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My trip diary - Part 3
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Joy
Nov 10, 2012, 1:48:22 AM11/10/12
to
This part is in Cairns. There is one more part, but it will be fairly short
and not very interesting. ;-)
Wednesday, October 31 - We packed up and checked out, then waited for our
pickup to take us to the airport for our flight to Cairns. We had a 1:25
flight, so we had plenty of time.
We decided to take taxis from the Cairns airport to our hotel. The first one
stopped, and Irene and Dave went to it. Just then, another pulled up. It was
a minivan, so we all took that one instead. The hotel is much nicer than the
one in Sydney. Dan and I were on the 9th floor, and Irene & Dave were on the
4th. When Dan and I got to our room, we found we had a king sized bed
instead of two twins. When we called down to the desk, thinking they'd move
us to another room, we were told someone would come up and change the beds
instead.
The man who had checked us in separated the two twin beds that made up the
king size, and we talked while he was working. I asked him if he knew where
the RSL Club was, since I planned to go to a Toastmasters meeting there that
evening, and had been told it was only two blocks from the hotel. He told me
which way to go, and also said it was two blocks.
He mentioned that it had a nice restaurant. I remembered from my last trip
to Cairns, when I also visited that club, that there was a restaurant there,
but the service was very slow. I wanted to eat before going to the meeting,
so I suggested we all walk down there and have dinner, then I'd go to the
meeting and anybody who didn't want to could walk back to the hotel. Irene
and Dave decided to go to the meeting with me, so Dan checked out places to
get wi-fi on the way back. He also saw a street performer.
The Toastmasters meeting was a lot of fun. It had a Halloween theme, and
many of the members were in costume. I had been told about it ahead of time.
At first, I thought I couldn't take a costume along with everything else.
Then I decided I could go as an American tourist. I hung a camera around my
neck, wore a tee shirt that said "Australia" on it, and a hat that said the
same. I put on my dark glasses. I don't know if they realized I was in
costume or not, but I worked it into my Table Topic, and got a laugh. They
also made me grammarian.
After the meeting, they served a Halloween cake and some cracker things that
were shaped like ghosts. I really enjoyed the meeting, and Irene and Dave
seemed to. Dave had a long conversation with a couple of the members after
the meeting. They took pictures of everybody in costume, and Dave took some
too.
Thursday, November 1 - We walked down to the dock and signed in, then
boarded the boat for our Great Barrier Reef cruise. It was a long way out
there, but they had big screens which showed people discussing the various
options once we got out there. They had beginning and advanced snorkeling,
and beginning and advanced scuba diving. Irene and Dave went for the
advanced snorkeling, since they'd done it before. Dan chose the beginning
snorkeling, and I surprised everybody by going for that too. I got into a
wet suit and got my mask and flippers. We had to go out on a deck, then down
some stairs that were partly under water. Then we were told to sit on the
edge, with our legs dangling. I was reminded of my skydiving, when I had to
do the same thing.
We moved out gradually, four of us holding onto a big orange life preserver,
with our teacher/guide telling us what to do, and discussing what we were
seeing. The problem was that, if we put our faces in the water to look, our
ears filled with water, and we couldn't hear, so we bobbed up and down a
lot, alternating looking and listening. There was a good-sized fish called
Wally that was used to the divers, and they lured him to where we were. We
could actually touch him. The reef was amazing, and it was a great
experience, though a bit uncomfortable. We had to keep our arms on the life
preserver, and my arms got very tired. Afterward, it was even more
uncomfortable, since I hadn't brought a bathing suit. I changed back into my
clothes, but my underwear was wet. Still, I'm very glad I did it.
When we got back to shore, we all wanted to get showers before going out to
dinner, so we did.
I think that's the night we went to the Greek restaurant. Dan got lamb and
Irene and Dave ordered a Greek feast for two, which the three of us split.
