We had been
to the cosmopolitan tropical town of Cairns (pronounced “Cans”) sixteen years
ago. We had already been to the Tjapukai
Aboriginal Culture Park, took the Kuranda Skyrail and Kuranda Scenic Railway
and snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef so decided to do our own thing during
this port stop.
We have a
wonderful port lecturer onboard and if I can’t listen to her live, her talks
are replayed on our tvs and they’re always very interesting and provide lots of
information for everyone on board – those we want to see things on their own as
well as those who opt for excursions.
She had
mentioned that you can take a photo with a koala at the local Casino so I was
all in for that activity – and the Casino was very close to the cruise
terminal. Yes, I was able to hold
“Micro,” an incredibly cute 3-year old male koala bear and, of course, had my
photo taken with the little guy. Michael
snuck in a couple of pictures before the handler informed him, “no private
photos, please!”
When you
think of “Casino,” you think only of gambling but this Casino actually had a
zoo in the penthouse level. Because of
our limited time in port, we opted to do a little shopping.
So, we ventured
over to the Mall for some air-conditioning and helping the local economy. Cairns has a tropical climate and it’s the
rainy season right now. Although it
didn’t rain, the temperature was way into the 90s with humidity, I’m guessing,
not much lower. It was quite awful (for me)
but the pinched nerve in my neck flared up so I was more uncomfortable because
of my neck rather than from the heat. We
managed to get back onboard the ship by noon.
We’re now on
our way to Darwin located in the Northern Territory.
Michael’s Observations: Cairns is very clean, no signs of graffiti anywhere and is
very flat which makes walking a breeze.
If you have a chance, come visit.
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