DAY 58-CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA

       Our position today is docked at the pier right next to downtown Cairns (pronounced "can").  I was raining on and off during our arrival at 8:00 am.  There was a light shower as I departed the ship for my tour at 8:45 but stopped after I boarded the bus.  It remained cloudy all morning which was good as it kept the temperature down until the afternoon.  It is now sunny, humid, and 90 degrees.  Torture!!
BACKGROUND INFO:
        Once a sleepy sugar-milling town, Cairns is now considered the gateway to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef  (one of the seven wonders of the world) and is a destination for sailing, diving, and snorkeling.  Whereas Brisbane was in the far southern corner of the state of Queensland, Cairns is in the northern corner.  It was founded in 1876 as a supply stop for miners heading for the Hodgkinson River gold field but later became a railhead and major sugar cane, gold, metals, and minerals exporting port.  Today  with a population of 158,000, Cairns’ economy is driven by tourism and then sugar cane production.  The Chinese are increasingly coming here on vacations because of its climate and to see the Great Barrier Reef and the tropical rain forest.  I can validate this as I saw hundreds of Chinese tourists today doing
        In 2010 our excursion was on a “Skyrail” which was the world’s longest gondola ride, at 4.7 miles long, over the rainforest.  The rainforest canopy was very dense with only 1 to 2% of sunlight ever reaching its floor.  We also viewed the Barron Gorge and Water Falls.  I tell you this as I will be putting those photos on this blog also.

WHAT WE DID TODAY:
       Today, I did something similar, but yet, different!  Rebecca decided to stay on the ship since it was looking like a rainy day.  Our motor coach departed the ship at 9:00 am on our “Cairns, Kuranda, Aboriginals, & Army Duck” excursion.  We drove past sugar cane fields outside the city to the base of a mountain was.  This was the Rainforest Nature Park location.  It used to be a coffee and banana plantation but not for past over 30 years so rainforest has grown back.  Here we boarded an Army Duck for a ride along the river’s edge while our “Duck Captain” told us about the rainforest.  We did NOT see any of these as advertised: some gonnas (big lizards), phthons, eels, and other creepy things.  Once back at the Rainforest Station, we watched a show with Parmagirn (aboriginal) dancers depicting animals, food gathering, and hunting via their music and dancing.  This show was very good.  Then then demonstrated how to throw a boomarang.  I even tried it but I sucked.  Then they showed us how they hunt with spears.  They could throw these spears a good 100 yards accurately.  Back on the coach we continued to Kuranda, a city in the heart of the rainforest.  It was established in the mid 1800’s as a railway station for mining and logging activities.  Today it offers markets, cafes, and restaurants mainly for us tourists.  I had a Australian meat and chili pie for lunch.  She said it would not be very spicy but it was HOT!!  We had an hour to explore here.  Our tour ended with a trip back down the mountain and a brief tour of Cairns.
       I arrived back at the ship at 2:00 pm.  After dropping my backpack in the suite, I headed up to the top deck to take some photos of the downtown and marina.  Boy, was it HOT up on deck!!  Rebecca was reading another book.  I headed right to the Coffee Connection to start uploading the 92 photos I took today.  Luckily, the uploading is going faster than usual.  Then I will have to write the captions for them.  It'll be after 4:00 before I am finished.
       This is the link to the photos I took last night and today on my tour.

https://goo.gl/photos/qT3pkMdhFKNxDvHv9

       We don't sail until 8:00 pm tonight as our next port of call, Cookstown, is not far away.  We're planning dinner in Compass Rose restaurant again tonight after cocktail hour.  Our southern fried chicken last night was not as good as last time.  It looked ok but was a bit overcooked.  The strangest thing was the gravy was a pinkish color.  Not very good either.  Doubt we will be asking for any more fried chicken on this cruise.
       We really enjoyed Bayne Bacon's show last night.  He is actually from the Dallas/Ft Worth area but married an Australian lady and live in Australia now.  He was very funny and a VERY accomplished pianist.
       At 5:45 this evening there will be a local group coming aboard to present an aboriginal music and dance show for us.  We plan on going to it.  Will not be going to tonight's production show after dinner.