Cairns
I packed up the rest of my things then got on a bus to the city to go meet my Mom! We had been planning to do lunch before going to the airport, but my few things I had to do first combined with the long bus ride got me there a little late to go to lunch. So we got a taxi to the airport and then just ate there. The plane ride was really short, only like a half an hour; I would compare it to flying from Madison to Chicago. It was kind of gloomy when we got there, but not to bad. We took a shuttle to our hotel, our AMAZING hotel. We stayed in the Hilton which was very nice and it was right on the water. We got in our room and it was really nice and had a perfect view of both the water and some of the city. I loved the fact that we had a big balcony to sit out on. Once we dropped all of our stuff off we figured we would go walk around a bit and then find some dinner. Right by the hotel was the Esplanade, which consisted of all kinds of stores, restaurants, and night markets. It took us forever to pick a restaurant to eat at because there were so many! We ended up picking an Italian place that offered to give us 20% off our bill if we ate there. I found out that to try and up their sales, the offer discounts if you go eat an earlier time, instead of the usual late dinner that most people go for I guess. I got seafood ravioli and mom got prawn pizza and we shared, along with some wine of course. We then checked out the night markets quickly, got some wine for the room, and went back to relax in our room since we had to get up early the next morning for a day trip.
Day 1: Today we were supposed to embark on a tour taking the railway up to Kuranda and then taking a skyrail back down. So we head down to the lobby to look for our tour guide, right away a guy is standing there and ask my mom is she is Brenda. So off we went with this tour guide, only to find out we made a mistake. As we started driving and were listening to some of the things people were saying as well as the tour guide we started to get confused. So we asked what all we got to see today and the tour guide replied with a list of things that was in the fact the tour we were supposed to be going on tomorrow! We had got on the wrong tour bus! It was rather confusing because we were supposed to be on this tour tomorrow, but apparently the tour was not even running on that day and we had been put on his roster for today, nobody had informed of this though. So we made phone calls and got everything figured out so we could still do everything we wanted to do. But it was not the best start to our first day of exploring cairns! The adventure begins I guess! I was very happy though that we happened to get on the bus for this tour today because if we had not, we would of not been able to do this tour at all and it was one of my favorites. We first headed out to Lake Barrine where we had morning tea which was homemade scones and UNLIMITED COFFEE! After we ate we took a boat tour around the lake to look at the rainforest a bit and hopefully find some wildlife. We saw turtles, eels, and a few big snakes but not too much beyond that. There was a very funny moment along the boat trip though, and that was when my mom was leaning in, focusing on trying to get a picture of the snake in the bushes in front of us, while the boat was still trying to get us as close as he could to it. Then all of a sudden some of the vine bush touched my mom’s ankle and she freaked out, I wish my daddy would have been there to see that one! Haha! When we got off the boat, we walked into the forest to look at the tree in there which was a MASSIVE rainforest giant tree! We then loaded up into the tour bus to go to our next destination which was the curtain fig tree. This tree was so big and so old; it spread out over so much area! Next, was Milla Milla Falls; a beautiful waterfall. Our tour guide showed us the coolest little mind trick while we were there. He told you to stare into the waterfall and count to ten or so and then slowly look to the left or the right. And when you did, the waterfall moved and blurred, it was crazy. Okay, now to my favorite part of the day: we went to Paronella Park, which is a park of beautiful ancient Spanish ruins. Jose wanted to create this dream world of Spanish castle like buildings for people to enjoy, and that is exactly what he did. We ate lunch here, went on a short guided tour, and then got some time to roam around by ourselves. The tour was interesting because you got to hear the story of the a\park as well as the man who created it, and we also got to see something unexpected while on this tour as well. There was a waterfall inside Paronella Park, which was pretty good sized. And these three or four guys got the bright idea to kayak one by one over this waterfall! That is an insane idea but I am sure it is quite a rush! On the tour she also showed us inside the “Tunnel of Love” where there were these tiny bats on the ceiling! Once she ended the tour, she gave us each a bag of food to feed to fish and the turtles. The fish and eels around here are crazy! There are sooo many of them and if you throw some food into the water, the all swarm and jump around. Before we left my mom and I tried a sample of their famous mango wine that we actually ended up seeing around a few more times during our travels. It was different, but I thought it was pretty good. The last stop of the tour was to the Babinda Boulders. When we got there we had afternoon tea and then went for a short walk to the different viewing platforms where you got to see all these huge boulders that have been being carved away by the rushing waters over the past. If you wanted, you could go for a swim at the beginning where it is calmer, but since we were planning to be on a different trip that day, we did not have our swimsuits or anything. Only the tour guide and one other guy went for a quick swim, then we headed back to the hotel. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back, and had to first figure out a trip for the next day now. So we went and talked to the very helpful guy at the travel agent desk inside the Hilton and set up a trip for tomorrow, like the one we were supposed to have gone on today. Then we went to get some dinner at a place that we thought was a little Cuban restaurant with live music. It was pretty good, we both got something jerk chicken related meal and a fun drink, but there was no music unfortunately on that night.
