It was nice to dock at a harbour and get a bus into town, especially as we had a friendly local guide, on the way in, telling us about the town. After a couple of days at sea, it was a nice change to go into town to stretch our legs. We were dropped off at the tourist information centre, where we were met by even more local guides to help us familiarise our selves with the town. We crossed the road and as we logged on to the free Wi-Fi, a local dance group entertained everyone with a few dances. I decided to sketch them, but looking at the sketch, if any of them ever see it, I must apologise, as I made the mainly female group look like men! As my excuse, they were all in black and wearing bowler hats! After finding a drink, as the heat was quite extreme here we set off to go down to the seafront. Here, as in a lot of the places we visited, the bathing area was partitioned from the sea for safety reasons; those pesky killer Jellyfish again, and there was also a nice Lagoon area with man made waves. Again as we didn't have our costumes, we could only watch people cooling off. Also, in this case you had to pay to enter and we didn't have much time to enjoy the facilities. ;We wandered further and went into a small park overlooking the coast here we came across several Aborigines for the first time on our trip, relaxing in the shade.
Unfortunately, we had to leave early as they were closing some of the roads, as the Commonwealth Games Torch was coming through the town later that day and crowd were expected. We enjoyed our visit and even saw the town's answer to the decorated cows and elephants, that we had seen displayed for charity, around many cities in the UK.
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There were times when it was too hot for us to sit out, and a couple of times it was too windy. On these occasions, it was nice to find somewhere quiet to sit. Sometimes we would read; on other times. I would sit and draw whilst Sue wrote or typed up her notes. The first place we tried was the library. This was a lovely quiet room but unfortunately there were only three desks to work on. Also it could get quite hot in there with no air conditioning. I was lucky enough to get a desk a few times and managed to capture images of some of the other people working or relaxing in there. Eventually, we settled on the Spinnaker lounge; a large area on Deck 13, at the front of the ship. This was usually quiet most of the day, apart from when they had activities, such as dance classes or the daily quiz going on. Here, we could both get a table and I had a change of venue to draw the people relaxing there. We also had an excellent view of where we were going, although most of the time it was just the sea and sky. ,We spent several hours there Sue typing and myself sketching. It was a nice change to relax and, as with all cruise ships some areas can be rather crowded. As I enjoy sketching people this was an excellent venue.
After renewing ourselves with Cairns town centre, we decided to look at the trips available and explore further afield. There was one; that visited a beach, some lakes and the Botanical Gardens. We chose this as it seemed the most interesting. After the tender into Yorkey's Knob, we picked up the tour bus. Things did not start well, as it was the driver we had returned with the night before. He told us all the same points of interest he had already talked about. We then arrived at Palm Cove a beautiful stretch of beach, which was not the area on the itinerary, we were supposed to visit. We had a ten minute talk about the perils of going into the water, complete with pictures and a test tube containing examples of the deadly jellyfish that could be found in the sea at this time of year. With some trepidation, we ventured off the bus for a twenty minutes walk. Again, it seems such a shame that the only place you can swim is a small area netted off for protection. We did see two men collecting jellyfish in special nets and wearing protective wet suits. On one end of the beach was a lovely rock outcrop, which I decided was interesting enough to sketch. Next stop was the Botanical Gardens. Here we had thirty minutes to wander around an area you couldn't cover in a day! Still, we managed to see a small part of it and had an interesting time looking around one of the greenhouses. Here there were some really impressive plants, including the trumpet shaped ones below. We still had the lakes to visit and a view of traditional Queensland houses. The coach set off and on the way, the houses were pointed out to us; the same ones we saw on our way into town before!
