Monday, February 17th—Cairns, Australia—Our 44th Cruise Day

Monday, February 17^th—Cairns, Australia—Our 44^th Cruise Day

After passing the Whitsunday Islands on Sunday, February 16^th, we reached Trinity Wharf in Cairns, Australia about 7:00 AM on Monday, February 17^th. Like Brisbane, we would have just 1 day in Cairns—with “all aboard” at 7:00 PM the same day—a little later than usual.

During our 2012 world cruise, we visited Cairns for the first time, and we took a ship tour out to the Reef Magic pontoon on the Great Barrier Reef. On that trip, Bill took two SCUBA dives—one from the pontoon, and one from a boat—while Pat enjoyed the glass bottom boat and the semi-submersible submarine tours and generally just enjoyed the pontoon’s sun deck. And that trip was so enjoyable, we decided to do it again!

 

This excursion was a bit unusual in that a shuttle boat tendered right onto the Amsterdam and we boarded the shuttle boat just like we would a tender. This was the only time during our entire voyage that a tour boat came right out to our ship. The trip out to Reef Magic took a little over an hour and it was a bit bumpy. Although no one got sick (that we know about!) passengers were taking seasick pills and wearing patches. And on the trip out, Bill signed up for another two SCUBA dives.

 

The Reef Magic pontoon is especially nice for Bill because getting in and out of the water with full SCUBA gear is not easy. The pontoon has a staircase with handrails leading into the water which makes entry/exit very easy. So for his first SCUBA dive, Bill was in a group of 6 divers (His partner was Joe Lobbato) and the group was led by Divemaster Amber. During our cruise, passengers on our ship formed a SCUBA dive club with regular meetings, and Bill was the recording secretary responsible for the newsletter. So on this dive at the Marine World Lagoon, Bill knew and was friends with all of the divers in the group.

 

On the trip out to the pontoon, divers were advised to wear a “stinger suit”—a thin one piece suit for protection from jellyfish stings. But though he tried, Bill couldn’t find a suit that fit properly and decided to dive without one. He was the only diver without a stinger suit, and he hoped for the best that he wouldn’t have any serious jellyfish encounters. (It is extremely unusual—but not impossible—for the deadly Australian “Box Jellyfish” to occur as far out as we were on the Great Barrier Reef. But Bill felt he was safer without a suit rather than wear one that didn’t fit.) 

 

As in 2012, the dive off the pontoon was great! We went into the water about 11:00 AM, visibility was about 8 meters, we descended to a depth of 10 meters, and were down for about 45 minutes. While diving we saw the local Maori Wrasse nicknamed “Wally”, a green sea turtle eating a jellyfish, and lots of small fish and brightly colored coral. And there was an underwater photographer taking photos of divers with Wally.

 

Back on the surface, Bill and Pat met up for a wonderful buffet lunch—which included “all you could eat” fresh prawns. But the real surprise of the day was that while Bill went SCUBA diving, Pat went snorkeling!!! This may not seem like a big deal, but it was. Pat is very uncomfortable in the water (she is not a strong swimmer), and to her, deliberately putting her face in the water—even with a dive mask on—is very unnatural. For years her excuse has been that she wouldn’t be able to see anything while snorkeling because she couldn’t wear her glasses under her mask. But that excuse wouldn’t work this time, because Reef Magic had prescription lens masks. And it also helped that our friends, Jacob and Margaret George, were with us on this trip and Margaret wanted to go snorkeling—even though she had never snorkeled before. So this situation was an aligning of the planets—Pat had a prescription lens mask, she had an enthusiastic and encouraging “dive buddy” who was also new to snorkeling, and Bill was not around to goad her into doing more than she wanted to do.

 

So Pat did a brief guided snorkel, holding onto a floatation ring the whole time and occasionally putting her face and mask into the water and breathing through her snorkel tube. She even got a good view of Wally! I’m not sure one could say she enjoyed the experience—she claims she was terrified the whole time—but after she was safely back on the pontoon, I think she was glad she did it. But don’t look for Pat to go snorkeling again anytime soon!

 

After lunch and about 2 hours on the surface for decompression, Bill boarded a boat for his second SCUBA dive. The boat took the same group of 6 divers, along with Amber, a short distance away from the pontoon to “Pressure Point.” We entered the water using the “big step” technique (i.e. gearing up and taking a big step off the side of the dive boat) and descended to a maximum of 18.7 meters. The water visibility was better than at the lagoon—about 15 meters—and the highlights of what we saw included Clown Trigger Fish, Giant Clams with violet colored mantles, and of course numerous small fish and brightly colored coral. On the first dive, Bill had plenty of air left when we returned to the surface, but this time—after 30 minutes—he was running low on air. This situation is always awkward—no one wants to end a dive for the whole group because they are the first one to run out of air while others have plenty. Fortunately, Amber saw Bill safely to the surface (after a short decompression stop), Bill gave her the “OK” sign, and she then descended back with the others while Bill swam back to the dive boat on the surface. 

