By the time we got to Cairns and picked up our rental car, from a real chirpy guy at a low-cost agency not at the airport, it was about dark. We stopped for fishandchips at a take-away place, then drove north to find our lodging in Ellis Beach. It’s about a half-hour drive, if you do all the roundabouts correctly. Well, we missed one, but realized right away that we had. We were following the Captain Cook Highway, but all of a sudden it changed numbers and that took us off on the wrong exit from the roundabout. We could tell right away we were heading inland instead of following the coast (Captain Cook didn't always get it right, either). Getting turned around, though, somehow involved driving the wrong way on two different shopping center access roads, but we made it with no mishaps or insults, with one driver politely and clearly pointing out, "You're going the wrong way."
Here’s a shot from our porch of sunrise over the Tasman Sea the following morning. Nice place. Our Frommer’s Guide tipped it as a “real value.” Too bad we won’t be spending much time in it.
And here's a bungalow and rental-car view:
Here's a little beach-music video. Just click on the arrow in lower left corner. Turn your volume up.
Next morning we leave the bungalow at 615 am to go back to Cairns for our Green Island and Great Barrier Reef Cruise.
Green Island is a national park about an hour out from the harbor. It has nice beaches, crystal clear water, a resort, and other activities such as parasailing and glass-bottom boating. We used most of the two hours there to practice snorkeling.
Another hour on the boat got us to a tour-agency's pontoon on the Great Barrier Reef. There were various options there, plus lunch. We started with a semi-submersible ride. This a boat with a viewing compartment below water level. This gave us a good intro to the coral types and formations and the tropical fish.
After lunch I had decided to sign up for a SCUBA dive for beginners, but I was too late – it was already subscribed. We spent most of the rest of the time snorkeling. Dick and I were kind of nervous about leaving our possessions – cameras, passports, … -- unattended so we took turns in the water. There he goes now!
Also, they warned older guests against overexertion, so we didn't.
Bryson, with his fixation on the many ways to die in Australia, tells a tale of a tour boat returning from the Reef and leaving two snorkelers out there (not in the neighborhood of a pontpoon), never to be seen again. When we left, with probably a couple hundred people, the crew did a careful headcount, but a couple of people showed up after they declared the count to be correct!
The shapes, colors, and variety of corals are amazing. I had the feeling that I saw less fishlife than I had expected from movies and TV shows and what I remembered from a long-ago trip to Hawaii, but maybe such expectations are unrealistic. The photographers don’t always hit the right spot at the right time. I also wonder if a frequently occupied, noisy spot like the pontoon platform may deter the fish a bit (you're not allowed to feed them). Whatever, we had a great day in the sun and the sea.
Here's an internet shot. We saw comparable scenes, but through a foggy snorkel mask looking down from water level, not in a professionally lighted scene at fish level.
We stopped for dinner on our way back to Ellis Beach at a resort area called Palm Cove. The setting was like in the movies: second-floor open air restaurant, palm trees, fragrant air, the sound of waves hitting the shore, moon and stars over the ocean.
This was a nice restaurant – you could tell by the way they stacked the food – which seems to be the fine food trend. In Fremantle my steak came on top of mashed potatoes and gravy, so when you cut into the steak you smeared the potatoes and gravy all over the plate! Elegant? Maybe I’m missing something.
I don’t mean to be complaining, but Theroux says much of travel is dealing with things that don’t go right: our experience at this restaurant matched what we had encountered repeatedly, so maybe it’s an Aussie thing: When you’re through eating you have to make an effort to get your bill. The waitperson doesn’t bring it until asked and seems a little surprised by the request. Sometimes you have to go to the cash register. Sometimes the hostperson will bring it. Suggested tipping here is less generous than at home, even for me, so maybe there’s a connection. Or, maybe it's just a more Aussie/relaxed view of things. Just thought you’d like to know.
Tomorrow it’s the Daintree River and my HS classmate, Dan Irby. Until then.
Cheers,
Rob
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