Cairns – Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef

One of the most anticipated stops on our world tour was the Great Barrier Reef. Both of our sons, Andrew and Mark, were here diving the reef in 2019. How did they get here before we did? Sadly, we are not as young as we used to be, and well, Cindy realized late in life that claustrophobia is real, so we opted for a snorkel trip. But we one-upped the guys and took a helicopter out to the dive platform just to get a bird’s eye view. Magnificent! And the ride out there was much quicker than the boat so we got to sleep in.

The weather was great and the water was warm.  We were required to don a lycra body suit to protect us from the intense sun and the stinging jellyfish.  It is a very fashionable look, if I do say so myself.

The reef was colorful and alive with brightly colored coral and fish.

February is the monsoon season in this part of Australia, but we lucked out and had great weather overall. Sure, there were a few wicked thunderstorms, mostly at night, so no problem.

Cairns is heavily dependent on Asian tourists. It was painfully obvious to us how devastating the Coronavirus and the travel bans are on local tourism. There are a half dozen tourist booking offices on every block in central Cairns. With very few exceptions, these offices had an agent or two and absolutely no customers. Away from the most centrally situated section of The Esplanade and the pier area, the bars and restaurants were deserted, if they were open at all. On several occasions, we were the only customers and were outnumbered by the serving staff. We heard estimates from various people that business was down anywhere from 70% to 90%.

An interesting and unexpected attraction in Cairns was the large bat colony living in the small park next to the city hall/library building right in the center of town. Now these are not the small bats we see in Wisconsin, or anywhere else for that matter. These bats are enormous, with a wingspan of maybe 2 feet and the body size of a kitten. One of the waiters said they are called flying foxes. The waiter said they haven’t posed a danger to people. But still, creepiest thing ever!! During the day, the trees are jam packed with these guys hanging upside down swaying in the wind. They are really noisy and the immediate area smells bad. But they draw crowds of gawking tourists taking pictures. Lots of people had no problem walking on the sidewalk under these trees. No way. Evidently, some locals want them moved (not sure how that actually works) while others think they should be left alone.

As dusk approaches, the bats leave the trees creating what looks like black swarms in the sky. Again, attracting spectators. Luckily nothing nasty dropped from the sky as they flew overhead. This phenomenon may not beat the nightly bat exodus at Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge, but it was quite a thing to watch.