This morning we arrived to Cairns, Australia. This is the only place in the World with two World Heritage attractions, which lie side by side. This includes the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforest.
Many people visit Cairns each year, attracted by the opportunity to visit the Great Barrier Reef. There are many other attractions in Cairns including the Crocodile Farm, the Wild World; the Tropical Zoo, the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, and the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.
After enjoying another good nights sleep, we awoke early this morning. We began our day as we always do with a very nice workout in the Fitness Center. The Fitness Center was not crowded and Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine and Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill. We enjoyed a wonderful workout. The only other regular working out at the same time we were in the Fitness Center was John. Many passengers had tours scheduled starting early this morning so that is why the center was not busy.
Afterwards, we enjoyed a great breakfast in our room. Anne Marie continues to feel a little better each day. I actually still have a little congestion myself from when I was sick.
Originally, we had a shore excursion scheduled for today but decided to cancel it the other day. We weren’t sure how Anne Marie would feel plus we wanted to avoid being around too many people on a bus to avoid picking up another new virus. This turned out to be a good move since it has been raining a good portion of the day. In fact, due to the rain and the winds at sea the shore excursion to the Great Barrier Reef was canceled this morning. We felt bad for those who were scheduled for this excursion, but clearly the weather posed a safety risk.
The ship arrived in port around 7:30 AM. We watched the view from our room as we sailed in.
The Serenity docked at Trinity Wharf in Cairns and the good news is that the downtown area is located approximately 200 years from the downtown areas.
During the Captain’s morning talk; Captain Glenn noted that there are showers in today’s forecast. The Captain’s thought for today is “Even though you are on the right track, you will be run over if you just sit there.”
This was another thoughtful comment and one that has good meaning to us.
We disembarked the ship at a little before 9:00 AM. For the first two hours there was intermittent rain showers. We were prepared for the showers as each of us wore a raincoat. The city is full of hotels, restaurant and stores, and many of the sidewalks also have overhangs so when it was raining we tried to walk up and down streets where we could take advantage of the overhead protection. We found a shopping mall and walked around there for awhile and interestingly enough the mall also contained two food stores that were adjacent to one another. Talk about direct competition. ☺
Eventually, we walked along the Esplanade, which is a nice street with a boardwalk that runs along the water. Our original plan was to walk along this street as soon as we came ashore but we waited for a break in the weather before we began this portion of the walk. The city was quite busy everywhere we walked, in spite of the rain. We saw many passengers from Crystal during our walk. I was very easy to identify even those who we do not know since many were walking the town with their large Crystal umbrella in hand.
When we arrived back to the ship we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the Main Dining Room.
This evening we went to the sail-away party. Since it was raining the party was held in the Palm Court. Complimentary mixed drinks and various Australian Beers were served and the Jazz Band played.
On our way to dinner we had the opportunity to talk with Olympian Cathy Rigby and her husband Tom McCoy. We have posted a picture of us with Cathy Rigby. We appreciate the time that Cathy and her husband Tom took to speak with the two of us.
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room.
Keith & Anne Marie
