May 9, 10, Saturday, Sunday, 2015, Australia, sailing the Great Barrier Reef

May 9, Saturday

We have been traveling through the Great Barrier Reef.  Our two pilots on board gave lectures on the navigation aspects, what is the life of a pilot of a ship, and the reef itself.  They each get paid $20,000 for taking our ship through this world heritage site.They were on the ship since before Darwin.

We saw an atol, which looked like a crescent shaped beach with no land attached to it, just sitting in the middle of the ocean.  The beach was pure white sand, the water clear aqua blue.  it looked beautiful.  We were traveling at a good clip, and sometimes the seas were rough.  I put on a patch.  I did not get sleepy or dry mouth like I should have, which was nice.

We had dinner with Dennis and Barb to discuss the January Insignia cruise differences and make plans for our early arrival in Cairns.  No one was going to do anything since we were to dock about 4:00pm.  But the Captain made it earlier allowing us time for an adventure.

May 10, Sunday, Mother's Day

We had morning bridge lessons, but then we got ready to head off the ship to ride the Kuranda Skyrail in Cairns.  We finally docked at 1:30pm.  When they announced we were able to leave the ship, the line of passengers was already quite long.  However we were able to get a cab to take us to the cable car.  I guess we were lucky we got there by 2:30pm because others got there later and the skyrail was shutting down for the day.  

sailing into Cairns

The 40 minute ride up and over the jungle to a town called Kuranda was spectacular.  We felt like we were skimming the tops of the trees.  

Sky rail in Cairns

views from the skyrail

view from the train

We couldn't see the ground.  There were two places to get off and walk around on trails, but we continued to the endpoint.  We only had a half hour before we had to return to the tram to get back, so we changed our plans and exchanged our tickets for a return ride by train.

The train ride was 2 hours through the jungle, by water falls, through tunnels, and past stunning views of the coast through the jungle trees.  It ended up in downtown Cairns so we didn't have to get a cab again.  Then we walked back to the ship via Dundee's restaurant.  

We ate the Australian Bush tucker plate which had kangaroo, crocodile, emu sausage, and barramundi.  We also ordered the seafood platter for two, market price.  We forgot to inquire about the price.  The seafood was mud crabs, bugs, shrimp, oysters, mussels, barramundi, calamari, lobster, as well as fresh fruit, but for $190 au.  It certainly was a fun dinner looking out at the harbor.

Downtown Cairns

Back on the ship we played trivia and won 1st place again, and then watched the much anticipated movie "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."