Signs of Australia

One of the parts that I really love about Australia is their signs. Just something that you will not see anywhere else in the world.

Crosswalk

Your typical crosswalk sign, notice the snappy duds. Ironed pants and nice shoes.

Beware of Crocs

The locals will tell you, if there is water there is crocs. But they do have to put up danger signs for the tourists.

Cassowary Crossing

Around the outskirts of Cairns and the neighboring cities you will see a lot of these signs to watch out for huge 6 foot birds walking across the road.

City Rules - Heres a sign that will tell you what you can and cant do on the beaches. I think we need these for the beaches of California.

First the obvious ones that you should know - You cant bring your horses or dogs on the beach. Or build teepees or build fires. But you are also not allowed to jump your motorcycles over cars. And for some reason you cant swim to the right, but you can swim to the left. The sign also tells you what you are allowed to do. You can sit under a tree and get hit by a coconut and you are allowed to kick the jellyfish.

Crossing

This sign reminds me of the ones you see on the 5 south heading towards San Diego of the family running across the freeway. Here in Australia when a mother and her kid cross the road, they have to walk like an Egyptian.

Another day on the reef

Today I went out with Tusa dive which leaves out of Cairns. So it was just a short ride to the harbor and then an hour and a half to the reef. The conditions were much better today. The wind only really picked up on our way back. As soon as I dropped down on the 1st dive I saw 2 reef sharks. Only about 4 to 5 feet long, but pretty cool. Towards the end of the dive I saw 3 barracudas. They were about 3 to 4 feet long.

On the second dive after my designated "dive buddies" ran low on air after only 30 minutes. I sent them back to the boat and I finished my dive and ran into 4 reef squids. They were only about 10 inches long but hung around for a long time. Long enough for me to take 30 pictures of them and video.

Right after the squid I saw a turtle. He too didnt seem to mind me swimming with him for awhile. I hung around the turtle until I hit the dive limit of 60 minutes. I was the last one out of the water and the dive master wasnt too happy that I sent my other buddies back and kept diving. But he shouldnt of paired me with them. The buddy system should be your choice. Not forced upon you, especially with divers you dont know. I'd rather dive alone than dive with someone I dont know or trust.

Croc Farm and Kangaroos

On Monday we went to a crocodile farm in Innisfail. The big crocs that they have there, have been captured because they were problem crocs. Found in near or on residents property, eating cows, dogs or anything it could. Since the crocs are protected they cannot be killed. But they can bred them and with the baby crocs they can do what the want with them. Hence they become handbags, boots, wallets and food.

Along with the crocs they also had kangaroos that you could pet and feed bread.

There were also a few Cassowaries there. But those were kept behind a fence because they are dangerous birds. Their beaks are very strong and the horn on their head could be used as a weapon. But they were beautiful birds. Much better to look at then their cousin the Emu.

Bramston Beach

Sunday and Monday we were down in my Mum's beach house in Bramston Beach which is about an hour south of Cairns. Its a very small town. About 50 houses, and there is only 1 hotel and 1 store. The store is the cafe, gas station, post office and grocery store. Bramston Beach is near Innisfail which is the wetest part of Queensland. They get about 21 feet of rain a year. Not inches, but 21 feet. It rained while we were there of course but the sun also came out here and there.

I took this pic of the cockburra bird in Mums backyard. The butterfly was on the beach and didnt seem to mind me getting close enough to take its picture.

Trinity Beach and Cable Skiing

This morning Mum and Memere went shopping, so I took the bus to Trinity Beach which is just north of Cairns. It was nice to just hang out by myself and relax on the beach. It was mostly cloudy and windy. But cleared up long enough to get some pics.

My Mum houses foreign exchange students who come to Australia to learn english. Right now Andreas is staying with us and he is from Columbia. In the afternoon, Andreas and I wanted to try Cable Skiing. Which is wakeboarding but you are being towed by a cable around a huge pond. Neither of us have ever tried this or wakeboarding before. But it was pretty easy and really fun. After an hour of it your arms are burning.

Sky Rail

After a few days of overcast and rain, it finally cleared up. So we decided to take the Sky Rail up the mountain to the small town of Kuranda. First we stopped by the beach at Yorkey's Knob. Which is inbetween Cairns and Trinity Beach.

It takes about 25 minutes to ride the sky rail from Cairns to Kuranda, making 2 stops so you can get out and do a short tour thru the rain forest.

The second stop on the sky rail is at Barron Falls

Mick met us with the car once we got to Kuranda and we hit some shops and the pub.

On the way home we stopped at Tichum Creek Coffee Farm which is close to the town of Mareeba. They serve a mean cup of coffee. One of the best I have ever had. Its a family run businees where they grow their own coffee beans and sell the coffee.

Just as we were heading down the mountain the clouds and the rain were moving in.

Day on the Great Barrier Reef

Today I went diving on the reef with Posideon Dive out of Port Douglas, which is about 60 miles north of Cairns. Just a quick bus ride up the coast which was beautiful. Couldnt get any good shots of it out of the bus window. Will go back later when we can pull over and take pics. Once to Port Douglas its about an hour and half boat ride to the outer reef.

The conditions were ok today. Water temp was 75 which is alot warmer than Cali, but a little colder than the Caribbean. The wind really picked up and made the surface intervals a little cold. The viz ranged from 50 to 100 feet. No Minke whales today but did see some cool stuff.

Here is a Spinecheek Anemonefish. Which is part of the Clownfish family. Aka Nemo.

Cuttlefish

Camoflauge Grouper

Day 1 in Cairns

We got to Cairns yesterday and it was the easiet flight here yet. Hardly seemed like 24 hours of traveling. Once we got home, Mick cooked steak and ribs on the barbie. He's a better cook than I remember. After a few beers I was out by 7pm. But woke up at 2am to watch the World Cup with Mick, it was Australia vs Brazil. But Brazil won 2-0, and as soon as it was over I went back to bed. Here's a picture of the neighborhood where my mum's house is.

The next morning we headed to downtown Cairns and saw the harbor

Close to the harbor they built a promenade with a park and swimming pool, since the downtown area of Cairns has no beaches. Only mud flats. Heres the pool area

Here you can see how close the pool is to the water. Its low tide right now and you can see the mud flats.

I just booked my first dive tomorrow. Leaving at 6:30am, will post pics when I get back