It's a good thing they didn't get it for three, because there was lots of
food left over as it was. It was really good. We walked the long way around
to get to our hotel and saw a street performer doing a fire act. It was
quite impressive.
Friday, November 2 - I don't remember what we did that day. Irene did some
laundry. We loafed around some, and no doubt walked around some.
At some point, we walked over to the hotel where Irene and Dave would check
in the next morning, to meet the group for their Eclipse tour. The owner of
the tour company was in the lobby, and he recognized them. They talked to
him for a while.
In the evening, we walked around looking for a place to have dinner. The
weather was perfect for eating outside, so we did. The waiter asked where we
were from. When somebody said we were from L.A., he surprised us by
mentioning that the San Francisco Giants had won the World Series, and
wondered if, as Californians, we were happy about that. When we said not
especially, he said, "Oh, your team is the Dodgers?" Dan and I said yes, and
then he blew us away by saying, "They caught those guys, didn't they? The
ones who beat up that fan?" He was referring to an incident a couple of
years ago when three Dodger fans beat up a Giants fan after a game at Dodger
stadium.
We walked around some, and saw the fire act going on in the distance.
Saturday, November 3 - Dave brought their luggage up to our room so they
could check out before we were picked up for our Kuranda tour.
The bus picked us up and took us to the train station. Then we rode the
train up to a small tourist town called Kuranda. The train stopped at one
point so we could take pictures of a waterfall. The town has lots of shops
and restaurants. It also has a butterfly farm and a wildlife park, but we
didn't have time to see either of them.
Next the bus took us to a gift shop which contained the entrance to a rain
forest and had a place where you could be photographed with a koala. I'd
already done the latter three times, and the others didn't seem interested,
so we passed on that. After a wait, we boarded an Army Duck for our ride
into the rain forest. An Army Duck is an amphibious vehicle with tracks like
a tank that was used to transport military personnel in areas that contained
both water and dry land during World War II. The seating is similar to that
on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, except there is no
safety bar in front of you. We were seated in the back row, which was higher
than the other rows. At first we thought that was an advantage, because we'd
be able to see better. We thought that until the Duck set off, driving on a
very rough track that bounced us all over. Then we started downhill, and we
envisioned ending up on our heads in the laps of the people in the row ahead
of us. Several times the driver stopped, always on a steep incline. We all
agreed that, uncomfortable as airline and bus seats are, these seats were by
far the most uncomfortable of the trip. Nevertheless, we were glad we went
on the ride. Eventually we entered the water, and then we were level and it
wasn't bumpy. We saw assorted plants and birds, and passed one other Duck,
going the other way. When we left the water, we were going uphill, so we
worried about falling out the back. We survived in one piece, though.
That made the third 'first' for me during the trip - my first time to hug a
perfect stranger, my first time to go snorkeling, and my first ride in an
Army Duck.
Eventually the bus took us to a place where we could get the Skyrail down
the side of the mountain. The four of us were in a car with room for six, so
we were reasonably comfortable. We had a great view of the forest and the
Daintree River as we passed over them, and we saw birds in the trees below
us. There were two stops on the ride, where you could get out and do some
exploring. There was a steep trail (stairs) going down at the first stop,
and I decided to skip that. The men went down it, and Irene and I went into
a building, where we saw an interactive video display of various native
creatures (birds, frogs, etc.) and could hear the sounds they made by
pushing a button. At the next stop, there was a choice of a ramp or stairs
for some more sightseeing. Irene and I took the ramp, while the men took the
stairs. Then we had to change to a different car for the ride the rest of
the way down. During the last part of the ride, we had a great view of the
ocean below.
At the bottom of the ride, your picture is taken. As you walk into the
inevitable gift shop that is the way to the exit, your photo shows on a
screen, and you may purchase it if you wish. We passed. Once we got out of
the gift shop, we found the bus waiting, and it took us back to our hotel.
People had the option of being returned to their hotels or being dropped off
in town or at other places on the way.
