Day 53 thru 55 of our 138 day journey from Ft. Lauderdale to London.
Mother Nature came to our cruise finally. Not roaring but more of a message – “I can make it beautiful or show you otherwise” the northern Queensland coast of Australia has been going through its wet season and over the past few weeks a cyclone hit the coast – it spurned up the lots of rain and made the seas gray and murky.
We arrive to tender position for Whitsunday on Super Bowl Sunday morning – Photos were difficult to show the views as we just simply did a boat ride excursion where a catamaran pulled along the side of the ship, we (along with 90 other Viking guests) hopped on and took a leisurely 2 hour ride around Whitsunday island – it was very overcast and sputtering small amount of rain but nothing to fully stop the trip.
So my photos will show you what we saw and then a couple of internet of what Whitsunday is truly known for – beautiful coastlines, shores and beaches (thanks to internet photos)….oh well we saw enough to understand that in beautiful weather why its known as the honeymoon capital for Australia.
Arriving back to our ship, we decided to not tender into the small town of Arlie Beach (heard it was not much to do + the weather influenced our decision) We went to the upper pool area to watch the Super Bowl which for us was 10AM on our Monday morning. Eagles won and fans from both sides we enjoying a buffet Super Bowl lunch of chips/salsa/hot dogs, queso, quesadillas and enough pastries to satisfy a football crowd. it was wonderful!
What we hoped for:
What we got....
That night we departed and headed to Cairns (the R is silent BTW) and arrive the following day at 1PM – where we would have the rest of the day plus an overnight in Cairns to make it a 2 day stop. The weather was still a factor as we promptly went to the Cairnes Aquarium for Viking’s included excursion and since the weather cooperated, we walked back to the ship to see some of the downtown to shop the famous night market of Cairns. We arrived for dinner back at the ship and got rested for the next day excursion. The aquarium was wonderful and had many fish and creatures from the nearby Great Barrier Reef.
the Second day in Cairns, we signed up to do the Historic Train and Skyway ride to the top of the mountain overlooking Cairns – the train ride was about 90 minutes and up to the top we went where we heard of the history of the Kuranda Railway and saw some fabulous waterfalls and scenery at the overlooks. Although overcast, the clouds were hovering over our head and kissed the top of the mountains. Arriving in Kuranda, we went to the Rainforest station/nature park for a lovely buffet and walk around the animal viewing stations to see Kangaroos, Dingos, snakes, crocks and the cutest Koalas on display (but they sleep 20 hours a day).
After that we headed back to Kuranda had time to stroll the little village and at 3PM it was time for our group to go back to Cairns via the Skyrail rainforest experience which is a 45 minute trip down the mountain on a gondola that goes 400 feet over the Baron river gorge as you see the rainforest passing below you. Those who have done the Skyrail say it’s breathtaking. Unfortunately, storms and lightning in the area required the skywrail to cease operations 30 minutes before we were to board – so the coach took us back down to our awaiting ship – it would have been nice to see but you have to be safe first.
We continue up the coast and after a sea day arrive in Thursday Island the very northern tip of Australia prior to going to Darwin Australia which is our final port on this continent.