Last update from Australia ! (26 Nov 06)
The following morning I was miles better and was ready to explore Cape Tribulation a bit more. More walks to the beach, etc. It is the only place in the whole world where two World Heritage Areas meet - the rainforest and the Reef (at high tide). It is a magical place, no bigger than a quarter of 1% of the total landmass of Australia but with 50% of its wildlife !!!! Amazing !!! We never saw a cassowary again but still relished the memory, especially as more and more people told us how lucky we had been to see one so close. At 11am we decided to head back South as we wanted to have lunch in Port Douglas (and browse through some more shops). I bought more post cards (visual stuff, my kind of stuff) and Janet was still looking for some pretty jewellery and Xmas gifts...
We then continued South and reached Mareena again where they have Granite Gorge, a special place where the rock wallabies still have a stronghold (they are almost extinct everywhere else in Australia). We got there at 3pm and couldn't bring ourselves to leave before 5pm. We were... in love, all over again. These little critters are just as adorable as all the other similar 'roos that we'd seen and a few females (who looked too young to be mothers already) had a few joeys popping their heads out of their pouch. But far too young to be out of the pouch yet (they had no fur and looked bald - not the prettiest little things though I did take a few great shots of them with their little faces out). We had a ball... we saw 4 coach loads of Japanese tourists come and go in 30mns. They were only 10mns and had to dash back on the coach... after a session of intense photographying. One little boy was totally transfixed by the kangaroos. They too grab your hand quite firmly when you put roo food in it. Some positively enjoyed being stroked whilst others were a bit too shy. We saw about 25 out of the 150 they have. They are still wild (though you wouldn't think so) and will still other things during the day... in fact, they were very 'shallow' as they only wanted to befriend you when they could smell you had food !!!
I then went to have a swim in a natural swimming hole (made a bit deeper thanks to a man made weir) and when I came back, we had no food left and they didn't even look at us. We were gutted... and pleased at the same time, as it's best for them not to be too dependent on humans.
We then enjoyed a drink overlooking a superb vista, spreading for miles... all the Japanese tourists had long gone, it was so peaceful. Just Janet & I and a few beautiful birds (including the pink cockatoos). More photo ops. We even saw many Ulysse butterflies (vivid blue) when we were driving around... another visual treat. Everywhere you go in Australia dogs are banned, even on a leash. I have no idea how people can have pets here, you cannot take them on any walks in the National Parks, etc. It seems a bit of a shame. Not sure why that since nothing has rabies here.
After a rushed meal (30mns, no more) we had a quick look at a platypus viewing platform, but to no avail. We then went on a nocturnal tour that we'd have booked starting at 7:30pm, as a desperate last attempt to see the Lumholtz's tree kangaroos (they look SO cute, like the sloth in the Ice Age ! That kind of face, if you know the one...). As they are so elusive, we thought we'd enrol the help of an expert who sees them 80% of the time...
We spent 2 hours with torches and binoculars looking for them, in vain. It was SO frustrating as we knew it was our last chance, maybe ever, unless we come back to this particular area, to see them. We did see many possums though, and they were totally adorable. We spotted 15 coppery brushtail possums (all brown and fluffy, and who tend to sit around on their trees as if they were waiting to be told off, real cute) and, cuter still, our award winner for the day was the green ringtail possums (again, supposedly quite rare we managed to spot 7). They are grey with a white stripe around their eyes and long eye lashes (a bit like the rabbit in Bambi!). They looked so cuddly, and can form a perfectly round ball when they sit in a certain position. We even saw a few with their joeys on their backs ! I have no idea how the little fellows managed to hang on when mummy was going high up because their fur are so silky, you kind of expected them to slide down any minute... but no, years of practice I guess ! It was a great evening regardless as it was just like a treasure hunt, looking for 2 red eyes in the dark (it's the only way you can spot them, you have to find the reflection on their retinas). They were 4 of us and it was a true case of 'all for one and one for all' as whoever found a creature felt really proud as their findings would benefit the whole group and provide great enjoyment ! :)
Driving back to Cairns took us 1h20 and poor Janet was brain dead on arrival... We have now checked out of our hotel and I've only got 5mns left and have to see Janet very shortly at the pier for lunch. We're flying to Hong Kong in 3 hours. I cannot afford to bring much back, maybe a couple of photo books on rainforests and reef by Peter Lik (we saw another stunning gallery in Port Douglas, the guy is truly massively talented... ) and that's it.