When we got back to the hotel, we helped Irene and Dave take their luggage
to their tour group's hotel, which was really luxurious. It was too bad they
wouldn't have much time to enjoy it, since their tour was to leave early the
next morning.
Then we set out to look for dinner. We finally found a nice place where we
could eat outside. The waiter asked us where we were from. Somebody said
L.A., and he mentioned the fact that the San Francisco Giants had won the
World Series. I'd lost interest once the Dodgers were out of the running,
and didn't even know who was in the World Series. Irene and Dave aren't
sports fans at all. When he decided we weren't excited about that, he said,
"I guess you're Dodgers fans." Dan and I agreed, and he said, "They caught
those guys, right? The ones who beat up that fan?" He was referring to an
incident a couple of years ago when three Dodgers fans had beaten a Giants
fan after a game at Dodger Stadium. I had no idea that anybody in Australia
would have known about that even when it happened, much less a couple of
years later.
Dan and I hardly turned our TV on, but Irene and Dave had watched the news,
and they said there was a full half hour on Hurricane Sandy.
--
Joy
"Listen for differences. Seek them out. Don't surround yourself only with
those who see the world as you do." - Grant Cornwell
--
Joy
"Listen for differences. Seek them out. Don't surround yourself only with
those who see the world as you do." - Grant Cornwell
and not very interesting. ;-)
Wednesday, October 31 - We packed up and checked out, then waited for our
pickup to take us to the airport for our flight to Cairns. We had a 1:25
flight, so we had plenty of time.
We decided to take taxis from the Cairns airport to our hotel. The first one
stopped, and Irene and Dave went to it. Just then, another pulled up. It was
a minivan, so we all took that one instead. The hotel is much nicer than the
one in Sydney. Dan and I were on the 9th floor, and Irene & Dave were on the
4th. When Dan and I got to our room, we found we had a king sized bed
instead of two twins. When we called down to the desk, thinking they'd move
us to another room, we were told someone would come up and change the beds
instead.
The man who had checked us in separated the two twin beds that made up the
king size, and we talked while he was working. I asked him if he knew where
the RSL Club was, since I planned to go to a Toastmasters meeting there that
evening, and had been told it was only two blocks from the hotel. He told me
which way to go, and also said it was two blocks.
He mentioned that it had a nice restaurant. I remembered from my last trip
to Cairns, when I also visited that club, that there was a restaurant there,
but the service was very slow. I wanted to eat before going to the meeting,
so I suggested we all walk down there and have dinner, then I'd go to the
meeting and anybody who didn't want to could walk back to the hotel. Irene
and Dave decided to go to the meeting with me, so Dan checked out places to
get wi-fi on the way back. He also saw a street performer.
The Toastmasters meeting was a lot of fun. It had a Halloween theme, and
many of the members were in costume. I had been told about it ahead of time.
At first, I thought I couldn't take a costume along with everything else.
Then I decided I could go as an American tourist. I hung a camera around my
neck, wore a tee shirt that said "Australia" on it, and a hat that said the
same. I put on my dark glasses. I don't know if they realized I was in
costume or not, but I worked it into my Table Topic, and got a laugh. They
also made me grammarian.
After the meeting, they served a Halloween cake and some cracker things that
were shaped like ghosts. I really enjoyed the meeting, and Irene and Dave
seemed to. Dave had a long conversation with a couple of the members after
the meeting. They took pictures of everybody in costume, and Dave took some
too.
Thursday, November 1 - We walked down to the dock and signed in, then
boarded the boat for our Great Barrier Reef cruise. It was a long way out
there, but they had big screens which showed people discussing the various
options once we got out there. They had beginning and advanced snorkeling,
and beginning and advanced scuba diving. Irene and Dave went for the
advanced snorkeling, since they'd done it before. Dan chose the beginning
snorkeling, and I surprised everybody by going for that too. I got into a
wet suit and got my mask and flippers. We had to go out on a deck, then down
some stairs that were partly under water. Then we were told to sit on the
edge, with our legs dangling. I was reminded of my skydiving, when I had to
do the same thing.
