Daintree Rainforest

Even the little spiders were cool.

Yesterday was rainforest day.  This rainforest, the oldest rainforest in the world, is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, a UNESCO World Heritage site, just like the Great Barrier Reef we’d been snorkeling in.  I’ve never been in a rainforest before, at least not that I know of, so was pretty excited to see what this was all about.  We drove through a lot of sugar cane fields on our way up to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation beach.  Once we got into the rainforest, we were amazed at just how lush and green it all was.  We got to see this all from the comfort of the bus, but when we got out to look at some of the views, we saw beautiful butterflies and funny looking birds. 

This is some kind of turkey, but his tail spread up and down instead of left to right.  We saw him in the forest too, but he was easier to photograph in the parking lot :)

We went on a cruise up the Daintree River.  When we were packing to leave the room in the morning, we thought, hmmm, should we bring raincoats?  Then decided since it IS the rainforest, it might be a good idea.  Sure enough, as soon as we left the visitor’s center to head for the boat, it started pouring!  This wasn’t some wimpy Dublin drizzle, this was a downpour!  We got our coats out and on pretty fast, and we were the only semi-dry ones on the boat.  Luckily it quit about 5 minutes later, since the rain was still blowing in all the sides of the boat and our booties were getting pretty wet.

We weren’t on the river for more than 5 minutes before we spotted our first crocodile!  This one was lying on the bank so we could see her whole body.  We saw two more, but both were in the water with just the tops of their heads showing.  

We didn't see crocs on this beach, but our tour guide said they are common on the beaches near our hotel, eek!

We were also looking out for baby crocks and pythons, but those never made an appearance.  We did see some pretty birds and interesting plants though.  On the way back to our hotel we also got to see a Kookaburra, which just made me think of eating at Outback Steak House.  They have a wacky call, the tour guide described it as the laugh of a maniac, like the Jack Nicolson’s Joker.

There were quite a few other animals we were looking out for on the drive, including the dinosaur-eque Cassowary, but the only one of those we spotted was this statue.  Apparently bad storms a few years ago killed about 2/3 of the population, so not too surprising we weren’t able to see one.

We did also see a field full of Cockatoos, which was not at all how we imagined these birds would be in the wild, it was really cool!

One thing we saw more than enough of was giant spiders.  These Golden Orb Spiders were in many high spots, like in the rafters at the bathroom, but this one was right on the hand rail of the bridge, and we would have run right into it if someone hadn’t warned us.  You better believe I checked under the toilet seat and in the toilet paper holder before I used that bathroom!

Our lunch break was at a restaurant right in the middle of the rainforest, with open sides that made us feel like we were eating in a tropical paradise.  Which we were, of course.

The last stop was Mossman Gorge, which was more of the same rainforest, but also had a beautiful stream running through it.  We started off our visit there with a talk by an Indigenous Person (Aboriginal? Not sure which is the politically correct term).  He told us a bit about how they learn to live in the forest (while balancing that with more modern life) and walkabouts.  The showed us how they make the paint they put on themselves and why they do it.  One reason is so that it shows where they are from and what language they speak, which helps when they meet up with other tribes.  He also showed us that a species of Sassafras tree can be used to make soap by just soaking the fresh leaves in water and rubbing vigorously.  His talk was probably only 10 minutes, but it was really interesting.

Swimming in these rapids seemed dangerous to me, but he looked like he knew what he was doing and was having fun.

This was a long day for us, 9 hours total with most of that on the bus driving back and forth.  In the end though, we were super glad that we did it and felt like we got to see a whole new world.

 

Snorkeling in the Low Isles

Mom got sick in the middle of the night, the same thing happened to her when she recently took a trip to visit my brother, so at least she knew what to do about it.  In the morning she was still feeling bad, so I ran down to the shop to pick up some supplies for her.  By the time we had to leave for our afternoon snorkeling trip, she was feeling pretty good, so we went ahead.  We got on this nice catamaran and sailed from Port Douglas to the Low Isles, and everything was fine until about 1/3 the way out in the boat, when she stared to feel sick all over again, and not sea sick.  She still marched on like a trooper, since it wasn’t quite as last night, but we were only in the water for about 15 minutes before she had to head back to shore and relax on the not-soft-in-the-slightest sand.  

Sick as she was, she still looks adorable!

