Situated on the northeast coast of Australia, Cairns is the primary gateway to the Great Barrier Reef
The three day Chinese or Lunar New Year holiday in early February gave us a few days out of the office and time to reflect back on our January 1 New Year holiday that we celebrated "down under" in Australia. Since we moved to Hong Kong, Jeff has been to Australia several times for business but I've never had the time to tag along. Australia is intriguing to me because its population density is such a contrast to Hong Kong: just 24 million Australians (fewer than the population of Texas) are spread across a continent that is only slightly smaller than the entire continental United States.
A Fish and Chips shop in Cooktown, Queensland
Australians' reputation for friendliness, the prospect of summer in January, and the opportunity to go SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef are all reasons a trip to Australia has been on my list of places to visit during our stay in Asia. With our time in Hong Kong drawing to a close, we organized a trip to welcome 2016 in Queensland, Australia and on the Great Barrier Reef.
The rail station in Kuranda
The Kuranda Scenic Railway climbs 1,100 feet through the rainforest
A statue of Captain Cook in Cooktown
Although Australia is much closer to Hong Kong than to the U.S., it's still a seven hour flight to the city of Cairns, a major tourism hub in Queensland and the shortest direct flight from Hong Kong. Queensland is situated on the Northeastern coast of Australia and is the second largest of Australia's eight states and territories. Because of its low rainfall rate, Australia is generally considered one of the driest places on earth, but Queensland is home to the wettest place in Australia on its far northern coast. Cairns is best known as the jumping-off point for visitors to the Great Barrier Reef, and the city has the feel of a laid-back beach town. But Cairns is also the gateway to the Wet Tropics of Queensland, a World Heritage Site and one of the oldest continually surviving tropical rainforests on earth.
We divided our time in Queensland between the rainforest and the ocean, with two days on land and four days at sea on a small ship cruise. To visit the rainforest, we hopped on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, a historic rail line that runs 21 miles from Cairns to the town of Kuranda. Originally built in the late 1800's to carry freight, the rail line is now used exclusively for sightseeing, providing a scenic and slightly harrowing ride through the rainforest, as it climbs nearly 1,100 feet of elevation and passes through 15 tunnels and across 37 bridges. At the top of the rail line, the village of Kuranda is a bit touristy, but provides interesting historic background on the area and the Djabugay aboriginal people who have inhabited the rainforest for more than 10,000 years.
Jeff considers the warnings along the waterfront in Cooktown
After exploring Cairns and the rainforest, our next adventure involved the five words we never thought we'd say: "We're going on a cruise." Although we have friends and family who have enjoyed many cruises, we had never seriously contemplated one, largely due to my propensity for seasickness and Jeff's general dislike for large crowds. But our research about the Great Barrier Reef told us that the best places for snorkeling and SCUBA diving are beyond the reach of day trip vessels. We decided on a cruise with Coral Expeditions, an Australian operator of small cruise ships in Asia-Pacific.
Our home during a four night cruise over the Great Barrier Reef
Our cruise was a four night trip through the Coral Sea, departing from Cairns and traveling north along the coast of Queensland via Cooktown to Lizard Island, with stops for snorkeling and diving along the Rachel Carson and Ribbon Reefs. During our time on the ship, we enjoyed fascinating presentations by local Marine Biologists and naturalists, wonderful food and time for just sitting on deck to watch the beautiful scenery.
The large deck of the ship was ideal for viewing Queensland's scenic coastline
With only 35 passengers, we never felt crowded, and my supply of Dramamine kept my seasickness at bay. Our final night on the ship was New Year's Eve, and the crew anchored offshore from the town of Port Douglas, enabling the passengers to sit on deck and enjoy an unobstructed view of the fireworks.
Jeff enjoys an afternoon of snorkeling on the Ribbon Reefs
Although our trip to Queensland enabled me to explore a bit of Australia, it was a little bit like dipping one's toe in the ocean, and I am eager to return and explore other regions of the country. But for us, it was a wonderful way to welcome in the calendar New Year of 2016 and prepare to head back to Hong Kong to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Monkey.
