On Sunday we flew into Cairns (pronounced “Cans”), arriving about 6:30 pm. It’s a bit startling to fly from the Outback into Cairns, with its humidity, palm trees and general greenery. Like Florida, the state of Queensland is the closest state to the tropics along the more populated east coast.
Although much smaller than Miami, Cairns is a tourist town and rather pleasant for being small. Near where we are staying it’s nearly wall to wall restaurants, many quite good.
North Queensland is a lush and fertile peninsula pointing north and separating the Afafura Sea to the west and the Coral Sea to the east with the Torres Strait to the north separating it from Papua New Guinea. South of this peninsula, Queensland extends into the outback to the west with the eastern coastal areas continuing down to Brisbane.
On Monday April 20 we headed north to the Daintree River to explore the river up stream into what is essentially a rain forest and down stream into the tidal portion of the river.
Our guide grew up on or near this farm
(below) and assured us they would only
lose “a few” calves each year to the crocs.
In the winter one expects to see crocs of up to
three-quarters of a ton basking in the sun but the
big guys were still in the relatively warm autumn
water and out of sight to tourists. We saw this
four year old that apparently can rip your arm off
but she would not have been good for more than
a couple pairs of shoes. 
Still it was a different geography with interesting
birds and plants including the mangrove
root systems in the tidal area, as well as a
tree snake or two.
The trip up and around the area passed
through thousands of acres of sugar cane.
Somewhere I had read about Caribbean
plantation workers enjoying the cane right
from the field so with all deference for Dr.
Atkins we had to try a little. 
The cane is fibrous but the fibers not so tough
as to be difficult to bite through. Chewing will
free up the sweet juice but you have to spit out
the fibers once you’ve had enough. That didn’t
take long. The juice is certainly sweet but
somewhat watery, requiring boiling no doubt
to concentrate the sugars.
Driving back we took a few shots of the coast
despite the overcast.
You should be able to see the floating
breakwater arms above. These support
nets that keep out the box jellyfish, one of
many Australian surprises that can kill quickly. 
We had a very nice seafood dinner in Palm
Cove, north of Cairns, including a local favorite,
“mud crab”. The cost of a mud crab in no way
reflects its humble name but it was quite
tasty, especially its lobster-like claws.
On Tuesday we were at the wharf before 7:00 to catch “Rum Runners” overnight dive trip out to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). 
The trip out was quite rough but the two of us were
among the minority who retained their breakfast.
Short video – Rough Seas
Captain James Cook explored the region in 1770. The
reefs in the area where we did our dives were
so difficult that this incredibly competent explorer
ran aground there, forcing him ashore near
Cairns to make significant repairs.
Above you can see breakers, miles from shore.
Below you can see where columns of coral (more
greenish in the blue of the water) rise to
within a few feet of the surface at low tide.
In other places, the coral extends to
the surface, as below.
Below are a couple stock pics from the
dive group’s Facebook page.
Fall is not the best time for water clarity so we did not have the legendary 200’ visibility on these dives but the coral, coral structures and fish lived up to the billing. Jan saw a little shark and I saw the biggest moray eel I have ever seen, with a head of perhaps 7 or 8” in diameter, centered by some very awesome teeth.
Heading back to Cairns
As we arrived back in Cairns we noted
a large cruise boat at the wharf. It
was also visible from our hotel room.
Short video of cruise boat
Big gamblers that we are, we won
laundry change at the slots at the
casino that night, although we probably
lost that much in paper money after.
Thursday we were back in the car for a tour of the “Atherton Tablelands”, east and southeast of Cairns. To get to this area we drove up through the switchbacks to a plateau at an altitude of 2000’+. If the coastal area reminds us of Florida, the tablelands are more like California with an incredible array of farm products including mango, avocado, coffee, sugar cane, corn, peanuts, macadamia nuts, bananas and other fruits as well as beef and dairy cattle. There are also beautiful vistas with the higher areas looking down on green and fertile valleys and there is some interesting geological scenery.
Climbing
Mango trees? We weren’t quite sure.
The Mount Hypipamee Crater was created by volcanic
gas as explained in more detail below. It is located
south-east of Herberton on the Tablelands and is
61 metres in diameter and 82 metres deep.
Hiking in the same park…
Video – Falls-1
Video – Falls-2
Video – Falls-3
And more Tableland vistas…
Early Friday we were in flight to Sydney to explore
some of the surrounding areas (mostly wine producing
areas) before settling back to Sydney for a couple
days there, and then catching our flight home.
