We stopped in Cairns, Australia today. It is a very tropical region to the northeastern costal part of the country. While here we visited the Barron Falls and the rainforest area. This is the summer and rainy season, hence the waterfall is a very large rushing one of reddish-colored water due to the runoff from the soil and all of the rain. This rainforest is declared one of the world’s heritage sites It was very beautiful and lush with many kinds of trees and birds that we saw as we rode in a cable car that rose over the rainforest for approximately 7 miles. We also learned that there are many snakes, wild pigs, and rats here also, but fortunately did not meet up with any of them. This area also has large sugar cane farms, which is their main export here. Even though we have been to the countryside, we have not seen a single kangaroo, koala bear or croc. We are disappointed, needless to say.
We also saw the base for the flying doctors service of Australia, which services the remote areas. I believe this is the service that one of our friends, Dr. Poppens, may have worked for while he was in Australia. It is still an important service for the people who live in the remote areas.
During the time we were here, it was also the “Sorry Day” for all of Australia. This was the time designated for the Australians to say that they were sorry for the treatment of the Aborigines lost generation. This was designated by the government but is not necessarily very popular with some of the people, because they are afraid of the reparations that may be asked for by the Aborigine people.
Cyclones were sighted on the northwest side of the continent, but we were fortunate to avoid them. Luckily it has remained calm for most of the last 2 days. After enjoying all of the French, Polynesian, Chinese, Italian, and Mexican cuisines, we felt something was missing so today we had a good old-fashioned hamburger with all the fixings and French-fries. They surely did taste good. Tomorrow we will reach some of the islands collectively called Micronesia, specifically Papua New Guinea.
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