David: Week in Cairns

Okay, so I've posted another mini-novel. I just can't help it! So much to share!! For a reader's digest version, read Allan's post (below this one), which is about 2 sentences long. I'm reminded of one of Lao Tsu's poems..."those who talk do not know, those who know, do not talk...."

All I knew about Cairns (pronounced Kehns, with a silent r, population 130,000) before we arrived is that we'd be staying in a "Kewarra Beach Bungalow" (the guest house of a private home in Kewarra Beach), which is about 20 minutes north of Cairns. (And Cairns is in the state of Queensland, which is the north eastern section of Australia.) I was able to view the street we'd be staying on thanks to Google Earth, and I knew we were a one minute walk from the beach. Nice! I envisioned lazy days sprawled out on the sand, splashing in the warm waters, and eating tropical fruits from a nearby fruit stand....
So when we arrived in Cairns at 9:00am, I shouldn't have been surprised by the heat & humidity, but I was. We sweated our way from customs to a shuttle bus, and it took us from the airport right to the bungalow. The owner, Chris, had left the key in the door, so we let ourselves in. It was a spacious studio with windows all around to view the tropical garden yard, with a small swimming pool in front. I quickly changed clothes into something cooler, and then we were off to buy groceries...We had decided to forgo the small convenience store less than a mile from the bungalow, and head to the nearest shopping center in Smithfield--which ended up being a several mile walk in the blazing sun, without sunscreen. At the halfway point, my feet were fried and I was sweating profusely, so we stopped and waited for the lovely air-conditioned bus to pick us up and take us the rest of the way. At the Smithfield Shopping Center, we ate a wonderful lunch at an organic cafe--can you believe it? An organic cafe in a mall???--and then went shopping for the week's groceries. This is an arduous process of reading tons of labels and comparing prices...and we're still in an English speaking grocery store! What will we do in Japan?
The bus back to Kewarra was full of hormonally-challenged teenagers riding home from school. Within minutes, I felt 16 again, feeling all self-conscious and insecure...wait a minute. I can still feel that way at 47....drat! Anyway, to stop the childhood flashbacks of eating alone at school and being picked last on the football team (nerd that I was) I just tried to breathe and observe their interactions (it was an hour bus ride, so what else could I do?) and this helped me enjoy the ride and get into a relaxed state. To them, I was invisible, and that seemed like a good place to be!

Once home, we put away the food and decided to go see the ocean--I mean, after all, what about my vision of water, sand and fruit stands? What started out as an innocent event ended up as a 4 hour journey of getting lost, and having to walk many miles "the long way" because the tide rose and we couldn't get back to the bungalow without walking through an area that had a big sign saying "Crocodiles live in these woods. Caution!" In addition to that scariness, I had plunked my feet into the bath-tub warm ocean water to stroll along the beach, only to later notice the "No Swimming" sign because of Marine Stingers (jellyfish). Another sign showed that in addition to normal jellyfish, there are deadly jellyfish the size of a thumbnail, and a sting is not immediately noticeable. But if nausea comes, with a feeling of impending doom, you're toast.
Lovely.
So I said some prayers, and we left the beach only to encounter a toad that we later found out shoots poison from it's mouth if provoked. Good thing we were polite. After walking for what seemed like forever, trying to find the way back to Kewarra with the sky growing dark, Allan pointed out a snake crossing our path. Toto, we were not in Oregon anymore. Can we go back to Sydney, I wondered? Oh, and I forgot to mention the dengue mosquito. It's made 500 people deathly ill in Cairns, and Chris later told me, "You don't want to get stung by a dengue mosquito..." I thought again about "What you fear appears", so I just had to get rid of all these frightful thoughts of Snakes and Stingers and Toads, Oh My! and turn into Pollyanna about the tropics. It's so warm! So beautiful! I love the sound of those screaming birds...and is that a monkey I hear? This is great!!! What a romantic place to be with Allan! I flopped into bed after dinner, clutching the sheet around my neck, forcing a smile as I tried to make myself go to sleep...Maybe I am 16 after all. I think I want to call my Mom.

But actually, after a good nights sleep (waking occasionally to hear the wonderful rainstorm) I awoke to a new day, and a more benevolent rainforest. (Did it change, or did I relax?) Next was to decide what we wanted to do all week. At first we said, Nothing! Let's just stay here and relax! Allan thought he'd read his novel on Pugin! I thought I'd meditate until I enlightened! But within minutes we had the whole week planned, with an event for each day. Mosquitoes and relaxation be damned! However, this meant we'd need to rent a car next time we went to Cairns, since many of the attractions we selected were not a bus ride away...

Here's a recap:
FRIDAY: Cairns
We took the bus to Cairns and walked around the city, including their botanical garden. The city is not all that large, and appears to be primarily a tourist destination of Australians and Japanese. There were lots of shops and restaurants, and even some live music. We went to the large produce market and bought some Lady Finger Bananas (tangy flavor, sort of like it was infused with plain yogurt) and Sugar Bananas (loved the Sugar Bananas!!! You MUST eat one when you get the chance! Paper thin peel, with a dense, almost juicy texture of fruit. Hints of pineapple and mango...or is that coconut I taste? Or peach? Such an orgy of delicious fruit flavors!) We also bought a papaya (it's been years since I had one of those) and a "custard apple", something neither one of us had ever seen. (Read Allan's blog for more on the custard apple and bananas in Cairns....) They were selling fresh sugar cane juice, which we later tried. (Sweet, yes, but not as sweet as we expected.)

