Cairns

Our trip to Cairns began on Thursday 10 July 2008 with frustration at the airport. We could not print out our boarding passes for some reason which meant we had to stand in line forever behind a group of giggling teenage girls, who looked like they were from the US, waiting to check in with a less than competent airline employee who must have been new on the job. We flew Virgin Blue which is an airline similar to Southwest. The lines were very long. We finally got checked in and just made the flight even though we arrived two hours early for a domestic flight. The Bakes had no trouble printing out their boarding passes and breezed right through the check in line.
We arrived in Cairns and found the weather sunny and very pleasant. Our motel was a Comfort Inn but really not much better than a Motel 8 in the US. We were disappointed in the rooms. However, we perservered and had a great time inspite of it.
We checked in, then went for a walk along the Esplanade and the beach. Afterwards we drove to the church which wasn't all that far. Cairns is not a huge city as it is resort town so things are pretty compact.
That night we went out to dinner at a lousy Chinese restaurant - too expensive and not much food. We bought groceries for breakfasts, then retired for the night.
Look at the trunk of this tree.
Elizabeth and Lurleen Bakes.
In front of a big shell.

Every morning I got up early and went out on the Esplanade to walk and run. One morning I took my camera took the following pictures.
Pier in Cairns at sunrise.
Cairns Harbor at sunrise.
Hotels on bay at sunrise.
War Memorial Monument in Cairns.
Interesting sculptures in a swimming pool on the Esplanade in Cairns.

On Sunday we attended church at the branch in Cairns. Below are pictures taken there.
Cairns chapel.
Elder and Sister Oldroyd.
Elder and Sister Bakes.

Cairns

On Friday we spent the day at Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef. The reef itself runs down the east coast of Australia almost to Brisbane. We opted to take the Green Island boat which offered a buffet lunch and a place to relax if we didn't want to spend the whole day on the island. They also provided a glass bottom boat tour of the reef in the immediate vicinity and a submersible sub trip if we didn't want to snorkel. I guess I could have snorkeled but no one else was doing it so I opted to take the glass bottom boat trip. That made the sea choppy so that the views from the glass bottom boat and submersible were cloudy. We tried to get pictures as best we could. What you see here is respresentative of what we took.
Some of the fish would attach themselves to the boat and ride to the reef. It was funny to see this. We were give ginger tablets before we left Cairns in case of sea sickness. Believe it or not, they really worked.
The boat with gift shop on pier in foreground.
Oldroyds on the boat.
Bob and Lurleen Bakes.
Having a good day. Is this look familiar to any of you? Lurleen and Elizabeth
Jay walking from boat to Green Island.
Pier to Green Island

Snorkeling on the reef. Not us.
Great Barrier Reef with Cairns in the background.
Green Island with reef.
On the beach.
Goofing off. Jay and Bob Bakes.
Coral Sea from Green Island.
Submersible sub.
Glass bottom boat.
Glass Bottom Boat
Inside the glass bottom boat.
Fish attached to glass bottom boat. Just holding on for the ride.
Coral and fish.
More fish.
Large angel fish.
More coral.
Very large fish.
More fish.
Bird on a nest on a buoy.
Bird with a nest on the buoy in the middle of the Coral Sea.
Ready for flight.
Leaving Green Island for Cairns.
The trip back was pretty choppy as the wind really picked up in the afternoon.

Kuranda

As part of our tour of the RainforeStation spelling is correct, we visited their Australia Animal Sanctuary. The wallabys and kangaroos were roaming free and we could feed them. The koala bears were a favorite. We had our picture taken holding a koala bear and a two year old crocodile. However, they would not let us take pictures of them and we don't have a scanner to scan them in.
Feeding the wallabys.


Kangaroos.
Koalas. Can't get enough of these furry creatures.

Nice scratch.
Wombat feeding time.
Reptiles
Jack the Ripper.

Jack the Ripper