhile. Met Mike and some colleagues for coffee, the coffee system is strange, long black = espresso, flat white = regular coffee with milk (never cream, ordering cream gets you whipped cream). Explored Cairns and booked our reef trip. Second day in a row at Rattle and Hum for pizza and beer, we met a Canadian waitress from the same hometown as Wayne Gretzky. Then we enjoyed some time at the lagoon, which is pumped full of sea water, because the actual sea is unswimmable due to deadly box jelly fish. It's a travesty for beaches this beautiful to be off limits for swimmers. After dinner we met up with Mike's friends at Gilligan's, a Chasersesque bar that was actually pretty fun, when Australians decide a song is good, it is good forever, they are still playing Kris Kross. Sadly no Kylie Minogue yet. After Gilligan's we headed over to the Woolshed to try and find the fabled topless British Backpackers. No luck. A dickhead English lad in line refused to let us under an overhang to escape a flash downpour. Once inside we were accosted by some trollops reeking of BO. Later two goregous girls appeared, possibly trying to engage Rob and I, needless to say, it did not end well.
11/22/09 Sunday Still not really adjusted to the time change, woke up four hours before the others and went for a wander. After everyone else met the day we went for some "breakie", all food in Australia is expensive. We then caught the "slacker" tour up to Kuranda (bit of a tourist trap), a village nestled in the rain forest. 7K of skyrail up and an hour train ride down the mountain. While we were in Kuranda I was yelled at by local hoodlums who asked if I was in the French Mafia. After the train ride, we took out some middling Mexican, drank local beers (average at best) and watched bats fly over the local casino (nothing but pokie machines in there). Passed out right quick.
11/23/09 Monday Woke up early to catch Reef Encounter, which will be our transport to Reef Encounter, our reef-on lodging for the night. After about an hour journey (40K), we transferred our gear and were allowed an open snorkle on the reef. The colors and diversity were extraordinary, I even saw a black tipped fin shark. Local "Too Easy" Alex led Rob and I on our inaugural SCUBA trip, the reef is stunning close up (sadly no underwater camera), but I was kind of preoccupied with not drowning. The second time down, this time with the Lovely Laura, I was able to experience the reef more fully, I even spotted a clown fish and a cuttlefish changing colors against the different background coral. We watched the sunset over the reef, you can actually see Cairns in the distance. Ending the evening with a night dive, which was great, eerie and otherwordly. Saw a number of sharks and crabs. I have a vivid image in my mind of a deep red, meter long fish, rushing between me and the reef. After all the activity I was exhausted and basically fell asleep sitting up.
11/24/09 Tuesday Awoke at six for a dawn dive with incredible stiffness in my neck, so I popped six aspirin. SCUBAed with "Too Easy" Alex, who was taking Rick and Tami (Canadians we ate dinner with the night before, Australia is infested with Canucks) on their first dive. Finally feel completely at ease with the SCUBA gear. Breakfast and two more dives finished off the morning. On the last dive an unknown and unseen fish repeatedly dive bombed my year. We transferred back over to the Reef experience for the return trip to Cairns. We could have snorkled a final time, but it would have been like switching from color to black and white. Wine and cheese was served on the return journey. Landed in Cairns and set a bee line for Rattle and Hum (we're becoming regulars). After losing our room at Harbour Lights, we stumbled into the closest hostel and proceeded to sleep for 12 consecutive hours.
11/25/09 Wednesday We started the morning with free continental breakfast at the hostel (Sultana Bran) and then rented a car to take us to Port Douglas and points North. We drove half way up the coast to Hartley's crocodile farm. We wandered the grounds, and saw crocs, koalas, kangaroos, cassowaries (think of the doomspawn of an emu and rooster) and variate snakes and lizards. Took a boat cruise, watched crocs shoot out of the water to try and snag chicken heads dangling on the end of long poles. Finished the trip off by watching a stubborn croc named Hagrid refuse to release his rope during a demonstration of the "death roll". After Hartley's we finished the drive to Port Douglas, which is paradise found. Just the drive up, on winding coastal high ways is gorgeous, eveyrhing is vibrant green, lush and verdant. We checked into our hotel (another winnner), and ventured out for dinner. While eating we watched the local bird population whip by at speeds that must have approached 80 miles per hour.
11/26/09 Thursday From Port Douglas we journeyed northward into the Daintree rainforest, our first stop was Mossman gorge, am Amazonian torrent of a rivulet (I feel like I'm in Fitzcarraldo!). A sudden downpour pushed us back into our car. After crossing a river by ferry, we were off to explore the Daintree. More winding breathtaking, coastal highways, the view from just about every suicide switch back lookout was fantastic. We stopped for ice cream at the Daintree Ice Cream Company (jakfruit, macadamia nut, blueberry(?)). We finished our trek at Cape Tribulation, the only place on the planet where two world heritage sites meet (the Daintree and the Great Barrier Reef). After a brief stop for lunch we backtracked through the rainforest to Port Douglass. Ate (too much) Mexican food for dinner, after which we attempted to hit the town, but everyone was full and lethargic, we were still out long enough to be accosted by a local "Sheila" for not knowing the rules of Cricket. Just as an aside, after watching cricket, I firmly believe that vladimir Guerrero, age 27, would have been the greatest cricketeer the world has ever known.
11/27/09 Friday We returned the rental car, after which we breakied at a local grease hole. Savored our last hours in Cairns drinking local beers (still horrible) oustide and at the lagoon. Took a cab to the airport and jumped on a Qantas jet to Sydney. I caught a heavily edited 500 Days of summer, which I thought was dumb. We went through a lengthy ordeal to get from the airport to our hotel, so we coudln't sit down for dinner until 10PM. We ate at Darling Harbour, whose closest stateside analogous would be a gigantic Baltimore's Inner Harbour. At midnight we attempted to bar crawl Sydney, but were stymied by our shorts (shorts, again, the downfall of man).
11/28/09 Saturday We slept until noon, finally getting up to explore Sydney on our last day, we took in the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the Botanical Gardens. Bats creepily roost in the trees of the garden. Rob and I saw Mike and Erin off at 2PM, after which we returned to Darling Harbour for Thai food (Thai Foon is no Thai Me Up Noodles, did you see what I did there?). After lunch we checked out a rather cool aquarium, then an interminable search for an internet cafe. Back to Darling Harbour for the final time, beers at a local boat-food combo, where we watched a parade of homely bachelorettes load onto "stripper boats". We finished the evening off with Indian food and fireworks harbourside.
The End
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