The Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

Sydney

We had about 12 hours in Sydney before we flew to Cairns, so we rented a car, picked up Bill & Nicole, and visited some places we missed last time.

Olympic Center from the 2000 Olympics. This is a view from a balcony in one of the hotels. We visited the visitors center, the ring walk, Olympic Boulevard, and the tennis center.

This is the thing where they put the Olympic Flame after it's been lit.

We drove over the Harbor Bridge!

The little neighborhood we ate lunch in on the other side of the Harbor Bridge. The trees all have beautiful purple flowers on them. This photo was taken through a polarized filter.

A view of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House.

We drove under the Harbor through the Sydney Harbor Tunnel on the way back.

Cairns

This is a beautiful little town on the far northwest coast of Australia. Most people venturing off to see the many reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef start here.

We took a boat out to see the Great Barrier Reef. The company we chose took us to two different reefs. This company let us snorkel and try diving.

First reef: Hastings Reef, The fish bowl area.

All geared up and ready to go.

There goes John.

After about 30 minutes of snorkeling we both got to try scuba diving. Angela didn't feel very comfortable so she continued snorkeling. John loved scuba diving and got some great photos about 10 meters under the water.

John's great photo of a clown fish. Just like Nemo!

Second Reef: Saxon Reef, Canyons area

This fish looks really colorful, but don't get too cozy. It has huge teeth!

Just outside of Cairns: We took a historic train through the rainforest to a little town called Kuranda. There are markets and little restaurants here.

This is a local coffee shop. Each time we drank down the foam the barista put more foam on top! So tasty!

We thought we would import some local Kuranda honey back to the US, but New Zealand won't let it in. Guess we'll have to settle for a photo this time.

We rode in a gondola over the top of the rainforest on the way back. The gondola is 7km long!

Australia Part Tres

Darwin

There is one good word to describe Darwin...HOT!!! This city is the capital of the Northern Territory. The other major city in the Northern Territory is Alice Springs 1500km away. Darwin has been destroyed by war and cyclones and rebuilt several times.

This is a memorial dedicated to soldiers who fought in WWII.

This is a view from a bridge of the lagoon area. The people in Darwin can swim here instead of the ocean. It's protected from the jellies.

So hot, we had to stop for a refreshment!

Broome

Broome is a little city in the Kimberely region of Australia. It's one of the most isolated cities in Australia. Perth is 2200km to the South and Darwin is 1105km to the North. Broome is known for it's pearl industry.

This is the shore from the ship.

This is an old outdoor theater with cloth patio furniture. They had lots of old projectors like the ones used when silent movies and the first "talkies" were shown.

We checked out the local brewery, Matso's. They had some interesting beer and very tasty food. This is the view from the patio.

We finished out our day at Cable Beach.

The crabs on Cable Beach dig holes and make little sand balls. Really neat!

My artistic photo of the sunset on Cable Beach.

When we got back on the ship they had a party planned for us! So many drinks, tasty food, and delicious desserts.

Our Aussie friends enjoying their creative drinks.

Whoa!!!! Look at all these desserts!

Halloween on the Ship

Dinner with our new friends.

Nicole, Ang, Leigha,

Murray, John, Bill

Exmouth

This is one of the smallest cities we visited. We spent the day with our new friends (Bill and Nicole). We walked to town, visited the markets, had a picnic, then swam in the Indian Ocean and relaxed on the beach.

Random emu walking down the street.

Random Americans standing on the street.

Our friend Rich from England.

Stay tuned for The Great Barrier Reef....

Australia Part Dos

The adventure continues....

Airlie Beach

We watched the sunrise over a few of the 74 tropical islands that make up the Whitsunday Islands. This group of islands are in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef.

Our ship was tendered about 6 km off the coast of Airlie Beach. We took a tender (smaller boat) to the shore. From there we took a ferry to Daydream Island.

Daydream Island

This island is a very small resort island. We hired (Aussie for rented) a double kayak and paddled around the whole island (told you it was small). We saw a few fish and a sea turtle!

We hiked through the rainforest back to the other side of the island.

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

We had a very interesting day in Papua New Guinea. Immediately outside the port area it was very clear to us that this is a very poor country. There were a lot of people on the dirty streets selling anything you could think of. The streets were littered with trash. People were either living on the streets or in run down shacks on stilts and lots of the people were bare foot. There are 80 different languages spoken in Papua New Guinea because each native tribe has their own language but, english was one of the main languages spoken. This was the closest that we were to the equator (besides crossing it on the way to NZ). We were about 9 degrees south of the equator which is approximately 650 miles south. It was about 90 degrees with high humidity, so we loaded onto old run down city busses without any air conditioning to join our tour guide for a taste of Port Moresby.

Our first stop was the Botanical Gardens. Inside there were native people performing their traditional dances while singing to the beat of drums. The gardens have many native plants and animals that are very different and quite interesting.

Our next stop was to a native cultural center right next to the Parliament House. Here we were greeted with native women dancers who in their native costume, do not wear anything to cover their tops. Inside the cultural center there were exhibits explaining their culture and examples of their famous wood carvings. This was the only spot we visited where we saw flushing toilets (no soap or paper towels, but at least toilet paper). When we loaded the bus to our next location, the bus didn’t start! Our driver yelled out the window to some men in the area and they came and started pushing our loaded bus uphill. Luckily, the driver was able to pop the clutch and start the bus. Horray!

Our last stop was a local art market where we bought some PNG Coffee. On the way back to the pier they took us to a scenic overlook. While climbing up the side of the hill next to the ocean we got stuck in traffic on this narrow road. It was packed with people because the locals came out to see and take pictures of the cruise ship in the port.

Something interesting that we noticed during our travel through the city was the absence of stop lights. At every intersection there was a round-about and when you got to a bigger intersection there was just a bigger round-about.

Cute Towel Animal!

Stay tuned for Australia Part Tres....

Australia Part Uno

We found an awesome, last minute, super cheap deal on a cruise around Australia. So, we got to see several different places. Here it goes:

Sydney

After a four hour delay from Auckland to Sydney, directions in spanish (from our inexpensive South American airline), and navigating through customs we arrived in Australia.

Aussie's are blunt. Here are all your duty free cigarette choices, but ya they will kill you.

We walked through downtown Sydney and over the Harbor Bridge. Some people walk on the outside of the bridge to the very top!

The Sydney Opera House from the Harbor Bridge.

We took a very interesting tour of the design process and building of the Opera House. Which should really be called the performing arts complex. There is a lot more that goes on here besides opera. The fancy architectural clams are only an outside shell. There is a whole different building on the inside where the amphitheaters are.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge

Burger King?

Our cruise ship "The Rhapsody of the Seas" has arrived.

The Sydney skyline as we are leaving the harbor.

Brisbane

We did our own self-guided walking tour of this city.

This picture is an old windmill, one of the oldest structures in Australia. When it wasn't windy enough for the mill to grind the grains, the criminals had to grind them with a treadmill like machine.

The Brisbane River

The tall tower in the photo below is the clock tower on the top of City Hall. They give free (yes free!) tours of the tower. We were lucky enough to be there at noon to hear the noon chimes. We have a video, but it was having a hard time loading. Maybe it will work in the next post.

Stay tuned for Australia Part Dos......