A Tourist in Cairns: Rainforest to Reef

(8-13 April 2011)

Left:  Cairns (pronounced “cans”) CBD and marina.

Name anything fun.  Now go to the Cairns tourism web pages and you can bet you’ll find at least 6 tour companies offering all-inclusive this’s and special-discount that’s which will guarantee that you do your fun thing along with a dozen other confused fun-seekers.  In the whirlwind of fliers, pamphlets, and neon posters that plaster the city (and which, I begin to suspect, may actually have structural importance to the buildings and streets themselves) it is quite necessary to be on one’s guard at all times—or rather, on guard of one’s holiday budget.  Just imagine a city with more tourist offices  than gas stations, banks, and grocery stores; perhaps even combined.  The whole economy is set up to lure visitors and reel in the cash.  Of course, there certainly ARE some amazing things to do and see in northern Queensland, and despite this flurry of tour offers, I found Cairns a convenient base, if only in small doses.  And even if I won’t admit that I was taken in by the tour-mania, the facts show that I partook in THREE tours out of that city of temptation.  And I enjoyed every second of each!! 

Right:  cruising out of the Cairns marina, 7am.

When I returned from the Torres Strait on Friday (8 April), I had only to spend one evening in the CBD before making a quick escape to the Marina early on Saturday morning, to join up with the crew of the Rum Runner for our 2-day dive trip out to the Great Barrier Reef!  As we motor-sailed away (not sure what exactly to call it) I was very pleased to see the harbor and city fade away towards the horizon.  Pleased to be out of the city, yes; but on that day, I did a LOT of watching the horizon.  Friday and Saturday had some pretty big swell, and I learned first-hand that the “Great Barrier” only takes care of so much ocean energy, and that big winds inside the reef can stir up some very uncomfortable sea and stomach churnings!  Luckily, skipper and chef Jase didn’t take offense at me losing his delightfully prepared lunch!

Above:  This is how happy I am to leave Cairns, and before we hit the high winds aboard the Rum Runner!  All of my dive equip... ya never know when you'll need 10 pairs of fins that don't fit! ;)

After 3 hours of “finding my sea legs”, we arrived at Michaelmas Cay and I was ever so ready to get off the rocking boat and into the water!  Unfortunately the Coral Sea conditions had forced many other tour vessels to take refuge in the relatively sheltered waters off Michaelmas Cay, so there were a good 80 people already splashing about when we arrived.  Most of the people, however, were snorkelers and beach-goers, and their vessels vacated OUR reef by the afternoon.  After that, the reef was ours for the exploring!  The cay is comprised of a small, crescent-shaped sandy island, surrounded by shallow coral reefs.  Its remote position and scant vegetation means that it is home to thousands of seabirds.  I wish I had time to get a better look at them, but I was busy not getting pooped on while gearing up and getting to the water!

Above:  Michaelmas Cay Seabird Sanctuary.  If you can't tell that it's a bird sanctuary by the looks of it, the noise and smell were quite convincing.  Below:  Dozens of seabird species co-habit this tiny sandy refuge, many have been blown here from across the Coral Sea!  I think they are as excited as I am this afternoon when all the day-trip boats departed.

 As the only scuba diver onboard, I had my pick of dive sites and times, conditions permitting.  Actually, we had a very tiny group of passengers—just 4 of us, and 4 crew!  I guess the icky conditions weeded out everybody but the die-hard adventurers (or those with tight schedules).  Accompanied by as many crew as could be spared for some fun, I did a few 7-12m dives right near the mooring, and a couple on either end of the cay.  The visibility was horrible for GBR standards, but pretty darn great by my California standards!  And I the coral was still just as stunningly beautiful as on any clear day.  Highlights include heaps of green sea turtles and black-tip reef sharks, giant Tridacna clams and lots of Dr. Seuss-ian Sea Whip corals.  On the last dive at Michaelmas, we nearly met face-to-barb with a bull ray, about 2m in diameter.  Ok, maybe just ONE drawback of low visibility, those gigantic deadly stingrays.  Luckily, we were able to take a wide detour before it took much notice of us.  The night dive was less than spectacular, but it was still a night dive, woo!  At one point, we did cover our lights so that we could play around with the bioluminescent plankton, like underwater sparklers!

  

Above:  Sunset over the Coral Sea/GBR!  And gigantic Frigate Birds (spp?) hover above the boat in the wind.  Below:  A somewhat soggy map of Michaelmas cay and dive Saturday's dive sites (Sunday on Upolu Cay, no pics) 

On Sunday morning we pulled anchor and set sail for Upolu Reef, which had no sand cay, but was still a fantastic dive.  Again, viz was crap, but the fishes and corals were crazy enough for my pleasure!  At this point, my perception of the GBR was that it was surprisingly tame!  Nothing had yet jumped out to attack me!  No jelly stings, no sunburn…was I in the right place?!  My Rum Runner trip was simply good times and good dives on a somewhat rough sea.

Above:  Our awesome Rum Runner crew and 3 fabulous guests!!  Below:  The saltwater has gone to my head..and Jase pretends not to notice my nonsense.

