Cairns Day 8

Last day in Australia. Was actually eager to go home because funds were running low (everything was so expensive!) and we had enough of urban life. We took a walk at Count White Park in the morning, before leaving for Brisbane Airport to catch our flight back.

Had breakfast of hotdogs at some roadside cafe

CBD in the morning

Overlooking Brisbane River

We are going to miss Cairns though, and the wild and sunny outdoors that Queensland has to offer.

Cairns Day 7

Time to leave Mackay for Brisbane. We sped to Mackay Airport as we were getting late, but unfortunately, missed our morning flight and had to pay extra to catch the next flight in the afternoon. Was a little sad to part with the trusty car that took us over a thousand miles, that ran over roadkill, that was caught on speed camera in Mackay, and that harvested a its own roadkill bounty of flies of all sorts.

Works as well as a flytrap

Miners Lodge Motor Inn

Reached Brisbane in the late afternoon. Decided not to rent any car as I was daunted by the confusing network of roads and heavy traffic. Took a cab to our accommodation to Econolodge along Main Street. It was an expensive cab ride of $50!

It was colder in Brisbane, at about 16 deg Celsius, despite the sun shining so brightly in the cloudless blue sky. The Econolodge is a decent and affordable motel situated in a quiet neighbourhood, and we were quite pleased with their clean and modern rooms.

Our room

We then took a Citycat ferry (bloody expensive - $4.50 to just cross over to the other side of the river) to the CBD of Brisbane, and explored that area. Nothing much, mainly expensive retail stores, fine dining restaurants, cultural landmarks and small Asian stores selling large sushi handrolls.

Brisbane River

Exploring the city centre

Brisbane's famous Story Bridge

CBD at night

Boarded the ferry back from the Eagle Street stop

The sophisticated and cosmopolitan feel of Brisbane is so different from the laidback and rugged outdoors of Cairns, Townsville and Mackay that we had experienced and enjoyed previously. Brisbane holds nothing for us and we could not wait to return home the next day.

Cairns Day 6

Left Townsville after having some breakfast at Subway (finally a familiar taste!). Totally geared up for my 390km drive to Mackay.

Our motel, The Summit

Leaving Townsville

Ahh, a beautiful day for our drive

It is commendable that the Aussies have this 'Driver Reviver' initiative - small simple facilities along their highways meant as a pit stop where weary drivers can get out of the car, rest, have some drinks and biscuits, and go for a toilet break. Very beneficial. We stopped at this one, stretched our legs and had some coffee (it was free, but we gave a little tip anyway).

Driver Reviver stop

After the brief break, we continued down the highway. Resisted the urge to stray off our main route and explore beautiful attractions (the white sandy beaches at Whitsunday) and hidden treasures (maybe crocodile-infested creeks). 390km seemed such a daunting distance to me.

Nevertheless, it was a sunny yet cooling afternoon and I was enjoying the drive and the sights that rolled by (definitely not the squashed roadkill).

Dry grassy plains

Cattle grazing leisurely

Soon after we reached Mackay, some racist prick in the car in front of us pointed the middle finger at us at a traffic junction. That got us really indignant. As we drove further on, I felt a little lost and I pulled up at the side of the street and studied the map. At the corner of my eye, I saw a man from the opposite side of the street running across as soon as I stopped. Unexpectedly, he came to our car and tapped on the window. I was taken aback and instinctively placed my fingers on the door lock switch, but stupid Slug actually wound down the window! The man asked us if we needed help and asked where we wanted to go to. I just mumbled a motel name and he started to ramble on a confusing string of directions. We listened half-heartedly and as soon as he was finished, we thanked him and quickly sped off. For a moment, I thought he was going to shoot us.

We did not follow his directions (god knows where it was going to lead us to), and a while later, we decided to seek accommodation at this Miners Lodge Motor Inn. We had a ground-floor unit which had a secure under-cover parking lot right at our doorstep. Plonking onto the bed brought me tremendous relief after such a long day's drive.

