Aussieing Along

1.  Swimming on the Great Barrier Reef
Yesterday we set sail with Passions of Paradise for a day of swimming and snorkling on the Outer Barrier reef.  As I am not a great swimmer this is the first time I have been brave enough to try snorkling.  Actually it was easy.  Easy, that is, with a floatation belt.  Without the belt I would have sunk to the bottom to sit amongst the corals.
I can only describe the experience as swimming in a well stocked aquarium.  For those who know the Magic School Bus series it is like that.  Magically shrinking small enough to dive into the aquarium. The water is crystal clear and as soon as you put your head in the water you are in another world.  The variety of fish and corals is endless (how were they able to name and classify them all!!).  Most of the fish ignored us but some seemed to stop  and check us out before continuing on their way.

There were about 80 people on the cruise.  We were advised to rent their dive suits ($7.00) against 'stingers'.  Most people chose to rent the suit - mostly I think because they were good protection against the burning sun.  We all looked like members from the Blue Man Group (theatrical performers).

Don

2.  Atherton Tablelands
Today (Jan. 10) we drove south-west of Cairns to do the Tablelands Tour.  The high elevation Tableland rainforest, south-west of Cairns, are different to the coastal rainforest surrounding Cairns.  There were two massive fig trees - the Cathedral Fig and the Curtain Fig - that are over 500 yeaars old.  Older than Australia is a country.  Dotted throughout the area are a number of water falls;  Millaa Millaa, Mungalli, Mena.   None were as impressive as the Barron Falls that are north of Cairns.  The hotel manager told us that we were lucky to see the Barron Falls with water.  Other times of the year the falls are dry.  Hard to believe, but that attests to how swollen the rivers are up and down the East Coast.

Curtain Fig

Curtain Fig:  A seed, the size if a sesame seed settles on the branch of a host tree.  It grows and grows.  Eventually the host tree rots away leaving the free standing fig tree.

3.  Australian Rainforests
The Australian Rainforests are incredibly noisy.  An unfamiliar assortment of birdcalls.  There is another sound that makes for a constant din.  It has to be some sort of cricket.  As you try to identify the various sounds, you think, "Where are the monkeys?  Why aren't their monkeys swinging through the trees?"  How many of you knew that there are no monkeys in Australia?

4.  Gardens
After spending the morning of our our second last day in Cairns making changes to our itinerary and waiting for the rain to subside we went to the Flecker Botanic Gardens.  There are actually four different parks/gardens in the same area.  They sort of flow one into the other.  As you ramble along the paths and over a myriad of bridges you come across a salt water lake and then a fresh water lake.  Darting from under the bushes are wild turkeys.  Before you set out on your garden walk, however, stop by the Flecker Gardens gift shop for free mosquito repellant.  You'll need it.  

Near the airport there is the parking lot for the Mangrove Boardwalk.  There is a north walk and a south walk - both take 30-40 minutes at a leisurely pace.  On each walk there were viewing platforms for views of the city - unfortunately they were blocked off for renovation.  The boardwalks are raised two feet off the ground and weave throughout the mangrove trees.  The top of the tree roots are also raised out of the mud.  As you walk there is a "plop, plop, plop" noise.  It is the little crabs diving into their burrows.  The swamps are smelly and spooky - not a place you'd want to walk on a moonless night.

Floods
Both the west coast and the east coast of Australia is in flood.  The west coast floods have majorly affected large garden farms that means a shortage of all kinds of produce.
The east coast flooding is different.  It is destroying whole towns.   Initially the floods were north of Brisbane.  This flood swept in with out warning - a massive wall of water that caught people unaware.  The water has continued to move south so that Brisbane is waiting for the flood waters to peak which will be tomorrow afternoon (Jan. 13th).    The news footage is heart breaking.  Not only are people losing their homes and their livelihoods, but also their lives.
As a result of the floods we had to cancel the camper van that we had rented in Cairns to drive south to Sydney.  Instead we stayed in Cairns longer and up until yesterday (Jan. 11th) planned to fly to Brisbane and drive a car to Sydney.   Yesterday when the news media stated that some Brisbane communites were under flood watch we knew that we would not be driving the Sunshine Coast at all.  Today we flew to Brisbane and then got on another flight to Sydney.  Tomorrow we fly to Auckland.
Good-bye Aussieland (for now)
Sheila and Don