We wore Lycra "sting suits" to protect us from any jellyfish.  We didn't see any, but it was just a precaution and protected us from the sun as well.  When you had your mask and fins on, the only skin exposed was a little bit of face.

I continued on the snorkeling tour, and saw some amazing things, even though the water was a bit murky.  In addition to the normal corals and fishes, which are amazing in their own right, I saw a giant snake sea cucumber, and sat and studied him, fascinated, for a bit.  That was definitely my favorite part, even though I guess that seems a little strange, I think it was the novelty of it I loved, and being able to sit and watch how he used some appendages around his mouth to grab bits of dead coral, like an elephant grabbing hay with his trunk, and bring it up to his mouth.  Then I could watch the contractions in his body as he passed the food through.  He kind of looked like a 5 foot piece of intestine,with markings like a caterpillar and I imagine intestines move in the same way.  

We snorkeled from the beach of this small island.

I also go to see a giant mollusk.  Our guide pointed it out, but I had trouble seeing it at first.  When I finally saw it, I did a double take.  It wasn’t at all like I was expecting.  First of all, it was huge, I think it could have easily closed around me.  Second, it wasn’t empty in the middle, like you imagine it would be after seeing the painting of Venus.  It had a membrane/muscle that filled edge to edge, with a couple of stovepipe type holes that he uses to pull water in and out.  Lastly, it was so colorful!  Turquoise and white around the edges, purple and black on the inside.  It was beautiful.  

The ride back was awful for Mom from start to finish, and she spent most of it with her eyes closed.  We picked the afternoon trip specifically because we were supposed to cruise back during sunset, but that’s pretty hard to enjoy with your eyes closed.  Just as well because there were too many clouds to see a proper sunset.  It did, however, create some really cool shadows that one cloud would cast on other clouds, and some lovely light beams shining through.  

It was just coming on dark as we pulled into the marina, and it took me a second to realize that the big birds flying overhead in a massive group were not birds at all, but bats!  The captain confirmed this for me, he said they live in the bushes and come out at night to hunt in the nearby rainforest.  There were so many of these things, there had to be millions.  I stood and watched and clouds of them just kept coming and coming and coming, and were still coming with no end in sight when we docked.  I thought it was pretty awesome and sad Hubby missed it, as we are both bat fans and it’s hard to take proper pictures or video of that kind of thing at night.

Best shot I could get of the bats.

Tomorrow we have another snorkeling trip planned.  Let’s hope mom wakes up feeling better, like she did last time this hit, so we can go out and enjoy it together.

Australia adventure begins

When I was about 13, my parents took us on a trip to the Bahamas.  While there, my Dad and I did the one day resort course to learn how to scuba dive, and then we went on about 3 dives.  I loved it, and someone said to me that if I liked that, I ought to see the Great Barrier Reef!  So ever since I was 13, Australia and the Great Barrier Reef have been in the top 3 of my must-visit list.  Over the years I always felt like I never had enough time or enough money to make the trip, and I certainly wasn’t looking forward to the super long flight, so I never went.  Now, more than 20 years later, I finally decided there’s no better time than now (the time is never “right”), and went for it.  Hubby had no interest in visit a place where “everything tries to kill you,” and is definitely not a fan of heat or long flights, so I decided to go alone.  When I told my Mom this, she suggested we make it a Mother-Daughter trip, so now here I am, on day 2 of happily traveling around Australia with my Mom!

The flight was awful.  Not as bad as I expected, and somehow also worse than I expected.  I am not looking forward to the return trip, but luckily I have plenty to distract me in the meantime.  From the time I left the house to the time I landed in Australia was 30 hours.  Granted, a good chunk of that was waiting around in airports, but I’ve still been in the same clothes, dragging baggage, breathing recycled air for 30 freaking hours straight.  I managed to get about 4 hours of sleep, but that’s all I could manage.  I feel surprisingly good, considering the sleep thing, but I think I am just too excited to care. 

Luck was with me from the start, breezed right through border control, and my bag was dropped onto the belt right as I walked up to the baggage carousel.  But next was customs and I was worried.  I’ve been watching that Border Control show, where they tape the guys here busting people trying to sneak stuff in.  It did teach me a few things to avoid, but also made me very paranoid.  Turns out, it was super easy!  Not only did it go really fast, but they didn’t even make me open my bags and they let me keep all my food!  Score. 