Day 2: This day trip was not as early as the other ones so we got to sleep in a little bit today. We got picked up by our tour guide and he took us to where we got onto the train to head up to Kuranda. It was about a 2 hour train ride and it was very scenic and you got to see so much! It also stopped to let you see the lovely Barron Falls on the way, which were magnificent. Once we got up to Kuranda, we then had a few hours to explore around before we had to catch the skyrail back down. It is more of a cute village town that has tons of cafes and little shops down one street. They also had more of a market type shopping area as well. Another thing they have there is Bird World, Wildlife Habitat, Butterfly Sanctuary, and some kind of Venom place of all the creepy crawly things. Mom was on a mission to hold a koala and that is of course something you have to do while you are in Australia! We did not have a whole lot of time to do them all, so decided to get a quick lunch and then do the wildlife habitat and bird world. The wildlife habitat was not as cool as I was thinking it would be, but mom did get a chance to hold her koala! There was not much else there to see, there were some wallaby and kangaroo but they were suffering from depression or something because they all just laid around and would not move or eat. So then we left there, pretty quickly since there was not too much to see, then we headed to bird world. Bird world…where to start..haha you get in there and they offer you to buy bird food for like a dollar, or course you want to feed the birds so I got some. Instantly, when we walked in the door a bird was on me. And they continued to be on me constantly until we got out of the door! There were all different kinds of birds inside of there of sooo many different bright colors and sizes. We walked through seeing all the birds and then before we knew it, we got back to where we started, and one of the BIG blue macaw parrot I think it was, jumped onto my backpack, or actually my moms camera backpack that I was carrying for her and that is also rather expensive and he would notttt get off of me. He started picking apart the zippers with his break and taking the ends off of the zippers completely! We had other people scolding him and trying to help get him off and eventually on the guys got him off and we were out of there! I had plenty bird experience to last me for quite a while! My mom on the other hand only had one on her and I only got one picture of that. Once we left bird world, we spent some time going through the little market shops where we bought some jewelry, then got some ice cream and made our way back towards the skyrail, stopping in some shops along the way. Taking the skyrail down was awesome since you are over top of the rainforest seeing it all from a birds eye view. The skyrail made two stops along the way to view some lookouts of waterfalls. When we got the the bottom our tour guide met us and took us back to the hotel. Then we got ready and went to a nice restaurant right on the pier where we were going to do our “Australian dining experience.” We had: kangaroo, buffalo, emu, crocodile, barramundi, scallops, prawns, red claw, steak, and bugs. I liked pretty much everything except the emu but it was fun to try new things! We then walked around the city a little bit as we made our way back to the Hilton
Day 3: Best day of the Cairns trip by far! Today we went out on our reef experience trip! We had to get up pretty early this day but it was beyond worth it! We got on the boat, and got our snorkeling gear that was ours to use for the day then we had breakfast on the boat and had to fill out a health risk sheet of course. There was unlimited tea and coffee all day which was much needed! The boat then set out on our trip to the reef. With the trip we were doing, you could do an introductory dive if you wanted to or you could stick to snorkeling. I have taken a scuba dive class back in Platteville and of course jumped at the chance to dive the reef! Mom just stuck to snorkeling for the day, but the snorkeling was awesome too! The crew gave us all a short talk about snorkeling on the ride there and also you had to sit in on a short talk if you wanted to do a dive. I was put in the first dive group, so when we got to the first reef site, mom went off snorkeling and I went to do my dive! You got to be in the water for around 35 minutes or so I think and it was incredible! I was so close to the reef, swimming through it and right next to fish! There was an underwater photographer going around so I got some cool pictures! I was back before mom so I went on top of the boat to get some reef pictures and lay out for a bit. We also got to go in a semi-sub boat ride where the bottom was glass, and then you could see the reef under you which was cool to see! Mom and I went and snorkeled around for a while and then it was lunch time. We went to another reef destination next, where mom and I went on our guided snorkel tour we signed up for. This was extra, not included in the trip but it was only $20 which isn’t bad. The guided tour ended up being a lot cooler then I thought it would be. The guide would pick up different things from the reef, such as a sea cucumber and pass it around for everyone to hold. And he would also point different things out underwater that we could touch and when we found a giant clam; he would go stick his hand in it making it close! I really liked seeing that. And we also got to see NEMO! I had really been hoping we would see a turtle today, but we did not get the chance to see one unfortunately. The crew on the boat was all very upbeat and fun as well which always makes a trip better. I really enjoyed the time out on the reef, but it also exhausts you! When we got back we got ready and then went to go find some dinner. We went to this place called Bushfire, where they walk around with big slabs of meat on sticks and cut it off on your table. We were not all that hungry so did not do that and instead did an assortment of tapas that were really good. After dinner we walked around and spent some more time in the night markets. This time we gave in to one of the many massage booth areas offering massages for $15. It was more of the Chinese deep tissue type of massage which I wasn’t used to, but it felt good! We then got some souvenirs for mom to take back home with her and got some desert. For desert we followed the amazing scent coming from this cute little crepe place and they were a mess but very good! By this time, we were definitely ready for some rest!
