February 10 - Australia: Cairns, Queensland
A day off!!!
Today we took a road trip with Monica and Martin up to Port Douglas. So we loaded up the cooler with sodas, water, and snacks and we hit the road around 11:00. Port Douglas is about one hour north of Cairns. On the way there, Myrt saw a sign for a crocodile show at "Wild World". So we decided to stop and have a look.
Wild World is a small Aussie zoo with a bunch of local animals and a few animal shows. Because we were there at lunchtime, none of the shows were going. So we walked around in the sweltering heat and looked at the various animals. In the kangaroo ("Roo") area, we fed the Roos some pellets.
Feeding the 'Roos with Myrt
Then we went in the fenced-in crocodile area. Most of the massive crocs were laying around in the shade or in the water. There was very little movement at all. So Myrt and I decided to throw some 'Roo pellets at one to get it to move. It didn't seem to care at all. In fact, it probably didn't even feel the pellets through its thick skin.
We continued our stroll of the little zoo, trying to stick to the shady areas lest we die of heat exhaustion. Somehow, we ended up in the koala house. When I was little, koalas were my all-time favorite animal. In fact, whenever I had to do a research project in school it would inevitably be about koala bears. I have a very informative paper from the fifth grade that has some introspective details about the "fuzziness" of these mammals. It's a good read.
Anyway, when we rounded the corner and saw the sign for "pictures with a koala bear", I decided to indulge my childish side and do something touristy and incredibly cheesy. Normally, we avoid things like this like the plague, but for some bizarre reason I caved in. So I waited in line for twenty minutes to stand in front of a tacky background with a koala bear.
Me and My Furry Friend
That's all very fun and exciting, but what was even more interesting were the things going on around me. First of all, there was a massive family of Japanese tourists in front of me who took probably 20 pictures among them: Baby with koala, Baby and Mom with koala, Dad with koala, Dad and Baby with koala, Grandpa with Baby and koala, and so on. But the clincher was when the entire family decided they wanted a picture without the koala and with the background. To each his own, right?
The koala rotation was interesting too. The koala handlers had a set amount of time for which the koala was available. In fact, a sign above us said that no koala is photographed for more than thirty minutes per day. A single koala, however, wouldn't last more than 5-10 minutes at a time before getting antsy. So we would break every five minutes or so for them to collect another "fresh" koala. This worked for me because - just before my photo - they did the switch. My little friend was very well behaved, and even stayed put for a "family portrait" to which I subjected Jon.
He already hates me for this one!
The Old Court House
By this time, we were all starving and ready to get into Port Douglas. Martin found a place for lunch in Lonely Planet. It was called "The Old Court House" and was nicely situated on the corner of the Esplanade and the main street in Port Douglas. There was a three-person band in the pub-restaurant, so we settled in to order lunch and to listen to the band. They were actually pretty good, too. We enjoyed the music they were playing, and the guitar player was very talented (in my unprofessional opinion). Lunch was OK, but we didn't care. We were just happy to sit around and listen to the good music for a long time.
The Old Court House Band
We took a quick drive around Port Douglas, but because today is Sunday everything was closed. So we took Martin and Monica up to the "lookout" hill about Port Douglas.
View Over Port Douglas
Pad Thai
Back at home, we all napped and relaxed for a bit, and Jon went out for a run. When he got back around 8:00PM, I started to make some Pad Thai. As usual, it seemed to explode all over the stove but - personally - I think it's part of my artistic expression. We ate around 8:30, and everyone said they liked it despite the fact that the noodles were a bit dry and chewy.
Spy Game
We decided to go see the 9:30 showing of "Spy Game" at Cairns Central. we had almost the entire theater to ourselves, which a nice treat. And the movie was quite good, although the ending was just a bit unrealistic. But that's all I'm going to say about that.