Cairns (Reef City),
Wednesday, June 5 to Saturday, June 15, 2013
We arrived in Cairns initially thinking that we would spend
a few days sight-seeing; however, due to a “fender-bender” upon entering our
slip caused by strong winds and current, we hit the yacht next to us. Fortunately, nothing serious that we couldn’t
get fixed – our roller furling and guard rails were damaged. So we spent a bunch more money to make as
many of the fixes that we could, the rest will wait for Thailand.
Despite our mishap, we did enjoy the Reef City – probably more
German tourists than Aussies and quite diverse culturally. Cairns boasts a great shoreline with a
walking trail and swimming lagoon.
Plenty of shops and restaurants to get lost in and spend more money, of
course. Loved the Rusty “Farmers” market
with lots of fresh produce from the tablelands at very cheap prices. There were also a Woolworths, Coles and Bi-Lo
in town so it was easy to provision up for our upcoming leg to Darwin. And we had a chance to catch up with many
cruisers who make Cairns a stop.
We also got to meet Al and Glenda’s son Jeff and his lovely
finance Rena. We enjoyed sundowners with
them on Lardo and another evening having dinner with them at a local fish
restaurant. Jeff was extremely helpful
and chauffeured us to some necessary stores.
Both are professional divers – Rena takes tourists out on dives and Jeff
manages the Pro Dive operations (he’s also a skipper and takes one of the boats,
big enough to accommodate about 40 people, out once a month). Very nice young folks who we hope will visit
us in the states someday.
We rented a car for the day and toured lovely Port Douglas, Mareeba and Kuranda – very scenic coastline, lush rainforests and tablelands.
