Six weeks through the fifth continent
1st day:
Early in the morning we got into the plane that took us from Dresden to Frankfurt/Main. There we went to McDonalds for breakfast. A few hours later we could get aboard the Boeing 747 of Singapore Airlines we flew to Singapore with. At this airline every passenger has his own display in the seat of his frontman, even in the economy class. You can choose from 12 different films in various languages (of course some in german too), read information about various destinations as well as the latest news (updated every hour via satellite) and there are a couple of videogames for your entertainment. So it was not boring during the flight, but I could get no sleep most of the time.
2nd day:
We arrived at Singapore in the morning and booked a room in the Airport Hotel first, because we had to wait about 14 hours for our flight. Until a room was available, we visited the beautiful designed Changi Airport. Due to the fact we arrived with Singapore Airlines we could make two sightseeing tours for free. On the first tour we went thru Changi, the district where the airport is, on the second tour we saw the whole city center with all its marvellous places, including a boat trip at the Singapore-River. After this I went tho the internet cafe at the airport for surfing the web for half an hour and sending some e-mails. Then we went to bed to sleep a few hours before we continued our flight to Cairns/Queensland. In the plane we had some trouble because they sold our seats twice, but fortunately there were some other free seats and so nearly all where satisfied then. Later there was a funny thing. The australians try to avoid importing any strange deseases or bacteriums. This is why they sprayed some kind of desinfection aerosol in the whole plane before the start.
3rd day:
The arrival in Cairns was very impressive. First we were flying over the tropical rainforest, which almost reaches the beach there, and then the plane followed the coastline until it landed at Cairns International Airport. There we had to pass a checkpoint because the import of fresh fruit is prohibited and other viands and plants were checked for bacteriums and viruses, too.
Then we hired a car and drove to the visitors centre in the city, where they could recommend a very nice motel to us. But before we checked in there we had to return to the airport to change the car, because under the backseat we rewcovered an ants nest and we did not want to share the car with them for the next four weeks. After this we drove to the north along the coastline and visited Port Douglas. This is a marvellous small town and an ideal starting point for trips to the Great Barrier Reef, but at this season there was almost no business. Nevertheless the rates for hotel rooms where very high and so we went back to Cairns after lunch and rented two rooms in the recommended motel. We informed a bit about the sights around and then went to Kuranda, a little town in the rainforest. It is known because the Scenic Railway, starting in Cairns and steaming thru the rainforest, ends here; and of course for the Barron Falls. But this great waterfall was a little creek only due to the dry season in the last months. I got very drowsy then and so I slept almost all the time in the car...the reason for this was, that I did not sleep so much during the last 40 hours. In the eavening we went to the shopping mall in Cairns and in a passage we found a couple of restaurants and fast foods. Later in the motel there was a little incident. Due to a power blackout there was no electricity in the whole district. This was not the worst thing, we wanted to sleep anyway, but tho problem was that the air condition did not work whithout electricity. So we used our flashlights, took a cold shower, faced the situation and tried to fall asleep.
4th day:
After an excellent continental breakfast in our hotel we went to Freshwater by car to catch a train of the Scenic Railway. This marvellous rail goes thru some small towns and then across the tropical rainforest. It stops at the Barron Falls for a short time where you can leave the train to take some pictures, then it continues its way to Kuranda. We had already been there one day before for a first information. Now we walked along the river (the tour which is always taken by a guided tour) and finally reached a big market. From there we followed a walking track thru the jungle which ended at the other side of the town. In the afternoon we visited the other attraction of Kuranda. Not only the Scenic Railway ends here, but the Skyrail, a fantastic ropeway, too. This famous ropeway runs a few meters over the treetops of the rainforest, so you can see beautiful places you could never walk to. Unfortunately the lower station of the Skyrail is about 10 kilometers away from Freshwater, where we parked our car. We did not want to wait for the bus and so went on foot. 10 kilometers seem to be not soo much, but it was very hot and we had to follow the road all the time and so this walk turnet into a torture. Hence we spent the rest of the day in the pool of our hotel before we went into the city center for dinner.
