Land Down Under Is Over The Top by Brad Boyle

We have just finished up our six-day tour of the Australian mainland and it was amazing. We are running out of superlatives to describe some of the sites we have seen and adventures that we have experienced. We actually first set foot on Australian soil in Tasmania, a large island that is about 900 km south of Sydney. In Tasmania, we toured around countryside with rolling hills that looked similar to what we see in rural Alberta and the foothills, but with slightly different vegetation. We were able to visit a wildlife refuge that had wombats, wallabies, kangaroos, koalas and the notorious Tasmanian devil! The Tasmanian devil looks like a cuddly teddy bear but apparently attack like a badger or wolverine.

On the Australian mainland we docked in the beautiful Sydney harbour right by the opera house. Unfortunately we were not able to spend much time in Sydney before we boarded our flight to Ayers Rock and the giant red rock call Uluru by the native aboriginals. It was an amazing site and we spent our first night in Australia on the open dessert under a sky filled with more stars than any of us had seen in our lifetime. It was a site that you literally cannot find anywhere else in the world. The following day we were able to visit an aboriginal village, take numerous pictures of Uluru and the Ogres (a series of 37 large rock outcroppings), and stop for a camel ride on the bus trip to Alice Springs. After a night in Alice Springs we visited a dessert museum and zoo before our flight to Cairns where we stayed for the next three days.

On our first full day in Cairns we boarded a ferryboat for a 90-minute ride to a pontoon anchored to the Great Barrier Reef. To describe the Great Barrier Reef as breathtaking is an understatement. Adam and Erin spent most of the day snorkeling with thousands of fish, including a large parrotfish named Roxy that was much more like a pet puppy dog than a fish. After only a few minutes, Erin was able to make Roxy come on command and also to instruct Roxy to follow Erin around the coral reefs like a well-trained pet – you had to see it to believe it! Maggie and I also spent a couple of hours snorkeling around with a marine biologist who pointed out numerous varieties of coral, fish and mammals. We ended this phenomenal day with a helicopter ride over the Great Barrier Reef and rain forest back to Cairns.

The next day we rode an old railroad train through the Australian rainforest to the top of a mountain and returned to Cairns on a gondola that rose above the jungle. At the top, Erin and Adam visited a zoo where they were able to hold a koala and feed kangaroos. At the bottom of the gondola we visited an aboriginal culture centre that allowed us to learn how to throw boomerangs and spears. Adam and Erin had their faces painted like the natives and Adam received lessons from an aboriginal professional on how to play the didgeridoo that he had bought in Cairns. The kids were also given original aboriginal boomerangs to take home (Note to Self: Increase our home insurance when we return to Calgary!).

Our final day in Australia allowed us a morning of last minute shopping as the Royal Princess arrived in port and we re-boarded the ship looking forward to our next great adventure.