April 25: Airlie Beach
Friday we called upon the small town of Airlie Beach. I awoke early to make my excursion. I think we had to meet early because it was a tender port. If you’re not familiar with the term “tender port” that means it’s a small enough place that they don’t have a pier big enough for the ship so we have to anchor off shore and take smaller boats, called ‘tenders’ to get to the shore.
After the tender we rode a bus for a while to get to the main event for the day: The Whitsunday Crocodile Safari.
Crikey!
We drove for a little while and arrived at the “camp” of the safari. There we were served a very good Australian Barbeque. We were then divided into two groups. My group went on the boat first. The boat was about 10 feet wide and 30 feet long. Our guide handled the boat on the narrow Proserpine River very well. HE also had a very sharp and trained eye to see what we came to see: the world’s largest living reptile, Australia’s salt water crocodile! We saw quite a few from a large male just hanging-out on the shore of the river to a large female with several hatchlings near her.
After the boat ride we swapped with the other half of the group and rode on a “train” consisting of wagons being pulled by a tractor through the wetlands. The highlight of that part of the day was seeing wild kangaroos. They then drove us back to the ship and it was a good day of seeing Australian wildlife.
April 26: Townsville
The next day I went on a tour of the town which was narrated by man who had lived there his whole life. We heard interesting tales of teenage boys carrying buckets of dirt to the top of a nearby hill in a failed attempt to make the hill five feet taller so it could be classified a mountain. We also learned about the U.S. Air Corps activity in the area during the second world war.
After some time in town we headed to an animal preserve. There we were able to see captive kangaroos up close as well as koalas and other animals you’d expect to see in Australia. They of course had some crocs, but it was a bi anticlimactic after the day before.
April 27: Cairns
On Sunday we arrived in Cairns, pronounced “can.” The excursion for the day, the Kuranda Scenic Railway.
This narrow-gauge railroad was built at the turn of the 20th century for you guessed it, a gold rush. Now it’s primarily a tourist railroad through the Daintree Rainforest, the oldest continuous rainforest in the world. Needless to say there were some great pictures to be taken.
After the train we went to another animal preserve (I should have researched these tours better) which was just OK, but they also had world war 2 “army duck” amphibious vehicles which we rode through the rainforest which was pretty cool. What was really exciting is not long after we got out of the vehicles a wild cassowary, the world’s second-heaviest bird after the ostrich, decided to walk right through the place. The employees of the facility just said “eh, just give it some space and it will pass through.” That thing could have easily killed someone, but it was just happy to just walk around. Our tour guide said “I’ve been doing this for fifteen years and never saw that happen before.”
It was a long port day and after retuning to the ship to rest, I went out that evening and walked around the town. They had a casino, but I didn’t go in as NCL already had all my casino money for this trip. LOL.
Up next: three much-needed days at sea as we head west into the South Pacific.
Until we meet again, may you avoid the Kraken and have Fair Winds and Following Seas.
Eric Cable
May 1, 2025
