Day 17 Tuesday, March 25

Our home for three nights is the Pacific International Hotel in Cairns, Australia.  It is an extremely nice hotel located right close to the water and close to everything else we may need while here in this town.
When I opened our drapes this morning this was our view!

                          Cool mail drop in the hotel lobby!

We enjoyed a great breakfast in the Bushfire Flame Grill here at our hotel.  I am still amazed at the huge influx of Asians here and their influence on the breakfast buffets.....

Coddled eggs?  No, thank you, none for me!
I was happy to see regular American style coffee this morning at breakfast!

                      It don't take much to keep me happy!

                  Breakfast with new friends is always nice!

 

This morning we depart our hotel on foot, walking the three blocks to the pier where we will board a triple decker catamaran...

 for the one and a half hour cruise out to the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest living organism.  The reef is one of Australia's greatest national treasures and stretches more than 1,200 miles along the coast.

Before boarding the catamaran, our group gathered for a group photo.

 

Today's weather is overcast with a chance of rain!  Oh well, it is what it is.  Hey, we are going to the Great Barrier Reef.  How cool is that!  There we will spend the day at a permanently anchored Reef Pontoon.

Our catamaran will be tied up to the Reef Pontoon for the day.  We can go back and forth between the two at will.

Our catamaran has indoor or outdoor comfortable seating, restrooms, snack/ice cream/drink bar while the anchored reef pontoon has a roof cover but is open on the sides, which is probably nice on sunny warm days, but today we are having occasional rain showers.  It does however have a buffet lunch counter where we were served a delicious lunch today and picnic tables to sit at while eating and watch all the activities going on around us.

 

 

From the Reef Pontoon we can see the reef's spectacular coral gardens and diverse marine life from the reef viewer and underwater observatory or while snorkeling. 

 A lot of folks went snorkeling, including my sister, Donna.

She even paid for a wetsuit and an instructor since she had never been snorkeling before.  She wanted to make the most of her Great Barrier Reef adventure!  The seas were a little choppy today, not the best conditions for first time snorkelers.  The reef pontoon had stairs going right down into the water, also a bench (attached to the pontoon) in the water to sit on while getting your snorkeling gear ready.

"Hey guys, it's raining!  The water is rough!  Here, let me just put my feet into the water first...."

 "O.K.  I can do this.  I can do this.  I know I can.  My kids have done it and told me what great fun it is.  Right?"

 "Hold on! the rolling water is trying to wash me off this bench!....."

 "O.K. Let me just stand up until I can get this face mask adjusted properly so the water won't get inside......"

 "There!  How do I look?  I think I've got it!....."

 I guess not.  "Here, let me help" says a fellow snorkeler.  ("Those little kids make it look so easy!")...... 

"It is still raining and the water is still rolling (a lot), but here I go, on the count of three.....one.....two.....three...............?"

                   "Go Donna, Go Donna, you're doing great"! 

"Oh BooBoo!"  That's easy for you to say as you sit there all nice and dry while reading the brochure about all the adventures available to us.  One of which is a glass bottom boat....

 

...another is a Semi Submersible Sub.....

 

BooBoo loved being under the water's surface and still stay nice and dry!

I enjoyed it also!  Getting to see all the beautiful colorful coral and watch the fish swimming by, however my photos all have a greenish tint because of the thick glass through which we were viewing.

 A very knowledgeable young gal was identifying what we were viewing.

 

We were scheduled to enjoy breathtaking sights of the Great Barrier Reef on a scenic helicopter flight however the weather today did not cooperate.

With the rain we were having here, plus the thunderstorms that were passing over land where the Heliport was located, all helicopter tours were canceled for today.

Look at that helipad anchored near the reef pontoon.....covered with birds!  The birds are probably glad there are no helicopter flights today! 

 

Despite the clouds and rain today I think we all had a good time.  I was disappointed that we did not get to ride a helicopter over the reef; Donna was a little disappointed that she never really got comfortable in the water to snorkel.  Still it was a great experience to be out on the water over the Great Barrier Reef!

 

I enjoyed spending this day among new friends that we have made while on this tour.  Here are just a few of them: 

                           Darrell and Linda (from Kansas) with Donna
                    (waving) and Norma

                           The newlyweds Bruce and Vicki (from Michigan)

                                      Kathy and Lynn (from Wisconsin, I think)

                                      Edith and Dorothy (from Arkansas)

                            Lee and Debra (from Wisconsin)

                                      Ruth (from New York)

                            Bruce and Carol (from Nebraska)

                            Jean and Jim (from New York)

                                      Carol (from New York)

This is the great crew members from the catamaran and the pontoon that made today such a fun day!

                   
                       BooBoo never seems to have a bad day!

 

{On a side note, during our return cruise back to land, the snorkeling guide called Donna to the catamaran's desk and they refunded the fee she had paid for her snorkeling instruction.  That was unexpected and very nice of them to do that.

Also after we had returned home I received a check and a letter of apology from Holiday Vacations for the missed helicopter tour.  That was certainly unexpected (the weather was totally out of their control) but a very nice customer relations gesture on their part.}

 

Tomorrow we ascend into the mountains on the Kuranda Scenic Train for another day of sightseeing and adventure in the land down under!