Cairns day 1

March 12, 2010




Off to the North on a 3 hour flight from Melbourne to Cairns (pronounced ‘cans’ they drop the r’s here so Melbourne is ‘Melboune’). Incredible from the air, Cairns is nestled sandwiched between rain-forested hills and the Great Barrier Reef which makes it one of the hot destinations in OZ for anyone doing anything outdoors. All you have to do is walk down The Esplanade and every third shop is a tour operator. You can skydive, sail, scuba, walk, bungee, parasail, explore, pet, you name it the experience is available (for a price). We arrived here early afternoon, picked up a car and I had my first go at driving on the left and navigating round-a-bouts. The left hand thing takes a little getting used to as I keep turning on the wipers when I mean to signal and want to shift my door handle. The round-a-bouts are actually a good idea if you are a lost tourist as they let you make a U turn to have another go. They are not the best things however for pedestrians as you are never sure where to look for the car that has your number on it.

Cairns is relatively small (130,000?) and fairly compact, laid out along the ‘muddies’ which is what their beach is, a long, low muddy flat. Great for watching spindly-legged shore birds, not however for beach combing and bathing. The flats are strewn with fist sized spiral snail, crabs and all manner of birds. The trees are tropical from palm to fig and mangrove and seem to be permanently in flower. While we had been told that Cairns is, ‘a bit of a hole’ we actually find it quite beautiful. It is hot and stinky here with storms rolling in quickly, dumping rain then moving on. At the moment there is a force 5 cyclone to the north stirring everything up, the last of the season and we are hoping it doesn’t make landfall or we will be stuck here. At night the sky is full of tropical birds and huge flying foxes (about the size of a cat with wings). At dusk the Lorikeets start calling which fills the air with screeching which seems to signal the Flying foxes that take to the skies in the thousands. For about 15 minutes they head out to feed and the sky is full of them, I guess the Lorikeets are just staying out of their way.

We strolled along The Esplanade, toured the shops and had a bite along the shore. This being a Friday, the shops were open late and we couldn’t help but do a bit of shopping. We tried some jerky, I liked the Kangaroo, M. R. the Emu and Duncan the crocodile however none of them were really great. Mary Rose is now the proud owner of a Kangaroo hide bush hat. Wild Kangaroo is plentiful throughout OZ (one Aussie to every two kangaroos we were told) and is culled everywhere with quotas controlled by the government. The hide is prized as it has no pores making it tough and waterproof (all leather boxing gloves are made of kangaroo hide). People eat the meat regularly which is touted as being very healthy as it is low in fat. It is actually quite good when served very rare, not too gamey and a rich dark meat.

Queensland and the north are the centers for aboriginal culture and there are literally dozens of different groups indigenous to this area. After centuries of neglect and abuse the rich histories and complexities of the indigenous peoples is just now receiving the respect it deserves. Connor has had his heart set on a didgeridoo and this seemed the place to buy one. After much searching and assailing our ears with trying them Connor settled on the one he wanted and we’ve shipped it home. I think he bought one in the key of D, but I’m not sure. I had best sound proof the basement to protect the neighbourhood!