Right outside baggage claim was a man with my name on his board.  I should have taken a picture, I don’t think I’ve ever had that before, and I didn’t even have to share the car with another passenger (unlike Mom, for some reason, who had to share with another couple in a van, even though I thought we had booked the same thing).  When we stepped outside the airport I was already in love.  The air just feels different here, and I don’t mean the massive humidity, it felt magical.  I asked him if I could sit up front so I could enjoy the view, and I am so glad I did.  I was amazed the entire 1 hour drive.  Ireland is green, but this is like GREEN!!!  And gorgeous mountains.  Reminds me a lot of Kauai.  We drove down a road that had tons of trees on both sides, then along beaches for a while, and this one quick corner had the most amazing view of the peninsula.  I also got to see a large herd of wallabies grazing in a field off the other side of the road.  

Only one of the great views along the drive.

As we got closer, the driver told me that it was Market day in Port Douglas, so when I found out my room wasn’t ready (it was only 8am), I left my bags and went shopping!  Very kind of hippy/beachy vibe here, but not pretentious, everyone was super friendly.  And very safe, apparently, and no bums, which I know my brother would love.

I was already badly in need of a shower before I went to market, but I was super ripe after market.  It may have only been 9am, but at about 86°F it was already 30°F hotter than Dublin, and massive humidity.  Summers in Georgia and Virginia should have well prepared me for this, unfortunately the time in Dublin has got me pretty well acclimated to milder temperatures.  I was melting and my face was all red and blotchy.  But I wanted warm, and I got what I asked for.  Might not be ideal for walking around town, dressed for a chilly airplane, but will be great for when we are in the water.  Still, I was happy to get into my room and clean up a bit.  I debated jumping in the pool while I waited for Mom, who’s flight was about 4 hours behind mine, but I decided to just enjoy the AC for a while instead, and waited to take a dip with her.

It was as nice as it looks, and our room overlooks the pool.  The other side of the hotel just looks at the road, so we scored in the view department.

When Mom arrived she was starving and wanted to check out the pop-up market that was about to close, so we dropped her bags and headed straight out.  We picked up some good produce at the market, had a quick lunch, and then were back at the hotel to book a trip for the next day (all other trips had been pre-arranged).  Once all that was sorted, it was finally time to relax.  We hit the pool, and although it is empty almost every time I check it, this was apparently prime pool time.  We ended up talking to a couple from Melbourne, and the conversation eventually degraded into discussing Donald Trump, as it so often does these days, unfortunately.  We wrapped it up shortly after and, since we already had our suits on and towels in hand, went to check out the nearby beach.  I liked it, it had nice soft sand, it was pretty quiet, not too crowded, and was just beach and palm trees as far as the eye could see.  It’s actually called 4 Mile beach, and it’s easy to see why. 

Some irregular weather has kept the jellyfish (marine stingers) in the area longer than usual, so they had a small area netted off that was safe to swim in.  We dared not swim outside of that, as these jellyfish can actually kill a human!  It was a little awkward all trying to swim in the same, very shallow, area, but it was nice to finally go into some warm water! So few beaches I visit have water warm enough to want to swim in.  After that, we’d had about enough fun for one day, and headed back to rest a bit before dinner.  

This sign worked on us, we were too scared to go outside the netted area.

I had planned to take Mom out for a Mother’s Day dinner, since we had such a quickie lunch, but unfortunately neither of us made it that far.  Considering the last time I slept in a bed was about 48 hour prior, and only managed to sleep about 4 hours on the plane, I was pretty happy that I made it until 6:30pm.  I probably could have gone later if we hadn’t sat down in our room, I didn’t have a chance one my butt hit my bed.

Even though we didn’t do anything special to celebrate, and we were both travel weary, I think kicking off a Mother-Daughter trip to an exotic place we’ve both been wanting to see for ages is a pretty good way to spend Mother’s Day.

Giant's Causeway

We’ve been in Ireland for a year and a half now, but I still haven’t seen much of the country.  It’s slightly embarrassing when friends come to Ireland to visit, take a tour of the country, and leave after a week or so seeing so much more than I have!

Two years before we moved here, hubby took one of these tours himself and saw most of the highlights.  He hates long car rides, so convincing him to take a 4 hour drive to some place he’s already seen is tough, and we don’t usually want to do overnight trips because doggie can’t come with us.  I keep saying I’m going to go off on my own and take one of the day trip tour busses, but I have yet to actually do so.

