Australia Entry 10 - August Highlights

Cairns – August 30

This will be our last blog entry before we set off on our trip to Western Australia. We leave on Monday September 3rd and will be travelling for nearly three weeks across northern Australia en route to Broome. I'm sure our Internet access will be limited and we will not have a lot of time for writing blog entries, so it could be several weeks before we are back with a new post.
We always feel somewhat apprehensive about setting off on a new adventure and our trip to the vast and empty outback of Australia is no exception. We are sad to be leaving Cairns which has proven to be a delightful place for us to spend the “winter” for the last 3½ months. And the thought of nothing but mile after mile of nothing but mile after mile, as we cross to the west coast, is somewhat disheartening. Some of our route will take us through very sparsely populated regions where there are stretches of 400 kms or more between towns (although the word town is a bit misleading as many of the “stops” along the way boast populations of less than 10!) and we are not sure what sort of accommodation will be available. We are planning to try to stay in motels or on-site vans at campgrounds if we can, and will put up the tent if necessary. But, no doubt once we set off, it will seem like another great adventure and everything will no doubt work out fine. All our research and everyone we have spoken with who has driven “across the top”, points to this trip being fascinating and dotted along the way with stunning scenery and amazing sites.. Hopefully our trusty van will see us through and we won't have any troubles along the way. Our next blog entry should no doubt be most interesting!

We have been attempting of finish off all our planned site-seeing this last few weeks and for the most part we have done everything we wanted to here in FNQ (Far North Queensland). This blog entry will record some of the highlights during August.

Our first excursion was to Chillagoe which was written up in our last entry. The Tuesday after we returned to Cairns was our 36th anniversary. It was hard for us to believe that 29 years had passed since we celebrated our 7th anniversary in Cairns in 1978 when we spent 6 weeks here before heading off to Darwin and on to South East Asia. At that time we had gone out to one of Cairns' finest restaurants (probably the only fine restaurant in what was little more than a frontier town in those days). I can remember that we ordered barramundi, a local fish specialty, so we again wanted to have a celebratory dinner at a good restaurant (a much greater selection available now) with local fare. We donned our finest duds and set off for the Red Ochre Grill which Sue had discovered as being highly recommended in our Fodor's guide book. The review by our food columnist follows......

DINNER AT THE ROADKILL CAFE
In my view, the way to celebrate an anniversary is to go out for a posh dinner, so that is what we did at the beginning of August. We chose a restaurant called Red Ochre Grill, noted for its “Modern Australian Cuisine”. This meant that it featured indigenous, native flora and fauna presented in modern innovative ways. It was an excellent choice!

We decided to go for the gusto and ordered the Taste of Australia dinner, a set menu of four courses. The first course was damper (the Australian version of sourdough bread, I'd guess, cooked originally out in the bush by swagmen who liked to waltz with Mathilda – goes great with jolly jumbucks – hmm-- no jumbucks on the menu here) made with ground wattleseed, and served with oil and a ground nut and seed mixture to dip the bread in. It was very tasty! Wattleseeds are from certain types of Acacia trees and have a nutty, coffee-like flavour when roasted.

The platter of appies (which is called the entree here, much more logical than calling the main course the entree as we do in Canada, when you consider the derivation of the word from the French) consisted of small servings of:
Crocodile wontons
Tempura prawns and crocodile
Very thin slices of smoked kangaroo
Emu pate
Smoked tuna
Capsicum (bell pepper to Canadians) omelette roll

all served with complementing garnish or sauce, ... a scrumptious start to the meal. The wontons and tempura were particularly delicious.

For the main course, we had an emu tenderloin with a wild mushroom sauce, plus a kangaroo tenderloin with a quondong sauce. (Quondongs are from a rainforest tree and have a tart, citrusy taste. Cassowaries love them. We have seen lots of blue ones, looking like balls of bubblegum, on our walks, but the ones we were served were red. Robb posted a picture of them in an earlier blog entry) To accompany this there were: saffron rice, baby bok choy and sweet potato rosti. It was all really, really good.

