After my accidently set alarm woke us up at 6:00 I went back to sleep (Penny did not). Woke up at 7:00 and prepared for this day at sea. We are heading for Tasmania to visit Hobart.
We ate breakfast in the world cafe. I arrived first and found a table. I texted the others where I was. “I am sitting starboard near the bow.” I was trying to communicate with Frank our resident Naval veteran. I was half correct I was on the starboard side the right side as you face the front of the boat. My mistake was the cafe is at the stern not the bow. We all found each other.
At 10:00 we partook in a tour of the laundry facilities. I am always amazed at organizational skills of this operation. They have to do laundry for everyone on the ship. This includes the 400+ crew members and the 900+ passengers. Then there are the towels, sheets, pillowcases,tablecloths, napkins, washcloths, bath robes and everything else made of cloth. There is an amazing machine that you put in a clean and washed tablecloth or sheet or napkin and the machine dries, presses and FOLDS the item and it comes out ready to deliver.
Lunch today was a taste of Tex-Mex. It was actually pretty good. There were too many items with cilantro but I enjoyed the tortillas soup and the burritos.
Dinner this evening was at Manfredi’s Italian restaurant. It was delightful. I ate too much but it was hard to say no. I had a seafood with linguine. There was a langoustine in the mix, I had never had one. It looked like a huge prawn or a tiny lobster. The tail meat was very very good.
The show tonight was the Viking singers doing duets from pop to show tunes. It was great.
Tomorrow we may see kangaroos and devils of the Tasmanian type.
Tons of folded laundry ready to be put to useFrank and Jeanette very attentive to our laundry master
Some stains are stubbornclean and ready to be used
Today we are in Melbourne, Australia which is the site of our red folder disappearing act. We had hoped that the lost property folks would have possession of said folder by this date. But contacting the gentle folks in the lost property office proved impossible. I called several times today and each time the phone were not answered and it went straight to voicemail. I was encouraged to leave a message and the nice voice promised to return the call by close of business tomorrow. We will be out at sea tomorrow and we will be untouchable.
I have mulled over the don’t answer the phone ploy and have come to a few theories.
1. They are enjoying looking at Penny’s masterful organizational accomplishments and are unwilling to forestall this guilty pleasure.
2. They are truly so busy with the other travelers and their lost property that they cannot answer the phone.
3. They may have closed the office in celebration of Australia Day. Today Monday is the legal holiday since July 26 fell on a Sunday some people may need the Monday to recover from the revelry of Sunday
Nevertheless the red notebook will not be joining us for the remainder of our trip.
We set off for our morning tour at about 8:30. Our guide was very good. He began by telling us that there are 3 important dates in Australia’s history.
1835 was the year that the first European’s arrived in Australia. Soon after the government of Great Britain began transporting convicts to Australia. It was the height of the industrial revolution. I often think of this as a wonderful time of progress but the reality was that 10’s of thousands of people lost their jobs because they were replaced with machines. Many of the convicts that were shipped to Australia were guilty of things like stealing bread.
1851 was the start of the gold rush. This influx of free migrants and convicts from England resulted in wealth for many communities and a change of attitude towards convicts.
1901 Australia became federated as the Commonwealth of Australia.
There is still a majority of Australians who recently voted to remain a part of the British commonwealth. The Australia constitution sets out the country as a constitutional monarchy. The elected prime minister is head of government. But there is also an elected Governor General who answers to the British Crown. The Governor General has the authority to sack the prime minister and has done so in the not too distant past.
Our tour this morning included a bus tour of the city. Being a holiday the traffic was not bad.
We saw several places that were built for the 1956 Olympics and are still used today.
Our first stop was the botanical gardens. It was a beautiful place. We had a volunteer guide for the gardens. The weather was heating up but the shade provided by the lovely trees was refreshing. Today’s high as 105 degrees (that is fahrenheit, 105 celsius would make my blood boil).
We then went to the remembrance center. Having become a country in 1901 the citizens of Australia have served in every war since then.
It was very moving to see the people who had given all for the fight against the evils in the 20th century.
We returned to the ship and had lunch. Then some of us may have rested our eyes for a while.
After dinner we played some cards: Trash and then 3 up 3 Down. Lots of laughs.
A good day.
