Hi from the Rogers' house in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Rogers are friends of the Levinsons whom they met on a bus ride in Israel 35 years ago. And they are lovely hosts. We got here today from Cairns. And now a discussion of Cairns. Yes, I know I've left out much of our other stops.
We got to Cairns on Monday afternoon from Sydney. Upon arriving, we checked into the hotel and did laundry. After that was done, we walked to the central district, which is basically the tourist center. We walked around a little. Seren used some Korean, as Cairns is a big hub for Asian - especially Korean and Japanese tourists.
Cairns (pronounced Cans) is a resort/tourist town in the north of Australia (Far North Queensland) and the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. The weather was nice with highs in the upper 20s, lower 30s. The city was cloudy one day because nearby mountains trap the clouds (and create rainforests). But out over the sun, it was a beautiful sunny day.
To continue on Monday, we walked around, explored, tasted local beer and had a good general time. Dinner was at a Thai restaurant run by Koreans, where Seren naturally spoke Korean. I order "mool" which is the Korean word for water. It was a nice relaxing day.
We woke up Tuesday morning and were picked up for our cruise towards the Great Barrier Reef. Upon arriving at a small island (actually a quay because it is sand and not attached to the sea floor), our boat/catamaran anchored and water activities ensued. First, we took a semi-submerged boat around the reefs and checked out the sea life. Then we did an introductory scuba dive (30 minute and the instructor never let go of us. Especially Seren. I never realized how difficult the vertical controls of SCUBA diving were, controlling up and down). And then we snorkeled. We loved the water. And it was beautiful. Lots of fish in gorgeous colors. And we found Nemo.
At night, we went out for a delicious Greek dinner, complete with plate-breaking-throwing, something we missed on our honeymoon.
Yesterday, we woke up early for a tour of the rainforests. We first drove to the Discovery Centre of Cape Tribulation where we learned about the trees and some of the fauna of the rainforest. Great tour guide and it was beautiful. Then we drove around the rainforest, and hiked through it. We went to the beach (just to walk, not to swim). And saw more. and drank tea. And did a crocodile cruise and saw a fully grown female, an adolescent male and little young'in. And then went to Mossman Gorge, which felt like being in Ithaca. It was gorges :)
After arriving back in town, we walked around and ate dinner at a local pizza joint, before going to a bar that Seren had her eyes on. There, we chatted with the locals from Vancouver, BC, Canada. Many of the migrant, seasonal laborers seemed to be Canadian. From there, we had "Cold Rock" ice cream, a Cairns takeoff on Cold Stone.
This morning, we packed a lot into a little. We started our day at the post office. Then moved on to the local little zoo atop the casino, where, among other things, we saw crocodiles, wallabies (pseudo-kangaroos) and a koala. So cute!! From there, we went swimming in the local lagoon. The beach in Cairns is not so nice, so to encourage tourism, the city built a large swimming pool with a small beach side on it. It's called the lagoon and is a beautiful spot. After swimming though, we showered and caught our flight to Melbourne, from whence I leave you now.
Love,
Craig
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