Ep.61
2nd-
3rd October 2012.
“Live
in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – R. W. Emerson.
CNS –
Cairns, Australia.
 |
| i'm a fish! |
It was an
unintentionally flying buddy. After all the drama I made up to change my
roster, I got this flight. A flight to Cairns, Australia. As it’s located near
enough to the eastern part of Indonesia, good things, there isn’t winter here.
And the greatest thing is that Afree, my flat mate, was lucky enough to swap in
to this flight. Double lucky! We worked in different section in the aircraft,
but we do have the same itinerary as soon as we arrive, don’t we? 7 hours
flight and we arrived. Great Barrier Reef, here we come!
 |
| have we cover all? |
As soon as
we arrived in the hotel, it was marvelous! The hotel is located by the beach,
sort of like a resort. My room, which is next to Afree’s, got the view of the
sea directly out of the window. And the best thing was that we got our own sun
deck to catch some sun. Perfect! As Cairns is famous for its underwater
excursion, Great Barrier Reef, there is no way we spent all our days here
without planning some excursion. The weather forecast shows that it would be
raining for the next few days, but still, we didn’t care much. Anyway, we’re
going to be wet when we do some water excursion, right?
 |
| such a nice view from my veranda |
First
thing up, make some booking. And there is no one better than the hotel
concierge for such booking job. We headed to ask the concierge about what kind
of tour he could offer us. The Great barrier Reef tour will leave everyday at
10.30 am, and that was already 10.15 when we asked him about it. Anyway, it was
full booked. So we asked about the next day schedule. Lucky us, we were
entitled to get the crew discount by showing our crew card. The tour which is
AUD 24 was full booked as well for tomorrow, and the available slot would be
another tour cost AUD 46, all included lunch and pick up, that would bring us
further to the middle of the sea. Without further a do, we booked in a split
second. The tour bus would pick us up tomorrow at 10 am. Next question, what
would we do that day?
 |
| Cableway |
I still
remember that I asked the concierge, “Is there anything that we can do today?
We just don’t want to waste any minute”. The concierge then suggested that we
tried to go on a balloon ride at AUD 296 per person. NO! Definitely no! The
next thing he suggested was a trip to Kuranda Village. It cost at reasonable
price at AUD 96 each person. We were actually got no discount at the Kuranda
Village deal, but the concierge was nice enough to ask for a 5% discount from
the tour company, and we got it! We agreed and paid both of the trip that we
booked. It was always been easy to arrange some trip with Afree. Flexible,
that’s what I called and we both live to travel.
 |
| in the private cabin |
The
tour mini van picked us up 45 minutes after we made the booking. We haven’t got
enough time to remove our make up. Nevermind! The mini van drove us to the
Skyrail cable way station in about 30 minutes. Ah! We would reach Kuranda by
the cable car. It was on a comfortable six-person gondola cabins, that we glide
just metres above the canopy, enjoying spectacular views of the rainforest,
tropical Cairns, the Coral Sea and the lush Cairns Highlands.
 |
| Rainforest |
There are
two rainforest mid-stations, Red Peak and Barron Falls, provide the opportunity
to explore and learn about this ancient environment on Ranger guided boardwalk
tours and at the Rainforest Interpretation Centre. We did get off at both
stations. We walked the wooden path along the rainforest as we saw some rare
species of trees, or even some unique shape plants. It was fun to do. Of course
we did exploited our camera again. It was such a tremendous view that I would
probably said as the best nature conservation that I have even seen. We went up
and up until we could see the Barron Falls, it wasn’t as big as Katoomba Falls
in Sydney, but it was rather unique and beautiful in its own way. Awed by
nature and had enough “fun” time with our cameras, we board the cable car again
and finally arrived at the Kuranda Village.
 |
| Barron's Falls |
Kuranda
Village is just 25km northwest of Cairns in far north Queensland, Australia and
this picturesque mountain retreat of is surrounded by World Heritage
Rainforest. When it was explained as “surrounded by rainforest”, it truly IS!
It was a village on top of a mountain in the middle of the jungle. Hungry, we
stopped at a café near by. The food was so-so but due to the view, it was
marvelous. We continued on our trip by exploring the village. It was quite
small actually. It got Venom Zoo, where you could find those venomous animals,
a lot of traditional aboriginal stuffs shops, and a Markets.
 |
| which one first |
It
was an easy task to go around Kuranda, all you have to do was just walk
straight and follow the main street. Then, you would find everything the
village got to offer you. The Village in the rainforest has two market
locations, the Original Markets and the Heritage Markets, both of which are
open every day of the year. Stalls offer a wide range of Aboriginal artefacts,
handmade leather goods, wood and jewelleries. Stall holders are happy to
explain their craft and overseas posting is not a problem. Entertainment from
wandering buskers may also be enjoyed. Adjacent to the Park, both markets cater
to the art lover. A taste of honey, tropical fruit juices and ice-cream are a
great way to round off a pleasant market experience. Something that I realized
is that whenever you’re lack of sleep, you tend to be so hungry!
 |
| Emuuuuu |
Spent
almost 3 hours wandering around Kuranda Village, we decided to go back. But the
trip was not about to end just yet. If we came up here by the cable car, we
would ride a train on what they called Scenic Railway around the mountain and
back to the city. Ah! That’s what made it worth the full AUD 96. We stepped on
the railway station, get our tickets ready, which stated that we would be on
platform 1, we were ready to go back to city.
