January 5, 2019 Travel Day

Our trip home.

When we were making our plans for this trip, Ken and I decided that it made more sense to have one long travel day home, rather than splitting it into two and losing part of a day.  If we'd opted to fly back to Sydney on the 4th, stay at Greg and Yolanda's overnight, then drive to the airport for our 1pm flight we would have lost at least half of the 4th to travel and the morning of the 5th would have been a waste also.  Instead we chose to fly out of Cairns on the 5th and take the 5am flight from Cairns which arrived in Sydney at 9am with plenty of time to catch our 1pm flight to San Francisco.

I have to say that plan worked flawlessly.

When our alarm went off at 3:00am it was absolutely dumping rain! 

The picture didn't do the rain justice so I took a short video

We caught a taxi at 3:30am and had just the right amount of time to get to the gate to board our plane at 4:45am.  Even for a relatively small airport it was busy at 4am.

On the plane in Cairns at about 5:00am

Just getting over the rain clouds to see an awesome cloudscape

Sun is starting to lighten up the sky and we are between two layers of clouds

Our first of two sunrises on this long travel day

The Gold Coast of Australia

So much coastline outside Sydney

Cliffs on approach to Sydney Airport

We arrived in Sydney on time, thank goodness, because it ended up taking us just under 3 hours to:

Get from the Sydney Domestic terminal to the International terminal (there is a free shuttle bus that is just called "T2" and someone helpfully scratched "Internat'l" above that in the paint otherwise you'd be just guessing that it was the transfer bus...but I digress).

Get through check in at United, which included a guy at the head of the line checking that everyone only had one piece of carry on per person - and since we had two small backpacks, one canvas bag, and my small 8"x8" purse he said it wouldn't work.  I had to put my purse in my backpack and that then became my 'personal item' and Ken wasn't allowed to have a personal item. So we got through with a total of 3 small carry on items.  It wouldn't bother me much but I saw many people on our flight getting on with a carry on sized suitcase plus a backpack and a purse.  But 'whatever' as they say.  We managed just fine with what we had, and we weren't overweight on our suitcases even with the VBs packed away!)

Get through customs in a 'quiet' airport - which means they don't have the overhead speakers telling you everything you have to do, but instead have monitors you watch to see how to insert your passport into the reader, then move forward a few steps and stand on the yellow shoe markers, look to the tower to have your picture taken, then wait for the green check mark and the doors to open so you can pass through.

Get through Security, with a jackass of a TSA agent (and this was in Sydney, so had nothing to do with being an unpaid US TSA agent) that threw away my toothpaste and made everyone, and I mean everyone, have to get a separate bin for their 'jumpers' (aka sweaters) after literally pushing their jumpers off their bags onto the rollers saying 'no jumpers' and standing there looking at each person until they picked up their sweaters and put them in a separate bin.  Jackass.  (oh, sorry, I already called him that once, didn't I?) But they did have plenty of tables set up to put all your luggage back together.  That was a plus.  As was not having to take off our shoes!  Small blessings.

What we brought home

Get through the Duty Free shopping area, which I think rivaled Heathrow for size, and only buying what we came for (Bundaberg Rum).

Find a place to eat - which was harder than one would think. We opted for an Italian place and ordered two personal pizzas.  30 minutes later our buzzer let us know they were ready.  We had 20 minutes left to eat our pizza before we walked over to our gate which had a fence around it.  Yep, the only gate to have a fence around it and two people checking our boarding passes against a pink post it note, to then let us enter the gate area.  Never did find out what that was all about.

United 787 Dreamliner for our ride home.  Doesn't look very big but it seats 3-3-3 and has lots of headroom so it felt pretty spacious - plus had extra large windows.

At 12:10pm we boarded our 787 Dreamliner.  We'd booked an aisle and a window seat and the middle seat was taken (same as on the way down) but this time there was a guy on the aisle seat across saying the woman in the middle seat was his wife and would we be willing to switch.  Sure!  He and his wife took the middle and window and Ken and I had the two aisle seats across from each other.  Score!  We were in economy plus which means we get more legroom.  That's about it.  On the flight down we got free spirits but on the way home they said nope, we had to pay for the spirits.  I think that was wrong, but the service was pretty spotty anyway so it really didn't make any difference.