Our guide told us that this is a pharmacy company that does indeed sell prescription drugs at a lower cost to the pubic.A house where they sell tea.A trolley.Royal exhibition center that is a Unesco world heritage site.A monument to the labor movement.Tree ArtDoes this remind you of a certain whomping willow on the grounds of Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter movie?water liliesYou have been warned!Here they are!Aeonium ArboreumThese topiary bushes were designed by the children in Melbourne.Shrine of remembranceHard-tack indeedRememberCity of MelbourneMelbourneFour of these birds stand against the stereotype of being bird-brained. The sun was very hot.A very old roller coaster where a person has to control the speed of the coaster va a hand brake.
Australia Day “marks the 1788 landing of the first fleet and raising of the Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a small bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbor.
In the present, the government and Australia Day Council organizes events that seek to recognize the contributions of Australians to the nation, while also encouraging reflection on past wrongs including towards Indigenous Australians and also giving respect and celebrating the diversity and achievements of Australian society past and present. The presentation of community awards and citizenship ceremonies are also commonly held on the day.”
Frank and I went to hear the lecture of our Resident Astronomy professor. He expertly provided a lecture on the history of astronomy. It was very interesting.
We were told the universe is stretching as opposed to expanding. Seems to be a distinction without a difference.
I kind of pride myself to believe I am not a complete moron when it comes to the science of astronomy and astronomy physics. But even though I have had it explained to me a few times, I still can’t understand the Big Bang. I get that all matter came originally from an infinitely small and dense point. But where did that point come from? How does nothing produce something that was the origin of our universe.
The second thing I cannot wrap my head around is if our universe is expanding into what is it expanding?
Oh well, the history of our planet stargazing is remarkable. And that the early history of understanding the sky was made by people who were not idiots to believe that the solar system is geocentric. The sun and planets revolve around the earth. He challenged us to imagine trying to explain how the earth is not the center of the solar system. It is not easy to dismiss the notion that the sun circles the earth. It certainly appears to.
We took a tour of the kitchens. It was amazing that the kitchen workers do everything from scratch, no prepackaged foods are ever served.
They feed three meals a day to both the 900+ passengers and the 450+ crew.
We had dinner at the Chef’s Table restaurant. Tonight’s menu was the food of Great Britain. Having lived in England on two different occasions I can confirm the cuisine was pretty much spot on.
We had 5 courses. The appetizer was a Scottish egg. This is a soft boiled quail egg wrapped in a breaded wrapper and deep fried.
The first course was traditional fish and chip. I had only 3 chips. But they were all delicious. Of course it was served with smear of mushy green peas. The peas were amazingly tasty compared with the multiple servings I have had over the years. Often the peas are just bland.
The palate cleanser was a gin and tonic icee. Mostly an icee.
The main course was Yorkshire pudding and brisket. Pudding always throws Americans for a loop as they are expecting a pudding and get a small baked bread (eggs, flour and milk) served with roasted beef and gravy.
The dessert course called a Whim-Wham. It was a traditional English trifle and was very good.
Tonight we are sitting and waiting for the 9:00 show by the singers and dancers.
The show was very good. They performed a number of songs from the late 1960’s and from the 1970’s. They knew their audience. Many of the guests are from that era. I really enjoyed songs from my teen years.
A good day at sea.
The horned Lizard – we had the cousin of this animal in the panhandle of Texas in the 1950s and 1960sWhat are you looking at?They really did abuse these animals in this way for a few years.It is a Kangaroo that lives in a tree.An animal designed by a committee.Sometimes called a spiny anteater because it has spines and eats ants. Go figure.This is not the little fellow from the Saturday morning cartoons in the 1950s and 60s.very cutemore of the animals from Australia that are members of the cute animal club.Biologists defined swans as a white bird until these were found in Australia.Very gentle and cute.Our head chef.The head baker.Desserts are ready.Preparing for dinner.
Today we traveled to the Blue Mountain National Park to see the mountains which are blue. Why, you may ask are the blue? Well it seems that a majority of the trees in the forest are Eucalyptus trees and further the Eucalyptus trees leaves secrete eucalyptus oil (duhh). The moisture and oil combine and create a bluish green sheen. Personal I did not see it.
Our first stop was the observation area to see The Three Sisters in the Jamison Valley. The sisters are three rock formations that can be seen from across the valley when the clouds are not blocking the view. How did they get that name?
