trip report AU...thanks to everybody

Old Apr 5th, 2009, 12:34 PM
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trip report AU...thanks to everybody

LA airport we boarded our Air New Zealand jumbo. I was in premium economy. Deluxe lotions, champagne (no I didn’t),spotless bathrooms, hot towels, fancy menu choices, tons of snacks, noise blocking headphones, loads of new movies, pampered service, down comforters ,the cheese plate and sleep all made it worth it
We arrived in New Zealand at 4:30 AM. We are below the equator for the first time and Orion is in the opposite side of the sky. Our hotel was the Centa Airport with a garden in the center with pool, ponds and lots of Australian ferns, our room on ground level had a patio on the garden.. After a nap the plan was to head downtown but since my ankles were swollen ,we decided to head to a mini shopping plaza across the street. New Zealand is truly multicultural. We bought a few things in the corrugated metal convenience store with a reto 50s arched roof and bright yellow awnings and plastered with signs operated by a siek. Then we went to café next door. It was an odd mix. It had a Chinese picture menu with Thai entrees and a section like a self serve bakery, and section with British type meat pies, and a smoothie bar….And a huge scene hand painted on one wall. After lunch and another nap and we sat our in the garden (full of new Zealand plants) and listened to the cicadas with their off short short, long--- rhythm.. We ate dinner at a wonderful Indian restaurant and had a tasty garlic herb nan, sweet lamb Korma (sauce of almond and yogurt) and a spicy kebab of ground lamb.
The next morning we were off again. .Air New Zealand’s planes are new, fresh smelling and more importantly have 6 inches of extra leg room. We both were in economy with an empty seat between us. Arrived in Cairns The driver gave us info as she took us to the resort …like how many people are killed by crocs every week…All around were lush hills with rain forest and the valleys with fields of sugar cane .and houses. The houses are like Florida somewhat but most have metal roofs. There are so many different plants and trees here. Some plants I’ve never seen before and the ones I have …like punk trees and eucalyptus. We arrived at the hotel reception. (open air with a thatched roof). And received welcome drinks. The resort sits in a swampy area around a lagoon. The bungalows are hidden in dense tropical foliage. They have vaulted ceilings and pine floors and marble bathrooms. The property is situated on the tan breezy beach.. There are two rock pools with waterfalls. We took a walk around .For dinner we had Barramundi (fish) on a bed of sweet potato and leeks and a sauce it was very good.
The breakfast here is typically British with beans, grilled tomato, mushrooms bangers, yogurt, stewed fruits, pastries and an assortment of delicious home breads. We were up early to catch the bus down to the dock. On the way we saw a body shop with a sign that said “smashed care repair; and a tree with hundreds of huge hanging “flying foxes” (bats) The double-decker boat from Reef Magic took us out to the reef in an hour and a half. The ride was a bit rough as we went through a squall but we were fine for the moment! Finally we reached the giant pontoon platform and it was great because it didn’t rock. The weather was looking good. There was an upper sun deck and a place for the equipment in the back in bins .there deck had tables for lunch later and for our stuff. We got our lycra stinger suits just for protection should there be any jellies. You should have seen Greg in his (no he didn’t allow pictures). There were choices so not being interested in the helicopter we settled on the submersible .The tour took us across fields of giant staghorn coral. We saw a giant clam, some blue coral, some rock coral that was probably 600 years old.. We also got a good look at a sea turtle and some cuttlefish
. Then we grabbed our gear and headed to the dive platform. A girl was there sitting as far away as she could and evidently paralyzed with fear .They were asking her if she wanted t to try and she didn’t respond…..I said “Yes she does” Soon I saw the guys trying to assist her in the use of mask and snorkel…All she was doing was sitting on the edge on the metal grate (dive platform) I was struck by the fact that she was so petrified…so young and so afraid and so ironic that an amazing world just beyond her reach ! But I didn’t had time for this …
