Brampton Island, (2, 3, 4)
I'm now back in Cairns where I can update my blog at leisure... Our time there was ok but a bit disappointing because they had some mild tropical storms with quite strong winds and it really spoilt the fun as you couldn't really snorkel properly since the water was all choppy = murky. We were so unlucky as they said it was really unusual for that time of the year. It was SO frustrating. Janet was getting more depressed by the day... she had been SO looking forward to this stop-over but never once pictured it in the middle of strong winds !
So we spent most days hiking around the island instead and made a point to walk between 3-12 kms a day, which was nice as we usually had lovely views of all the beaches - though their true beauty only showed in sunny conditions.
We did have a bit of a go at snorkelling (I even went on a safari snorkelling boat trip) and we saw turtles, rays and some interesting soft & hard corals but nothing like what I'd seen off Heron Island. No way near as many fish either.
The greatest fish we saw (in terms of personality and size and colours) was 'George'. George was a stunning 90 pounds wrasse with a little hump on his head and lovely blue skin with green stripes. He was so tame. The staff would go and feed him off the jetty, every morning at 9:30am on the dot, and he was there 5 days out of 7 and would just take the bait out of their hands. Wrasses are a bit like ... dogs... in the sense that they like being patted. Sometimes a girl from the resort will go down the stairs at the jetty and just sit in the water and he will come on her lap and she will stroke him for a while and he really enjoys it. I had no idea that fish could be as keen on patting as dogs ! But we saw it with our own eyes. George has got 8 wives will you believe and when he dies, the more dominant female will turn into a male over 48 hours and her skin will change from silver to blue & green. How incredible is that ??? Nature is truly amazing...
I was thefore saddened to read in 'Time' magazine, on the way back here, on the plane, that a multinational report says that "by 2050 we will have reduced the world's finny population by 90% - and yet half of what we catch is discarded !" There will come a time where buying tuna, swordfish or salmon will simply be unaffordable and reserved for a priviledged few. We really have abused our power beyond what's acceptable and done 'too little, too late'... SO sad.
Outside that, on the positive side, we really enjoyed our lovely lunches from the restaurant balcony which had the most glorious views of the resort beach... with palm trees in the foreground and all sorts of blues in the water, not to forget the sand strips that made lovely Z patterns. I took some fab shots from there. We were often greeted by colourful lorikeets (all colours of the rainbow - literaly). Purple head, yellow neck, red under their wings, green on top of their wings, etc. Amazing little birds who quite enjoyed sipping the guests' orange juice every time they were not looking !
Our other treat was to see a few wild kangaroos. There were always about 20 hanging around on the golf course at dusk but Janet & I often walked to the jetty (1.5 km away from the resort) at dusk and spotted 2 families of grey eastern kangaroos (the 'Skippy' type) incl. with joeys. As usual, every time I didn't have my camera with me we'd see them, and when I didn't, we would. But Janet managed to get some cute shots of them by the railway line - because to get to the jetty they also had a small railway for guests who didn't value the exercice as much as we did.
They also had some decent in-house movies that we could watch, 5 movies a day at different times. So we killed some time doing that... not ideal but once it's dark, what do you do ? I'm not an avid book reader and I had little energy left by 9pm. Probably because I'd usually over-eaten a bit. The cuisine was 5*, truly memorable. It was actually the best part of it all for me - well, you know how we French like our food... The quality was superb and the buffets were quite lavish with lots of choice, so we made sure we made the most of that as it was all included in our pre-paid package, hey.
I didn't get to try the jet-skiing after all, which was gutting as it looked SUCH fun... but it was $250 for just 2 hours and I just could not afford that. Janet is so sea sick she could not have shared the ride with me otherwise we could have gone half but in this instance we were not compatible... besides, I'm sure I could do this for half the price in South America or Asia... so I'll wait till I can get a better deal. I enjoy new experiences but I hate being ripped off... hum.
We also saw a few interesting birds but not as many as I'd hoped. Many white cockatoos but from a distance only.
Our next destination will be exploring the North end of Queensland.. something I already did with Bruce some 13 years ago, almost to the day, so it'll be interesting to see how much I can actually remember. Whilst at the resort they had a brochure on other Voyage hotels and I fell in love with a photo of their Silky Oaks resort in Port Douglas... tree houses overlooking a river with lots of palm trees... totally lush. Totally luxurious. We called them on the off-chance they'd have late availability and they did ! They actually will reduce the $700/night room to half price as we booked last minute. Fab ! Can't wait... all the 'trip advisor' reports said that 'words could not describe how utterly beautiful this place is'... Having just checked their website the pool alone looks amazing ! We may even stay 2 nights if there aren't too many bugs -- as Janet is really not happy with any cockroaches (one of her phobias). Bugs don't bother me too much, unless they can give me malaria. I'd rather have a cockroach any time for that reason !
Let's just hope Queensland will be more rewarding than Brampton. The problem with beach resorts is that you are SO dependent on the weather AND sun for a good time. The sea turns grey when it's overcast which is just becomes like England then ! (well, slight overstatement here). Whereas the Rainforests always look stunning come rain or shine. So, hopefully we will have saved the best for last !
All will be revealed in due course....