The Legend
“The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, ‘Meehni’, ‘Wimlah’ and ‘Gunnedoo’ lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.
These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry.
The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.
As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.
There are three sisters in monument valley Arizona on the Navajo reservation. The stories of how they came to be are somewhat different
* Some say the Three Sisters look like a Mother Superior, a Sister, and a novice walking towards a cathedral �
* Others say the Three Sisters are three sisters who loved each other very much and were never separated
While I was taking pictures from the top I saw that a path led down to a lower level. Being the consummate photographer I started down the steps and paths. The trip took about five minutes. But the clouds had other plans. The sisters were totally obscured by the clouds. And I did not see them again until I climbed back up.
We stopped for Lunch at 10:45 in a hotel formally known as the Hotel California. When they told me that there was no possibility of me remembering the current name.
Our next stop was an abandoned coal mine area which just happens to be in a rainforest that is full of plant species that have been in existence since before the age of the dinosaurs. They have created a boardwalk through the rainforest and placed mechanical dinosaurs along the path with lots of hands on activities. Lots of four year old kids all talking in different languages but all clearly saying “Look, Mama, a velociraptor!”
It was a great 1 hour stroll through a rainforest on a boardwalk.
Leura was our next stop a very small town with tree lined streets and a lovely Teapot museum/ store.
We made our way back to our ship by five and on the way our bus driver Phil played the music that lost the competition for the Australia tourism theme song back in the 1970s. In case you are wondering why it lost take a listen
The 2000 Olympics were held in Sydney
Window pictures
The Three Sisters rock formation
3 sisters and 2 friends = ?
The offending cloudsI hope her majesty had better weather.the rainforestflowers in the rainforestFred. From the Barrett tv show from the 70’sAn ancient fern treeSaw BanksiaThe brother of the three sistersPink chair ladies at the hotel where we had lunchKatoomba fallsKatoomba fallsKatoomba fallsFern tree
There be dinosaursthere be dinosaursAnd a horse memorial from the coal mining eraThe sisters are still thereLaying back to ride up the world’s steepest cog railwaysailing out of SydneyLeaving the mouth of Sydney Harbor
Our last day under the gentle and funny care of Dan the leader of the Koala’s. He has been ever so helpful and knowledgeable. We woke up in Sydney this morning and after we saw that our luggage was down from our room, Dan took us on a walking tour of the area around our hotel. We were taken into Hyde park. Being part of the British commonwealth the good citizens of Sydney found it much easier to name places in Australia with the same names as in Jolly ol’ England. The morning was very pleasant.
We visited the fountains and cathedral.
We saw a species of tree that was only discovered in 1994. Wollemia nobilis, commonly known as the Wollemi Pine(though it is not a true pine) which was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales. It is thought to be one of the oldest genus of tree in existence.
We saw the part of town known as the rocks. Many of the buildings foundations were built on sandstone that were constructed by the prisoners who were sent here by England in the late 1800s.
We got to eat ice cream for lunch. (It is good to be old.)
We were given a guided tour of the Sydney Opera House. The history and stories of its building are pretty amazing.
We then got on board our home for the next 14 days. The good ship Orion. I may or may not have slept through part of the port talk and the history talk about the mini submarine attack on the harbor of Sydney during the second world war.
A good day was had.
Fountain in Hyde Parkand anotherSt Mary’s Church
The Bells of St. Mary. Bing Crosby was not spotted anywhere.A very westernized painting of St Mary and JesusSt Mary’s NaveSt Mary’s out side of the chruchin the parkdo you think this automobile belongs to a man or woman?another picture of the opera houseThis is what happens during a rock concert in Sydney.Wollemia nobilis, commonly known as the Wollemi Pine(though it is not a true pine) which was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales. It is thought to be one of the oldest genus of tree in existence. Chicago has a bigger one.our guide at the Opera Housebehind the scenes at the opera houseThe roof of the opera housebehind the scenes at the opera housebehind the scenes at the opera houseGentle men in the streets of Sydney
Today was a major contrast between the heat of the Outback small town of Uluru and the indigenous community and the cool breeze of Sydney and a dinner cruise in the Sydney harbor.
The flight took us over much of the heart of Australia. It is truly a giant Country and it is basically barren.
