Cairns

We landed in Cairns today, Melbourne is but a memory. It wasn't looking like it was going to be a good one either, it turns out things look a lot closer on the Internet than they may be in real life. The accomodation I arranged in St.Kilda was waaay far away from the beach though some not so super-nice looking areas. Schlepping our 2 suitcases that far (even rolling) was not looking appealing. Luckily we managed to switch to something closer. Still, St.Kilda was not so suiting to my sister's very non-bohemian tastes, plus it was very out of the way for doing any touring. We decided to move in to the city for our last two nights. We were getting up at 6:30 and 5:45 respectively, and that was with a good location.

After exploring the city the first full day, we booked some tours. The first was the Penguin Parade. This meant a 2 hour drive to the East and South of Melbourne. Once we got there it was frigid (13C), with a nice cool breeze of the ocean to keep it cool. I was initially really disappointed to learn there is no photography of the penguins allowed. Really pissed actually, and mad for the tour operators for not mentioning this sooner. However it is for the good of the penguins, apparently flashbulbs cna really throw them out of whack and a global ban is the only way to enforce it. So, not wanting to be thae cause of any deaths (parents regurgutate == noo food for kids), I kept my camera in its pack.

Wow those were some small penguins, barely bigger than kittens. The World's Smallest to be sure, and about as cute as they are small.

The next day we did the Great Ocean Road. This was an all-day bus tour, and I'm glad we don't have too many of these booked (this is the only one come to think of it), as there was serious butt soreage after 12 hours on a bus. By far the best part of the day was our helicopter ride at the 12 Apostles. It was an extra fee, but still a good discount from the full-fare. It was also the only way to get any really good photos of the Apostles. Having never been in a helicopter before I didn't know what to expect, but this was by far the smoothest ride I've been in so far. I think I took about 120 shots while in the air, more than I had the whole rest of the day to that point. A real highlight.

But now.. some dinner and sleep before SCUBA training in the morning (yay!) Oh yeah, and these machines with the card readers also have Skype installed with a camera and headset: note to self for next vacation.

Posted at 02:09 AM to Vacation By: John Fairley