By the time dessert rolled around we were pretty stuffed, but of course couldn't say no. It was even better than the preceding courses – a rolled wattleseed Pavlova with a macadamia filling, served with a wee scoop of Davidson's Plum sorbet (another rainforest fruit, requiring lots of sugar to make it edible – for people – cassowaries love them as is, apparently). It was a divine combination. There was a little misunderstanding when it came time to order the coffee. The waitress asked us if we would we like coffee. We said yes, and she stood there expectantly looking at Robb, finally saying “What kind of coffee would you like?” Robb had forgotten the protocol, and said questioningly, “Coffee coffee?” Now the waitress looked a little puzzled, so I figured it was time to jump in and order my flat white. It then clicked with Robb and he ordered the same. We've discovered that of the myriad types of coffee, such as long black, short black, dople, double doples, machiatos, flat white is the closest to what we like to drink. I'm sure the jolly swagmen weren't confronted by all these confusing choices out by the billabong, and this is one instance where progress is not necessarily better. I'll bet a Starbucks-like place would go over really well, at least with North Americans who just want to go and get a coffee, RIGHT now, and BIG, not have to try and sort out what these coffees actually are before you've even had your mind-revving coffee and then wait minutes for a dinky little cup (admittedly good) that costs twice as much as a BIG cup of FAST coffee in Canada. Oh well.

So, what did we really think of these exotic food items? The fruits and seeds were excellent. The crocodile, a white, tender meat high in protein and low in fat was delicious, surprisingly. The emu was okay but I don't think I'd have it again – I prefer ostrich. And the kangaroo, a stronger flavour than beef, but higher in protein and lower in cholesterol and fat, was excellent. We have tried cooking it a couple of times but it has not been that great, so if I were going to have it again, I'd have it at a good restaurant.

We later found out that the locals call the restaurant the Roadkill Cafe, because it features kangaroo, frequently seen dead on the roads, and other fauna such as croc and emu not found in the typical Aussie diet. But that's okay. It was better than guinea pig. And we ended up with a memorable and definitely delicious dinner. And to top it off, it was a BYOB so the whole meal cost us less than an equivalent great dinner at a comparable restaurant in Calgary would have done.

WHY DOES SUE ALWAYS GET TO SPOT THE SNAKES?

A few days later, we packed up a lunch and set off for Mossman, a small town about 70kms north of Cairns. Mossman is famous for the (aptly named) Mossman Gorge just outside town and although we had visited it in 1978 we wanted to see it once again before we left the region. Our drive took us up along the coast towards Port Douglas and we stopped at a couple of the beautiful beaches along the way that we had flown over a couple of weeks before. Mossman is also home to Australia's smallest and most northerly sugar mill and one of the few to have guided tours during the cane season which is in full swing at the moment. Unfortunately, our timing was off for the mill but we did return a few days later for this interesting tour (see below).

The terrain around Mossman is spectacular. The town is a few kilometres inland and is nestled at the foot of the coastal range rising to the table lands. The dark green of the thick jungle seemed to sparkle in the bright morning sunshine, and the few white clouds circling the peaks of the high hills gave the scene a perfect picture postcard look. As we drove up to the gorge we saw a number of huge wild mango trees which were in blossom along the road. And another interesting site just to the north was a huge multiple-spired tent topped with colorful waving flags reminiscent of some middle ages battle field. And indeed we later discovered that this was a set for a movie being shot in the region by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

Whoever had named the Mossman Gorge was no doubt inclined to the use of hyperbole as it is little more than a rock-strewn river gently cascading down through the forest. IBut the 4km walk up through the forest was interesting as have been all our forest walks and it was lovely to just stand and watch the water sluicing over the rock formations. I'm sure this area would be a much more breathtaking scene in the wet season as run off from the metres of rain that falls here annually would thunder along this waterway. One very notable thing about our walk along the gorge was that we came across the first wild snake we've seen in Australia. We were just stepping out on to an outcropping of rock over the river when Sue let out a little shriek and said “snake”. I was coming up behind and just managed to see a black form slithering down between the rocks, no doubt frightened by Sue's scream. Sue had a good look at it and said it was about 4ft long and shiny black. Later we checked out a poster of wildlife inhabiting the area and found it was probably a Slatey Grey snake (the Aussies are masters of inventive names!!) a non-venomous specimen who was probably trying to catch a few rays before beings so rudely interrupted, something Sue is becoming proficient at (see our entry about her uncovering a snake in Costa Rica!)

