Cairns Botanical Gardens, Kurunda and the Lagoon

Having looked up cheap options on touring Cairns and area I saw that the Botanical Gardens were absolutely free!! Since gardens and plants are of interest to me, and the price was right, the gang joined me for a tour. We started outside.Fascinating bark to that tree!

 Such a bright and complicated flower!

 These trees had pretty neat flowers coming down.

 Just imagine what the gardens would look like when it is in peak season!

 We went inside (also free!) and saw some other interesting plants. A lot of the plants came from other countries...I guess not everyone touring is there just to see Australia. But pretty amazing gourd plant, even if it's from the Philippines.

 Orchids looking natural.

 Lotsa cool flowers to see. There were a bunch of butterflies in here as well. Certainly worth checking out!

 So bright!

 We did a stop at our new favourite shopping place. Groceries, odds and ends...it's all in the mall just 10 minutes from our "home".

 We headed up to Kurunda. It's the place to go from Cairns, apparently. I'm glad we were there on an off season, it must be so packed when it's tourist time! It was pretty quiet for us, and a lot of the shops selling stuff you don't need were closed as a result. Not a big deal for us! We opted out on the rainforest walks, as they looked very much like the Daintree Rainforest walks...I doubt the habitat was that different. We did go into the Koala Gardens so we could check out some Aussie mammals. We walked over the hungry crocs. (yes, I know they aren't mammals. but they are noteworthy as we saw them without paying for the Aussie river croc tour that is advertised at almost every river we passed)

 The koalas were sleeping. No surprise there! Apparently they are awake about 3 hours a day, and these ones work for one of those hours (but get a day off every third day, maybe) to be held by tourists for a photo shoot.

 We passed on the $ per picture. Besides, you have to come during the "working hour" of these poor tired koalas. I bet their toes are scratchy though! I do wonder how soft they are...are they really cuddly, or kind of have course hair?

 Spot the croc...somewhere there.

 You could take kangaroo food (looked just like rabbit food pellets) in your hand and feed the kangaroos by hand. BUT the kangaroos were totally not interested and people were dumping pellets all over the Koala Gardens trying to lure the (fat?) kangaroos to come and have a nibble. They looked more interested in napping.

 I guess they had free roaming reptiles to keep us entertained too? We didn't notice them anywhere else in Cairns but here.

 We checked out a waterfall. Now...if it was wet season it would be looking a bit more like Niagara Falls and filling in that area and looking rather more impressive. But for now it's rather dry and looks like a trickle.

 We still stopped to admire it though. After all, we'd walked at least 5 minutes down the boardwalk to get to the view!

 We watched the Kurunda train stop at the waterfall. A crowd of people rushed out and they admired the view (quickly...it's only a ten minute stop now!) and then piled back in. The very best part was when the train got ready to leave. We were on the boardwalk just above the train when it let go the whistle. Boy did Daniel jump!! It was pretty loud!

 To get back down to Cairns we had to take the windy road back down again. It's really very steep and curvy, and Philip, I am sure, had way too much fun driving. He enjoyed going up as well. You can pay to take the train up, or a gondola, or, like us, just drive. I think driving was pretty memorable, just because of the narrowness of the track. We passed by a rig that was rolled over in the ditch, so it's certainly not safe if you aren't careful!

 We checked out a viewpoint on the way down. In the water our there were a bunch of things racing around...looked like seadoos on a man made pool...but we didn't quite figure out what was going on. Good view of Cairns, anyways.

 We headed off to the Lagoon for dinner. There are outdoor bbqs free for the public to use. But they are very weird for a bbq. They are just flat stainless steel on the top. No fire smoke and flames licking your hamburger patty. So we had sausages instead. The pelicans were there by the boardwalk again.

 The sun was going and the background just lovely! To the right the harbour, where we will take off in our grand catamaran in two days time.

 But in the mean time, it is still warm enough to go for a swim after dinner! The lagoon is a man made pool open year round (closed one day a week for regular cleaning) and manned with lifeguards. Not that it's that deep and dangerous, mind you. Swimming with ocean right behind you is kinda weird, but makes for a luxurious Caribbean resort style atmosphere...not that I really know what I'm talking about. :p

 We camped out on the side opposite of the ferris wheel (the Reef Eye, I think it was called...would you actually see the reef from the top in the daytime, I wonder) so that we didn't hear the music blaring. As it is, on the hour there is the Esplanade announcement welcoming you and laying down the rules. Daniel got to do the swimming he'd been asking us to have since we'd walked by on Saturday.

 And some of us just sat and read instead.

I think those metal fish in the background are kinda famous for getting on photos. I shoulda done a selfie, but truth be told I didn't love the Lagoon on account of it being too tourist like, and like a busy beach. Daniel had fun though. Plus it was free. We parked in a different area where it was free this time. :p

One thing that surprised us about Cairns (which, apparently is fairly representative of Australia in general) was how early everything shut down. Finish your groceries by 5pm (4:30 would be safer!) as there won't be any stores open later! Even the airport closes down for the night, to keep the place nice and quiet. No wonder our stopovers in Hong Kong were so long! We had to wait for everyone to wake up!