It was a fairly turbulent flight home.  Multiple pockets of turbulence, seat belt signs, interrupting movies with messages to put your seat belts on, etc.  Neither Ken nor I got much sleep.  Maybe 2 hours total (compared with probably 5 hours on the flight down).  But we arrived on time in San Francisco and were able to see our second sunrise in the air.  One as we left Cairns and one as we arrived in San Francisco.

I have to say that the Mobile Passport thing is awesome!  My coworker told me to be sure to download the app before we left as it would make the return in SFO a breeze. He was 100% correct.  I almost hesitate to say anything because then more people would know about it and it wouldn't be quite so easy.  BUT I have to share.  With the Mobile Passport app all you have to do is take pictures of your passport and answer questions online and submit within 4 hours of your arrival.  I did all that on the plane waiting for the doors to open.  We were then able to walk right up to a customs official (in the line marked Crew/Mobile Passport) with the app and our passports.  He asked us a few questions and off we went to get our bags.

It was raining in San Francisco and cold.  I could see my breath.  A 50 degree temperature difference and from Summer to Winter, all in 25 hours.  Usually I'm happy to be home but not this time.  I'm still experiencing Australia withdrawals.  But home made Mac and Cheese and Lasagne (made by my Mom, and Mother in Law, respectively) made the transition home smooth.

Bubbly home made Mac and Cheese!

Now that we are home I can focus on getting ready for a puppy to join the household and make us crazy, again!

January 4, 2019 Cairns

Our last full day in Australia.  Boo. Hiss.

Our last morning in Port Douglas started with a walk into town to have breakfast at The Little Larder.  What a great choice!  We got a table inside where there was some A/C (as with all places in PD if they have A/C they also have the doors wide open so it pretty much negates any positive effect) and Ken and I both ordered the Turmeric Crab Omelette which had mounds of Blue Swimmer Crab meat and a little ramekin of VERY spicy Chili Sambal which I enjoyed adding to each bite.

Yolanda and Greg headed back to the apartment while Ken and I did one last stroll along the shops.  Since the shuttle was picking us up at 10:00am that didn't leave us much leeway, and most of the shops weren't open, but we did enjoy the quiet stroll together.

The shuttle Greg had arranged was right on time.  Though unlike our shuttle from the airport to Port Douglas on the 31st, we didn't have this one to ourselves.  The trip took just over an hour, including a stop at the airport to drop off the other riders, to the Doubletree Hotel in Cairns.  Our shuttle driver told us we'd picked a great hotel and that it had a good pool so we started looking forward to an afternoon at the pool.

Panorama of Cairns from the Marina

Check in was 3:00pm and we were there shortly after 11:00am so we had time to kill since our rooms weren't ready.  Gee darn!  I guess we have to do some exploring (just because that was exactly what Ken and I had planned on when picking the Doubltree which is right on the Esplanade).

Sculpture on the Esplanade 

Walking half a block to the water's edge the first thing we came across was a stylized sculpture.  I had an immediate flashback to our trip in 1994 where I thought we'd seen this then.  But almost as soon as I started to say something out loud I realized the flashback was to our Mexico trip and what I think was a sculpture on the Esplanade in Topolobampo.  I may have to look back through old pictures to see if I can find what I was thinking of...

Close up of the Ray - note the engravings all over it

Yolanda chose to sit on the grass under a tree while Greg, Ken, and I walked out to the Marina.  It was mighty hot and I was grateful for my hat.

Tide was out - quite a ways out

As we walked, we came across a big pool.  What they call the "Lagoon."  What a great place!  It had one sandy shoreline, a shelf along every edge for sitting, and a few sculptures that sprayed water to the delight of the children (and some adults).  There were 3 lifeguards that I saw and lots of happy people.  I would have hopped in but our bathing suits were at the hotel and I was wearing sneakers so I couldn't just dip my feet in.  Rats.

