From: "Philip Merryman" <phil_merryman@hotmail.com>

Date: Sat Mar 16, 2002 07:41:16 AM Etc/GMT

Subject: Queensland at a leisurely pace!

Hi everyone!

Today is my last day in Australia, tomorrow I fly to New Zealand to start another entirely new adventure.

I have seen Queensland at a much slower pace than the outback, Melbourne and Sydney. However this was planned to some extent as I knew from what I had arranged for the previous couple of weeks that I would need a rest!

The journey from Sydney to Cairns involved two trains, spending a night on each, and a night in Brisbane. As before, sleeping in the seats on the trains is not the most perfect of night's sleep, but these trains seemed a bit smoother than some of the others, so was not to bad. By the time I reached Brisbane just about everything needed washing, so once I had done that I had the afternoon for a quick look at the city. One of the best ways is to take the City Cat, a ferry service which runs up and down the river, and is quick! So I went all the way upstream to the University of Queensland, where they had some interesting buildings in the older part of the campus, I then took the ferry all the way to the other end, which goes past the city and under all the bridges. The river twists and turns through the city, so you get several views of it. I then went back to the city centre for supper and tried to take night photos of the city hall, which is quite impressive. An all too brief visit.

As the train from Brisbane goes further North, you pass by some impressive hills, the Glasshouse Mountains and then into Sugar Cane country. This goes on for miles and miles and is the main crop of the region. They even have an extensive little railway network just to carry the cane to the mills in the harvest (June). It is not used any other time. Further north and some of the sugar cane is replaced with bananas, but the cane remains the dominant crop. As you near Cairns more and larger hills come into view and these are covered in many places with rainforest.

So after three days of travelling I reached Cairns. Cairns is a low-rise city (tallest buidings are the hotels which may reach 10 floors) and has wide open streets. So although it has a population in excess of 100,000 it seems more like a small relaxed quiet town.

Unlike other places in Oz I had booked into a B&B this time. Again this was deliberate as I felt like a bit of comfort after so many Hostels and train seats! However, to be fair I have found all the Youth Hostels I used here to be excellent. So the couple who run the B&B (having met me at the station) gave me a steak supper on the barbie! He is a true Aussie, she came from Clydebank (Glasgow) when she was young. However she has been here for over 40 years so now has an Aussie accent too!

The next day (Monday) was designed to be a rest day, and I needed it, I finally woke up at 10:15!! Anyway a quiet day to wander into the town to find my way around and to generally take thing easy.

Tuesday I took the Kuranda Scenic Railway trip. This is the main attraction here. It is part of the national railway network but runs into the mountains along a most spectacular route. Some of the views back out to the sea over the coastal plains and down into the river gorges, further up, were amazing. It weaves its way through the hills, over dozens of bridges and through 15 tunnels. In one place the train runs over a bridge in front of a waterfall. This is the classic signature picture of the railway in all the publicity. Further up it stops for a view of an even bigger waterfall. But the wet season here this year, which is supposed to be now, has been anything but. So the thundering falls that you see in all the pictures were no more than the tiniest trickle! The whole trip takes about 1hr 45min. In the days of steam it would take 4 and half hours! The line is an amazing feat of engineering as it was all dug out by hand in the 1890's. It would be an impressive feat even with todays equipment!

The town of Kuranda at the top of the line is a small place mainly given over to tourism as it is one of the places to start trips into the forest area. However, its is not overly touristy and quite pleasant. At the opposite end of the main street to the station was a butterfly sanctuary. In here there are many butterflies, they seem to fill the air at times! They are all amazing colours and some are as much as 6inches (15cm) across!! However, getting pictures of them was not easy as they didn't settle very much, and then too far away! However, I managed to get some pictures of most of them. However I wanted to get a picture of a big green one but it never settled long enough, until it settled on the side of my leg!! Now it was too close and I couldn't get the camera too it unless I was a contortionist! After an Ice cream and a tea I took the train back down again. I arrived back in Cairns at about 5:30pm. I went from the station through the adjoining shopping mall. As I entered the mall the first thing I passed was the cinema. Lord of the Rings was on, beginning at 6pm and I hadn't seen it! So I spent the next 3 hours in the cinema!!

Wednesday was another rest and shopping day, but on Thursday I went out to the Barrier Reef. A big sea-going catamaran takes about two hours to get out to the reef. It had to stop first at another island about half way out. However the wind was 25knots and the sea state was listed as "rough". Once the boat got up to speed it really hit the waves sending huge amounts of spray past the windows. Needless to say the ride was a bit bouncy and this caused a lot of people (using the local vernacular) to "have a chunder"! Fortunately I was OK. Ironically it was too rough for me to be seasick! It is the slow swells that make me feel bad! So by the time it reached the aptly named Green Island many were glad to be getting off!! After the Island the boat did not go so fast as it has to pick its way through the reef, so the ride was much smoother. At the reef the boat ties up alongside a fixed pontoon about the same size as the boat, which is where you stay for the next 3 hours. There is no land here.

