Melbourne Last Day in Australia May 2, 2011

It was an overcast morning and rain was foretasted for the day. We decided to ride the City Circle Tram, with our first stop at Federation Square. The trams are historic and remind you of the European trams. Other trams are more modern, but the City Circle are the old ones. We got off at Federation Square and admired the view of old and modern architecture and the fancy rickshaws that Quantas provided as a p.r. vehicle to promote trips to Asia. Young women were handing out fortune cookies.

Back on the tram and we got off at the end of the line at the harbour where we had lunch. Back on the tram again and all of a sudden, everyone's cell phones were going off. One woman said out loud that there was breaking news from the US that Osama bin Ladin was killed. The women sitting opposite us said yes, that was what she was getting by text and she read it to us. President Obama was to address the nation. We got off the tram near our hotel and went back to hear the President's address. Quite the news, then we thought, oh my, we are flying tomorrow. We headed out for a bit more sightseeing at the Melbourne Museum and the Exhibition Hall. Had dinner in Little Italy and went back to pack. Matt called and said fireworks were going off in his neighborhood. We watched the celebrations in NYC and DC. We are hoping for the best on our trip home.

Pt. Douglas, to Cairns to Melbourne May 1, 2011

It was a beautiful and warm morning as we left Pt. Douglas. Since we were not in a hurry, we were able to stop at various overlooks (they were on our side of the road) on our way to the airport. At one spot, we encountered parasails and hang gliders getting ready to take off; the cliff was quite high at this point. The driver of our bus to the Skyrail told us this was a popular spot to set off and on a good day, you could soar as far as the beach at Pt. Douglas. We waited quite a while, but no one took off. We continued to the airport. A full flight to Melbourne, with many screaming children. We were followed onto the airport bus into town by one of the screamers. We were glad for the silence of our hotel room.

Great Barrier Reef April 30, 2011

What a day for the trip out to the reef. Sunny, but still windy. As we boarded our boat, the crew provided sea sickness tablets. We took one, just in case. On board with us beside the captain were two marine biologists and a biologist in training. It took one hour and 40 minutes to reach the reef. The boat rocked quite a bit, but it was not the worst trip we have taken on a small boat in the ocean. Once we reached the reef, we put on our stinger suits, which covered us head to foot, including our hands. There were still some stinging jellyfish about, altho we did not encounter any. The suits also were SPF 50, so no chance of sunburn. The water was warm, and we had an amazing view; wonderful fish and spectacular coral. Of the one hour snorkel, I was in for 50 minutes and actually got cold. For my next snorkel adventures they provided me with a wet suit, to go over my stinger suit. It made a difference. Other people on board requested one, which made me feel better. We had two more snorkel opportunities and they were wonderful. Of course, this reef is in danger and the biologists on board gave us information on the status of things. Back to shore, one hour and 40 minutes later. A beautiful day at one of the most amazing sites I have seen on our trip. No pictures today; Mike took them all with his underwater camera.

Skyrail and Scenic Kuranda Railroad April 29, 2011

We decided to let the bus do the driving today. We were picked up at our hotel and driven to the Skyrail terminal near Carins. This was a gondola trip that traveled 7.2 km over the mountains, over the rainforest canopy to the town of Kuranda. As you went up the side of the mountain you had a wonderful view of the Coral Sea and the town of Cairns. There were two station stops along the way. The first allowed you to walk on a boardwalk through the rainforest with a guided tour by a ranger. You then boarded the next gondola. It shot you out of the station and up high above the canopy with tremendous views of the Barron River Gorge and falls. At the next station, you walked to overlooks of the gorge and falls. Back on the gondola and the next stop is the town of Kuranda.

Kuranda was a town housing people who built the railway and in the 60's and 70's became the home to hippies. Today it is a tourist haven. Many shops, an aviary, koala center and butterfly house. We visited the aviary and the koalas. A large parrot at the aviary found Mike and latched on to his back, fascinated by the snaps on his camera vest. He finally got off, but took the snap with him. The koalas were interesting, but sad that they had to pose for pictures with folks in the middle of the day, when they normally would be asleep. There were kangaroos and wallabys that you could feed. We took the historic railway back down to town. A slow ride along the river and through the mountain passes, with amazing trestle bridges and 15 tunnels along the way.

Rest Day in Pt. Douglas April 28, 2011

Rainy and overcast today. We drove into town and walked around the shops. We found the grocery store to stock up and we had lunch. We hoped to just sit at the pool and not tour anywhere. Well, the weather semi-cleared up but not pool weather so we drove farther up the coast to a town called Mossman. We passed sugar cane fields and occasionally crossed over the narrow gauge railroad track that serviced the fields during harvest. Our goal was the Mossman Gorge. We drove up the narrowing river valley and the narrowing road until we reached the park. There was a nice raised walkway through the rain forest. We came to the falls at the Gorge. The river was filled with boulders and cascaded down a series of short falls. The boulders created pools where the local folks were swimming. It was a place where you could cool off on a hot day.

Ayers Rock to Cairns (Pt. Douglas) April 27, 2011

Our plane did not leave until 2:30 so we visited the Information center at the resort. They had a very nice presentation of the history, geology and animal life of the area. We bought lunch at the grocery store and ate outside, with not too many flies around.

Let me speak to the flies. Never could I imagine the fly situation, especially out by the rock. A head net was a necessity. The locals kept saying how much worse it was in the summer. I cannot imagine it. I thought the head net would be good for smaller insects, but we were never bothered by them.

We were glad to board the plane to Cains and ditch the flies. It was a nice flight over a good part of Australia, with the terrain changing from red to green as we approached the coast and the rain forest. The drive to Pt. Douglas was hair raising, as the road narrowed and hugged the mountains along the coast, with many roundabouts and it became dark. We found our resort, and found we had a small two story apartment, with full kitchen, laundry and living room. The restaurant on site is good and very reasonable.

Uluru and Kata Tjuta Nationa Park

We drove to Uluru, not far from the Ayers Rock resort. It is an amazing site; a big red rock looming on the horizon. We did the walk around the rock, about 9.5 k. It was hot before we finished and we did the whole thing in 2 1/2 hours. There were amazing holes in the rock, including this one which looks like Darth Vader in profile.

Lunch at the cultural center, then a 55 k ride to Kata Jjutu. As beautiful as Uluru. It has many rocks looming out of the desert. If we were not so tired, and if it was earlier in the day, we would have walked the Walpa Gorge walk.