In early August we also had some very welcome visitors to stay with us. The daughter of our good friends Neil and Bev from Edmonton, was travelling in Australia for a few weeks with her husband Darcy and friends Mat and Sarah. They had been working northwards to Cairns and stayed with us for a few days while exploring the area. Sue and I really enjoyed their company and hearing about their adventures which tended towards the more “energetic” side than we old fogies generally engage in. Their sailing adventure in the Whitsundays, scuba diving on the reef and tandem sky diving from 14,000 ft all sounded fantastic.

On August 20th we took another excursion up to the Atherton table lands to do the waterfall circuit which is one of the “must do” attractions to visitors here. There are many waterfalls and cascading rivers around this area as the waters make their way from the high tablelands to the sea below and a number of the more spectacular or picturesque ones have become prime tourist attractions. We ascended the twisting road west of Gordonvale through the Gilles Range and headed south to Malanda and on to the small town of Millaa Milla. The town is situated in the midst of some spectacular scenery where herds of cattle graze in beautiful rolling farmlands, this being the centre of FNQ's dairy industry. An eight kilometre circuit just outside Millaa Millaa took us to the Millaa Milla, Zillie and Ellinjaa Falls, each presenting a different formation. I was somewhat surprised to see a good flow of water over these falls despite being in the midst of the dry season. Then again, it has been a relatively wet “dry” this year so there seems to be ample water – a good thing for all the tourists, like us, stopping to gawk.

After a picnic lunch we drove a few kilometres on to the Hypipamee National Park where a short walk took us to a very deep and narrow, but most impressive volcanic crater and the Dinner Falls, a series of small cascades rushing down the hillside. We had another “first” here at this park as we came across a cassowary standing motionless just off the path. It was our first encounter with a cassowary in the wild. At the end of our walk here, we met a park ranger who told us it was just a juvenile about a year old who hung around the parking lot and seemed to have lost its fear of humans.....apparently potentially not a good thing for either species!
We ended our day's tour with a drive through Atherton itself where we drove up a hill to the highest point in the town for a splendid panoramic view of the table lands. It was interesting that at this altitude (around 1500ft) the air was decidedly cooler than at sea level and the strong cold wind blowing at the lookout soon had us heading back to the warmth of the van! (I can't fathom how we will survive a return to Canada in December!!)

A couple of days later we again drove north to Mossman to take the sugar mill tour. We joined a group of about 20 or so and, after an introductory overview of the cane crushing and milling process, we were lead through the mill. We were all issued hard hats and ear plugs as the thunder of the large machines doesn't abate for a few tourists! We started at the entrance to the mill where cane trains shunted the wagons (“canetainers” as they're called), each holding 10-12 tonnes, to a dumping area where the cane, which has been chopped into foot-long “billets” by the harvesting machines, is dropped onto a large conveyor belt and carried to the crushing machines. Cane must be processed soon after harvesting as it starts to deteriorate after 18 hours, so there is a tight schedule of harvesting, loading of cane trains and delivery to the mill. Unlike our Canadian farmers who generally harvest their own crops, all the cane here is cut by a few contract harvest companies and not by individual farmers. Cane harvesters cost 3/4 of a million dollars each, so the investment is too great for individual growers.

Our tour guide escorted us through the hot and noisy mill, showing us various huge machines, crushers, vats, boilers, separaters,driers, etc., all the time holding up various small signs describing what we were seeing, as the constant noise precluded any oral overview. At one point we we able to sample the raw, molasses-like liquid sugar by sticking a finger under a slowly dripping tap connected to one of the large vats. The sugar produced in this mill is still in a raw form and is shipped south to Cairns in large trucks for transport by sea to other refining mills. Over 90% of Australia's mammoth sugar crop is exported. This tour of a working cane processing mill provided us a fascinating and unique insight into one of Australia's main industries. Of note were large chunks of metal that had been pulled from the cane billets by a giant magnet before the cane goes to the crushing machine. The harvester picks up everything in its path. Our guide told us that after Cyclone Larry last year, the magnets really got a workout as there were tons of metal debris, bits of roof, whatever, dumped on the canefields.