We moved out gradually, four of us holding onto a big orange life preserver,
with our teacher/guide telling us what to do, and discussing what we were
seeing. The problem was that, if we put our faces in the water to look, our
ears filled with water, and we couldn't hear, so we bobbed up and down a
lot, alternating looking and listening. There was a good-sized fish called
Wally that was used to the divers, and they lured him to where we were. We
could actually touch him. The reef was amazing, and it was a great
experience, though a bit uncomfortable. We had to keep our arms on the life
preserver, and my arms got very tired. Afterward, it was even more
uncomfortable, since I hadn't brought a bathing suit. I changed back into my
clothes, but my underwear was wet. Still, I'm very glad I did it.
When we got back to shore, we all wanted to get showers before going out to
dinner, so we did.
I think that's the night we went to the Greek restaurant. Dan got lamb and
Irene and Dave ordered a Greek feast for two, which the three of us split.
It's a good thing they didn't get it for three, because there was lots of
food left over as it was. It was really good. We walked the long way around
to get to our hotel and saw a street performer doing a fire act. It was
quite impressive.
Friday, November 2 - I don't remember what we did that day. Irene did some
laundry. We loafed around some, and no doubt walked around some.
At some point, we walked over to the hotel where Irene and Dave would check
in the next morning, to meet the group for their Eclipse tour. The owner of
the tour company was in the lobby, and he recognized them. They talked to
him for a while.
In the evening, we walked around looking for a place to have dinner. The
weather was perfect for eating outside, so we did. The waiter asked where we
were from. When somebody said we were from L.A., he surprised us by
mentioning that the San Francisco Giants had won the World Series, and
wondered if, as Californians, we were happy about that. When we said not
especially, he said, "Oh, your team is the Dodgers?" Dan and I said yes, and
then he blew us away by saying, "They caught those guys, didn't they? The
ones who beat up that fan?" He was referring to an incident a couple of
years ago when three Dodger fans beat up a Giants fan after a game at Dodger
stadium.
We walked around some, and saw the fire act going on in the distance.
Saturday, November 3 - Dave brought their luggage up to our room so they
could check out before we were picked up for our Kuranda tour.
The bus picked us up and took us to the train station. Then we rode the
train up to a small tourist town called Kuranda. The train stopped at one
point so we could take pictures of a waterfall. The town has lots of shops
and restaurants. It also has a butterfly farm and a wildlife park, but we
didn't have time to see either of them.
Next the bus took us to a gift shop which contained the entrance to a rain
forest and had a place where you could be photographed with a koala. I'd
already done the latter three times, and the others didn't seem interested,
so we passed on that. After a wait, we boarded an Army Duck for our ride
into the rain forest. An Army Duck is an amphibious vehicle with tracks like
a tank that was used to transport military personnel in areas that contained
both water and dry land during World War II. The seating is similar to that
on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, except there is no
safety bar in front of you. We were seated in the back row, which was higher
than the other rows. At first we thought that was an advantage, because we'd
be able to see better. We thought that until the Duck set off, driving on a
very rough track that bounced us all over. Then we started downhill, and we
envisioned ending up on our heads in the laps of the people in the row ahead
of us. Several times the driver stopped, always on a steep incline. We all
agreed that, uncomfortable as airline and bus seats are, these seats were by
far the most uncomfortable of the trip. Nevertheless, we were glad we went
on the ride. Eventually we entered the water, and then we were level and it
wasn't bumpy. We saw assorted plants and birds, and passed one other Duck,
going the other way. When we left the water, we were going uphill, so we
worried about falling out the back. We survived in one piece, though.
That made the third 'first' for me during the trip - my first time to hug a
perfect stranger, my first time to go snorkeling, and my first ride in an
Army Duck.
