Cairns, Australia, Jan 17, 2002 Most Northerly

By Bob Van Leer
( CAIRNS, Australia - Thursday, Jan. 17, 2002) - After three days at sea we arrived in Cairns, a city of about 130,000 people, the most northerly city on the east coast of Australia.

The channel between Australia and New Guinea is narrow and shallow, so much so that there are buoys marking the channel. A pilot is needed.
  We turned south and are slowly sailing down the Great Barrier Reef, of which more later.
  This part of the coast is almost deserted. There is no habitation visible on shore. We are sailing between the reef and shore, but before arriving at Cairns we head out to open sea to dump waste. Capt. Bjurstedt says the ship uses 400 tons of water every 24 hours. Sewage is treated, but effluent must be taken out more than 12 miles before dumping.
  We were scheduled to be in Cairns two days. The first day I had a snorkeling trip on the reef planned but was unable to go because I developed a case of flu.
  The next day Betty and I took a rail trip up the mountains to Kuranda and then a cableway ride back down the mountain
   The rail line is old, built between 1882 and 1891. The rail grade was hacked through the jungle by Irish laborers who were paid 85 cents a day.
  There appears to be a significant drug problem here. In the men's room at the train station there was a locked container with an opening and reading, "Used needles only". Our guide confirmed this was for drug needles.
  The skyrail to town is new, completed in 1995. It is a private venture with cable cars traveling mostly above the trees but partly through the canopy. In addition, at one of the stations there is a boardwalk canopy trail. I thought we had better explore this canopy ride as it is something we are not going to be able to do at home.
  The ride is 4.7 miles long with two stations to exit and get a closer look at the rain forest. Annual rainfall is 62 inches, less than the 80 inches at home.
  Usage figures for the tram were hard to get with the best information I could find saying there were about 500,000 trips per year. The charge is $30 one way or $40 round trip.
  Our guide said there was a lot of opposition to the tramway being built but she said now it is "very, very popular".
  Cairns is tropical. The temperature while we were there was in the 90s and the humidity 100%. A lot of sugar cane is grown but it has yielded first place in the economy to tourism.
  The tourism is international. While we were there golfer Tiger Woods jetted in to the airport and then disappeared to one of the lush resorts in the region.
  After two days at Cairns we headed south inside the reef for Hamilton Island.
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