On every tour is a woman photographer who takes pictures of guests with their goodwill ambassador named Wally. He is called a Napoleon Fish or a Knobheaded Mauri Wasse ,the largest fish on a reef at about 4 feet by 3 feet. He is the most amazing iridescent peacock colors. He has stripes down the side and a squiggly pattern on his head. Wally is about 8 years old and was a female not too long ago who turned into male .He and grew an huge hump on his head and began to display these lovely colors….Wally loves people and loves to pose and be petted….I was charmed by his engaging personality. Yes indeed he was popular! I. got up close and personal.
Before we knew it was time for lunch. They had laid out an very nice buffet of shrimp, salads and fruit. And then it was time for our guided small group tour of the outer reef. The weather was changing and it started getting rougher. They took a small boat out quite far from the pontoon and we were to all swim back. The guide was a Steve Irwin kinda guy, young with blondish hair. It was interesting to see the different types of schooling fish and sharks (white tip) .We saw the most diverse corals anywhere I’ve ever seen. The colors ranged from pinks to vivid yellows and blues and all in between.. The corals here were flat disk shapes and round because of wave action and of course there were clown fish, parrot fish, yellow tails…just about every fish on could imagine. It was hard keeping my mask and snorkel clear because of the waves and since I had just eaten it was even more tiring. I was starting to chill in the gale. I had overexerted and was under the weather before I got back in the transfer boat so going back I was very seasick and I tossed my lunch.
First thing we did the next day was take a walk to the beachfront. A groundskeeper gives a nature tour three times a week and we happened to join in on it. We saw some green ants and interesting birds. One is like a chicken and it makes huge piles of leaves,. Then we decided to rent a car they delivered and it was worth it. We drove about 10 minutes down to a mall for groceries and souvenirs. .On the way was a football field where a mob (dozens) of wallabies were grazing. They do this every morning and evening. Then we went up the mountain through the forest to the town of Kuranda. We hiked down on the rainforest boardwalk to a lovely stream and sat on the rocks for our lunch.. It’s Perfect weather here We went into the little quaint town for some shopping and saw the typical native art and jewelry and clothing. We had some homemade mango ice cream…..Its hot here if you are directly in the sun especially in the late afternoon in town, Save the rainforests!
Our last day here we decided to tour the Atherton Tablelands (including the heritage rainforest ) .You drive down the coast and then up over the mountains to the rolling hills beyond. We had a pit stop at a Hungry Jack with a Burger King Logo and the Steak and Shake interior. Our drive started with a pleasant drive through a shady forest where we saw a huge gnarled trunk tree that looked as though it was a prop in the Lord of the Rings. Then we proceeded to a steep assent through a very winding road (think road to Hana).
This terrain was drier and had a bush like appearance with eucalyptus trees, cycads and huge boulders interspersed with the odd pocket of rain forest in where the little creeks were. You could also see down to the acres of green rolling countryside here which there are obviously pastureland. We then came down into a tropical forest area and the rushing streams and cascades are beautiful with crystal clear water. This is what they call the tablelands. The rainforest here is not wet even though it’s the rainy season and its 10 degrees cooler up here as well.
. Our first stop was Lake Barrine. There is a teahouse on the lake and it is surrounded by lush tropical flowering plants. You can imagine just think Cypress gardens. It seems everywhere here it’s easy to be a gardener. This place reminds me somewhat of the rainy side of Maui This beautiful round lake is crystal clear and inhabited by pythons and platypus according to the boat tour information. We went to left on a boardwalk to see the Huge bull Kauri trees. These two conifers are 6 meters in diameter and years old. I can only imagine how amazing this land would have been to see by the first European explorers. But we had to move on.
Next we stopped in the town of Yougaburra. It is a tiny with a vintage hotel, post office, tourist office and lawn bowling center and some shops. It’s a Maui upcountry vibe here. .We get info on where the platypus are. We head down to the bridge out of town, park and walk under the bridge and down a little path by a opaque caramel colored river .We walked a while and heard a splash, we suspect it’s a platypus so we determined to be more stealthy. Oops, we heard a second splash,, we’re still not stealthy enough. A few bends later, I was looking in the right direction and saw a small dark animal go into the water….I’m sure it was not a turtle and turtles don’t really splash from the bank.. We continued on another ½ mile and crossed the river by suspension footbridge until we finally realized that we won’t be able to get any pictures of this elusive animal. Evidently it had rained and the path was wet and mucky in just one portion of the path --messy shoes!.