Eventually the bus took us to a place where we could get the Skyrail down
the side of the mountain. The four of us were in a car with room for six, so
we were reasonably comfortable. We had a great view of the forest and the
Daintree River as we passed over them, and we saw birds in the trees below
us. There were two stops on the ride, where you could get out and do some
exploring. There was a steep trail (stairs) going down at the first stop,
and I decided to skip that. The men went down it, and Irene and I went into
a building, where we saw an interactive video display of various native
creatures (birds, frogs, etc.) and could hear the sounds they made by
pushing a button. At the next stop, there was a choice of a ramp or stairs
for some more sightseeing. Irene and I took the ramp, while the men took the
stairs. Then we had to change to a different car for the ride the rest of
the way down. During the last part of the ride, we had a great view of the
ocean below.
At the bottom of the ride, your picture is taken. As you walk into the
inevitable gift shop that is the way to the exit, your photo shows on a
screen, and you may purchase it if you wish. We passed. Once we got out of
the gift shop, we found the bus waiting, and it took us back to our hotel.
People had the option of being returned to their hotels or being dropped off
in town or at other places on the way.
When we got back to the hotel, we helped Irene and Dave take their luggage
to their tour group's hotel, which was really luxurious. It was too bad they
wouldn't have much time to enjoy it, since their tour was to leave early the
next morning.
Then we set out to look for dinner. We finally found a nice place where we
could eat outside. The waiter asked us where we were from. Somebody said
L.A., and he mentioned the fact that the San Francisco Giants had won the
World Series. I'd lost interest once the Dodgers were out of the running,
and didn't even know who was in the World Series. Irene and Dave aren't
sports fans at all. When he decided we weren't excited about that, he said,
"I guess you're Dodgers fans." Dan and I agreed, and he said, "They caught
those guys, right? The ones who beat up that fan?" He was referring to an
incident a couple of years ago when three Dodgers fans had beaten a Giants
fan after a game at Dodger Stadium. I had no idea that anybody in Australia
would have known about that even when it happened, much less a couple of
years later.
Dan and I hardly turned our TV on, but Irene and Dave had watched the news,
and they said there was a full half hour on Hurricane Sandy.
--
Joy
"Listen for differences. Seek them out. Don't surround yourself only with
those who see the world as you do." - Grant Cornwell
--
Joy
"Listen for differences. Seek them out. Don't surround yourself only with
those who see the world as you do." - Grant Cornwell
Goromoff
Nov 10, 2012, 5:40:44 AM11/10/12
to
"Joy" <toa...@real-me.net> wrote in
news:509df8b2$0$15587$bd46...@news.dslextreme.com:
> This part is in Cairns. There is one more part, but it will be fairly
> short and not very interesting. ;-)
you seem to have been rather busy busy, Joy.
It all adds to the memories.
Goro
news:509df8b2$0$15587$bd46...@news.dslextreme.com:
> This part is in Cairns. There is one more part, but it will be fairly
> short and not very interesting. ;-)
It all adds to the memories.
Goro
Norma
Nov 10, 2012, 11:42:28 AM11/10/12
to Joy
Norma
Joy
Nov 10, 2012, 2:48:44 PM11/10/12
to
"Goromoff" <goro...@somewhere.com> wrote in message
news:XnsA1076CA4E29ACgo...@216.196.109.145...
Yes, we were busy, and it did add to the memories.
Joy
news:XnsA1076CA4E29ACgo...@216.196.109.145...
Joy
Joy
Nov 10, 2012, 2:49:28 PM11/10/12
to
"Norma" <nhu...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:169929cf-7d1b-4c9f...@googlegroups.com...
Joy
news:169929cf-7d1b-4c9f...@googlegroups.com...
>>
>
> Again, Thank you, Joy.
> Norma
You're welcome, Norma. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
>
> Again, Thank you, Joy.
> Norma
Joy
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