SATURDAY: Cairns and Paronella Park
We started out with breakfast at a different organic cafe in Cairns (way to go, Cairns, with two organic cafes!) Then we headed to the beach. Since no one can really swim in the ocean right now (the marine stingers are present from November to May) most people swim at this enormous public pool on the beach. So we decided to spend some time swimming there, and enjoy the sunshine. Then we got in our rental car and headed south for a 90 minute drive to see Paronella Park. Leave it to Allan to find the only castle in Queensland! It was built by a Spanish immigrant, Jose Paronella, in the late 20's, and opened to the public in 1935. In it's heyday, it was a hub for food, dancing, and entertainment, and people would travel 3 hours from the nearest town (or the whole day from Cairns) to see it. In the 40's it was hit by a flood that destroyed much of it, and following floods and cyclones took their toll as well. After Jose's death, his children eventually sold it, and it fell into ruin in the 70's and 80's, until the current owners bought it and made it into the park it is today. Even though it's nothing but a shell of it's former self, there is a feeling of love that permeates the grounds, and it was voted the #1 attraction to see in Queensland. Read more by clicking here.


SUNDAY: Port Douglas
After a relaxing morning, we drove 45 kilometers north to Port Douglas, which is a more exclusive beach town with a 4 mile long beach! We wandered around the town, and I bought a necklace pendant of an opal. It's part rock, part opal, so when the sun hits the stone, you see flashes and streaks of green, blue, and yellow light. It's really beautiful. o see the work of the artist I bought my pendant from, click here. (The majority of the world's opals come from Australia, so what a better place to buy another piece of jewelry!)
That evening, we watched part 2 of a 2008 BBC miniseries called Lost in Austen on TV. (We saw part 1 in Sydney) It was such a great show--we really enjoyed it. If you are a Jane Austen fan, especially of Pride and Prejudice, you must try and see it. The DVD is available on Amazon. (As the story goes, present day Amanda Price is a frustrated romantic who discovers a gateway in her flat to her favourite world - the world of Pride and Prejudice. But is the “true” story in danger of being thrown off track by her presence?) We also rented The Jane Austen Book Club, which is a good fix for any Austen fan.

MONDAY: Green Island
Green Island is a 'coral island' in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. We took a 45 minute boat ride to this island so that we could see the reef. The entire reef is as long as our west coast, from Seattle to Los Angeles, and it is visible from the moon! We talked to a guy from Germany, who had scuba dived here 15 years ago, and then again this week. He said he noticed a lot of change, and I have read that global warming and pollution are endangering the reef--yet none of this was mentioned the entire day on the reef from the tour operators...we found that odd. When friends heard I was going to the reef, they said, "Are you going to snorkel? Scuba dive?" I only snorkeled once in my life, and the minute I put my face in the water, I inhaled it. Maybe I'm just not that skilled, and it's really rather easy, but I just haven't wanted to try it again. Luckily, Allan's not a snorkel guy either, so we went on a lovely glass bottom boat! (Prima Donnas!!) We could see amazingly well, and it was so beautiful to see the diverse coral formations and all the colorful fish! We had a more intimate view of the reef when we then went on what they call a 'semi-submersible' boat, which allows you to sit and see out, not only down. Loved it! Below is a little movie of our experience:











(Don't you love how the guide speaks of eating fish and chips as we're marveling at the sight of all the beautiful fish?)


TUESDAY: Kuranda
Read Allan's blog on his "chance encounter" in Kuranda....
My only addition is this:
In Kuranda, which is sort of like a hippie town with lots of artists and cafes, we got to see some of the wildlife from the area. Did you know that koala bears only wake up to eat? We saw 4 sleeping in a tree....Did you know that all offspring of kangaroos are called Joey? I got to feed a kangaroo, which was really exciting, plus see a Joey crawl out of his mother's pouch and nurse--then they both hopped away, which was so cool to see! They're so cute! We also saw some crocodiles, which we admired from a distance. (They are also sorta cute in their own way, especially how they sleep with their mouths open.)
Upon leaving the Kangaroo area, we were herded through a market place where they were selling kangaroo meat and pelts. I'm sorry, but isn't that a bit disturbing? It's how I feel when I go to the zoo and see people eating animals while they're admiring them...(Don't get started, David. You'll lose your blog audience!)


Tuesday the 17th was our last full day in Cairns, and it was also our 4th year anniversary--4 years of being with such a kind, loving, funny, and generous man, and now we were here in Cairns, celebrating the event by going out for dinner at the nearby Kewarra Beach Resort--they even had a vegetarian menu! (Goodie! No Kangaroo meat!) Over a delicious dinner of Caesar salad (no anchovies!), polenta with roasted vegetables, pumpkin gnocci, and apple rhubarb tart with cinnamon ice cream, we reminisced about the past year...the highlights and the lowlights (which we could gratefully laugh--and learn--about), and reaffirmed our love and respect for each other. What a great day, and a beautiful place to be!
It's funny how after a few days, the scary tropics we arrived at became a lovely paradise to savor and gratefully enjoy.

Now we head for Japan...the real test. New Zealand and Australia were sort of like visiting exotic places in the US, where people just talk a little funny. But Japan?? Different language, different culture, different food, different everything. So here comes the test of being present, with an open heart and an open mind as I enter the unknown. I can't wait.

P.S. And yes, water does swirl counter-clockwise down the sink drain, south of the equator. We witnessed it first hand!