The device on the corner of the pool is both security and free Wi-Fi.  Yep - you read that right.  The whole Esplanade had Wi-Fi routers set up every couple hundred yards.  Nice!

These sculptures sprayed water (and they reminded me of the Thai fish Christmas ornaments my parents had given me from Thailand in 1966)

The sandy shoreline of the Lagoon

We walked out to the jetty of the marina and admired the view and took the requisite picture before heading back to Yolanda and some shade.

Hardly looks like it's 90+ degrees with 80% humidity does it?

Pretty, shady, walk

Cairns also has a memorial to those who served, and it was at this spot when we were here in 1994.  it is a sobering reminder of those who sacrificed all, around the world.  There were also two large guns positioned to the side of the Cenotaph. 

Though our feet were tired and we were hot, after a brief stop at the hotel to see if our rooms were, by chance, ready early, we continued on to the Cairns Aquarium.  Definitely a place Debbie, Ken, and I visited in 1994.  So much to see!  Some of which we'd seen in the wild during our stay, some of which we'd wanted to see.

Salt Water Crocodile - we didn't see one in the wild, much to Greg and Yolanda's dismay (I was quite happy not to see one in the wild)

I took a picture of this so that you could see that the next picture really does have a fish in it

Do you see the fish?  I had to look twice and change my angle to make sure I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing.  This fish never moved.

Dory!

This is the largest tank I think I've ever seen.  It was monstrously huge and had many varieties of Shark, plus some Rays, a giant Grouper, and who knows what all else.

Yolanda and Greg dwarfed by the tank - you could view it from 3 sides, including a half bubble that you could stick your head in to look inside the tank (yes I did)

This Grouper was close to 3 feet long

We finished the Cairns Aquarium at just about 3pm and hobbled walked across the street to our hotel to see if our rooms were ready.  We were long past ready for a swim in the pool.

Success!

Our view through the double sliding doors

We got a room on the second floor and Greg and Yolanda got a room on the 7th.  While I was hoping for a higher floor I was more than happy when I walked in and saw that we had double sliding doors that opened to a balcony overlooking the water and that we could hear the music from the bar below.  Nice way to end our stay in Australia!

Ken enjoying the music and the view

We quickly unpacked enough to find our bathing suits and hot footed it down to the pool!  They had a pool bar and I got the first round.  Chatted with the cocktail hostess for a bit when she looked surprised that I asked for a Bundy and Diet.  She said not many people order that because it is their house rum so I let her know it wasn't something I could get in the States and it was going to be my last chance.  She had no idea it wasn't exported.  It wasn't the first time I'd heard that about Bundy, either.  If only our house rum was as good here in the States!

Ken enjoying the mildly cool pool

Two Phoebe-like birds feeding their young.  They picked a pretty safe spot under cover by the pool, with lots of bugs handy.

Yolanda and I getting our last swim in

The pool is pretty nice sized, has greenery all around and you can even see the ocean from the pool.  That isn't our hotel in the background though. 

After spending about an hour at the pool we went back to our rooms and changed into Cairns dinner attire (yeah, shorts and tank tops).  Am I going to miss the warm weather when I get home?  Hell yes!

Our view before we headed out to dinner

We met at our room before dinner

I wish we had more time to spend hanging out on our balcony.   Would have loved to see more Flying Foxes.

Dinner was fabulous!  Ken and I had our last fresh caught Australian fish - we both ordered the Coral Trout (same thing Ken ordered at 2Fish in Port Douglas) though he had his Macadamia crusted and I chose the Karumba style (When Yolanda asked what Karumba was she was told it is a suburb...so we never did find out exactly what it meant, other than a name).  I made the right choice.

View from our table - just enough view of the sky to see the occasional Fruit Bat

My fish was topped with prawns and hollandaise sauce and was absolutely perfect.  The picture may, or may not, have been taken after I'd eaten a prawn and some fish.

After dinner we walked a bit more, but since we had to get up at 3:00am we didn't stay out late.