As for the lakes they never materialised and we soon found ourselves back in Cairns to be dropped off if we wished. We decided that we would stay on the coach and get back to the ship early and relax. Not a trip that was as advertised, although the two main drop-offs were worth seeing, as we had not visited them before when we were last in Cairns. However, arriving back an hour earlier than stated in our timetable, we did feel a little cheated. Trips on cruises are not cheap! We considered complaining but after hearing about the compensation received by one fellow traveller; 4 chocolates at bedtime, we gave it a miss! We later heard that the same lady complained often and fully appreciated the sweet delight left in her cabin each evening! After our day at Airlie Beach, we were now anchored at Cairns; a place we had visited three years ago. It was interesting to revisit and remember some of the places we had been to. We decided against doing any of the trips on the first day, as we had already seen most of the sights that they were going to. Instead, we caught the coach into town, after getting a tender into Yorkey's Knob, as there is no harbour in Cairns yet big enough for the larger cruise ships. We were dropped off on the main road near the Lagoon. Again, the shoreline is quite poor when the sea is out and this bathing area is a superb amenity to make up for this. It also has some impressive fish sculptures on show. We decided to walk along the seafront to enjoy the area before going into town. They are still developing the promenade and when finished, this area will have lots of amenities for families and will enhance the town as a tourist centre. A huge sea aquarium has been built since we were last here. As we walked along, I quite liked the skyline and decided to paint this scene. A slight change for me as I normally like to include people. After walking along the front, we crossed the road to have a look in the shops and to find somewhere to have refreshments. Suitably refreshed and after buying a couple of souvenirs, we decided to have some culture and found the art gallery. As we entered we were drawn into the world created by the artwork below. This was a superb collaboration; resulting in some stunning artwork, and we spent ages looking around the exhibition. Showcasing the hauntingly beautiful collaboration between acclaimed artist Del Kathryn Barton, celebrated director Brendan Fletcher and award-winning visual effects house Method Studios, this milestone exhibition traces the interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s 19th century classic through a sophisticated artistic lens. A shining example of multidisciplinary partnerships across the creative arts, Oscar Wilde’s The Nightingale and the Rose has its genesis in a commission by Art And Foundation (previously Art & Australia), who asked Del Kathryn Barton in 2010 to reimagine a timeless fairytale. Layered with a stirring score by Sarah Blasko and voiced by some of Australia’s most celebrated actors, including Mia Wasikowska, Geoffrey Rush and David Wenham, the film is an intense but remarkably ethereal gesture to the tragic earnestness of Wilde’s tale. Featuring a selection of Barton’s evocative artworks, including never-before-seen handmade props, alongside material from the production archives and a screening of the short-film, ACMI’s Del Kathryn Barton: The Nightingale and the Rose reveals the extraordinary workings behind this captivating animated picture. By now we were getting thirsty again and remembering that the last time we visited Cairns there was a very reasonable eating place in the Casino, so we made our way there. The first thing that met us was a new feature; an interactive sea scene on the floor. As you walked across it, the fish swam out of your way. We played here for a while and then went for refreshments. We had been told about the small zoo on the roof and decided to visit that. Because it was getting late it had just closed; although we did get to see the Koala. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to abseil over the crocodile enclosure, although I'm not sure our travel insurance would have covered that! We also missed a small rainstorm but had an excellent view of the rainbow over the bay. An enjoyable first day in Cairns but one thing we won't miss, is the road where the trees are full of fruit bats. These made a hell of a noise and at sunset started to fly out looking for food.
Our next port of call was Airlie Beach, which sounded a nice idea, but, in fact, a place we knew nothing about. On arrival, we walked along the shopping street finding the usual clothes and souvenir shops. There were also some interesting bars along the main street. As we cut down a side street, we came across the lagoon and sunbathing area. This was a large pool cut off from the sea. It was easy to recognise the holiday makers from our cruise because of the brightly coloured green and white striped towels. On this hot day, we realised we should have brought our costumes, but it was too late now. As we wandered down the beach, we were impressed with the tranquility of the place and sat to relax for a while. It seemed a shame that the beach wasn't used more, but it was 'stinger' season and the sea in this area was filled with poisonous jellyfish. One of the downsides of the tropics! As, in the past, we stopped to leave our mark with a couple of sculptures made from found objects. After a rest, we wandered back into the town for a drink and something to eat. We noticed many backpackers around the town and wondered where they stayed. As we walked up one of the side streets, we found the backpacker village. Airlie Beach seemed to be a mecca for young people; a place to stop off during their travels around Australia. This was quite an impressive set up with cabins, a laundry area, communal kitchen and eating area. No slumming it in this town! After exploring further, we started to make our way back via a small selection of market stalls. Here we stopped to admire some of the handcrafted goods, as well as the usual clothing stalls. We ended the visit with an ice cream and decided that this was a really nice place to stop and relax for a day; with just enough to see and do.
One thing we hadn't experienced on a cruise before was a lot of days at sea. Normally, we are in a different port each day with only an odd day at sea. This time as it was an eighteen day cruise covering a long distance and we had seven days at sea. One of the first things most people think of on a holiday is sunbathing and this was no exception. Like many holidays abroad there was an early rush to reserve sunbeds, although the towels were supposed to be removed if unattended for an hour. As with most hotels and ships there didn't seem enough beds at peak times. Sue and I are no longer sun worshipers and tended to go out at about 10.30 for somewhere to sunbathe. By then some people had finished and there were beds free. We would then go for lunch and go out again to find a new sunbed at about three o clock as by then the heat usually had cooled by then. We were lucky to find a bed or somewhere to sit most days. There were two decent sized pools and because of the time of year not many children were on the cruise, so there was always space in these. One incident showed how silly some people can be. We were on a sunbed near the Jacuzzi, when some people decided to join an already full one to try and set an entry into the Guinness book of records for the most people in a small place! This resulted in an overflow and we quickly had to move anything off the floor and it resulted in the Jacuzzi being broken for a few days. These sea days gave me an excellent chance to relax and a chance to capture some interesting sketches. I could sit and capture the people relaxing in the sun and unlike a lot of places, they weren't moving all the time.
In a later blog I will mention other activities on the ship. |
AuthorPhilip Westcott Categories |