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16:48.665
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CAIRNS
28TH
July 2007
Don Gilchrest
and Robyn Bose very kindly gave us the use of their guest apartment next door
to their own at this very nice block on Norbeys Knob just north of Cairns for
a couple of weeks whilst we caught our breath from 2 months of
travelling. We had been on the Kimberley Cruise with them at the
beginning of June, but had originally met them when they were half way
around the world on their boat ‘Stylopora’ whilst in the
Caribbean in 1997/8.
A walk along
their wonderful beach first thing on a Sunday morning is as good as it gets,
specially in warm weather during the Australia winter!
This view from
Don and Robyn’s balcony is one of the best we’ve seen anywhere!
Liz and Don, Kiwi
friends on their boat Morning Tide were also in Cairns marina, they should
have been in the Indonesian Rally which was in Darwin whilst we were there 2
weeks ago! Numerous boat problems had delayed them and enforced a
change of plan on them, to remain in Cairns in the meantime.
Inland
Queensland is almost non-stop sugar cane fields. The white fluffy seed
heads look like swathes of pampas grass.
Sugar Cane has
been the most important business in Northern Queensland for the past
Which is now
being rapidly overtaken by tourism of course
This is another
of the murals in Bowen depecting the old time sugar cane farms
Where the sugar
cane was transported by horse and cart, it is now done by small gauge trains
to the ancient sugar mill factories
Two periods of
the colonial hotel in Bowen, is typical of the buildings still to be seen in
the
Small Queensland
towns, painted on another mural.
The misty
rainforest awaits us amongst those lofty peaks as we drove inland
Paronella Park
is a rambling, tropical garden with the enchanting ruins of a Spanish castle
built in the 1930s. Floods, fire and the moist tropics have rendered
these mossy remains almost medieval.
  
Mena Creek was
tamed by Senor Paronella, who made his money from sugar-cane to build his
dream house in the 1930s. He dammed the flow of the river to power the
water-falls and supply his own hydro - electricity. We were entertained
by Aboriginal young men, teaching us how to use the digeridoo as part of the
package!
A good 3 hour
walk along to the top of this ridge overlooking the Northern Cairn
Beaches gave
Us a good idea
of the flood plain where the sugar cane grows surrounded by the mountains.
Tropical Cairns
Harbour seen here from our walk to the lookout near the botanical garden.
Our
friends, Jim and Jo Wallace are living on their Nordhaven 65, Atlas whilst
their house is being built on the nearby Northern beach. They are
picture here with their son Daniel and Daughter Paula.
 
Also in Cairns harbour is the largest private yacht
built to date, ‘Athena’ owned by Jim Clark, founder of Netscape.
She’s 290 feet long, the size of a small ship
to take his friends and family aboard on luxury cruises!
Beside her is
the replica of the 1620’s dutch ship ‘Duijfken’ almost undiscernible
from this picture, she was one of the original boats to discover Australia,
when it was previously known as Arnhem land.
 
The
Duifjken – 76 ft
Barque
Athena not to the same scale 290 ft!
At least the
bowsprits appear as impressive !
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