Cairns, QLD

While there are other towns and cities from which one can get out to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Cairns is generally accepted as “the place” to do so. In fact, the city’s economy is heavily dependent on GBR-based activities.

When Insignia stopped here in 2017, we flew out to the GBR in a helicopter, landed on a pontoon, and after the snorkeling activities were completed, we returned to Cairns by boat. This gave me a chance to see the reef from the air since I am not a snorkeler. Mui enjoyed his time in the water.

Today, he snorkeled the GBR again. This time on a ship’s tour that went out to the Marine World Pontoon. Two hours to get out there … four hours at the pontoon where he spent much of his time in the water … two hours to get back. He said that the coral was hit and miss … 45% living. Colorful fish were plentiful. No stingers to worry about. No images from his experience, I’m afraid, since he can’t process his GoPro footage until we get home.

(Link to our photo gallery from 2017 if you wish to see photos of the GBR from the air … just scroll past all the animal/bird photos from the Dome in Cairns … now closed — https://eenusa.smugmug.com/RTW-2017/Voyage/Cair….)

My plan, while Mui was out on the GBR, was to take the Kuranda Rail up into the rainforest. A solo outing that I was looking forward to. Alas, Tropical Cyclone Jasper, which hit northern Queensland with all its ferocity earlier in December, put paid to those plans. A few days ago, I received notification that due to storm damage to the range, the train service was canceled.

So, I went for a wander around Cairns instead.

To get some respite from the humid heat, my meanderings were centered around indoor venues … with good A/C. The Art Gallery of Cairns and the Courthouse Art Gallery are both small venues and didn’t take up too much of my time. The Cairns Gallery, unfortunately, was closed.

Next, I headed to the Cairns Aquarium where I saw the denizens of the oceans, reefs, and rivers. I guess you could say that I went snorkeling, too … I just didn’t get wet!Meer informatie