Arriving in Sydney we boarded a coach and it took us to the city harbor and we enjoyed a lovely dinner and an even lovelier harbor cruise. Sydney harbor is indeed one of the most beautiful harbors in the world. Hong Kong harbor might give Sydney a run for first place.
Tomorrow we will take a walking and bus tour of the city and will enjoy a tour of the Sydney opera house before we go on board our ship. Tonight we are staying in a very nice hotel the Marriott Bonvoy.
We saw the rock up close, at sunset and at sunrise. Aw we leave the outback this is from above.The Exchange, the 6,680-square-metre building is the first completed building of Kengo Kuma and Associates in Australia. The circular building includes a mixture of programs: market hall, public library, a child care and food and beverage units. Located in Darling Harbour in the center of Sydney’s downtown district.
I thought it looked like a stack of giant paper plates.
Australian White IbisThe boat on which we took our harbor dinner cruise.On board the dinner cruise. Jeanette told Penny a funny. Frank was not amused.The Crown Hotel and casinoThey do look lovely.The Harbor bridge and opera houseSydney starts the Batman SignalThe down town along the harborI thought this was quite cleverMarriot hotelMarriot hotel
Another early morning. We were off at 5:15 to experience the sunrise at a different spot than we experienced the sunset. This was necessary because the sunsets in the west and rises in the east. This is true even though we are in the southern hemisphere in order to see the effect of the setting and rising sun on the appearance of the rock known as Ayer’s rock or Uluru. It is a giant sandstone structure that is more underground than above. It has been a large part of the indigenous people’s story, who have lived in this area many thousands of years. Or if you ask the indigenous people how long their cultures go back in time they are likely to tell you that they have been here since the beginning of time.
After the sun came up at 6:14 we returned to the hotel and had breakfast. After breakfast we boarded our couch and our driver and guide took us around Ulura and we were regaled with the stories from the aboriginal people the link below is pretty much the same story that Andrew told us.
Information about the rock.
1. It is a part of a ginormous sand stone rock. The natural color of the sandstone is a light beige color (also known as the color of sandstone).
2. The sandstone is not pure. There is a fair amount of iron. Thus when it rains it rusts. Thus it appears a deep red color (also known as rust color)
3. Sandstone is one of the most porous rocks and thus when it rains (fyi this part of Australia is not a desert the annual average rainfall is just a little too much to qualify for desert status. It is an arid land.)
4. We were taken to the watering hole on the eastern side of the rock. There was a trickle of water coming out of the rock. The pool is not always full of water but it is a fairly reliable source of water for people and animals.
5. Climbing Ulura was permanently banned October 26, 2019. The main reason was the objection of the aboriginal people. The rock is important to the Yankunytjatjara, Pitjantjatjara and Anangu people who have lived here since the beginning of time. The rock itself is not sacred. Rather it is the stories of the people that are forever linked with Uluru.
We visited the cultural center of the community. They asked us to not take photos or videos of the center nor the contents so I did not. There was a short video of how the people learned to gather and prepare food from the very harsh places where they live.
This evening for dinner we were driven a ways outside of town to the fields of lights. This is a field of lights .. duhh (50,000) stuck on sticks in mostly random patterns. I confess that I did not catch nor understand the significance.
They did feed us a meal on tables with tablecloths sitting in the red sand. The food was some foods that I would not have ordered including kangaroo. Several grilled or sautéed vegetables but they were served cold. There was a generous supply of beer, sparkling wine and soft drinks.
After the sun set we had a star talk guy come and point out some of the constellations visible in the southern hemisphere. He did this with a powerful laser where he could easily point to various stars. My favorite thing to see was the southern cross. I had just been listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and their hit aptly named Southern Cross. You should listen to the song.
Frank told me of a cool star app that lets you identify any star or planet that you point at with your camera.
It has been a dream come true to get to visit this part of the world. We have seen two sunsets and one sunrise. My plan is not to see the sunrise tomorrow.
We are flying to Sydney tomorrow. It will be nice to get out of the heat, it was 109 today and arrive in a high of 73 degrees in Sydney.
It has been a good but long day.
The sun is going to come up.Jeanette and Penny are readyJeanette and FrankMorning sun on Ulura (the original name for Ayrer’s rock)So as you should know, we ae not alone out here.