5th day:
On this day we left Cairns. We wanted to reach Townsville and to visit a couple of sights on the way. The first stop we made at Babinda, where we left the Highway to get to the Boulder Falls. There was a beautiful walking track from the parking place to the falls, but the Boulder Falls itself where not so impressive due to less water in the creek. We continued our travel and came to the Josephine Falls. Here we were even happier, because there was more water and we could take a bath in the lower falls. The water runned down a sloped rock and we could slide down there. So we spent more than one hour there before we started again.
Back on the Highway we drove to the next town where we stopped for lunch at KFC. Then we went on via Ingham to Townsville. We could have done two more stops for visiting waterfalls (one of them the highest waterfalls of Australia), but we did not because of the less water at this season. In Townsville we watched out for a motel and then went to the boardwalk at the bank. There we passed a palm tree, where houndrets of parrots quarreled for a place to sleep...this was really funny. At the Fishermanīs Wharf there were a lot of restaurants and beer gardens. At Timīs Surf & Turf we tried the seafood plate for two persons... Delicious, but it would had been enough for five persons. On the way back to the motel we passed the palm tree again, but now it was really quite there.
7th day:
We went to the Flinders Mall, the main shopping road of Townsville for breakfast. We strolled a little time thru the shops and then went to the Great Barrier Reef Wonderland, a big complex with aquarium, cinema, souvenir shops etc. and everything deals with the Great Barrier Reef. After lunch we booked ferry tickets to Magnetic Island for the next day and watched a film in the Omnimax, a 360° movie theater. After this we watched out for a snorkeling tour to the reef, but they told us, that Townsville would not be the best starting point for tose activities. It is a long way to the outer reef from here and so the tours are relatively expensive. Port Douglas or Airlie Beach would be more advantageous. So we decided to resign snorkeling here and to go to Airlie Beach next. Then we drove to Castle Hill. This is a big rock where a winding street leads to the top. From there we had a wonderful view over Tovnsville and surroundings. The rest of the afternoon we spent at hte hotelpool, where we planned the next days of our journey. In the eavening we went to the Fishermanīs Wharf again, passing that funny palm tree. This time we ordered the seafood plate for one person and it was enough for two... Finally we tried some of the delicious cocktails at the bar.
8th day:
After the breakfast at the terrace of our hotel we left Townsville and went directly to Airlie Beach. It was not a long distance, so we arrived there already after noon and had no problems to find a good and cheap motel in this popular town, even if they had vacations now. In the motel we asked for reef tours and then went to the harbour at once to book tickets for the next day. Following we strolled thru the town center, visited the contiguous towns Proserpine and Shute Harbour and spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotelpool. In the eavening we watched out for a pub and finally found the `Beaches`, right at the main road. There they had a good variety of steaks, burgers, sandwiches and pasta and it was not so expensive there. Later it began to rain vehemently so that we wound up there for a while. But after a time we decided to go in spite of the rain, because we had to get up very early next morning. When we reached our motel we were wet through and so we jumped into the pool again before we went to bed.