The Esplanade after dark 

It was so clean, and safe, walking around Cairns Esplanade after dark

We walked back by Barnacle Bill's where we'd had dinner so I took a picture of the sign so I'd remember where we ate.

Thus ended our last day in Cairns.  Sigh.

January 3, 2019 Wildlife tour

Yolanda Greg Ken and Kathy at Lake Barrine

Today was a private Wildlife and Rainforest tour.  Greg, Yolanda, Ken, and I were picked up at 7:30am by Amy who is with Blue Adventures Wildlife and Rainforest tour. I HIGHLY recommend them.

Our first stop was literally 2 minutes from the apartments.  There was a large roost of Flying Foxes (giant bats!) hanging in the Eucalypts. 

From there we drove up the Great Divide (it’s about 750 meters tall) to a lovely farm and got to meet Emmy Lou the wild Emu.  She’s fallen in love with their horses so she doesn’t stray far from the farm.

Emu feathers

Emu feet

We were served Billy tea and coffee and damper (simple bread like a scone) with butter and jam and fresh mangoes just off the tree.  Linda (the proprietor) gave us a couple mangos to take with us.

They have a resident Bower Bird and showed us his nest with all his bright, stolen, trinkets.  He has a thing for red, pink, silver, and white.  Having only seen them on TV prior to this it was fascinating to see a nest in person.

Osprey

Moving along we went to Mareeba golf course to see some of their estimated 450 Eastern Grey Kangaroos!  They are a smaller variety, but they were certainly plentiful.

Frilled-Necked Lizard

Kangaroo and Joey

We drove along the Atherton tablelands, which I learned is called that not only because it is a plateau but because that is where a large percentage of their food comes from (thus ‘table’).

Still can’t freaking believe that I actually saw a Platypus in the wild!  Amy told us from the start that they hadn’t seen any for two weeks and with last week’s rains (over a meter) there was no telling what our chances were.  She’d brought a group through yesterday and they didn’t see one.  I had this feeling we would be blessed, but I was just starting to tell myself that at least I was at a location where they lived when we turned a bend in the river and a couple walking towards us said “there’s one just ahead” and Amy and I practically skipped over to where they’d pointed!  We saw the telltale ripples in the reeds and she pointed out the Platypus’s bill!  Holy smokes!  It wasn’t a clear view, but I was thrilled.  At this point Ken, Greg and Yolanda came up to us and we pointed to where it was.  Then Yolanda spotted one swimming in the river!!!  I got a blurry, 5-second, video while trying not to jump up and down in excitement!!  (Have I put too many exclamation points yet?)

Too freaking amazing!  I literally had goose bumps.  And a face-splitting grin.  And did my version of a touchdown dance.  My year had been made (and I mean 365 days, not just the first 3 days of 2019!).

I don’t want the rest of the day’s adventures to seem any less exciting in comparison to the Platypus, because the whole day was amazing.  But wow.

Sun Bird Nest

Snapping Turtle

Boyd’s Dragon

  

Greg swinging on a vine

 We stopped for a walk through the rainforest then a lovely lunch overlooking Lake Barrine at the historic Tea House then a boat ride around the volcanic crater lake.  The lake is all rain water and is so very clear (especially compared to the ocean and estuary after the rains).  We saw Pelicans but most interesting to me were the Long-Finned Silver Belly Eels!  They take 3 years to get to the ocean in New Caledonia where they spawn then take three years to come back.  Amazing.

Ken and Kathy at Lake Barrine

Greg and Kathy at Lake Barrine

Pelican

Long Finned Silver Belly Eel

 
Our last stop was the Curtain Fig Tree National Park - an amazing Fig Tree being strangled by vines.

I can’t recommend Blue Adventures Wildlife and Rainforest tour enough!  If you’re lucky enough to get Amy, tell her we said hi!  Oh, and most of these pictures were taken by Amy.  One of the perks of their tour is that she took lots of pictures and gave us USB sticks with all the photos, so we didn’t have to think too much about pictures of our own.  So cool.

Blue Adventures Wildlife and Rainforest tour