On our way back to Cairns, we drove to Port Douglas 15 kms south of Mossman. It was a beautiful day and we had our lunch in the bright sunshine beside spectacular Four Mile Beach which curves around the bay at this fashionable resort area. We had a long walk along to the end of the beach and back before spending the late afternoon sitting on the sand enjoying the sun and reading a book (a not infrequent pastime for us!!)

The weather report for the next few days was excellent with light winds and balmy conditions. (I love the weather reports here which consists of terms such as “fine”, “balmy”, “fresh”, etc.) So on Saturday the 25th we booked a day trip to the outer Barrier Reef aboard the SilverSwift, one of the speedy catamarans which head out to the reef daily. We were up early as we had to check in at the docks just after 7:30, and were delighted to see a cloudless sky and calm conditions. Coffee and muffins were available as we boarded, as were the recommended sea sickness pills and ginger tablets. Sue had already taken some Gravol as she is fairly prone to motion sickness, and I gobbled down a couple of ginger pills, although as it turned out, the seas were the calmest they'd been in a month and I don't think any medication was really needed.

The powerful motors of the sleek boat were soon roaring to full power as we cleared the inner harbour and headed out over the incredibly blue sea towards a series of coral reefs some 50kms offshore. We sat on the sun deck at the stern of the boat enjoying the bright sun and pleasant conversation with a family on holiday from Ireland and a friendly Aussie fellow about our age, from the southern part of Victoria. As we neared the reef we had a briefing on snorkeling, though it was all old hat to Sue and me, and then grabbed our gear in preparation for our first stop.

As we anchored at Flynn Reef, we stood gaping at the awesome beauty of turquoise and deep blue water which here on the reef was dotted with a patchwork of brown-green coral heads stretching several hundred metres to the north and south. A few clouds had formed over the reef but these were to soon burn off leaving a spectacularly sunny day, ideal for diving and snorkeling. There were about 85 passengers on board with about a third of them scuba diving and the rest of us snorkeling in the clear water of the reef. Wet suits were available for everyone and Sue suited up, though I decided to forgo one, at least on the first of our three locations. The wet suit adds considerable buoyancy which, without a weight, would hinder dives below the surface. I love to “submerge” while snorkeling so decided to go without a suit. As it turned out, the water was just fine, (23 or 24 degrees) though after the 45 min excursion, I was starting to get a bet chilled. The snorkeling was great with lots of beautiful coral and colorful fish. We saw a small shark swim by at one point, but nothing else too remarkable....certainly no great whites or giant rays!

Our next stop was Milln Reef 5 kms to the south. After an excellent on-board lunch, we again jumped in. To ward off a chill, I decided to don a wet suit this time, and as I had expected, found that it did restrict my ability to dive deep. At the first reef I had been going down to 20ft or 25 ft to mingle with the divers who were milling about on the ocean floor, but on our second dive I basically stayed with Sue on the surface gliding over the coral heads which were only a couple of feet below the surface. Our second location was even better than the first as the water was crystal clear and the marine life even better. Unfortunately, this was also our shortest swim of the day, and before long we were heading off back towards the coast and our last stop at Thetford Reef. So I (sans wet suit again) and Sue joined one of the crew members who took a group of us on a snorkeling tour around the reef. He stopped several times to pick up some interesting sea cucumbers and urchins from the sea bed and point out other marine life such as incredibly blue sea stars (formerly known as starfish), multi-colored giant clams and various fishes. We left the group to do some snorkeling on our own and eventually (and reluctantly) climbed back on board to end a what had been a marvelous day exploring a tiny portion of the vast Barrier Reef. Our trip back to Cairns was highlighted by the appearance of a pod of whales some distance away . We could see them breeching and spouting spumes of spray from their blow holes as we sped by them ... a bonus attraction to end our trip with.

