Pat’s Day out in Cairns

Whilst Paul was out diving, I had my day planned . After a leisurely breakfast at the Coffee Club I made my way to Cairns Museum housed in the old School of Art, a very attractive building. It’s quite

small but fascinating, giving an honest account of the history of Cairns from its origins at the time of the Gold rush in the 1870s to the present time. One of the sections was on schooling and I was amused to read an account of the requirements of a teacher in 1879 and 1915:

Rules for Teachers 1879

1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, and clean chimneys before beginning work.
2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day’s session.
3. Make your pens carefully; you whittle nibs to the individual taste of the children.
4. Men teachers may take one evening a week for courting purposes or two evenings to attend church regularly.
5. After ten hours in school, you may spend the remaining time reading the bible or other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
7. Every teacher should lay aside, from each pay, a goodly sum for his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool and public halls or gets shaved in a barber’s shop,will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity and honesty.

Rule for Women Teachers 1915

1. You will not marry during the term of contract.
2. You are not to keep the company of men.
3. You must be home between the hours of 8 pm and 6 am unless attending a school function.
4. You may not loiter down town in ice cream parlours.
5. You may not travel beyond the city limits without the permission of the chairman of the board.
6. You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother.
7. You may not smoke cigarettes
8. You may not dress in bright colours.
9. You may not under any circumstance dye your hair.
10. You must wear at least two petticoats and your dresses must not be shorter than two inches above the ankle.
11. To keep the school room clean, you must sweep the floor at least once daily, scrub the floor with hot soapy water at least once per week, clean the blackboard once a day and start the fire at 7 am so that the room is warm when the children arrive.

Surprisingly schoolchildren were still using slates in Queensland schools until the 1960s.

There were exhibits on the lives and work of the early inhabitants of Cairns, with examples of the machinery used.

The Aborigine inhabitants were also represented and some insight was gained into their way of life and concerns.

After a quick lunch of fruit I positioned myself outside the hotel to await the “City Sights” bus which duly arrived at the appointed time. We had discovered the existence of this tour from picking up a leaflet at the Tourist Office. It sounded interesting so we phoned the number on the leaflet and booked a place using a credit card. In return we were told the time to expect the bus to arrive at my particular hotel. The bus had a few more people to pick up before the tour proper commenced and we were about twenty in total. David, the driver/tour guide introduced himself to each person as they joined the tour, ascertained their nationality and name and introduced them to the rest of the group as they boarded. He was very friendly, extremely enthusiastic, incredibly knowledgeable and repeatedly went the extra mile to give us an interesting and entertaining afternoon. He had brought along plenty of visual aids in the form of photographs, newspaper cuttings, examples of seed pods and even a cane toad in a glass jar!

The tour took in many interesting places such as St Monica’s Cathedral – a Catholic church which had some stunningly beautiful modern stained glass windows (if you click on the hyperlink above it will show you the whole set)

which portrayed the Creation Story,

the Flying Doctor Centre where we had a presentation and video about the founding and work of the RFDS. Rather anachronistically we were given a “Devonshire” cream tea at a little cafe in Edge Hill. Then we were off to the Botanical Gardens where David’s expert knowledge came into its own.

a “sausage” tree

Orchids of course

a vine from the Philippine's one of only three plants in the world in this colour

We saw many amazing plant specimens and heard about the healing or poisonous properties of many of them.

Next stop was an Opal Mine where we were told about how opals are formed, the different kinds that exist and were given the opportunity to buy jewellery which ranged from a few dollars to several thousand.

After a photo opportunity at a look-out point where we could see all of Cairns and the sea beyond we made for Palm Cove, a beautiful spot

where we were able to walk on the beach and jetty before the sun came down and we enjoyed the picturesque sunset before setting off back to Cairns.

Pat with “Double Island” (named so by Captain Cook because another small island is behind this one) in the background which now houses an exclusive hotel used by people like Jennifer Anniston when she wants to get away from the world.

A most enjoyable afternoon lasting from 12.45pm to 6.45pm at a cost of 65 dollars (£32).Apart from visiting the above mentioned places David gave us a running commentary of everything of interest that we passed. I felt particularly fortunate to have a kookaburra pointed out along with wallabies, fruit bats and many other examples of local flora and fauna. David had interesting stories to tell about most of what we saw.

One final picture taken during the afternoon:

This is obviously giving us a warning of what is to come - “Crocodiles inhabit this area, attacks may cause injury or death” !!!

