October
16, Tuesday
Sign in the hotel lobby: “Dear Lord: If you can’t make me THIN, please make all my friends FAT !”
The discovery of gold by the early explorers started development, as is often the case in isolated and remote areas around the world. The areas north of Cairns, particularly Cooktown were initially established as frontier towns to support the ongoing gold rush in the area. Cairns and Smithfield (north of Cairns) were not officially founded until 1876. The gold rush started on the banks of the Palmer River in 1872. This area is east of Cooktown and approximately 370km northwest of Cairns. Thousands of fortune hunters were lured to this area as news of the gold rush spread throughout the country. An early explorer, James Mulligan is credited with discovering gold in the area and starting the famous gold rush.”
Packing up time.
Have paid my airline ticket with Virgin Australia to include 2 check-in
bags instead of just one, to avoid the heavy suitcase overcharge (less
expensive of the two options). Had to
check out by 10 am but sat in the hotel lobby with wifi to catch up on my
notes.
Mark, the morning desk manager, has been a great help
during my stay; suggesting the 7-day Multi 1 Pass, directing me to the
appropriate busses and sights etc. The
young French couple who take care of the desk in the afternoon were also quite
helpful. Although “Arts Hotel” was only
a 3-star, the location and the staff made my stay quite enjoyable. The rooms were nothing to write home about,
but I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is looking for
accommodation under $200/night. Downtown
hotels will cost you twice as much.
Taxi to airport and flight to Cairns at 14:15. The Virgin Australia flight was supposed to
land at 16:30 and at 17:00 we were still in the air. I had not realized that there was a time difference
due to a change in time zones!
Arrived safely in Cairns, short drive from the airport to the city, checked in to the Cascade Gardens Holiday Apartments and was pleasantly surprised to find a studio apartment with a full kitchenette. Some of the rooms are condo units and they rent them out through Booking.com. Love it.
Sign in the hotel lobby: “Dear Lord: If you can’t make me THIN, please make all my friends FAT !”
It was still early enough for me to walk to the grocery
store and get some supplies for the kitchen, but that was it for me. I needed to just kick back and relax, though
I did book some tours for the following days.
History of
Cairns: “Captain James Cook sailed up the North
Queensland coast on his first Voyage of Discovery in June 1770, aboard his ship
the HM Bark Endeavour. Captain Cook was the first known European to visit the
site where today’s City of Cairns is located. There is ongoing debate about
Dutch explorers arriving on Cape York almost one hundred and seventy years before
Captain Cook. Whilst it is accepted that they reached the western side of Cape
York there is no evidence that they made it down the east coast. The journey down the coast by the HM Bark
Endeavour was not a pleasant one. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most
difficult waterways in the world to navigate. The Bark Endeavour was only 30
metres long, a small ship indeed for the perilous journey that it had
undertaken. It ran aground on a coral reef and sustained serious damage. The
crew managed to limp to shore where they found a river mouth where they could
beach the battered ship. This river was later name the Endeavour River and the
town that grew on its banks became known as Cooktown. Other geographical
features were named to reflect the somewhat somber mood of the Captain and
crew: Cape Tribulation, Hope Island and Weary Bay. The discovery of gold by the early explorers started development, as is often the case in isolated and remote areas around the world. The areas north of Cairns, particularly Cooktown were initially established as frontier towns to support the ongoing gold rush in the area. Cairns and Smithfield (north of Cairns) were not officially founded until 1876. The gold rush started on the banks of the Palmer River in 1872. This area is east of Cooktown and approximately 370km northwest of Cairns. Thousands of fortune hunters were lured to this area as news of the gold rush spread throughout the country. An early explorer, James Mulligan is credited with discovering gold in the area and starting the famous gold rush.”
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