Cairns: The Great Barrier Reef
Our visit to Cairns (pronounced as “Cans”) had two main areas of focus, the amazing Great Barrier Reef, and the Aboriginal people at Mossman Gorge.
We spent an entire day out on the Great Barrier Reef. A fast catamaran took us the 16 miles out to the reef. We arrived at a permanently moored platform called Marine World. This facility was designed to provide visitors access to the reef, while trying to lessen the environmental impact of those visits. First we went under the water using their Snuba system. It’s a great way for non-divers to have a diving experience. Basically your face mask is fed air from a 10’ hose connected to a tank floating on the surface. After lunch, Rand went back out with traditional snorkeling gear. We saw so many fish and other marine creatures, it was an unbelievable experience! While Rand always takes all of the photos for this blog, the photos out on the reef were taken by their photographers.
We also spent the better part of a day visiting Mossman Gorge in Daintree National Park, home to the Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal people. We explored this lush rainforest by foot during a guided “Dreamtime” walk with “Skip,” a local Aborigine. We learned about the special relationship between the Kuku Yalanji people and this unique tropical environment. Skip’s stories were fascinating, and his people’s love for and connection with the land was remarkable. We had a great lunch nearby with a talk by an American expatriate that told us about his family’s life in Australia, and their efforts to save the planet.
That evening Liz chose an Australian Sampler for dinner. She didn’t want to miss tasting everything! Her dish included: Chargrilled eye fillet, pan seared barramundi, kangaroo striploin satays, crocodile tail satays, emu chipolatas, and a tiger prawn skewer. She ate everything except the emu, which she detested.
Last night we had a farewell diner with our Vantage group. Yesterday was the last day of that tour. Today, Liz and I head out on our own again. Our next stop is Brisbane, we fly there this morning.
Miles traveled on this trip to date: 10,924. Number of days on this trip to date: 22