Diving on the Barrier Reef

Everyone knows that the Great Barrier Reef is one of the great dive spots in the world so one could hardly come here without venturing into the water. Cairns has so many companies offering diving that you could probably go on a different one every week for a year and still have some left over for the next year – and of course they are say that they are best and offer a unique experience. In addition, the numerous “independent unbiased advice” tourist offices (absolutely the opposite of independent and unbiased) receive a kickback whenever they sell a dive.

Safety as always, is of paramount importance and the fact that over the past few years there have been a few cases of dive boats going out to the reef and and leaving a few divers out there (to drown or be eaten) has highlighted the fact that there are some dodgy operators in the dive business. Any organisation which says “no experience or training? No worries, we will look after you and have you diving in an hour” is really dodgy. Hence I always choose dive outfits that are “PADI Five Star” in the hope that the effort required to secure this quality mark eliminates the rubbish (and the danger they bring with them).

The inner sections of the reef are said to be a bit tired and worn out due to the large number of visitors and therefore many visitors now head to the Outer Reef for a decent dive. I have got five dives booked, two from a moored platform on the Outer Reef from which Pat can see the fish through a submarine boat whilst I dive and three north of Cairns at the Agincourt Ribbon Reef which is said to be less visited.

The 6 am wakeup call finds us less that totally refreshed, partly due to a phone call from someone in the UK at 2 am our time (no idea whom, we think it was someone selling something) and partly due to jet lag.

The outer reefs are about 60 km out (1.5 hrs in a fast catamaran)

and this particular company (Reef Magic) has a moored island from which all activities take place.

One can learn to snorkel, snorkel (if you know how), do a “try-dive”, go “certified diving”, take helicopter flights over the coral, see the coral from a submarine boat (this sinks about seven metres and passengers see the fish and coral through glass windows in the side of the boat),

or just stay on the island and snooze. The plan is for me to dive and for Pat to go on a couple of trips on the submarine boat and also go down into the underwater observatory (and snooze).

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There are three certified divers on board (as passengers) and for the first time in my life, I am the most experienced diver. The water temperature is 26C so we wear 5mm shorties (as against full suits) and are in the water within a few minutes of the boat mooring at the island.

Having dived in the Red Sea only two weeks previously, comparisons are inevitable and sadly (for Australians) I would have to say that the Red Sea was better in that the coral was less damaged, the visibility clearer and the fish more plentiful. Never-the-less, it is an interesting experience and one does see types of coral not seen elsewhere.

 

Staghorn Coral

and for the first time, large sea cucumbers about 50 cms long

as well as large shoals of fish seen in other dive sites.

The Australian attitude to the fish is very different to that in Egypt, here the fish are handled (if they give the opportunity) and some have been tamed to take food and behave for tourists.

The Dive Guide allocated to us was not really a “guide”, more a young lad who had got a job whilst travelling which enabled him to dive and have fun. So in summary, these dives were interesting for me and gave Pat the opportunity to see fish and coral and as a consequence she has told me that if she has the chance to snorkel in shallow water she might give it a go – we will see what is possible on the Ningaloo Reef in about 6 weeks time.

The following day I went diving further to the North at “Agincourt Ribbon Reef” with a different company “Quicksilver” and the experience was totally different. A Cairns dive shop told me that diving was better further north and recommended that I try diving from Port Douglas (about 70K north of Cairns). This was to be a totally different experience – immediately one got to the ship one felt that they were totally focused on diving and on board

the catamaran there were about 20 certified divers plus snorkelers and try-divers.

My dive buddy was a Maria Beyer whom I met on the bus to Port Douglas – we landed up together simply because everyone assumed we were together. As it turned out, we made a good buddy team, checking and careful but not over-the-top. The Dive Guide also actually guided us rather than just enjoyed himself playing the fool.

There were three dives all on the Agincourt Ribbon Reef  - so described because it is a ribbon strip on the very outside of the Great Barrier Reef. All of our diving took place just inside the ribbon so that we were protected from the Pacific Ocean (!) by the reef itself. Dive one was a check dive at the start followed by a fin around some good coral, some poor coral and also a chance to see the resident Potato Cod

which is very docile provided you kept your fingers away from its mouth.

Dive two was over a coral forest and round a tall coral pinnacle (spiralling up the pinnacle so that we saw all of the fish living at different depths) and dive three was a drift along the reef wall (which got very fast in sections and was great fun).

Immediately one got into the water, it was obvious that this was a far better dive site – the sea was clearer, the coral in far better condition, large shoals of fish and a number of species which I had not seen before.

a large unicorn fish (why is it called this Sam?)

a turtle (a fish got in the way of the best picture)

Blue spotted ray (larger than those in the Red Sea)

Sam can you look this fish up in your fish book and tell Papa Paul what type it is please?

