October 16, Tuesday

October 16, Tuesday

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! 

 Sydney Airport, Virgin Australia

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.”