9th day:
It was a rainy day and so we were a little blue. After an extensive breakfast in the motel we drove to the Pro Dive office, where we booked the snorkeling tour. They encouraged us and told us that it is not for sure that it would rain at the outer reef too, and even if, nevertheless the underwater world would be very impressiv. In the meantime a lot of other participants came and many of them did not only want snorkeling but diving. The trip started and while passing the Whitsunday Islands we could see a couple of stingers with very long tentacles. Furthermore we got a briefing in snorkeling and diving and how to behave at the reef and after about two hours we arrived at Bait Reef. We got our equipment and jumped into the water. Nearby the boat there were a lot of small jellyfish and if we got contact with them it burnet a little at the skin. But the Pro Dive staff told us, that the dangerous big stingers and even sharks would not come here to the outer reef. We swam away from the boat and got over to the reef, which reached up to one meter under the waterline. What we saw was really overwhelming. Marvellous corals in all colors of the rainbow, inbetween lots of small and big fishes and even a turtle we could watch there. We could swimm directly above the reef keeping the had under water and even watch the divers sink deeper into thedeep blue sea.....it was simply glamorous. After about one hour we finished this first tour and got aboard again. Here at the lunch buffet all the people told about what the have seen. After the lunch we feeded the fishes at the rear of the boat and saw some really big. Then we went into the water for a second time. Rather we wanted to swimm to a coral bank at the other side of the boat, but it was from afar than the first and meanwhile a stron current has formed so that swimming was straining even with the flippers. But this current had an advantage too; there were none of this little jellyfish anymore. So we swam to the same place again, where we already were in the morning and watched the marvellous underwater world there before we finally got back to the boat. On the way back to Airlie Beach we sat on the uppeer deck and enjoyed the view. In between the stuff served some fresh fruit before we arrived at 3:45 p.m. In the eavening we all should meet at `Magnums` for a free beer. Till then we would keep on strolling thru the shops, but our skin smarted from the salt water and so we decided to go to the motel for a shower first. There in front of the big mirror we saw the bad news. The aching skin was not due to the salt water but because of a heavy sunburn. Even there was cloudy all day long we had burned our backs anyhow, which was uncovered in the water all the time. And according to the cloudy wheater we had dispensed with any sun protection and enjoyed the few sun rays at the return... However, our backs were blazing red and ached. So we hurried back to the city and asked the chemist for something against sunburn. He gave us something to ease the pain and cortison to prevent worse consequences. In the eavening we went to `Magnums` but the meals were not so enjoyable and so we decided to forget the free beer and went to the `Beaches` then. This time a young girl stood in front of the pub and asked, if we come for dinner. Even if the meal was not so good in the `Magnums` we right came from the dinner and so we told the girl that we only come for some drinks. She smiled, asked where we came from and than told us un german: This restaurant is allowed to sell alcohol to hotel guests or to people who also eat something here. So it is a licensed restaurant, not a fully licensed restaurant. So if you did not book a room here and someone asks you if you want to eat something, you have to say yes, even at the bar when you order a drink, say that you already had a meal before. So now I ask you again: Do you come for dinner tonight? Of course we answered: Yeeeeeeees!!! And everything was alright now.
10th day:
After an uneasy night due to the sunburn and an extensive breakfast in the motel we drove via Proserpine back to the Pacific Coast Highway. We went to Mackay and more along and when we were almost in Rockhampton we left the highway to visit the Olsons Capricorn Caverns. Before we reached these caves we stopped for lunch in a small inn, where we got the best steakburgers we ever had during our journey. At 2 p.m. we joined a tour thru the caverns (the bigest privat owned caves in Australia). It was very impressiv and interesting. They showed us a small, straight shaft leading frome the cave to the surface, having the shape of the australian continent. The caverns are located almost exactly on the tropic of capricorn, so that every year on 21st December at high noon the sun stands perpendicular over this shaft projecting a ray of light in the shape of Australia on the ground of the cave. Unfortunately we arrived at 2 p.m. there and missed this spectacular act (it was just the 23rd December, almost the ideal date). Furthermore they told us about the phantastic acoustics in the cave and played two instrumentals by Enya to demonstrate this...there could not be a better music for such a demonstration.
From there we went on to the little town Yepoon at the pacific coast and watched out for a motel. The hostess told us that here would be no more danger of stingers or box jelly fish and so we went to the beach to go swimming. After this we strolled thru the town but there were not any spectacular sights. We bought two bottles of wine at a bottle-shop and watched out for a place for dinner. We stopped for a bite to eat at a Red Rooster (a popular Fast Food Chain) but the meals all tastet a little strange there and so we left, simply crossed the road and entered the KFC to eat something again. The rest of the eve we spent in our motel drinking some glasses of wine and watching what we had filmed during our journey until now.