On Tuesday we went in to Ray's workshop to see if the part had arrived. It hadn't. Another night in Cooktown then. To be fair to Cooktown, it's a grower. We didn't think that this town had much to offer at the start, but after going to the museums and the local pub we started to feel the appeal. It's probably cruel to mention that the biggest news for Cooktown was that the road in was bitumised in 2006... Seriously, since Capt cook landed in 1770 and the road got bitumised not a lot more has happened in Cooktown. But that's what is nice about the place, it feels like you are away from the rest of the world, and after spending almost a year out of civilisation that feels good to us. Almost normal.
Cooktown Harbour (where Cook managed to salvage the Endeavour having run aground on a reef offshore)
The great man himself (no, not the chef, England's opening batsman, but the original Capt'n Cook!)
Wednesday! The day the car got fixed (hopefully, fingers crossed, praying to whichever god has the better return). Thankfully the part did arrive and Ray fitted it for us first thing in the morning so we could head straight off towards Cairns. Sadly though, Ray wasn't convinced the new part would fix the problem so we just hoped and prayed that the advice we received from a few in the know mechanics would work. Back on the road again, south towards Cairns!
Some lovely views on the way over the hills towards Cairns,
and on the way into Cairns we stopped off at Palm Cove, a lovely little seaside town. We enjoyed having a perusal at a little gallery there, we even bought 2 paintings (well, prints, small prints!)
We made it into Cairns without the dreaded engine light coming back on, set up camp and got ourselves dressed smart as we were heading into the city to meet some very good friends of ours, Stacey and Jamie! (YEY) Jamie had to be up in Cairns for work so she combined it with a short holiday too, great idea! After a happy and long awaited reunion we headed out for dinner at the local RSL. We caught up on the news and had a decent meal with a few beers, bliss.
Sadly we had a lot of rain that night so in the morning we decided we'd be better off in a cabin, only $40 per night for a bed, kitchen and tv (with satellite tv so we could watch the footy), and it meant we could use the car in the day without having to pack up the tent. Best value indoor night we've had – you can pay over $40 for a powered site in some places.
The rain continued to fall on Thursday so after meeting Stacey, Jamie and Sim (Jamie's workmate) for a pizza lunch, we all went to the art gallery for a look around. We had decided that we all wanted to do one of the boat tours out to the biggest coral reef in the world, the Great Barrier Reef. Weather looked the best for Friday so we booked ourselves on the Tusa 5.
That afternoon we had cheeky afternoon drink at Salthouse – a very swish bar/restaurant on the harbour followed by a quick shower at the girls' hotel then dinner out with Simone, all very lovely!
Friday was our day out to the most famous reef in the world, The Great Barrier Reef.
Here's a few facts for you:
+ The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef system, it is composed of over 2,900 individual reef and has over 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres.
+ It can be seen from outer space, and tourism to the reef generates approximately AU$ 4-5 billion per year
+ Thirty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises have been recorded in the Great Barrier Reef, six species of sea turtles come to the reef to breed. Two hundred and thirteen species of birds visit the reef or nest or roost on the islands, and seventeen species of sea snake live on the Great Barrier Reef (YUK!)
+ More than one and a half thousand fish species live on the reef
We got to the boat by 8am and were quickly given the lowdown on how the day would play out. Tusa offered a free scuba dive introduction which Claire, Stacey and I were interested in so we listened into the talk while we headed out to the reef. Thankfully it wasn't too rough on the water so I managed not to get sick. We got out there and I'm not sure why, but I was persuaded to wear a wetsuit, yes, me, wearing a wetsuit! I looked a right plonk but never mind.
We all jumped into the water and got straight out to go snorkeling. The reef was truly amazing and although Jamie tells us it is not as bright in colours as it was when she first visited it, some 15 or so years ago, we were very impressed. We had about 2 hours in the water at the first site, plenty of time to chase fishes with the Flip in it's underwater case...
Sadly, you may feel sea-sick while watching these as the current just throws you about a bit).
We got the call to go and take our scuba dive so headed back to the boat to suit up. When I got in the water I instantly didn't feel comfortable so opted not to continue with the dive and stripped the suit off and got back into the snorkeling instead. Claire felt ok so she continued with the scuba dive.
And the rest of us went off snorkeling and saw lots of fishes...
including one really big one!
We all got back on board for a so-so buffet lunch while we moved on to the second site for the day. By this point I had finally realised that the water was warm so took the silly wetsuit off and just had my swimmers and rashie on. The second site at Agincourt reef was almost as good, but was a bit rougher though so the waves threw you about a bit.
On the way back into Cairns we all did our best windswept and interesting poses (don't ask me, Claire's idea!)
(Jamie won!)
Back in Cairns we had a quick swim in the lagoon (a huge free swimming pool that the city has provided as you can't swim in the sea here due to the crocs) then Claire and I then went home for dinner and to collapse after a long and fun day.
On Saturday the girls hired a car so we could all go for a drive out of Cairns and into the hinterland that surrounds it. It is absolutely lovely up in the hills, all green and lush, not what you would expect from Australia! We had a full day driving through Gordonsvale (this is the place the cane toad was first introduced to Australia), up into Yungaburra, stopping at Lake Tineroo for some coffee and scones, then up through Atherton and on to the Barron Falls. It was raining again so we didn't get the best view of the falls, but the force of the water was immense and quite wonderful. We didn't take the camera because of the rain (doh!), so here's a photo of Stacey and me at the Curtain Fig Tree near Yungaburra instead!
After a full day on the road we came back into Cairns for a rather lovely meal at Salthouse restaurant. The girls shouted our drinks for the evening cos they think we're poor... thanks girls, we had a fabulous evening!
Sunday was our sad goodbye to the girls then we did boring boring washing!
Then watched the English Premiership so all ended well..
Signing off folks,
Jen, of Claire and Jen fame
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