 |
| Railway Station |
The
train’s appearance was just like those in ancient American movies, that usually
robbed by cowboys in the middle of the desert. It was painted green and brown,
some compartment seems more luxurious than the other and as soon as we got our
own seat, which is pf course not the luxurious one, we set in after taking some
pictures. The Kuranda Scenic Railway is 37 kms in length, operating from
Kuranda to Cairns. The experience on Kuranda Scenic Railway was a spectacular,
it’s comprising unsurpassed views of dense rainforest, steep ravines and
picturesque waterfalls. This famous railway winds its way on a journey of
approximately 1 hour 45 minutes to Cairns.
 |
| hanging out! |
 |
| Venomous? |
At
some points in the middle of the journey, the train slowed down and even stop
just to give us some time to enjoy the view outside the window. If you realize
how energetic we were since the beginning of this blog, at that moment, sitting
at the cushion on the moving train was calling our human side. We fell into a
deep sleep, but we did still wake up every time the train stops until finally
we arrived at Cairns around 6 pm. We bought ourselves some take away fast food
for dinner and we continue our dreams after a good great hot bath.
 |
| the train! |
 |
| uh may zing view |
The
next day, the first thing I did when I woke up was open my veranda. It was
raining heavily, no sun at all. The phone rang, it’s Afree. Our heart did fell, but we have already
paid, so we still ought to go. The tour bus picked us up at 10 am. We stopped
at few other hotels to pick some other tour joiners. The bus dropped us at the
pier and it was still drizzling. Anyway, we redeemed our ticket snip and snaps
some shots and get onboard. I dropped my heart and anxious about this trip. I
was extremely looking forward and the weather seems disagree.
 |
| it was sunny!! |
We
boarded the ferry labeled Quicksilver on the side, tried to find an empty spot
and managed to get one. There were a bar and snack shop as well as souvenir
shop. The trip took probably around 40 minutes. But, never (repeat: NEVER) let
weather let your spirit down. There were always hope. Even though the wave was
strong, and it was quite a bumpy ride, *some of the passenger were vomiting*,
as soon as we arrived in the Great Barrier Reef, it was all sunny!
 |
| ready to swim |
There
were no indicator of any rain cloud, the sky was clear! Lucky! First thing
first, explore the cabin deck. It was kind of floating deck in the middle of
the sea, with restaurant, underwater window, submarine pier and so on and so
on. To make it simple, it was marvelous. We changed to our swimsuit in a split
second, grabbed our goggles and plunged ourselves into the ocean immediately.
Come on, it is the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef system.
Once we hit the water, we could see fishes swim with us…wait a minute!
*correction* we swam with fishes. It was amazing how colorful and how lively it
is underwater. Just like the little mermaid jingle “under the sea”, it was like
there were another world, another community under the water. I borrowed an
underwater digital camera from a friend of mine. Unfortunately, it used up the
battery quite fast, and I would not trouble myself getting in and out the water
only to change the batteries.
 |
| see that line |
 |
| big lunch |
Lucky
us, there were the guy *or woman* that was all of sudden gave us a placard
stated “Great Barrier Reef” and took our picture. I was sure that he/she was
the one from the tour company and our picture would be available for sale up on
the deck later. I guessed we spent a great deal under the water, until we
decided to get out of the water because we didn’t want to miss the lunch buffet,
which is included already in our tour. Fresh seafood, pasta, salad was there
and Afree and I took a large amount of it. I still think that it was strange
that we’d fell like haven’t eat for a year after doing some water sport. After
we finished our meal, we took another round of meal, and another round of
fruits, then finally, we did shower and did another tour of the deck. We did
bought our printed out pictures for AUD 40 for 4 pictures. All spent and tired,
we found our cozy spot inside the ferry.
 |
| like a commercial |
The
ride back was even worst than the coming sector. At that point, I don’t care.
If it was going to rain, just rain, I have finished my Great Barrier Reef tour.
Ha-ha! A lot of people started to sick and vomited, the crew even distributing
the sea-sick bag. Me and Afree? I guess working in the air made us use to it
already, it was just like a very severe turbulence in the air. We did bought
ourselves two cans of beers. Cheers! Even though the Great Barrier Reef is the
world's largest coral reef system composed of individual reefs and islands
stretching along with the tremendous species of underwater creatures. To me, the best underwater experience is
still Amed, Bali. Up until now, there were none close to what I saw there.
 |
| on the deck |
Back to
the hotel, we cleaned up and agreed to check out the night market near the
hotel. The concierge said it would take around 20 minutes on foot. We departed
from the hotel at 7pm. I was actually promised myself not to eat since I had a
great deal of lunch back then. But, we finally decided on an exotic restaurant
with a super nice lady promoting the restaurant uniqueness and one of the menu
items intrigued me. TRIO OZ was the name of the menu and it was happen to be
three different skewers of Australian most famous animal Crocodile, Kangaroo
and Emu served along with rice and salsa. I ordered one without thinking
furthermore. I got to taste it once in my life. It was unexpectedly delicious
and according to my taste buds, crocodile meat is the best. We didn’t buy
anything at the market at the end of the day, but it was a super nice
experience after all.
 |
| 17-11D team |
There were
a lot of new things that I knew after this flight here. A strange place where I
don’t even ever have it on my travel list, yet, it became one of the most
enjoyable trip ever. One thing, just go with your guts. Life’s too short for
you to spend it considering all the aspects. Ah! The next day, when we were operating back, it seems that the whole set of crew spend all their stay in the hotel due to the weather. And Afree and I was just generous enough to brag and show off our sunny day pictures.
“Life
begins at the end of your comfort zone” – Me.
No comments:
Post a Comment