Cuttle Fish – these change colour as you watch them just like chameleons

Large shoals of fish (what sort Sam?)

an Anemone with stinging tentacles

A Nemo living in an Anemone

There were a number of large clams in the area – these were of a size that only featured in adventure magazines when I was a child – divers were always getting their legs trapped in the clam and were rescued just in time by the hero (or heroine) – the one below is about a metre wide.

If you waved your hand over the top of the clam, it closed quite fast. Looking down into an open clam, you can see its mouth (remember it is a living creature).

The coral was quite good (but not as spectacular as at St John’s in the Red Sea)

 

and great forests of Staghorn Coral called as such because they look like

the horns of a stag. Many small fish live in this type of coral because they

can easily dart in and escape predators. There was one section where the forest just went on and on – most spectacular.

Overall, it was a good day in the water (and divers are better off going with Quicksilver than Reef Magic) – thanks very much Dive Buddy.

 

We finally get to set off

The actual arrival of the day you actually go on a long trip seems to take for ever and the time until you leave the house usually seems to drag on and on. Today was no different. Packing had been completed the day before with a final juggling of the weights of each bag, both of which were very close to 23kgs (or so the bathroom scales said).

So after a goodbye cuddle from Sam, it was time to shut the house down – fridge emptied, freezer defrosted, electrical equipment turned off, contact details distributed etc and then as we awaited the taxi, the most enormous thunderstorm arrived (apparently England now has a monsoon season or so the weather forecasters tell us).

Getting to Heathrow went exactly as planned and to schedule. We had

checked in on-line the previous night in an attempt to get decent seats – away from the toilets and galleys, not near children, an aisle for me etc but no alternative seat choices were offered – we were in a large section of the plane, close to the rear of the plane, the toilets, the galley etc. However as we were checking our bags in, we were told that we had been upgraded to the next cabin.

This was a first in over 30 years of travelling – I have been downgraded before but never upgraded. Whilst the upgrade from World Traveller to World Traveller Plus is not one of the most dramatic ones possible when travelling, in this case it did mean a move to a smaller cabin with much more leg space, all of which would be extremely welcome on a 13 hour flight.

Three films. a reasonable meal, lots of attentive service and 13 hours later we arrived at Singapore. Whilst our luggage was checked through to Cairns, we were not, so we had to get boarding passes to Cairns before we could go to the airport shower facility (very welcoming after a long flight) which also offered Internet access, soft drinks and snacks all included in the price of about £4.50 each. A definite must on the way back if we get time.

Our flight time from Singapore to Cairns was changed twice before we left and when we got to the departure gate, the flight was detailed on the screen for yet another time. In the event, that time was fictitious and we actually left Singapore at yet another time.

After a 90 minute stop at Darwin we got back onto the same plane with the same crew and headed off for Cairns with the most wonderful sunrise appearing during the journey. This flight takes about two hours and covers a distance which we intend will take us about three weeks to drive.

One characteristic of the journey since we started crossing the Bay of Bengal many many hours ago has been a lot of turbulence (still continuing very significantly on the last leg of the journey as I type this with all passengers and the cabin crew tightly tied down) and we have been subjected to hours of shaking and bumping. It will be nice when we arrive and it stops.

One of the side effects of long distance travel by jet is that as the time zone difference builds up, you begin to get confused as to what time it really is and what time your body thinks it is and you also get that “been up all night at a party” feeling of mental vagueness. It is not helped by meals arriving at strange times – as we approached Singapore (morning body time but evening local time,) we were served breakfast. We have just had another breakfast on this plane (to Cairns) when our bodies think it should be dinner. We are definitely in that state at the moment. It is Wednesday morning here but Tuesday evening in our bodies and we have had our cat napping interrupted far too often for us to feel rested. I always wear “noise reducing headphones” when I try sleep on a plane because they cut the noise down far better than earplugs or any other method I have heard of and I can usually then get some sleep – I recommend this method to blog readers.

Even though we arrived at the hotel at 9 am, they checked us into a vacant

room and so 31 hours are leaving home, we are in Cairns – with all luggage complete, feeling tired but slightly amazed that we are actually here.

Cairns is quite a nice town(established in 1876), apparently large by Australian standards, with a number of original buildings (now being

used for different purposes) giving an idea of what it looked like in the early days. Of course there are some examples of modern architecture at its best!

but one hopes that the old buildings will always survive.

Sam - here is Nana Pat posting a card to you for your next sticker –

there is an animal on the postcard, which Australian animal do you think it will be?