Comfortable bed but gawdy quilt cover

Would be leaving for Brisbane the next day.

Cairns Day 5

Packed, checked out of our cozy motel and got ready to hit the road early in the morning. The lady at the counter was really nice and did not charge us for breaking their juice beakers. This motel is highly liked by Slug and I for its friendly service and clean and comfortable rooms. We were reluctant to leave Cairns.

The interior compound of Aspect Central Motel

Grabbed some breakfast and browsed through a huge store selling all kinds of necessities for the outdoors like BBQ grills, fishing and camping equipment before leaving Cairns at about 10pm. We took the Bruce Highway, a major highway in Queensland leading south to Brisbane. Hopefully we could reach some major town by dusk.

Taking the Bruce Highway southwards

Small settlements

Driving was such a breeze! Light traffic, direct route, warm sunshine and relaxing views of the expansive plains. However, what marred the enjoyable driving experience was having to dodge the kangaroo (and other animals) carcasses that littered the highway (usually at the roadside). It was heartwrenching to see the bodies in various states of decay - some freshly killed lying in a pool of blood, while most were already run over, flattened and dried up till they had become powder and drifted away with the wind, leaving behind their brown hide. We could not make out what the smaller corpses were, probably wallabies and rats. And also birds.

What a lovely scene of nature

Came to a petrol station along the highway and bought some refreshments as well as went for a toilet break. Slug bought a handline reel and some prawns for bait.

At the petrol station

Had been driving for 2 hours now. Sugar cane plantations, grazing cows and small towns around us. Nevertheless, found it a peaceful and relaxing cruise. Took care not to exceed their highway speed limit of 100km/h, because there was enforcement by the traffic police - had seen the red police cars by the roadside with the officers stopping other drivers.

Decided to go for a little adventure by turning into a small road leading to some creek where we could do some fishing. I did feel some anxiety driving into some quiet unknown territory with no human presence around us. What if we were attacked? What if our car broke down? What if some mutant a la The Hills Have Eyes emerged from the sugar cane plants and chopped us up for dinner?

Cairns Day 4

Decided to be adventurous and drive out of Cairns town - north to Cairns Tropical Zoo. Initially felt nervous and apprehensive towards venturing out of our current comfort zone - no GPS, vague maps and a novice driver's uncertainty towards the road conditions on Australia's highways. But ... still gotta try!

Went for breakfast at McDonald's at the Esplanade. You won't believe how expensive parking is in Cairns - AUD$8 per hour for just parking by the roadside! However, I just took the risk everytime and did not bother paying for the parking.

At the Esplanade

Took Captain Cook Highway and drove northwards to Clifton Beach. Surprisingly found it a breeze to cruise along the fairly empty highways. Road signs were adequate and clear, together with distance markers. Hardly many trees along the highways, but plenty of tall reeds and sugar cane plants.

On the road

Wide plains and tall mountains that cannot be found in Singapore

Arrived at the zoo about an hour later. Entrance fee was about AUD$32 per pax, but it allowed re-entry within the next three days. The zoo was small, but exhibited mainly Australia's native animals.

Outside Cairns Tropical Zoo

White cockatoo

Agile and cheeky ring-tailed lemurs

A zookeeper feeding the lemurs

The cassowary is a large flightless but powerful bird, capable of inflicting fatal bruises with their strong kicks and sharp knife-like claws. Shy, endangered and skillful at evading humans, it is very rare to spot a cassowary in the wild (they live in dense forests). Sadly, habitat destruction, traffic casualties and dog attacks have caused their numbers to dwindle over the years.

Methinks the cassowary looks like a turkey

The animal that stole Slug's and my hearts was the Nepalese red panda. We just could not stop cooing affectionately at it. Red pandas are also an endangered species, threatened by habitat destruction and poaching (they are highly-prized for their bushy tails, which are made into hats and wtf, feather dusters). They used to roam around in China and Nepal but poaching and forest loss have driven them either further up the Himalayas or to extinction. There was only one red panda in the exhibit. It took quite a long time for the zookeeper to coax it from its resting position to come and take its meals.

