March 30, 2012 Fri Day 50 Sydney

This one is for you Jennie.  Cat Whiskers. 

Packing up to leave the gorgeous campground and villa that was home for 8 days.  We got to the airport, to return the rental car,  then remembered we didn't fill up the gas tank.  Our last U turn and one last wiper instead of signal turn. Good thing U turns are legal here.  

Leaving Cairns.  Our 6th flight.
Going through customs I was asked to read a form a security officer handed me to allow them to do a full body and bag search.
I asked if I could refuse and she said "sure you can, but we won't let you go any further'.
So, I said "yes".  She scanned my purse and camera case and said OK, you can go.  Phew.  

Beautiful clear day for pictures.

Landing in Sydney

Sunny and 25c in Sydney.
We went to Budget to pick up our SUV we ordered in Cairns to accommodate all 6 of us.
They didn't have a SUV we had ordered.  Then they offered us a huge vehicle for 8 people, but the price was crazy.  So, we said.  Forget it, we'll take the small one for $123.  When they printed up the bill , it was $362.  I then showed them the original order for $123 I took with me from Brighton.
At this point they got the manager.  She said,  "yes, we have a SUV, 4 wheel drive, for 4 people.
Nope, that's not what we ordered.  So, she gave us a large van, with only 1700 k on it for the same price.  It seats 8.  Saved over $300.  Gorgeous van with all the goodies.    

On our drive home we passed a whole row of  pylons (witches hats).  But we decided not to kill any again. They didn't get in Peter's way like they did in NZ.  They live to see another day.
  When we arrived home, we were greeted by Chrissy with open arms, and  Karena was in the middle of making cupcakes for us.  What a great welcome.      

Thrilled to spend our last days in Australia with them all. 

Didn't take us long to dig into the finished cupcakes! 

Hamburgers for supper. 

A cozy dinner with wine and lots of travelling stories.
Home sweet home.  

March 29, 2012 Thur Day 49 Cairns

5 more sleeps Erin (our 7 yr old grand daughter asks us every time we skype.)
Today, we are taking the "Cairns Discovery Tour".  Picked up at the villa again.

A lot of the homes have white roofs and white walls to accommodate the weather.  

Cute sign in the bus. 

A tree full of Grey-Headed Flying Foxes (huge bats) This native Australian bat can be found along the east coast of the continent.  It is the most imposing and impressive bat Australia has to offer.  The grey headed flying fox is easily recognizable with its brown body, reddish colored collar and grey head.  It is also the only bat to have fur from the top of it's head to the its toes.  It has the longest wingspan of any bat with maximum wingspan of about 1 meter, (3 feet).  It's body length is normally between 22 and 27 centimeters, (8.5-10.5 inches).  Unlike most bats who rely on radar to find their food this mega-bat uses sight and smell.  Its vision is just as good as ours during the day and even better at night.  They go to the city to get away from the rainforest predators.  

Next stop was this gorgeous cathedral.  The building is only 34 years old, while the windows are only 17 years old.  The stained glass windows tells the story of creation.   

Poisonous black bean. Shown by David, our driver and knowledgeable tour guide. 
The seeds are toxic, but can be eaten after much processing.
 Australian aboriginal people used them this way:
The seeds are cracked and soaked in water, ground into meal, and made into cakes, which are roasted.
 Washing in water removes some of the soluble toxins, while roasting destroys other toxins.Indeed, I would prefer Macadamia nuts which is native to Australia as well !

Huge sugar cane processing plants. It's mostly back packers that work in the fields to harvest the cane.

A lot of the houses are built off the ground to keep the water out of their homes during the rainy seasons. 

Flecker Botanical Gardens.  
It was hard to write as fast as David was talking.  So, I may have some of the names wrong.  If you are reading this David, you are more than welcome to correct me. 

The Elephant Apple, or wood apple, is a tropical acidic fruit native to South East Asia. The fruit is eaten in both ripe and unripe stages, and it is common in chutneys and other pickled dishes.  The elephant apple is an acquired taste:  in addition to being very mealy, it has an odor that some consumers find offensive.

Sausage tree. Mainly grown as a curiosity and ornamental, both for its beautiful red flowers and its strange fruit.  There are also a range of traditional uses for the fruit, varying from topical treatments for skin afflictions, to treatment for intestinal worms.  There are some steroid chemicals found in the sausage tree that are currently added to commercially available shampoos and facial creams. 

Not a good tree to sit under at nap time.  

Lemon Ginger.  Lovely scent when rubbed. 

Peacock Fern.  Gorgeous colors when the sunlight is on the fern.  

Cacao Tree.  The orange ones are ripe.

Immature cacao fruit 

Arabic Coffee Tree

Calathea Elliptica 

Blood Bananas.  The small seeded fruit is inedible.  

Pink Quill

Pitcher Plant

David, our driver and tour guide.  A very knowledgable likeable man passionate about his job.

He gave me his web site  http://reforestation.me, and he asked for my blog address.

The delightfully symmetrical leaves of the fan palm Johannesteijsmannia altifrons. Many different palms have many different uses.  

A Philodendron strangling a palm, Wodyetia bifurcata. This has been going on for decades, and the palm lives.  Philo means friendly, and dendron means tree, so Philodendron could be loosely translated as “tree-hugger”. 

Burmese Teak Tree

Only 8 people on the tour.   2 from NSW Australia, 2 from Washington US, and the 4 of us.
We bonded pretty quickly as a group. 

 Wax on the bottom of these large leaves.  

Philodendron climbing up the big tree in the middle.  

Pagoda flower

This was the third Botanical Garden we went to.
It was by far the best and most beautiful. 

Costus Barbatus

A treat of warm scones, jam and whipping cream was provided.
Coffe, tea or hot chocolate.  Delicious. 

The road was closed to a lookout that was next on the tour,
 so the Barron Gorge & hydro station was the next stop. 

Barron Gorge & Hydro station

Some gorgeous falls. 

During our tour, David had many fishing, 
crocodile and flood stories with newspaper clippings and pictures.  

 David pointed out the Wallabies in an open field .  Hard to recognize them. 

Wallabies are small to mid-sized kangaroos and are the most common of all kangaroos.   

Immaculate golf course. 

Opal in the rock of an opal mine.  Immy bought some earrings.  I bought a rock with a bit of opal in it. 

Socializing after the opal tour. 

David standing under the crocodile caution sign, lifting up one leg. lol

Sorry dad, I didn't watch Immy close enough.
My dad called me before we left for Australia.  He was concerned about Immy getting attacked by the white sharks.  He said "she jumps in any lake because she loves swimming".  I told him I would watch her. 
He did not warn me about the crocs!!

Island in the back is called "Double Island".  A holiday home for the rich. 
Brad Pitt has stayed there for $33,000 per night.
The little one on the right is "Scout Hat". 

If you look carefully, there's a yacht in front of the island with Brad Pitt in it. 

Cuckatoo
This tour was a wonderful way to end our stay in Cairns. Tomorrow we fly back to Sydney.