Days 197-198- Cairns and surrounds
Day 197- Tuesday, July 10th- Exploring Cairns
We drove downtown and parked near the skateboard park (where else?). From here, we strolled the shops near the pier and swimming lagoon. There are lots of great souvenir shops here, with didgeridoos and opals, and lots of tacky souvenir shops with fake didgeridoos and cheap t-shirts.
Mat and I headed out to the pier to see the boats. A week ago, while in Palm Cove, a truck rolled up with a sign on it featuring a sailing vessel that read “Duyfken 2006.” I was curious as to what the significance was but had forgotten to look it up.
Here was a replica of Dutch ship that sailed around the north east coast of Australia in 1606 was the first to map it. This ship was re-enacting the voyage and had now pulled into Cairns harbour. Unfortunately, it was closed to tours that day. However, they were looking for crew members. Interested? I could not covince Mat to join in. Visit www.duyfken.com
Day 198- Wednesday, July 11th- Kuranda, Atherton Tablelands, Curtain Fig Tree
An early start put us up the twisting highway to Kuranda, up in the Atherton Tablelands, many 100s of metres above Cairns by 9 am. Normally, thousands of tourists arrive by train or by cable car. We had our Subaru Forrester hired so we took that. The town was a souvenir Mecca. Again, they ranged from tacky to authentic. The sleepy town was interesting, until the first train arrived and the tourists descended on the shops. We made our first large souvenir purchase, a didgeridoo. It is large, termite bored, with excellent aboriginal art painted, and a rich sound. Kevin and Mat quickly took to it and can make a variety of sounds. I am still trying to flap my lips into it.
We stopped in Atherton at a local coffee plantation. They also had local chocolate. We bought some of both.
The area above Cairns is quite different. Termite mounds and large fruit farms are in the forefront of large hills and valleys.
We also stopped at the Curtain Fig, a huge tree of amzing girth and size that pictures cannot do justice. Heading back towards Cairns on the Gillies Highway was a winding, motion sickness kind of descent back to sea level.
We stopped off at home, gathered our leftover food, and headed a few blocks away to the home of the Hylands, on exchange from London, Ontario. Their teenagers and ours shared stories and the adults did likewise. We really appreciated their hospitality and felt quite at home with them. Coincidentally, their exchange partner is an acquaintance of a colleague of mine back at my school in Canada.
It was home early as we had our 6 am flight back home via Sydney the next morning where we would rendezvous with Mat’s friends Nicole and Dillon who were on their way to visit us.
We drove downtown and parked near the skateboard park (where else?). From here, we strolled the shops near the pier and swimming lagoon. There are lots of great souvenir shops here, with didgeridoos and opals, and lots of tacky souvenir shops with fake didgeridoos and cheap t-shirts.
Mat and I headed out to the pier to see the boats. A week ago, while in Palm Cove, a truck rolled up with a sign on it featuring a sailing vessel that read “Duyfken 2006.” I was curious as to what the significance was but had forgotten to look it up.
Here was a replica of Dutch ship that sailed around the north east coast of Australia in 1606 was the first to map it. This ship was re-enacting the voyage and had now pulled into Cairns harbour. Unfortunately, it was closed to tours that day. However, they were looking for crew members. Interested? I could not covince Mat to join in. Visit www.duyfken.com
Day 198- Wednesday, July 11th- Kuranda, Atherton Tablelands, Curtain Fig Tree
An early start put us up the twisting highway to Kuranda, up in the Atherton Tablelands, many 100s of metres above Cairns by 9 am. Normally, thousands of tourists arrive by train or by cable car. We had our Subaru Forrester hired so we took that. The town was a souvenir Mecca. Again, they ranged from tacky to authentic. The sleepy town was interesting, until the first train arrived and the tourists descended on the shops. We made our first large souvenir purchase, a didgeridoo. It is large, termite bored, with excellent aboriginal art painted, and a rich sound. Kevin and Mat quickly took to it and can make a variety of sounds. I am still trying to flap my lips into it.
We stopped in Atherton at a local coffee plantation. They also had local chocolate. We bought some of both.
The area above Cairns is quite different. Termite mounds and large fruit farms are in the forefront of large hills and valleys.
We also stopped at the Curtain Fig, a huge tree of amzing girth and size that pictures cannot do justice. Heading back towards Cairns on the Gillies Highway was a winding, motion sickness kind of descent back to sea level.
We stopped off at home, gathered our leftover food, and headed a few blocks away to the home of the Hylands, on exchange from London, Ontario. Their teenagers and ours shared stories and the adults did likewise. We really appreciated their hospitality and felt quite at home with them. Coincidentally, their exchange partner is an acquaintance of a colleague of mine back at my school in Canada.
It was home early as we had our 6 am flight back home via Sydney the next morning where we would rendezvous with Mat’s friends Nicole and Dillon who were on their way to visit us.
posted by Rod Murray | 6:42 p.m.
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