I was talking about this with my friend, neighbor, and fellow American, YB (or at least that’s what we’ll call her here).  Since Christmas, she has taken me on two trips, the first to The Giant’s Causeway, the second to Powerscourt Estate.  The second is close, but not really hubby’s idea of a good time.  I’ll tell you more about that trip later.

YB needed some items that could only be bought in Northern Ireland.  In case you didn’t know, Northern Ireland is actually part of the UK, as opposed to the rest of the island which is the Republic of Ireland.  Being part of the UK, they have UK stores, and UK products.  Now she only had to go as far as Belfast, but figured since she was going that far anyway, she might as well take me all the way north to the Giant’s Causeway, which was at the top of my to-see-in-Ireland list. 

I had already heard one version of the story of The Giant’s Causeway and thought it was a fun story.  The moral is supposed to be you shouldn’t pick fights with people bigger than you, but my take away was that a clever wife is invaluable.  You can get a quick version of the story, and some of the science, here, or a long version of the story here.

Hard to believe these weren't intentionally laid as a path when there are perfect walkways like this.

We went on the first Monday in January, when most people were back at work, but the school she worked at hadn’t resumed yet. This meant it was cold, but also minimal crowds.  The day started off with some light rain, but the weather forecast for our destination said that the rain would be stopping around noon, so we decided to go ahead with it. As noon approached and we re-checked the weather, it moved the sunshine to 1pm.  Then again to 2pm.  By then we were there and could see a break in the clouds coming, so decided to sit and have a late lunch while we waited for the sunshine.  After eating we gave up and just headed outside, but the rain had mostly fizzled out by that point, and didn’t start up again until we were heading inside.

We had to walk over a kilometer from the visitor center to the stones, but it was a very lovely walk, with cliffs on one side, and beach on the other.  We passed one corner that was, according to the audio guide, the windiest spot in Ireland.  Although I’ve been in worse by my house when the weather turns bad.

The "trail" to the outcropping.

Much scarier when you are headed down.

But look how far out I got to go!

When we finally got to the stones, they were as amazing as I expected.  Since it was such a long trip up, and since I didn’t know if/when I would be back, I wanted to see every bit of it.  YB may not have been too thrilled with that, as she’s seen it a few times and wasn’t as excited to see it again, but she was happy to let me have my fun.  I walked out as far as I could on every bit, and was surprised that I never slipped once, even though the rocks were wet from the rain.  It made it feel like it really was a path made for walking on, and not just a random geological event.  Even with the small crowds, I had to wait for my turn in some areas, but it wasn’t too bad.  The only part I had trouble with was this section where you had to go on this skinny trial on the side of a hill to get out to the next section.  That was a bit scary, but going back was actually worse!  Eventually I had to turn around and head home.

Being in the UK also means that my phone would be roaming, and paying super high roaming charges, so I didn’t have my phone on.  YB’s phone was running low on battery and she didn’t have a car charger.  I thought she knew the way, she thought I knew the way, neither of us could use our phone to look at the map, at least not for long.  We only got slightly lost, but between that, the poor weather and heavy fog slowing us down, and the shopping trip that spurred the whole adventure in the first place, the entire trip was about 12 hours.  Slightly longer than we expected, but it was totally worth it.  It’s hard to explain why it was so fun, but it was beautiful and amazing and I am so glad that I went.

Afternoon Tea

Last Sunday I went to an afternoon tea at The Merrion with my American Women’s Club of Dublin ladies, and a few ladies from the American Embassy, including the Ambassador’s wife.  Because, you know, why not?  No, this is not something we do every evening, or even every month.  This is a once a year fundraising event, which made it all the more fun.  If we did it all the time it would not have been as exciting.

While many of the ladies in the club are very sharp dressers, I usually am not, and really looked forward to the excuse to get all dressed up.  I had an outfit in mind for months ahead of time, and thank goodness we had unseasonably warm and dry weather that week, because I was going to wear my peep toe sling back satin pumps even it was below freezing and raining!

Photo courtesy of Patrika Mani, Massage Therapist.

In addition to wearing our fancy clothes, we all took the opportunity to wear fancy hats.  Only two of us (myself included) were lucky enough to have a friend (who couldn’t make it to the tea) loan us a hat.  The rest of us all borrowed hats from the Milliner (hat maker) for the event.  We were very lucky to have Sophie Hunter Millinery come to display her wares.  Not only did she bring a huge selection of hats, but she helped us choose which one would work best for us, and how to put them on.   