 

For an older, overweight diver like Bill, getting out of the water and back into the boat after a dive can be a concern—especially if the bottom rung of the ladder is up near the surface of the water. It may seem a bit crazy, but that is Bill’s number 1 concern about SCUBA diving—being able to get back into the boat. The saying “Don’t get into the water if you can’t get out” is good advice. Fortunately this dive boat had a ladder with the bottom rung well down into the water, so Bill was able to hand his weight belt, buoyancy control (BC) vest with tank, and fins to a person onboard and getting back onboard was no problem.

 

Within 10 minutes, the others in the group returned to the dive boat, which soon returned to the pontoon. Back onboard the pontoon, we rinsed ourselves and equipment with fresh water, and returned the equipment we had borrowed. Then it was time for the shuttle boat to return us to the m/s Amsterdam. (Earlier we may have indicated that the designation “m/s” referred to “marine ship.” That is not correct—“m/s” refers to “motor ship.”) On the trip back, we filled out our dive logs, purchased any photos or souvenirs we were interested in, and enjoyed an “adult beverage”—or two!

 

We were back onboard the Amsterdam before 4:00 PM, and all aboard wasn’t until 7:00 PM, so our day in Cairns was not over. After a quick return to our room to change clothes, we met up with Jacob and Margret George at the gangway portside. We were looking for a good Indian restaurant in Cairns for dinner, and since Jacob was born in India, we had an expert with us. Jacob and Margaret were with us on our 2012 world cruise and they remembered a good place to eat in Cairns from that time, so we walked out of the cruise ship terminal and onto “The Esplanade” to the restaurant they remembered. Unfortunately that restaurant was closed, but we got some advice on another good Indian restaurant, and headed off further down The Esplanade in that direction. After walking a few blocks, we didn’t find the recommended place, but we did find the Royal India restaurant which was right on The Esplanade. Bill, Pat, and Margaret decided to wait at the Royal India while Jacob made a brief reconnaissance search for the other restaurant—returning when he was unable to locate it. And it was just as well—we were able to get a wonderful table on the outdoor patio overlooking The Esplanade and The Lagoon. [NOTE: “The Lagoon” is an enclosed area for public swimming—away from deadly sharks, Box Jellyfish, and other unpleasant creatures of the sea which abound in the warm waters around Cairns!] The food at the Royal India was wonderful! Jacob ordered for all of us, and a variety of dishes were served with varying degrees of spiciness. We have always liked Indian food—we have a favorite Indian restaurant in Seattle—and the food at the Royal India was some of the best we have ever had.

 

After dinner, we had a few minutes left, and we decided to make a wine run since this was the last chance we would have to purchase Australian wine. We left Jacob and Margaret at the Royal India and walked up Aplin Street to Abbott Street—ironically, we saw the Indian restaurant Jacob had been looking for on Alpin Street!—and then down Abbott Street to a Woolworths store that sold wine during our 2012 trip. As Pat went into Woolworths in pursuit of her quest, Bill realized that time was getting very short (we had about 15 minutes before “all aboard”) and secured a taxi. The taxi driver pointed out that there was a shop that sold “grog” (wine) right on Abbott Street that we had missed, while the grog at Woolworths was all the way to the back of this huge store—which went through to the Lake Street—the next street up.

 

But Bill was able to catch Pat, we bought our grog on Abbott Street and jumped into the taxi. But we still weren’t quite done—Pat wanted to mail some postcards before we left Australia! So as Bill is watching his watch and muttering “We’re gonna miss the boat! We’re gonna miss the boat”, Pat directed the taxi driver to take us to the nearest post box where we could drop off the post cards.

 

Of course we did make our ship, but we were probably the last ones onboard. By this time, we were tired, and since the sail away party was in the Crow’s Nest (Deck 9) rather than the Lido Deck aft, we decided to skip the party and relax in our room before bed.

Our ship departed from Trinity Wharf and Cairns about 7:30 PM and this was our farewell to Australia—for now at least. We would have just 1 sea day before our next port of call—Alotau, Papua New Guinea, arriving at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, February 19^th. Our original schedule had us arriving at Lae, Papua New Guinea, on February 20^th, but after we had left Ft. Lauderdale, the powers that be in Seattle changed our first stop in Papua New Guinea to Alotau, arriving a day earlier.