Day 4: This was our last day trip in Cairns and today we were heading to Cape Tribulation! Once our guide picked us up from our hotel we began our drive up to Cape Tribulation. The drive up was a very beautiful scenic drive and we stopped at a few lookouts where we got to get out and take some pictures. We did not remember this the other day when we were at Kuranda, but one of the parts of this tour was going to a wildlife place. That was our first major stop of the day. I am glad that we got the chance to go to this one though because it was a lot nicer then the other place and had a lot more to see! Inside there, we got to listen to a talk about koalas, snakes, and crocodiles. I tried many times, at different places to convince my mom to hold a snake but she was a wimp and would not do it! There were all different kinds of wallaby and kangaroo roaming around and we got to pet them! After exploring through all the animals and birds, we got back on the tour bus and continued on. This part involved being in the van for quite a long time since we had to even take a ferry to get across into the Daintree National park. By the time we got there I was beyond starving! As we made out way up to Cape Tribulation we stopped at one of the major lookout areas that I think was called Alexandria lookout? And here you got a really nice view of the national park and the ocean. Once we got to the café, we had lunch and then my mom and I split up from the tour guide to go jungle surfing, along with two others from our group. I know your all thinking right now, what is jungle surfing!? Basically you are connected to a zip line through the rainforest, going to different platforms of varied heights. Overall, to be honest it was not as great as I thought it would be. You hear jungle surfing and that sounds like insane fun, but it did not turn out to be as thrilling as I had hoped. I thought it would be one long zip line that went fast through the rainforest, instead of short distances between 5 different platforms. The first two were also tandem, so I did those two with my mom and they were not very fast. One of them was pretty fast but they stop you for pictures, and then the last one you do it hanging upside down which was really fun. Don’t get me wrong, it was cool to do and you get to see the rainforest in a whole new way, but I think I would have rather done bungy jumping or something a little more exciting. When we first got there they put you in your gear, and each of the helmets have a name on them and this is your new identity. Mine was Cinderella and my mom got Stiffler’s mom. So, that was pretty funny and what we were called for our time out jungle surfing. After we were done that we were driven back to our tour guide and we headed to the beach for a while. We did not have stuff to swim nor did have enough time, but it was gorgeous to see and there was a little walk you could do to get to a lookout. We then got the group all back together, grabbed an ice cream treat and got in the tour bus to start the trip back to cairns. This was the worst part because it was about a two and a half hour ride back. So plenty of napping and ipod time.. Once we finally got back to the hotel it was time for a drink. Since we first got to our hotel we had seen a sign for a “Hibiscus Mojito” at the bar inside the Hilton, so we decided to try one of those! They were rather pricey but were pretty good and different. Then we got ready and went out to find some good fish for our last dinner in cairns. We decided on the Raw Prawn restaurant and I think that was my favorite meal. We had calamari for an appetizer, and then we both got a barramundi dish, followed by chocolate mud cake. The service was also very good and the owner was very nice to us! The Hilton is right across from a big casino and since we got there I had wanted to check it out, just for fun. So since it was our last night here we hit up the casino for a little bit, just did some slots. I did pretty good and won $16 right towards the beginning! But we were pretty tired and the slots get boring after a while, so went back to relax and begin packing up our stuff to head back to Townsville the next day!
