On the Road Again & Again & Again: The Rock! And The Rainforest??? All in one day??? Huh???

Friday, April 7, 2017

The Rock! And The Rainforest??? All in one day??? Huh???

As we readied to leaved Melbourne, a lone Hot Air Balloon bid us adieu! So weird to see these balloons right in the city. Anyway, headed for the airport and a private charter jet. Makes a huge difference when checking in. There is no ‘TSA’ type security check which makes things so quick!

Got to Uluru (or Ayers Rock) area… The Australian Government gave this land back to the Aboriginal people and they changed the name back to its’ original name. The government has a 99-year lease on the area and works in cooperation with the local people in maintaining a lot of the site so tourists can visit. Restrictions are placed so as to respect the history and the religious implications of the rock.

We went to the site three different times: Afternoon, for mostly education about the rock; later in the evening to see sunset (and they provided appies, wine, beer, and champagne for that part of the explore!); next morning, up close and personal with the rock. It really is an awesome place! Oh, by the way, the flight attendants and one of the pilots on our plane joined us for Sunset. Nice, nice, nice folks. Jerry bent the pilots ear for a bit… but wait, we weren’t done. There is an artist exhibit by a British gentleman in the desert near the rock but not too close It features THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of solor powered lights over several acres. (They actually use a different measurement, but acres worked for us ever so much better. We spent about 45 minutes walking through them, then up a brim for a pic down of them.)

Interestingly, some areas of the rock you are not to take pictures of as they are considered sacred by the Indians (certain caves, etc). We respected their requests. You can still climb the rock, but they really discourage it, as, the whole rock is a pretty sacred place to them. It’s a strenuous climb in the extreme heat. There is eventually a chain that helps one up the side, but the chain only starts after you’re about few 100 yards up the hill. They figure, that’s how to test you to see if you can really make it up. Folks have died doing the climb and some even die after the walk, back at their hotel. Kinda not worth it if you’re not in the best shape I would say! The heat is a big factor too! We didn’t even have to make a decision about it, cuz we weren’t going to be there that long so there was no time!

So, we were not even there a full twenty-four hours when it was tip to hop on our plane… we were headed for Cairns!

Now, after a great flight with our fun flight crew, we landed at Cairns and were in for a weather shocker… HUMID HUMID HUMID and warm! Immediately started ‘dripping’ and ‘melting’ when we landed. Got on board our coach and headed for Skyway Rainforest Cableway and a nature journey with a guide.

We rode above the forest canopy and could see the plants change the further up we went. We were told they brought the structures in for the cables by helicopter to preserve the integrity of the area. No backhoes, etc… sounded quite involved! If we thought it was muggy when we landed… well, it was nothing compared to the forest we were in. It was quite beautiful and worth it. This rainforest is on the UNESCO list, so the world thinks it’s a pretty good deal!

Arrived at our Lodge… it was dark… but boy, the meandering path to our cabin was fun. And then when we saw the cabin, WOW! So pretty… didn’t take pics yet as it was too dark!