This is the Australian salute. Done when not wearing a fly net over your headThe sun is peeking to see if it wants to come up.The Sun also RisesPlant life and life on the plantA small ParrotThe other side of the rockSometimes things breakOne of many cavesAnother of many caesThe watering hole. People and animals come here.Andrew our bus driver and guideJeanette and Penny waiting for a busThere be dead limbs hereSunset looks a lot like sunrisethe field of lightsThis is a very famous shrub. You can tell because it is always in the spotlightup close field of lights
As promised we started the day quite early. We met downstairs at 5:45. The luggage ferries had taken the bags from the hall to the lobby.
They provided continental breakfast. It occurs to me that no one ever specifies which continent is being referenced when describing said breakfast. Since Australia is pretty much the entirety of the Oceanic continent I suspect this continental breakfast is just another Australian breakfast. I did get a pretty decent cup of coffee.
The koala’s and wombat’s were loaded on coaches and we bid fare thee well to Port Douglas and made our way to the Cairns airport. (As a side note the word Cairns has two silent letters. The ir is unnecessary. The city is pronounced “Cans” like two cans of green beans.
We arrived at the airport to catch a chartered flight on Air North Airlines. It was nice not to have to worry about how much my bag weighed. I felt a bit like a professional football player taking a chartered flight to the Super Bowl.
We are flying to Ulura, this small city is near Ayer’s rock. Pictures below.
The flight was pretty much uneventful. We arrived and the luggage ferries loaded our bags and off we went to the “Sails in the Desert” hotel. We had a nice salad buffet lunch. After lunch we rode the free shuttle to the town center and inspected the local IGA grocery store. There used to be a chain of IGA stores in the states which stood for international grocery association. Here it means international groceries of Australia.
We bought and consumed apples. Then we caught the shuttle back to the hotel and discovered it was just a 5 minute walk.
At 6:30 we boarded the coach and drove into the national park that has as its main attraction the Ayer’s rock. It is very big. We were told that the setting sun changes the hues of the rock. They served us sparingly wine and snack food out by the bus parking lot. As the sun went down the temperature became somewhat bearable as it was 108 degrees when we arrived. It was fun. There were some aboriginal ladies that were selling their artwork. It was quite lovely.
After returning to our hotel Frank and I opted to walk to Imalung lookout. It is a Brett’s high dune that is pretty much light free. I took some photos of the stars.
It was a good day. And tomorrow begins at 5:00 so we gather the matching bookend of seeing the sunrise.
The sea shore drive on the way to Cairns airportThe rare Australian walking blackbird.The Outback is pretty much way out back.hail hail the gangs all here! Ray, Penny, Jeanette, FrankAyer’s rock 1 Ayres Rock 2 a little darkerAyers rock 3 a little darkerAyers rock 4 a lttle darkerthe setting sunThe Australian stars at night are big and bright
Today we got a bit of a later start. That did not mean we slept later, just that we went down to breakfast later.
Today’s adventure included a trip to Daintree rainforest. Daintree is the world’s oldest rainforest. It is somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 million years of age. The forest was present before Pangea (https://www.britannica.com/place/Pangea )separated into the continents we know today.
The old rainforest is unlike most rainforests you probably think about. The Amazon rainforest is one of the youngest forests. The diversity in the Amazon (monkeys, birds, snakes, insects ) came to be in the forest because they existed before the forest grew and they just moved in. Here in the Daintree rainforest they are more diverse with plants than animals.
The soils here are really bad in most places. Consequently the trees struggle to grow and thrive. On the other hand the lichen, moss and vines thrive by growing everywhere on everything.
The indigenous people were only “given” citizenship in 1948 but only allowed to vote in 1962. In 1968 a teenager indigenous person came up with the idea of starting an indigenous owned and operated tourism business. The tour operators for today are all indigenous people.
The bus took us to the boat. Learned about the Salty AKA saltwater crocodiles. In the summer the crocodiles tend to remain in the water to control their body temperature. We did see one lying about under a fallen tree branch.
The Mossman Gorge is an area that old folks can walk into the rainforest on a raised walkway.
We went to eat in town at the Tin Shed. A not for profit club that serves food and drinks and has slot machines. Very nice people. I ordered the fisherman’s plater which had bugs on it. Now don’t get too creeped out. These bugs were supposed to be there.