Trips to the Great Barrier Reef are the number one attraction here and we had one of the best days of the winter for ours. Our trip to Green Island in June had been fun, but this trip had been to the “real” reef and had been an unforgettable experience. It would have been nice to do more excursions like this, but the price is relatively high and we have lots of other things to spend money on! It will be a while till we have another chance to snorkel, though our Aussie friend on the boat told us he believes the reefs on the west coast of Australia are even more spectacular than the Barrier Reef. I'm sure it will be hard to beat this day out of Cairns, but I can't wait to find out!!

We have also had our share of beach time at the various beaches along the coast over the past few weeks, and I have once again included a few photos of the beaches stretching north from Cairns. They are some of the finest beaches we've encountered in our travels and most are almost always deserted. What a dream come true it's been (for me especially) to jump in the car and head to a spectacular stretch of sand whenever we felt like it. Paradise !! As we get set to pack up and leave, some cloudy weather and scattered showers along the tropical coast have again set in for a few days, just like when we arrived here in May. Chances are we'll be wishing for some cloud as we head across the centre where blazing sunshine is constant and day time temperatures are now in the low to mid thirties. We are heading off for a new adventure in this amazing country, but we will always remember our time in Cairns with great fondness, and who knows, another winter here sometime in the future is not outside the realm of possibility.

Goodbye Cairns and thanks for a great time.

The beach at Yorky's Knob ... a long stretch of flat sand and great for walking.

A small cove near York's Knob beach

Windy days would bring out the surf riders

A walk along Holloway's Beach on a fine day

A half kilo of freshly cooked prawns - $5

A bottle of Rosemont Riesling - $9

Fresh vine-ripened tomatoes - $3/kilo

Lunch in the warm sun by a fantastic beach.....Priceless!

Our 36th anniversary was celebrated in Cairns

Dressed up for our anniversary evening out at the Red Ochre Cafe

Driving up to the Mossman Gorge with a large mango tree in the foreground

The river running across the rocks at the Mossman Gorge

On our walk along the gorge

Many tropical vines and palms are covered in thorny growths like this one. You've certainly got to watch what you grab on to!

More scenes along the gorge

Our visitors - Mat, Sarah, Melissa, Darcy and us on our balcony

Some large trees are logged in the Millaa Milla area.

Our first stop on the waterfalls circuit at the Millaa Milla Falls

Our second stop at the Zilie Falls

The Ellinjaa Falls, the last on the circuit

Wild turkeys are a common site in the forests here. This one jumped up to a branch as we walked back from the waterfall

This was the first cassowary we saw in the wild...a youngster

The falls at the Hypipamee National Park

A cane harvester on a break from cutting

This was a can train entering the mill at Mossman where we took out tour

Canetainers entering the mill

The cane harvester removes the foliage and cuts the cane into short lengths.

The cane is dumped onto a conveyer and taken into the mill

Ready for the tour...hard hat and ear plugs

The following are pictures of the machinery inside the mill

Our tour guide had to hold up signs to tell us about the mill as the noise was deafening

This spider must have found the warm interior a good place to build a home!

We stopped in at the beach at Port Douglas on the way back to Cairns

An early morning departure to the reef. Our boat is in the background.

This is the world's largest privately owned sailing yacht which happened to be in the harbour as we headed off to the reef...an impressive site.

The Silver Swift was just that...cruising at 32 knots it only took us an hour and a quarter to cover the 50kms to the outer reef.

A beautiful site greeted us at our first stop of the day

Suited up for our second snorkle trip

Our second location.

Lunch was served just before our second excursion

Getting ready to jump in on our second reef.Robb in the water at our third reef

Robb with a Pineapple Sea Cucumber that one of the crew brought up for inspection

The following photos are some of the shots we took while snokeling. A couple of parrot fish glide over the coral.

A giant clam about 3ft in length some 20ft down. We ecnountered several of these colourful specimens.

A bright blue sea star amidst the coral

Some larger fish near the boat.

We saw lots of these colourful parrot fish

Some gorgeous purple-blue staghorn coral

Homeward bound to Cairns after a great day.And to end off and just for some comic relief....This is a picture of the men's urinal in one of the restaurants along the Esplanade in Cairns. A glass wall looking out onto the back courtyard where there would be lots of diners in the evening. A little daunting for the first time visitor !! (I checked and yes, it is one-way glass! )

The lady's loo continued the theme with this barbed wire motif toilet seat....ouch!