We slept in a little bit today and then went out to breakfast at this cute little café we had come across the other day. We had omelet’s which were very good, but also a little different looking because they were not folded over! We sat outside and there was a nice view of the many hills. After breakfast we went down by the Esplanade where the big pool is. The pool is right alongside the ocean but in here you don’t have to worry about stingers! It was nice to go swimming and lie out and relax for a while. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel to get everything packed up and check out already! We had a late check out of our room and then had them hold our luggage downstairs since we still had some free time till our shuttle was going to be there to take us to the airport. There was this fancy looking building of name brand stores that we always walk by and wonder about, so we went inside to check it out and what did I see when we walked inside!? COACH!!!! This is the first time I had seen a coach store since I have been in Australia so I was very excited! Then we went back to the hotel to get our luggage and catch the shuttle to the airport. Only to run into some trouble… There was only one other guy on the shuttle with us and he began talking about his flight he was supposed to be on today and how it got cancelled. And guess what!? To our luck, it happened to be the same flight we were supposed to be on to Townsville that afternoon. We head inside to try and sort this mess out and are given two options. Option A: take a 5-6 hour bus ride back and get in at about 9:30pm or Option B: take a flight to Brisbane and then from Brisbane to Townsville and get in at basically the same exact time. If they both get us in at the same time, of course I would rather be on a plane instead of a bus so we pick Option B, but are very upset that we have to do this at all. After asking, they gave us a $6 food voucher, which can get you a drink in an airport and nothing more haha. We had been planning to be in Townsville around 5:30 pm and go to the uni and out to eat, but that obviously was not going to happen anymore! The plane gets to Brisbane and then it was already time to board our next plane, so we did not even have to grab some dinner, so I guess were eating on the plane.. My mom and I were not in seats together but she had talked to the flight attendant about our situation and they offered her a free glass of wine. So she told them that was fine and asked them to also bring one to me, which this message must have got messed up between this time, because when it came time for me to order food they told me it was on the house. Score for me! Haha About 9:30pm we were back in Townsville! We got to the hotel and pretty much crashed for the night!
Townsville
Day 1: Today was just a low key day which was much needed I think after our many adventures in Cairns. We had ordered a wake up call but they never called! Luckily we woke up, and later we got a letter that we got free breakfast the next day, which was nice because we were not in any real hurry to get anywhere anyway. We went to this little place right by the hotel to get some breakfast and it was amazing! We ordered the Benedict Panini, each of us, but wishing once we got them that we only split one! We then made our way to the uni so I could dump out my suitcase and repack it for the next few days and of course to also give my mom a tour! She got the chance to experience the lovely bus ride from the city mall to the uni that I have to take all the time haha! We ended up spending a lot more time here then we planned on because we skyped with the boys back home when we got to my room, then I packed up my stuff, then I went to give her a short tour of the campus. We also stopped at the travel agency on campus and booked an adventure tour for the next day on Magnetic Island. Then we went back to the hotel and relaxed for bit then got ready. Since Daddy is a gold member or something at the Holiday Inn, from 6-7 we got to go to the restaurant in hotel for free drinks and appetizers. After that we headed to Palmer street to Cactus Jack’s(Mexican restaurant chain) because Wednesday is “why not Wednesday” where all cocktails and margaritas are only $7(which is cheap here). We had dinner and a margarita then walked back to the hotel. Like I said, it was more of a low key day, but it was nice.