Bugs are a type of crustacean seafood in Australia that are similar to lobsters. They are also known as Balmain bugs or Moreton Bay bugs.
Tomorrow we pay for today’s late start as we have to be in the lobby at 5:45 am. We have a chartered flight from Cairns to Ulura, which is located pretty much in the middle of Australia. It will be hot (106 degrees) and dry.
We have been promised a stunning sunset experience and stars. There will be stars at night deep in the heart of Australia.
Flowers around our hotel
Flowers around our hotel
Flowers around our hotel
This guy was hanging out where we ate our light lunch.
Cannonball trees have these seed pods. The tree produces a gas that builds up inside the pods until the pods explode and drops the seeds. They are said to sound like cannon fire.
A salty lying in waitThe riverA fishYou can see to the right how far below is the river flowing.Salty saying hi!Jeanette and Frank in the rain forest
Despite the signs posted for no swimming these folks and plenty of other we met on the trail were in fact swimming.Some of the things growing on the stuff growing in the rainforestSome of the things growing on the stuff growing in the rainforestThis tree evolved ways to discourage things coming too close.In this ancient rainforest the flowering plants are frequently small flowersThis is Levi. He told that the stadium in San Francisco is named after him.When you live and work in a rainforest you can get a lot of water running off the roof. This section of the gutter catches the rain falling off the roof.
The great snorkeling adventure is now upon us. We have questions: Will Penny and I back out of the adventure? Will we be able to wriggle into to the wet suit light that prevents being stung by the tiny little jellyfish floating in the water? Will the excursion personnel take a look at me and ask “would you like to sit this one out?”
The answers are NO, YES, with a great deal of effort , NO, we were below the average in terms of age and above in terms of mobility. Yea us!
It turns out that we have 78 people in our little club of adventurers and we have 2 Viking guides to shepherd us and remind us to take and drink water, wear our seat belts on the couch, and to reapply sunscreen.
We began our day by having Dan and Dannia divide our 78 explorers into two groups. They did that by holding stuffed animals so we could remember which group we are in. Penny, Frank, Jeanette and I were in Dan’s Koala group. The rest were in Dannia’s Wombat group. I was a little disappointed when Dannia explained how cool Wombats are. For example, Wombats are the only animals that have cubbed shaped POOP. Google it, it is true.
We loaded the coaches and drove about 2 miles to the Port Douglas port and there we met the good folks who would take us aboard the good ship Calypso to take us on an 1.5 hour boat ride out to the Great Barrier Reef.
I did get nervous when I realized that with the return to port we would be going on a “3 hour tour”. Gilligan and Mary Anne were not on our boat so I calmed down.
We left sight of land and arrived in one area of the Great Barrier Reef. According to Wikipedia “The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometers over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometers.” We did not see it all.
The crew were very knowledgable and provided us with swim fins, googles and a snorkel, and the jellyfish suit and a pool noodle.
We concluded doing the Hoochy-Coochy and manage to get our suits on. Then it was over the back of the boat, where there is a 4 step stairway into the water.
My first time snorkeling and I have got to say it was VERY VERY good. I was giddy. The reef is not as bright as some of the movies I have seen. But there were lots of things to see. Reports when back on board were that we all saw different things. I saw mainly small fish but did find Nemo. Others saw turtles and sting rays. (Not me, I did not sting anyone)
After about 45 minutes we all lumbered back into the boat slowly. They provided lunch which was very good. They provided several meats and jumbo boiled shrimp (Australians cook their shrimp just like they come out of the ocean. Head, feet and all. I took two and did the task of removing the head and shell. The would have been better deep fried and just the tails. But still OK.
After lunch they moved the boat to a different part of the reef. Frank and I left our jellyfish suits on but Penny and Jeanette decided they did not want to reenter the waters at this stop. Frank and I did and we got to see more fish. The current took us away from the boat which was fine. That is until we wanted to make our way back to the boat which was a battle going against the current.
Fun was had by all. The return 1.5 hour boat cruise found many of my fellow adventurers nodding off for a nap. It seems that nap taking is not just a feature of getting old in the Owens’ household, but it is pretty universal for folks in our age group.
It was a good, nay, a very good day!
Port Cairns portBefore the suit donningAustralian FlagAccidentally took this selfie
Traveling with Ray Owens 