Great Barrier Reef austraLia: August 16-23, 2018
It was time for some R&R on the Great Barrier Reef. AlteCocker stayed in Palm Cove at The Reef Retreat, a hotel recommended by a friend of hers. She did not rent a car. She had 6 full days at the hotel and did 3 tours: The Great Barrier Reef (of course), Daintree Forest and Cape Tribulation,, and Kuranda. The hotel was very helpful making the bookings. When she was not on a day tour, AlteCocker caught up with loading photos on her netbook and just hung out. The hotel brings in a chef to make pizza poolside once a couple of times a week--a very nice feature. AlteCocker would stay there again.
The Great Barrier Reef was disappointing mostly because AlteCocker's back did not cooperate. AlteCocker in her 70s and has had back issues for years. Another disc was on its way out during the trip and, when AlteCocker suited up on the Reef, she got immediate cramps in her legs from her back and could not do much snorkeling. Fortunately, there were alternatives, and she did see all the wildlife featured in the film shown on the way out to the reef platform. AlteCocker has seen more colorful fish snorkeling elsewhere, however.
The second tour AlteCocker took was one to the Daintree Rain Forest and Cape Tribulation. It was with Billy Tea Safaris. The link to the specific tour is here. They did a great job. We took a ferry, saw plenty of crocs and even had Australia's famous "bill" tea complete with the swinging of the can in which the tea was brewed. There was a lot of beautiful scenery. No, we did not see any cassowaries in the wild.
The last excursion was to Kuranda. You take the train up and the cable car down. It made for AlteCocker's most enjoyable day out. She spent some bucks in the Ric Steininger Gallery in Kuranda. Fantastic photographs there if you have the time.
The Great Barrier Reef was disappointing mostly because AlteCocker's back did not cooperate. AlteCocker in her 70s and has had back issues for years. Another disc was on its way out during the trip and, when AlteCocker suited up on the Reef, she got immediate cramps in her legs from her back and could not do much snorkeling. Fortunately, there were alternatives, and she did see all the wildlife featured in the film shown on the way out to the reef platform. AlteCocker has seen more colorful fish snorkeling elsewhere, however.
The second tour AlteCocker took was one to the Daintree Rain Forest and Cape Tribulation. It was with Billy Tea Safaris. The link to the specific tour is here. They did a great job. We took a ferry, saw plenty of crocs and even had Australia's famous "bill" tea complete with the swinging of the can in which the tea was brewed. There was a lot of beautiful scenery. No, we did not see any cassowaries in the wild.
The last excursion was to Kuranda. You take the train up and the cable car down. It made for AlteCocker's most enjoyable day out. She spent some bucks in the Ric Steininger Gallery in Kuranda. Fantastic photographs there if you have the time.