Included in the ticket is a trip on a semi-submersible so you can see the reef through windows below the water, lunch, and a snorkel dive. However I had tried snorkelling before and you cannot wear glasses, so I could not see much. However I had taken my swimming trunks and towel just in case. I was asking about this on the boat on the way out if there was any way round it. It turned out that just this week they had begun to use a new piece of equipment called a Scuba-Doo !! (Corny I know, but that is what it is called). This has a bubble to put your head and shoulders in, a seat, a motor, and an air tank. So this was the solution to my problem, but at an extra Aus$110!! Anyway it was the only way to get down and see anything so I signed up! The dive was only 15 minutes, but I was able to get close to the coral. You are led by a diver who shows you where to go and what to look at. Normally they do this in 3s and 4s, but I was the only one (again!) on this outing (they did 3 or 4 dives during the day). A few of the bigger fish swam right past my nose at the start and later on I was able to get close to the coral and see all the little fish amongst it. However the glass dome has a strange magnifying effect so looking down you thinbk you are just an arm's length from the coral when it must been about 5 feet (1.5m) below you. Because of this, as you get close in you turn off the motor and the diver guides you through by hand as you are not allowed to touch the coral. However it was great fun and the 15 minutes went by all to fast. Like the bridge climb, you get your photo taken so at the cost of a further Aus$20 I got a picure of me in this device! Later I went in the sub which goes further away from the pontoon (the diving area is cordoned off) and you get to see a lot more of the reef and much more of the bigger fish. The visibility was only about 5 metres or so, but you still see a lot.

The trip back to Cairns in the evening was slower than coming out and was not so rough as a result but did not so at the island, so took the same time overall. This time I sat up on deck to get a view of the coast as we came back. The wind was still strong, but warm. However there were several squalls about, and they were where the wind was coming from, so it was only a matter of time before we got one. We got most of the way back to Cairns when a big squall could be seen coming over the mountians. The sky in that direction was black and the curtain of rain was remorselessly appropaching, gradually engulfing the hills. In fact with the dark clouds, strong wind, hills in sillouette it was reminiscnet of my trip to the Outer Hebrides in 1999, except a lot warmer!!! As the rain got closer the hills in that direction completely disppeared but the sun caught the rain, so we were treated to a rainbow. However that soon faded and then the rain hit! However, just like the outback, no true pom goes out without a raincoat, so I put on my waterproof top! Everyone else (who were almost all Japanese!) got wet.

However the rain had passed by the time we docked. As we got off nearly all the crew had lined up to say goodbye! I needed a coffee after all that rain and found a place on the seafront, and had a snack with it. However while there another bigger squall hit! Fortunately it again had passed before I finished (I was under cover) but I didn't fancy the 30 minute walk back to the B&B, so I got a cab. The cabbie had the classic big Aussie moustache (cricket fans will understand if I say Merv Hughes) but had a Scottish accent! He was from Perth (the original one) and had been here 42 years but said that he couldn't give his accent away!

Next day I had a trip to the rainforest in an area known as Cape Tribulation. This was so named by Captain (then only lieutenant) Cook because his ship , the Endeavour, ran aground in sight of it. This was as drive around to various places. The first was a boat trip on the Daintree River. This river, like all here, has crocodiles. However it was high tide so the river banks were covered, and it was a bit too warm for crocs. so we were lucky to see a young one! About a metre long sitting completely out of the water on a floating branch! Some of the vegetation by the river is impressive and the view across the river with the forested hills beyond were very good too. You usually cannot see the tops of the hills because the clouds are always over the forest. Howwver the lack of rain this year meant that the cloud was higher than usual and we were able to get a glimpse of the tops.

Further on in the trip we had to turn the bus round, and while we got out for the driver to do this a couple of Lace Monitors (big lizards about 4 feet/1.2 metrs long) walked across the road. To turn the bus round the driver had to take it across a ford in a river to the turning point and back. However in doing so a couple of large rocks got stuck between the double wheels at the back. He got one out but the other wouldn't budge. He hoped that it would fall out eventually so we set off to a somewhat bumpy ride! The rock was over half the size of a football and must have weighed a few kilos! However it didn't come out, but we only had a short drive to the next place. This was a beach which has the rainforest coming right down to it, and the reef just offshore (visible at low tide). This beach, with its mangroves made me think of Ursula Andress in Dr. No! There was a toilet here, and on the short path to it there was a big spider in a web! This spider was about 3-4 inches (75-100mm) across (leg span). It was black with yellow knees. This time I was reminded of the Carling Lager TV ad (UK only) where all these Aussies in an outback bar say to the barman: "That's one hell of a spider you've got in the dunny mate!". However this one, the golden orb weaver, is not a threat to us! Generally if the spider makes web to catch insects it is not (very) dangerous. It's the ones in the ground that are the real problem.

The driver had managed to extracate the rock from the wheel so we made off to the final point of interest, a Rainforest Information and conservation centre. This was very interesting as we were given a guided talk along the boardwalk explaining waht all the trees and plants were and how they grew and which ones were dangereous. One plant has such a powerful sting that it can give horses a heart attack. If you touch it it gives you excrutiating pain which can keep repeating for months! So now I know aht it looks like I will definetely avoid it!

On the way back to Cairns I was talking to the Driver and he was another ex-Pom! From Coventry 40 odd years ago! But he did have the Aussie accent.

Today is the last quiet, washing, packing, admin day. I had put together another big box of stuff to send back anly to realise at 1pm that it is a Saturday and the post office closed at 12! Mr Organised does not know which day of the week it is! However Dorothy in the B&B will post it for me on Monday as I have filled out all the necessary paperwork.

Tomorrow I fly to Sydney and then to Christchurch, arriving just before midnight and just in time to miss the First Test (cricket) NZ v England, which England have won!! So at last some cheer on the sporting front as on Wednesday Spurs lost their third game in a row 4-0!!! However, in a brilliant act of non-planning the next two test matches are one the North Island while I am on the South Island! So, like in India I will have to find a TV!

See you in NZ!!!

Phil