I cannot imagine being back in London in 24 hours where it will be dark by 4pm. I cannot imagine facing the jet-lag where we will be +10 hours in our head... by lunch time on Monday it'll be bed time for me already... ahhhh... There's always the next venture to look forward to... we'll keep on planning to keep going till then.
PS - not sure why this post didn't 'paste' when I typed it from Australia... and since I never check my own blog, it's taken me *this* long to realise this, hum...
PS2 - Our Novotel room at HK airport was superb (we got a free upgrade - it even had a glass wall between the main room and the bathroom, with a wooden sliding door option as an option for those who didn't want to be 'spied upon' whilst having a bath --- a bit kinky if you ask me!). This should have all been wonderful except that our luggage had been checked through all the way to London so when we landed we had *nothing* to sleep in... just our hand-luggage. After debating for one hour whether we should wait for the said luggage to be retreived from Cathay Pacific's warehouse we eventually felt it made more sense to just go to our hotel and make do with what we did have. As we'd been given an upgrade they had lots of freebies (incl. tooth brushes) so it worked fine. They delivered our suitcases again at the hotel first thing in the morning. As a result we then missed the shuttle bus back to the airport and had to pay for a cab instead. Thankfully the cost was minimal (like $5 or so) but US$5 in HK money can buy you a lot (i.e. white flower oil bottles to soothe aching pains, or great cookies!). It is such a lovely airport, I managed to enjoy the atmosphere even though we didn't go back into HK that time.
The following morning I was miles better and was ready to explore Cape Tribulation a bit more. More walks to the beach, etc. It is the only place in the whole world where two World Heritage Areas meet - the rainforest and the Reef (at high tide). It is a magical place, no bigger than a quarter of 1% of the total landmass of Australia but with 50% of its wildlife !!!! Amazing !!! We never saw a cassowary again but still relished the memory, especially as more and more people told us how lucky we had been to see one so close. At 11am we decided to head back South as we wanted to have lunch in Port Douglas (and browse through some more shops). I bought more post cards (visual stuff, my kind of stuff) and Janet was still looking for some pretty jewellery and Xmas gifts...
We then continued South and reached Mareena again where they have Granite Gorge, a special place where the rock wallabies still have a stronghold (they are almost extinct everywhere else in Australia). We got there at 3pm and couldn't bring ourselves to leave before 5pm. We were... in love, all over again. These little critters are just as adorable as all the other similar 'roos that we'd seen and a few females (who looked too young to be mothers already) had a few joeys popping their heads out of their pouch. But far too young to be out of the pouch yet (they had no fur and looked bald - not the prettiest little things though I did take a few great shots of them with their little faces out). We had a ball... we saw 4 coach loads of Japanese tourists come and go in 30mns. They were only 10mns and had to dash back on the coach... after a session of intense photographying. One little boy was totally transfixed by the kangaroos. They too grab your hand quite firmly when you put roo food in it. Some positively enjoyed being stroked whilst others were a bit too shy. We saw about 25 out of the 150 they have. They are still wild (though you wouldn't think so) and will still other things during the day... in fact, they were very 'shallow' as they only wanted to befriend you when they could smell you had food !!!
I then went to have a swim in a natural swimming hole (made a bit deeper thanks to a man made weir) and when I came back, we had no food left and they didn't even look at us. We were gutted... and pleased at the same time, as it's best for them not to be too dependent on humans.
