Well, it IS a rainforest: Cairns Day 1

I swear, everybody, I am not trying to be 82 years old here, but this is pretty damn lame: I was asleep last night by 9pm and up at the preposterous hour of 3:10am. I fought to go back to sleep, because DAMN, but it was no use. I got up at 3:50, Gretchen got up right afterward, and we packed the car and left the Marriott Courtyard. A terrific hotel, considering we didn't pay anything to stay there! Thanks, Gretchen's reward points!

We drove north on Motorway 1 toward Brisbane, and on the way we saw a sign that read, "Cairns, 1717 miles." Ouch! Good thing we are flying. Man, this is a huge country. We dropped off the car and checked our baggage -- we're back on Qantas for the rest of the trip, so we can each have 70kg and 2 bags, a big improvement over the 40kg and 1 bag each we were supposed to be allowed on Air NZ and JetStar. We really did some smooth talking because we have not had to throw anything away or mail anything home, and we have never paid overage fees for the luggage. In any case, it is nice to be able to pack at the hotel and not have the possibility of having to unpack and repack right in the airport with everyone looking at you. The flight was uneventful, except that I had the window seat and got to see the reef barrier islands from the air.

As soon as we stepped off the plane, we felt the humidity. Oof!

We descended into Cairns and saw rainforest-covered mountains on the right side of the plane and the endless Pacific to the left. The mountains immediately brought to mind Hawaii; they are wrinkly like those mountains, and their tops are touched with clouds. As soon as we stepped off the plane, we felt the humidity. Oof! We grabbed a cab to our hotel (after losing one to an Australian couple who just butted in front of us and told us to take the next one -- and they say Americans are rude!) and checked in. The Cairns Best Western is in the '50s motor lodge style similar to our hotel in Rotorua, but unlike that hotel, this one has a beautiful swimming pool and it is warm enough out to swim. It is definitely no frills, but for $59/night, I am not complaining! It is clean, and the bathroom is nice, so that is enough.

We scheduled our activities for tonight and checked on the diving for tomorrow. There is a cyclone several hundred km north of here, and I really hope the diving actually happens. Cross your fingers, everyone! After we set some tours up, we decided to head out to explore Cairns; we took the city bus to the city center. It had to happen sooner or later, so I can't be that upset that today was sort of total crap. There was a misty rain falling as we walked around looking for our dive shop, and there are very few sidewalks in Cairns outside the center city. Not very pedestrian-friendly, and the city is sort of run-down and crappy. There are a lot of discount stores and strip malls. It is rather depressing, especially with the rain. We hung out at the mall for a while and got some lunch. We thought about seeing a movie, but there was nothing at the theatre we wanted to see…it's too early for Fred Claus! Instead we found a discount DVD store and managed to find a copy of "Airplane!", which is mysteriously called "Flying High!" over here. We also had a chance to visit an Australian Target. You know how in the US they recently decided not to be a store full of totally cheap crap?...well, they have not done that here. It was a mess, stuff strewn all over and lots of rude people. Ugh! We did have some light shed on a question that's been plaguing me since we got to New Zealand, though: the issue of "Manchester." I have heard ads for Manchester and could not figure out what it was, but apparently it is a word for linens, both bed and bath. Sure, I could just look it up, but that would be less fun. Anyway, with the help of about 6 kind strangers, we made our way back to the hotel on the bus and chilled out until it was time to leave for the Aboriginal cultural visit by watching "Airplane!" Classic.

After a little mixup with the Tjapukai people, we ended up in a cab free of charge, heading out to the tribal lands (they were supposed to pick us up at the hotel in a bus, but they went to the Best Western that was torn down last month -- bizarre, since the concierge at our hotel booked the trip and we are 100% sure she would not have given the wrong address). Our cabdriver was entertaining, a younger Australian guy with a buzz cut and a rat-tail in his hair who knows all 50 U.S. states. It was a rather long ride to the Aboriginal grounds, and we got there just in time for the 7:30 show.

The show was great -- maybe not as good as the Maori performance we saw at Tamaki in New Zealand, but fantastically entertaining. As we walked in, we were all given two sticks to tap together so we were all participating in the performance. Also, there was an Aborigine playing the didgeridoo, which is that hollow stick that makes a long honking sound. The Aborigines taught us a song about making fire and then actually made fire by rubbing sticks together. I have watched enough Survivor to know that this is harder than it looks. After the fire was made, one of the Aborigines lit the end of a spear and threw it into the hills, where it hit a bowl of tinder and burst into flames. Don't worry, I got a terrific video of this! After the fire-making ceremony, we went in for the buffet dinner, which was delicious. After dinner, there was more singing and dancing, which was great. We caught the bus back home and fell into bed to rest up for diving tomorrow.