We docked in Cairns again on Sunday, I decided to get a more complete view of north Queensland, and visited the nearest tour office (the hostel lobby, naturally) and filled my week with “Experiences of a Lifetime”….on standby rates. ;)  This quest continued with a day of Native Fun with a couple Aboriginal tribes people. 

 

Now, I’m not entirely sure how to describe this kind of tour without hearing the tourism agent chiming in my head, so forgive me if I wind up sounding like her.  Whatever I say, you are in no way legally obliged to book this tour!  (although I recommend it if you go to Cairns, Haha.)  The “Daintree Dreaming” was what I considered my second really touristy activity since I’ve been in the country.  As I’ve mentioned, I have been trying to do my own thing when possible, and a bus full of roudy tourists/backpackers gives me a serious case of no-thank-you-very-much.

Right:  That’s no Batman Signal, the Flying Foxes take over Cairns every night at dusk!

 Above:  Rainforest-covered mountains nearly dwarfed by the surrounding sugar-cane covered landscape.  Below:  Because of all of the new development in Far North Queensland, wallaby populations are being squished into tiny pieces of habitat, shared by domestic animals.  A sad and dangerous fate for this species.

 

But it seems that to “see” the Daintree rainforest, however, the “all-inclusive” day tour seemed the way to go.  Again, I had to spend a couple measly nights on the outskirts of Cairns, but we hit the road early in the morning.  After breakfast, we met up with an ambassador of the Kuku Yalanji (the regional group of Traditional Owners), who took us to the beach at Mossman to teach us about the native plants and animals.  I had no idea that you could eat Beach Almonds, (very common on beaches throughout the tropics and a favorite snack of squirrels and monkeys in Costa Rica) and that they are quite tasty!  After our “gatherer” portion of the morning, it was time to become hunters!  We each got a nice, sharp reed spear (you got to love a tour that allows children to play with real weapons!) and we hit the beach to wade through the shallows on the hunt for mud crabs and fishes.  The knee-deep coastal waters just outside the mangrove forests were shallow yet muddy, so fish were identified as ripples in the water and crabs as either moving shadows on the bottom, or as a painful pinch on the toe!  The guide assured us that there were no crocs (but I suspected that info was a crock of another sort) as we lost sight of our bare feet in the muck.  

Above:  Wading in the dark waters at Mossman Beach hunting mud crabs, I couldn't help but take in this amazing landscape.  Far North QLD is simply splendid!   

Left:  Brandon (Kuku Yalanji) brandishes his spear, which has already impaled several large mud crabs, while I stumble around with my own spear.

After several frustrating attempts at spearing what turned out in most cases to be sunken leaves, by the end of the morning I had finally nabbed a crab!  I was thrilled until I brought it out of the water and observed its pathetic writhing.  Hmm, I guess I’m less a hunter, more a gatherer. ;)  He also took us—again, barefoot—into the mangrove thickets to find “mud mussels”, Nerita and Mudwhelk snails.  After our bucket was filled with muddy, slithery creatures, we headed back to his own house where his wife and mother cleaned and cooked our critters for morning tea.  Everyone in the group was pretty stoked to eat the crab and mussels, of course, but I think I was one of the few who were as excited about devouring the Nerita snails, with which I had been familiarized in Cabo Blanco. ;)

 

 Right:  Aaarrrggh!  Heather the Huntress!  The battle was epic, as you can tell by the tiny flailing crab and my enormous smile. ;)  All that's left of the mud crabs and Nerita snails we collected, a lovely complement to lunch!  

We had lunch and a hike into the Daintree World Heritage rainforest to a nice swimming hole (also reputedly croc-free) then met up with a local artist in Daintree to learn about aboriginal painting and art.  The best part of this (especially with my love of crafts) was that after a gallery tour and lecture, we got to paint our own Burnie Bean!  So, the “story” behind the burnie bean is that it is a transportable medium for pictures and notes, like a notepad…or a text messege, if you throw it at somebody!  But the real fun of this large nut is that it is a favorite “game” of children (and, admittedly, adults) to rub the nut on the ground to build up friction and heat, then BURN your buddy with it (hence the name).  What a great game!

 

 Right:  I enjoy some natural massage therapy!!  Daintree National Park/ World Heritage Rainforest

Observe, the Burnie Bean... becomes a momento to my hunting/gathering success! (after substantial direction by actual aboriginal traditional artists)

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After the tour, instead of bumming around Cairns again after this spectacular adventure, I hopped off the bus in the small classy town of Port Douglas, where I camped for cheap across the street from fancy-shmancy golf resorts.  Sweet.  I have to say that Dougie’s Backpacker Resort was the best accommodation I’ve had in all my travels in Oz.  I loved my tiny quiet rainforest campsite property with lots of hammocks and a nice distance from the bustling tourist district, but just across the street from a spectacular beach!  Aah, I thought, I shall do well here. : )

 Above:  Shmancy yachties at the Port Douglas marina ...contrasted with my tropical escape camping paradise at Dougie's...I wonder if the Yabbo's know that they don't have to pay so much for paradise?? (below) and Basket and Staghorn Ferns adorn many of the rainforest trees near the edges of the streams