Day 2: Today was the day we were going to go check out the wonderful Magnetic Island! Before heading out on our way we got to enjoy our free breakfast at the hotel due to the mix up yesterday, and the breakfast was pretty good! We then caught a bus to the ferry, and jumped on a ferry over to Maggie Island. We got really lucky catching a bus and the ferry right away without having to wait! Which is not something that happens to me usually..ha. The adventure tour we had booked for the day did not leave until 2:30pm so we had a few hours to explore the island on our own before we had to meet up with our tour. We decided to take a bus over to picnic bay to do a hike we had picked out over there. The trail was a little hard to see and follow sometimes but we did pretty good hiking up it. It was VERY hot outside which made it a little rough, but the views along the way were gorgeous. They were however nothing compared to the actual view when you got to the end of the trail. In the end, you were standing on this huge gated in boulder where you had a view of the whole island basically. Then we made out way back down the trail, got a smoothie and waited for a bus to take us back to Nelly bay, which is where we were starting our tour. We had a little time to kill so we went into the supermarket there to get a small bite to eat to tie us over for a while. When we came out of there, we saw our bright yellow stretch jeep there waiting for us, and when we went over there and met the tour guide we found out that we were the only 2 on the tour today. So basically we had a whole stretch jeep and adventure tour to ourselves for the day, which was awesome! There were not any windows in the back of the jeep which made it good for taking pictures. The tour guide was very interesting and energetic and played loud music while we drove. The first stop was to show us this little swimming hole on magnetic island that people go swim in. We told Mal( the guide) that we really wanted to see a koala that day and he was going to do his best to find one. We then went on a walk trying to find a koala, asking people who were heading back the other way and eventually we ran into some girls who said yes and pointed out a young koala in a tree! I was so excited because I had never seen one out in the wild, only in wildlife parks and such. Then we drove over to a little creek where Mal set up our afternoon tea. And when you walked up over the sand dune, it let right to the beautiful beach where there were TONS of seashells! We collected quite a few for mom to take back home with her then had some coffee. After that we went to feed the lorikeets, where I gave my mom the honor of wearing the hat and feeding the birds while I took pictures since I already had plenty bird time. Mal gave my mom a pile of food and the lorikeets swarmed her! It was rather entertaining to watch, I couldn’t help but laugh. We then traveled over to horseshoe bay where we stopped at the drive through liquor store to get a few drinks to have at the sunset later. Once we did that we head out to feed the rock wallaby! There were sooo many and they were so small! I sat on the ground with food in my hand and they would come over. There was one that was really small and also a wallaby that had a Joey in her pouch! Then we were running a little late and started the rocky offroad journey over to west point where we were going to watch the sunset! On the way, he somehow happened to a see a king toad on the side of the road, pulled over and put it in a bag and slammed it against the jeep; not every day do you see that! We got there just in time to see the sun going down and it was beautiful to see. Mal made us cocktails and we had some crackers and dip then relaxed watching the sunset, walking along the beach. Then we packed up and started heading back to Nelly bay. He did make a stop along the forest to show us fireflies because apparently to some people it is new and exiting, but we have of course seen plenty of them! The tour overall was a lot of fun and I was glad it was just us two on the trip! We hopped on a ferry back to Townsville, dropped our stuff off at the hotel then went out for some pad thai at a new thai, BYO restaurant! This was my first time having thai and I loved it! We also got fried ice cream afterwards! Then we went back to our hotel and relaxed, tired after the long day.
Day 3: Today we were going to go to the Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville which is apparently the largest underwater reef aquarium. I had not been to it yet since I was waiting for my mom to go. Before we went there we walked to Macca’s to have some breakfast. This was my first time having Macca’s breakfast since I have been here, it was pretty good. Then we walked to the aquarium. The aquarium isn’t as big as I thought it would be but there were all kinds of cool fish in there to see as well as some sharks and turtles. We also got to go in the turtle hospital to see hurt turtles they were helping recover, which was cool to see but also kind of sad. Once we were done exploring the aquarium, we walked back and grabbed our beach stuff from the hotel then walked down Flinders street to get a kebab. Kebab’s are common to see around but I had not tried one, it is like a sandwich wrap type deal and they were very good. I had hoped to take my mom up to Castle Hill to see the view but she didn’t like the idea of the big hike up there. So instead we spent the rest of the afternoon on the strand and in the rock pool. Then we ate dinner at the restaurant over looking the rock pool because they had both sweet lip fish and coral trout, which we had heard are good and wanted to try both. The coral trout was amazing and if you get the chance to try it, do! We then went to try and catch a red bus but to our luck, we had just missed it so we ended up walking for a ways and then calling a taxi. When we got back we ended up running into the whole entire Canberra rugby team that was here to play Townsville tomorrow and was staying on our floor; fine by me! Later that night we ended up deciding to take a walk down Palmer Street and have some desert for our last night together; we got crème brulee which was really good but could have been a little bigger! Then we walked back to our hotel room and did some packing since we had to check out the next morning..
Time sure flies when your having fun, the day is already here that I have to send mum back to Wisconsin.. In the morning we got up and got everything packed up for the most part then went to get some breakfast. We went to the Balcony restaurant, which I had been to once before and it was pretty good. The eggs Benedict and the coffee were very good, and they were able to get us out pretty quickly since we were kind of in a hurry. Then we went and got all of our luggage and checkout of the hotel. I walked her up to where the shuttle was coming to get her, and then we had to say our sad good bye.. It was really hard to say good bye after getting used to seeing her again, after being without family for so long. But she was now on her way to Sydney and I had to make my way back to the uni. It was an amazing trip overall, so much fun, we saw SO much, and I am so happy that she came to visit!!!
