October 11-12, 2023 bus/train to Airlie Beach, Australia

We planned a train ride from Cairns to Airlie Beach, just for the experience.  They were working on part of the track (for years, I am now told), so we boarded a bus in Cairns at 7:30 am and switched to a train about halfway there.   It was a great way to see the countryside.  It was almost 400 miles, so would have taken too much time to rent a car (one way) and drive.

Cairns train station

we passed this train station with a sugar cane refinery behind it

banana trees with the flowers covered

Young sugar cane field.  They grow and cut the sugar cane from the same field for about 6 years.  Then the field is burned to start over

view of the sea at Caldwell

We had a complimentary lunch at a local restaurant in Ingham.  We were given a menu to choose from.  Dave had the rump roast and I had the roast of the day, which was pork.  It was a nice chance to visit with others on the bus.  2 ladies were from New Zealand and gave us some good information.  We continued by bus to Townsville and boarded the train about 3:30.   The train had a dining car.  So we had meat pies and locals beers which we could bring back to our seat.

our lunch cafe

this is the "cane train", it has a smaller gauge track

we saw several ant hills

our seats on the train

wild kangaroos on both sides of the fence

dining car

not much room in the dining car, so took food to our seats

 

We arrived in Proserpine at 7:20pm, which was 16 miles inland.  We thought we would take a taxi or uber into town once we arrived.  I had called the train station to confirm our seats the day before we left.  The agent asked if we had booked seats on the bus to Airlie Beach.  She explained that it was just as quick as a taxi and much cheaper.  She was able to make the reservation for us, which we did.  Once we were on the bus, the bus driver told us that taxis and ubers don't come out to Proserpine.  We would have had a hard time getting to Airlie Beach if we hadn't taken the bus.  That's what we refer to as the "luck of a fool".  We had to let our hotel know that we would be arriving after 5:00.  They left info for us at the office outside.  We had to do that a few places.  They don't have staff at the desk 24 hours.  But the places we have been staying have been smaller places with kitchens vs your typical hotel room.

October 12-We relaxed in our little cabin today.  I did some planning for our trip to New Zealand.  We had a general idea of what we wanted to do, but waited for some things to watch the weather, since it was spring and could snow.   We picked up a few groceries for our room.  It had a kitchenette.

nice variety and explanation of bananas

 

there were parrots right outside of our cabin

In the late afternoon, we walked the beach and chose a restaurant for dinner, Di'Vine Fish.  They were known for their rum bar, so I had to have a mojito, which was very good.

 

Mary's seafood platter

Dave's seafood chowder in a bread bowl

 

October 9-10, 2023 2nd day on Great Barrier Reef

I was up at 6:00am to see the sunrise.  So were Eddy and Amanda.  I told them about my leg cramp and the "sounds of wild sex" coming from our room.  Eddy said we'll know if anyone heard it if we get a thumbs up at breakfast lol.  We had to be back in our rooms by 6:45am for a "bed check" before they started to move the boat.  I guess that's a safety/liability issue.  At 7:30am we had a breakfast buffet.

layout of the boat

had to try the salty vegemite

 At 8:30 we had our briefing to dive/snorkel Troppo's on Normal Reef.  Our second snorkel was on the same reef, different section.    I tried to show the size of the reef in some photos.  But "you had to be there."

 

trumpet fish

wrasse?

triggerfish?

this looked like a large grouper

small clam in the coral

parrotfish

Moorish idols/ Gill in Finding Nemo

butterfly fish

juvenile midnight snapper

trumpet fish

view of the reef from our boat

 After the second snorkel, we had to shower and check out of our rooms by 12:00.  We had a lunch buffet of hamburgers, potatoes and coleslaw.  We hung out in the lounge until we transferred to Sea Quest at 2:30 to take us back to Cairns.  We played cards again with before leaving.  Dave spent a lot of time with the only child on the boat (of course).  She was about 12 and from Spain on board with her mother.  Dave taught her "real magic card tricks", and she had so much fun amazing the other guests.  Her mother thanked Dave for making her trip so enjoyable. 

Here is our impression of snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.  We loved the boat adventure, being on the water, spending the night, good food, and met such interesting people from all over the world.  The snorkeling was interesting to see the huge growth of the reef, larger than we have seen anywhere else.  But the sea conditions were rough which decreased the visibility at times and sometimes made it hard to swim against the waves that crashed over the reef.  There were about 10 snorkelers with varying comfort levels in the water.  One other woman and I kept wanting to go further to explore, but we were always called back to stay with the group.  The different corals and the huge clams were great.  There were a few unique fish that we don't see in the Caribbean.  But there wasn't any large sea life that we hadn't seen elsewhere.  I understand, the reef has been dying over the last 10 years, which may have caused the change.  Maybe it was the time of year, or the weather conditions.  We brought our own snorkel and mask, but used their fins (harder to pack).   I ended up with blisters on my toes.  I would recommend traveling with Neosporin/triple antibiotic cream.  It was not sold over the counter in Australia.  Dave only snorkeled the first location and decided to enjoy the peacefulness of being on the boat the remainder of the trip.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see all that was offered.  We would still recommend the trip to others, especially overnight, maybe make it 2 nights.  It's still an experience of a lifetime if you love the sea.

We were back in Cairns by 4:30 and were taken by bus to our hotel.  We just enjoyed the evening at our hotel with the food we had left there.

Sea Quest, our transfer boat

my beat up toes

 Oct 10-Our next connection to head south wasn't available until tomorrow.  It was actually nice to have some down days between adventures.  That happened a few times because of connections, but looking back, it was appreciated.  We did laundry and enjoyed the pool.  We walked to a nearby Thai restaurant, which have been very good in Australia.  As we were packing, I accidentally spilled a water bottle on the bed.  We had to strip the bed and dry the sheets before we could go to bed.  So much for an early night.