Port Douglas and Daintree

 Someone snatched up my camera and snapped me while I cleaned up breakfast. We planned to do some touring, and see what we could see to the north of Cairns.

 We headed along Cook's Highway and stopped at any likely lookout points. Here was a big pier, full of people with fishing gear. And a big sign showing all the likely kinds of fish...I guess then you know what you will be eating later!

 The rock formations on the beach were very interesting. Very distinctive.

 And right off the beach a rugged looking hill covered in bush. Looks dry, but that's because of the time of year!

 The landscape changed a bit as we went on. We even remembered to stay on the left side of the road the whole day!

 At a lookout we stepped out. Not everyone was enjoying the fuel efficient car at this point. Leg room was less ample than we have been accustomed to!

 What a beautiful view! I was really surprised that the reef was so far out. Nowhere could we see even a glimpse of it on the horizon!

 While we enjoyed the view a hang-glider got all strapped in and took off.

 It was a shockingly short run...less than 2 minutes. What a lot of work for that...but still fun, I am sure. Maybe you can learn to catch the updraft and hang in the air longer?

 We made it to Port Douglas. We went off of the trail and checked out the shore line and tidal pools. There were some reclusive crabs hanging around.

 The palm trees were pretty cool! They had very bright orange fruit, which was very hard.

 It being a hot day, we figured it was time to enjoy the ocean. The water was really quite salty!

 We stayed in the cordoned off area under the wary eye of the lifeguards. After all, we didn't want to mess with any salties or sharks! Lotsa fun waves to play in. And best of all, nice and cool.

 We found some crackers and cheese in the grocery store. But no cheddar cheese, and the ritz was rectangular. Very weird. But tasty anyways. :)

 There were a lot of farms to drive through. A lot of sugarcane.

 To get to the Daintree National Park we had to cross the Daintree River. The Daintree ferry was fun. A cable ferry! I don't remember crossing a river by ferry before!

 I liked how the locals got their own lineup and got on and off the ferry first. Us tourists got to wait our turn.

 We weren't allowed out, and it was a quick ride. On and off and in less than 15 minutes.

 The roads were much narrower and winding now. We stopped in a little town and could find nothing there but a river tour...and the next boat (not that we were planning to take it) was leaving in an hour. So quiet!!

 Further on we stopped in the Park and went on a walk through the rainforest.

 The trees had some pretty impressive roots! Daniel was charging for entry, "tickets, please!".

 Big leaves!

 Separate plants growing up the roots!(at least, that's what I think is happening)

 On the boardwalk, the more traveled part it was busier.

 Saw a cassowary (or two) down in the brush. I didn't want to get too close to take a picture, as they are dangerous and I'm not too familiar with their habits. But it is there somewhere...

 Another viewpoint on our way back to Cairns

What a totally different part of the world that was to experience! The birds were so loud in the rainforest (and way up high, so you can't see them). Hard to imagine it is fall at home, with a potential of frost in the air, when we are taking ice drinks along that are melting fast, and swimming midday to cool off! (It turns out, we didn't feel that hot here...wait 'til next week in PNG! Yikes!!)

Cairns!

 At long last we made it to our destination. Boy is it a long ways...can't imagine what it was like when you had to travel by boat...maybe you get into a routine and sleep en-route. Our second flight was only 9 hours. We tried to sleep, as we were arriving in the morning once again.

 Melanie went with Philip and the luggage to our cabin at Treetops Lodge. This way we could save money and get the smallest car. New concept fitting in a little car! Also new was driving on the wrong(left) side of the road. 

 We managed to find a grocery store and buy some food. Going to the Lagoon was the way to see a bit of Cairns on the cheap, so we did that. We parked on the far end (did have to pay to park, though) and walked along a path which eventually became a boardwalk and came up to the Lagoon. (more on the Lagoon some other day)

 I thought the pelicans were really cool. So did lots of other tourists. Watching them preen themselves with really long bills was really funny.

 After an absolutely wonderful sleep we were ready for Sunday. Church was small and friendly. We got to visit a cousin of Philip's too, which was pretty special. We enjoyed some time together and a cold Milo.

 Back at our digs, we got to chill. Nice having a couch and beds (you can sleep on them, unlike airplane seats in economy class) and the kitchen makes traveling far more affordable as you don't need to eat out!

 Pizza from the grocery store is good enough for me!

 We had an extra bunk...so the suitcases got to hang out there.

 In the entrance way was the "master bedroom" with the bathroom also off to the side. Very compact. We really enjoyed staying here. There is a shared pool outdoors which we used, plus a community BBQ and kitchen if you want to host a big dinner. And extra seats and things. And a fridge full of people's leftovers...so if you need salad dressing or mustard just check as it's free for the taking!

 We went for a walk in the evening. It got dark pretty fast. There is a conservation area with a trail up the side of the hillside, nice and steep and good practice for the Kokoda Trail. I didn't permit taking the long way back...as the only torches we had with us were our cell phones. Nothing like taking the route you came back so you can find the parking lot. Phew! There it is! We did see a bush kangaroo while it was still light enough to see. Kinda neat!

 Philip reminisced over at the map and wished we'd got in a loop...maybe next time dear. When it's lighter out.