Methinks the red panda looks like a raccoon

The zookeeper feeding it some grapes

Isn't it cuuuuuuuuute?

Cairns Day 3

Decided to go fishing today! We rented a small dinghy at a boat rental store (the guy managing it was cute) at The Pier. It cost about AUD$150+ for the whole morning, together with drinks and the necessary fishing equipment and bait. The guy then gave us a simple map of a river nearby named Trinity Inlet and pointed out some good fishing and crabbing spots. With that, I left Slug to learn how to operate the dinghy from that guy and to do the steering. He had high hopes of catching a large barramundi (seabass, in our Asian context), while I had some hopes of spotting a wild crocodile.

Driving out in the early morning

Slug and I wearing the same Australia T-shirts

We hired the dinghy from this shop

Got to navigate our way out of the pier first

Once we sailed past the moored boats at the pier, we travelled away from the sea and into Trinity Inlet. The weather was really pleasant - cooling and breezy, and the sun was not that glaring. We stopped at a random spot on the river and he started to do his fishing business while I tried to nap.

Slug with the mangrove trees in the background

Cairns Day 2

Woke at 5+am for our Great Barrier Reef (GBR) trip (we had booked a cruise with Reef Magic Cruises from a friendly tour agency located along Abbott Street the day before for about AUD$240 per pax). Couldn't get used to waking up so early, didn't even have time to have breakfast (motels do not provide free breakfast). Drove to The Pier where all kinds of motor catamarans from various GBR tour companies, yachts and boats were moored at. Boarded our cruise catamaran at 8.30am, together with many other tall and large Caucasian (some from even as far as Ireland) tourists. The staff on board were warm and helpful in providing information about GBR to curious tourists.

At The Pier (which also houses many fine dining restaurants besides just booths for booking cruises)

Leaving The Pier

It was an approximate 1.5-hour journey to the GBR. They were taking us to their Marine World platform, located at a private outer reef of Moore Reef. Apparently, the GBR is divided into a few zones with different levels of restrictions towards human activities like fishing, tourism, aquaculture etc. Tourists are able to access the Green Zones (the GBR Marine National Park) and carry out activities like sailing and snorkelling, but Preservation Zones (Pink) and Scientific Research Zones (Orange) restrict human access, thereby conserving the coral reefs and minimizing damage to them. Methinks it is a great management strategy, but that would mean that we will be missing out on the full glory of the corals since what we would be visiting would probably be some tired-looking and tourist-harassed corals in the Green Zones.

On board, a famished Slug and I grabbed some of the cookies and coffee for breakfast, and listened as some of the crew members explained the programme for later, some rules on safety and environmental conservation, marine biology etc. We watched in amusement as some of the kids were given pictures of marine creatures and they got very busy colouring them away. A few other crew members went around encouraging the passengers to sign up for their optional tours (at an extra charge, of course) - helicopter flights above the scenic GBR, scuba diving (even for beginners), guided snorkel tours and helmet diving. Slug and I decided to take up this Adventure Snorkel Safari at AUD$45 each, which promised to take us further to a more spectacular reef wall on the other side away from their basic snorkelling ground.

The kids' artwork pasted at the drinks counter

The catamaran arrived at the floating platform ('Marine World') in the middle of the sea at about 10+am. At first we thought it would be just a normal boring platform for us to laze around, but we realized that there were other facilities and activities. For one, we went on their 30-minute Semi-Submersible Tour at 11am (there were other fixed timings too), which was like a near-surface submarine with large viewing windows taking us on a guided underwater tour of the reef. Slug and I learnt about coral reef shapes with the help of the audio commentary.

Little silvery fishes

Slug and I in the Semi-Submersible

Branching coral

Bushy coral

Table coral

Didn't expect the water to be that murky

Cute little purple fishes

The true colours of coral reefs are best seen when shone under white light (night diving)

A giant clam

Sea cucumbers with the dead coral

Oblique banded sweetlips