Photo courtesy of Sophie Hunter Millinery

Photo courtesy of Sophie Hunter Millinery

Turns out the hat I was wearing (the borrowed one) was both on backwards, and designed for a part on the other side of the head.  Who knew?  Even though I was super happy to have a hat already, I still tried on another one, which was amazing.  I wore it around for a bit but then gave it back because the last few ladies in the door had slim pickings, and I wanted to give them a chance to wear the awesome hat as well. 

This was the hat on backwards, but I still kind of liked it like that.

This is what it's supposed to look like,but it looked much better in person.

This borrowed hat was awesome, and the center a much darker yellow than shows here.  The other hat does make it easier to chat with the people on my left though.

When Sophie first laid out all her hats, I thought they were interesting, but there were only a couple on the table I was really drawn to.  She had a huge selection, and so of course, they weren’t all going to be my cup of tea.  That is, until she stared putting them on us.  I was amazed at how well she paired them with the wearer, and how the colors of some of them matched perfect with the outfits!  She obviously knows what she’s doing, and how to a make us look fab.  Okay, I know I’m going on quite a bit about these hats, but honestly, it was my favorite part!  I think I’m not the only one, we all spent a lot of time checking each other out and taking pictures.

Photo courtesy of scruplesnoregrets.com

Photo courtesy of scruplesnoregrets.com

Look at how well those red and purple hats matched the outfits.  Those were ones loaned at the event, but Sophie could not have done any better if she had planned this in advance!  Photo courtesy of Sophie Hunter Millinery.

Once we finally got all dolled up and sat down, we got our fancy pants trays of goodies.  I found out that there are two different types of teas: and Afternoon Tea and a High Tea.  An afternoon tea has finger sandwiches and pastries, a High Tea is more like a full meal.  There’s probably more to it than that, but for our purposes that’s good enough.  We had lots of little finger sandwiches and pastries, so this was an Afternoon tea.  

Photo courtesy of scruplesnoregrets.com

At first we were all trying to figure out how to divide up the snacks, since there wasn’t enough on the table for us each to have one of everything, but we quickly found out that they would refill the trays.  They weren’t skimping on the food here, they actually ended up taking food away at the end because we were too full to finish everything they brought us.  

Photo courtesy of scruplesnoregrets.com

Photo courtesy of scruplesnoregrets.com

Photo courtesy of scruplesnoregrets.com

Photo courtesy of scruplesnoregrets.com

Then they brought out the “art dessert.”  We each got our own individual plate of desserts that looked like little pieces of art, but none of us could figure out quite what they were supposed to be.  Once we were all thoroughly confused, the server brought out some little playing card sized pictures of the art work which inspired the treats, as well as a short description.  One was called “Frying pan, fennel, eggs & lemons.”  I was really hoping this was not also the flavor inspiration.   It wasn’t, by the way, it was a yummy citrus flavor.  Once we had an image of the original artwork, we could see what they were doing with the desserts and appreciate them a little more.  Then we dove in.  The best was the chocolate one, yum!

We weren’t quite done yet, though.  Remember this was a fundraising event.  First we had the CEO of our charity, Ruhama, give us a little talk about the charity.  The quick description, taken from their website, is:  “Our services are comprehensive to meet the broad range of experiences of women affected by prostitution.  We provide a service to women who are currently involved in on-street and off-street prostitution; women who are exiting prostitution; women who are victims of sex trafficking; and women who have a history of prostitution.”  She gave some quick examples of how some of the women they helped were tricked into sex trafficking, then also some success stories of ladies they helped.  It did damper the mood a bit, but it was a good reminder of what we were there for.

Then we did the drawing for the raffle, which got us perked up again. There was quite a selection of prizes, mostly gift certificates (vouchers if you’re Irish), including one from my friend TheYankee Baker.  Some women were very lucky, not only winning multiple prizes, but also winning one of the two prizes hidden on the bottom side of our chairs.  Don’t get me wrong, no one was greedy, most people would say they’d won enough and to draw for someone else, but we had a lot of prizes and a small group.  Between the event price and the raffle, we raised €925, a pretty impressive number for only 50 ladies!

I think we were there for two hours, but time sure flew by while we chatted and snacked, and soon enough a good time had to come to an end.  I’m already looking forward to next year!