A lot of things

We’ve done a lot of things from the last time I posted.

21 December – Transfer to Cairns

We wake up at 3 am to go to Melbourne and take the airplane that leave at 7 am. The way is quite long, about 1 hour and half and we also had to give back our car to Hertz and to phone to the CityLink to pay our passage.

We arrive in Cairns at 9.20 am (3 hours of flight minus one hour of DST). In Queensland they are on the tropic, so no need of DST.

Cairns is more relaxed of the rest of Australia: you can touch that they are at the warm for the whole year. No customers at our arrival, the bus shuttle is incredibly in late and the man at the booking desk makes some mistakes in booking and so on.

We arrive, finally, to the Gilligans. Our Lonely Planet Guide says The Ritz of all hostels. Effectively, it is. Inside there is: the most incredibly fruit market I’ve ever seen, pool, internet café, casino, gaming room, night, disco, BBQ for self-cooking, wet T-Shirt contest on sunday and so on.

We leave luggage and make a city tour. It is fantastic. It is like to be in an American movie, but with Australian features (boomerang, didjeridoo, Australian with big leather hats…).

On the Esplanade there is the Lagoon. A pool with crystal water, degrading from 10 cm to 1.5 m. There is a park, public BBQ again, picnic facilities.

But why a pool in front of the ocean? Because this is period of killer jellyfish and it is not a good idea to take a bath in the ocean.

In the evening we meet Debi and Gunn, our Cairns exchangers. They are friendly and nice (I’m starting to think that all Australians are friendly and nice) and the home is so big that can contain main at least three times. And it is completely surrounded by tropical rainforest.

In front of the bedroom windows there is a spider. It is 7 cm long, but it only eats fly. Whew…

22 December – Green Island

Ok, the Island is surely Green. It has rainforest also on the beach.

Here we can swim in the ocean (no jelly-fish) and Gianni and Santi does some snorkelling. Alessandra doesn’t like putting her head under the water. On the boat we take, they give us the snorkels and also a lycra suite (no photo at all, I’m perfectly spherical inside that suite).

We take a walking tour on the island. It’s hot, but we fear worst. The rainforest is fantastic.

Before leaving we have a tour on a glasses submarine, and we see a lot of strange fish and corals.

We arrive finally at the new home. We have a lady cat (Smookie), 5 chickens, frogs in the garden, noisy insects and birds in the forest.

23 December – Kuranda

We go to Kuranda via Skyrail. It is a cableway with gondolas which passes just meters above the rainforest canopy. Two times, going to Kuranda, you can stop and walk on rainforest panoramic boardwalks.

The rainforest is really a fantastic place to see. We also have a nice view of Barron Falls.

Kuranda is nothing special. It is a tourist village and its markets have things that you can find in all souvenir shops.

There is a Conservation Centre inside, but the Phillip Island one is incredibly better. This one seems more a zoo.

Before coming back to Cairns we have a walk along the river and in the rainforest and it is really amazing.

At the end we take the Kuranda Scenic Railway. A train that resembles an ancient one and a fantastic view during the trip.

Trip to and from Kuranda are the better trips we could have in the rainforest.

24 December – Atherton Tablelands

Tablelands is a very good name for this place. This land is a green table. You can see the sky as you are on the ocean. It is a astonishing view and you can feel the infinity.

We stops in Mareeba to go to the Coffee Works. It is more than a Coffee shop: they have a museum of coffee-related devices, you can taste over 20 kinds of different coffee blend, you have a guide that explain you how them work with coffee.

Have you seen their brochure on the web? It is all true. Eventually also better.

The Curtain Fig Tree is an amazing thing. It resembles an old sleeping giant, dressed only with his own beard.

We go on the Milla Milla Falls circuit. Better for us are the Ellinjaa falls.

We have a bath in Lake Echam and than we go to see Lake Barrine and Lake Tinaroo. But we are really tired at the end.

Finally, this morning, on 25^th, we have phoned our family via Skype. They are having dinner while we are having breakfast.

It is very strange for us a Christmas with warm weather. It seems more a summer holiday (and it is, effectively).

Merry Christmas to all our readers.