I'm now back in Cairns where I can update my blog at leisure... Our time there was ok but a bit disappointing because they had some mild tropical storms with quite strong winds and it really spoilt the fun as you couldn't really snorkel properly since the water was all choppy = murky. We were so unlucky as they said it was really unusual for that time of the year. It was SO frustrating. Janet was getting more depressed by the day... she had been SO looking forward to this stop-over but never once pictured it in the middle of strong winds !
So we spent most days hiking around the island instead and made a point to walk between 3-12 kms a day, which was nice as we usually had lovely views of all the beaches - though their true beauty only showed in sunny conditions.
We did have a bit of a go at snorkelling (I even went on a safari snorkelling boat trip) and we saw turtles, rays and some interesting soft & hard corals but nothing like what I'd seen off Heron Island. No way near as many fish either.
The greatest fish we saw (in terms of personality and size and colours) was 'George'. George was a stunning 90 pounds wrasse with a little hump on his head and lovely blue skin with green stripes. He was so tame. The staff would go and feed him off the jetty, every morning at 9:30am on the dot, and he was there 5 days out of 7 and would just take the bait out of their hands. Wrasses are a bit like ... dogs... in the sense that they like being patted. Sometimes a girl from the resort will go down the stairs at the jetty and just sit in the water and he will come on her lap and she will stroke him for a while and he really enjoys it. I had no idea that fish could be as keen on patting as dogs ! But we saw it with our own eyes. George has got 8 wives will you believe and when he dies, the more dominant female will turn into a male over 48 hours and her skin will change from silver to blue & green. How incredible is that ??? Nature is truly amazing...
I was thefore saddened to read in 'Time' magazine, on the way back here, on the plane, that a multinational report says that "by 2050 we will have reduced the world's finny population by 90% - and yet half of what we catch is discarded !" There will come a time where buying tuna, swordfish or salmon will simply be unaffordable and reserved for a priviledged few. We really have abused our power beyond what's acceptable and done 'too little, too late'... SO sad.
Outside that, on the positive side, we really enjoyed our lovely lunches from the restaurant balcony which had the most glorious views of the resort beach... with palm trees in the foreground and all sorts of blues in the water, not to forget the sand strips that made lovely Z patterns. I took some fab shots from there. We were often greeted by colourful lorikeets (all colours of the rainbow - literaly). Purple head, yellow neck, red under their wings, green on top of their wings, etc. Amazing little birds who quite enjoyed sipping the guests' orange juice every time they were not looking !
Our other treat was to see a few wild kangaroos. There were always about 20 hanging around on the golf course at dusk but Janet & I often walked to the jetty (1.5 km away from the resort) at dusk and spotted 2 families of grey eastern kangaroos (the 'Skippy' type) incl. with joeys. As usual, every time I didn't have my camera with me we'd see them, and when I didn't, we would. But Janet managed to get some cute shots of them by the railway line - because to get to the jetty they also had a small railway for guests who didn't value the exercice as much as we did.
They also had some decent in-house movies that we could watch, 5 movies a day at different times. So we killed some time doing that... not ideal but once it's dark, what do you do ? I'm not an avid book reader and I had little energy left by 9pm. Probably because I'd usually over-eaten a bit. The cuisine was 5*, truly memorable. It was actually the best part of it all for me - well, you know how we French like our food... The quality was superb and the buffets were quite lavish with lots of choice, so we made sure we made the most of that as it was all included in our pre-paid package, hey.
I didn't get to try the jet-skiing after all, which was gutting as it looked SUCH fun... but it was $250 for just 2 hours and I just could not afford that. Janet is so sea sick she could not have shared the ride with me otherwise we could have gone half but in this instance we were not compatible... besides, I'm sure I could do this for half the price in South America or Asia... so I'll wait till I can get a better deal. I enjoy new experiences but I hate being ripped off... hum.
We also saw a few interesting birds but not as many as I'd hoped. Many white cockatoos but from a distance only.
Our next destination will be exploring the North end of Queensland.. something I already did with Bruce some 13 years ago, almost to the day, so it'll be interesting to see how much I can actually remember. Whilst at the resort they had a brochure on other Voyage hotels and I fell in love with a photo of their Silky Oaks resort in Port Douglas... tree houses overlooking a river with lots of palm trees... totally lush. Totally luxurious. We called them on the off-chance they'd have late availability and they did ! They actually will reduce the $700/night room to half price as we booked last minute. Fab ! Can't wait... all the 'trip advisor' reports said that 'words could not describe how utterly beautiful this place is'... Having just checked their website the pool alone looks amazing ! We may even stay 2 nights if there aren't too many bugs -- as Janet is really not happy with any cockroaches (one of her phobias). Bugs don't bother me too much, unless they can give me malaria. I'd rather have a cockroach any time for that reason !
Let's just hope Queensland will be more rewarding than Brampton. The problem with beach resorts is that you are SO dependent on the weather AND sun for a good time. The sea turns grey when it's overcast which is just becomes like England then ! (well, slight overstatement here). Whereas the Rainforests always look stunning come rain or shine. So, hopefully we will have saved the best for last !
All will be revealed in due course....
posted by Sylvie at 12:04 PM
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