We then enjoyed a drink overlooking a superb vista, spreading for miles... all the Japanese tourists had long gone, it was so peaceful. Just Janet & I and a few beautiful birds (including the pink cockatoos). More photo ops. We even saw many Ulysse butterflies (vivid blue) when we were driving around... another visual treat. Everywhere you go in Australia dogs are banned, even on a leash. I have no idea how people can have pets here, you cannot take them on any walks in the National Parks, etc. It seems a bit of a shame. Not sure why that since nothing has rabies here.
After a rushed meal (30mns, no more) we had a quick look at a platypus viewing platform, but to no avail. We then went on a nocturnal tour that we'd have booked starting at 7:30pm, as a desperate last attempt to see the Lumholtz's tree kangaroos (they look SO cute, like the sloth in the Ice Age ! That kind of face, if you know the one...). As they are so elusive, we thought we'd enrol the help of an expert who sees them 80% of the time...
We spent 2 hours with torches and binoculars looking for them, in vain. It was SO frustrating as we knew it was our last chance, maybe ever, unless we come back to this particular area, to see them. We did see many possums though, and they were totally adorable. We spotted 15 coppery brushtail possums (all brown and fluffy, and who tend to sit around on their trees as if they were waiting to be told off, real cute) and, cuter still, our award winner for the day was the green ringtail possums (again, supposedly quite rare we managed to spot 7). They are grey with a white stripe around their eyes and long eye lashes (a bit like the rabbit in Bambi!). They looked so cuddly, and can form a perfectly round ball when they sit in a certain position. We even saw a few with their joeys on their backs ! I have no idea how the little fellows managed to hang on when mummy was going high up because their fur are so silky, you kind of expected them to slide down any minute... but no, years of practice I guess ! It was a great evening regardless as it was just like a treasure hunt, looking for 2 red eyes in the dark (it's the only way you can spot them, you have to find the reflection on their retinas). They were 4 of us and it was a true case of 'all for one and one for all' as whoever found a creature felt really proud as their findings would benefit the whole group and provide great enjoyment ! :)
Driving back to Cairns took us 1h20 and poor Janet was brain dead on arrival... We have now checked out of our hotel and I've only got 5mns left and have to see Janet very shortly at the pier for lunch. We're flying to Hong Kong in 3 hours. I cannot afford to bring much back, maybe a couple of photo books on rainforests and reef by Peter Lik (we saw another stunning gallery in Port Douglas, the guy is truly massively talented... ) and that's it.
I cannot imagine being back in London in 24 hours where it will be dark by 4pm. I cannot imagine facing the jet-lag where we will be +10 hours in our head... by lunch time on Monday it'll be bed time for me already... ahhhh... There's always the next venture to look forward to... we'll keep on planning to keep going till then.
PS - not sure why this post didn't 'paste' when I typed it from Australia... and since I never check my own blog, it's taken me *this* long to realise this, hum...
PS2 - Our Novotel room at HK airport was superb (we got a free upgrade - it even had a glass wall between the main room and the bathroom, with a wooden sliding door option as an option for those who didn't want to be 'spied upon' whilst having a bath --- a bit kinky if you ask me!). This should have all been wonderful except that our luggage had been checked through all the way to London so when we landed we had *nothing* to sleep in... just our hand-luggage. After debating for one hour whether we should wait for the said luggage to be retreived from Cathay Pacific's warehouse we eventually felt it made more sense to just go to our hotel and make do with what we did have. As we'd been given an upgrade they had lots of freebies (incl. tooth brushes) so it worked fine. They delivered our suitcases again at the hotel first thing in the morning. As a result we then missed the shuttle bus back to the airport and had to pay for a cab instead. Thankfully the cost was minimal (like $5 or so) but US$5 in HK money can buy you a lot (i.e. white flower oil bottles to soothe aching pains, or great cookies!). It is such a lovely airport, I managed to enjoy the atmosphere even though we didn't go back into HK that time.
posted by Sylvie at 7:08 PM
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