We drove on a couple of miles down a side road to the famous fig curtain tree. The boardwalk leads out in the chirpy forest to a huge specimen of twisted thick string like roots of the fig tree .Its bigger than the banyan tress I’ve seen. It was getting past 1:00 pm and our next spot would be the perfect lunch spot-Mileaa-Mileaa Falls. We drove over the rolling California like hills with the pockets of rainforest hugging the valleys. We turned down a lane and boom we are here.. No need to hike as you can just drive right up to this amazing scene. Imagine a picture perfect straight down waterfall cascade framed by lovely white gingers and other tropical foliage. People were swimming in the clear water and there were big and small fish and turtle in the stream.
We knew we were getting closer to the coast as we cruised by the banana plantations and then the typical coastal sugarcane. Our last stop included a hike to Josephine Falls. It was a lovely mile hike on a slight incline. There is a upper and lower falls where people were all swimming. The hike was by the steam with a lot the mossy logs. The stream was clear and ran over rocks and beautiful large granules of sand .I decided to get into the stream and take pictures. What I didn’t realize was there were razor vines that cut into my leg and foot. Seems like I saw this on an episode of survivor man This rainforest stream is just like the fake ones you see reproduced that used to seem surreal to me because they were so perfect. We made it back before dark. It was a long day so we ate at the open air restaurant at our hotel which was very quiet. I had the “bugs” (like mini lobster) that tastes like shrimp were so- so. The next day was our flight out to Auckland and as we were leaving a 4 foot goana strolled past the reception walkway and we “shot” him.
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Old Apr 5th, 2009, 01:16 PM
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I forgot to mention It was the Kewarra Beach Resort.....
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Old Apr 5th, 2009, 03:19 PM
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Welcome back hypatia! Sounds like you managed to squeeze in quite a bit - did you like the Centra?
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Old Apr 5th, 2009, 03:45 PM
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yes I did except the food( we didnt even bother)
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Old Apr 5th, 2009, 04:24 PM
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Thanks for the report, hypatia, you did well for such a short time in FNQ.

We sometimes have lunch at Kewarra Beach Resort, its such a peaceful and quiet spot, and so different to many of the modern resort-style concrete horrors but it was a bit of a crime to serve stewed fruit for breakfast. Especially when fresh local tropical fruit abounds.

That bird which looked like a large chicken would have been a brush turkey, they turn our gardens into mounds in no time flat.
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Old Apr 5th, 2009, 05:09 PM
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Thanks for your report. I am glad youenjoyed my part of the world.
When looking for platypus it is best to wait for them to come to you. It is very unlikely that you disturbed three platypus from the bank and were able to hear them. Childs, Australian side-necked freshwater turtles, do plop from the bank and from logs and stones.
Glad you could recognise some of the plants. I always feel it is more enjoyable if one knows something of what one is seeing.
Unfortunately those Kauris have shrunk since your visit and are now only just over two metres in diameter. ;-)
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Old Apr 5th, 2009, 05:10 PM
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Oops that should be "Chelids" for the turtles.
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Old Apr 5th, 2009, 09:01 PM
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Re the playpus....no,maybe the other ones were but I saw someting that was not round like a turle...and the IT person said people had been seeing them there.It looked long.

They had fresh fruit as well and I like the stewed with th yogurt
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