Beautiful Views and Cheeky Wildlife

Aussie term of the day...

“Happy as Larry” -  Who is Larry? You might ask.  And why is he happy? Well, the origins of this phrase are rather fuzzy, the beginning maybe being somewhere around 1875.  The phrase itself is meant in a positive sense of course (though you can’t always be sure with the presence of sarcasm and all) and it means ‘extremely happy or content.’ Some think it speaks of the Australian boxer Larry Foley who was an exceptionally successful prize fighter in his time. Why he was particularly happy though, sources don’t really say. I might add here that though this is a very Australian / New Zealander term, it has recently fallen out of  popular use since the occurrence to Hurricane Larry, understandably so.

            When I said it can be hard to tell the true meaning of phrases due to sarcasm, it is here I feel it is appropriate to introduce a couple other phrases I recently found that definitely show that sarcastic side. 

           This Australian one: “Happy as a boxing kangaroo in fog time”

           And a New Zealand on:  “Happy as a sick eel in a sandspit.”
Both essentially mean "not happy at all," just in case you needed some clarification on that one :)

            Day one in Australia for my parents this week and we wanted to be sure to get them off on a great and adventure filled start while at the same time catering to the oh so awesome effects of jet lag.  Jumping 18 hours ahead of time sure does some weird things to your sleep cycle as I so joyfully found out firsthand when I arrived here some 5 months ago! 

            So around town and close to home sights is was, the first being the lovely drive up to Copperlode Dam for a panoramic perspective of Cairns from above.  We wound our way down and throughout town after that, taking a stop over to see the Barron Falls from this side and then the used to be swimming pool of Lake Placid.  Apparently with recent sightings of large saltwater crocodiles moving up in recent year’s, people have decided that swimming there might not be the smartest idea.

 Dad had his first sighting of the ever common Black Kite there, soaring above the lake as it was dive bombed by a smaller raptor. We made our way to the beautiful and serene Cairns Botanical Gardens for some afternoon coffee and a lovely stroll through the rainforested pathways.  Dad learned the hard way just how much force and pressure the water fountains here can pack as at one point he bent to take a drink and was instead assaulted full bore by a powerful jet of water to the forehead.  I must say we all had a mighty good laughing fit after that one!!

I never thought a simple water fountain would make me laugh so much!

We ended the evening early with the first of many introductions my parents will need to have into Australian cuisine, this one being the wild and gamey meat of kangaroo.  

Day two we picked up the pace a bit and started the morning off with the first tram up the Skyrail to Kuranda.  The view from up there is simply amazing and I was just in awe of how beautiful all the rainforest and the view of the city below was! 

The day in Kuranda was a whirlwind, our day starting with a trip to and a brilliant tour of the Kuranda Butterfly Aviary.  Oh my word they have so many butterflies there! 

It was great to hear from the caretakers the processes they go through to keep the aviary running, the different lifecycles the butterflies go through and to just bask in the awesome beauty of such little and yet so amazing creatures. Gosh I love butterflies!

Lunch time was another introduction to some Aussie foods, Mom and I braving the menu with ordering the very Aussie crocodile burgers.  Not at all bad I must say!

Next it was the bird aviary, the whole enclosure filled with parrots and other birds of every color, all flying around and sometimes braving the chance to land on a passersbys shoulder.  

Dad and a beautiful Eclectus Parrot

I personally learned pretty quickly why they recommended visitors to take off all jewelry as the first parrot to land on me went right for my watch!  

Me and that cheeky Indian Green Parrot!

He was a cheeky little bird though as he visited us a good number of times throughout our trip through the aviary and seemed to like nibbling on ears, grabbing at my Dad’s beard, and show utter fascination with my Dad’s backpack.

Third stop through was the Koala Garden next door which, despite the name, has quite a bit more than just koalas.  It was there that Mom and Dad got to feed and pet their first kangaroo, see their first wombat and Aussie croc, and, of course, a koala.

The day in Kuranda seemed to end much too soon though, the only other activities possible in the remaining time we had being a quick browse through the markets and the acquiring of some ice cream cones as the shops closed down for the day.  The thing about Kuranda is that it is so much built and run around tourists that pretty much everything closes and the town become utterly still at about 4:00 which is when all the tourists generally head home.  I swear we could have spent several more hours there though had time allowed! But it was back on the Skyrail for us and everyone else and down to Cairns on one of the last carriages out.

Heading back down to Cairns

            We met up at the bottom with Michelle who had become our amazingly fantastic driver for several days as we smoothed out some details in obtaining our rental car.  I cannot tell you how much of a lifesaver it was to have her there and willing to fill in while we figured stuff out!

            Night time came and Michelle, Shane and I had to introduce my parents to the incredibly touristy Cairns Night Markets. They have anything you can imagine as far as touristy and Australian things there and I was convinced by Shane and Michelle into being the stereotypical tourist and purchasing the obligatory Aussie T-shirt. I did break down later and get myself a boomerang as well.  I mean really, I have to get something that screams "Australia!" after living here and simply falling in love with the place these 5 months!

Sadly the "Night Markets" sign wasn't lit up at this moment, but usually it glows bright blue.

Anyways, the next day we were finally able to pick up our rental car. Yay! And just in time to for our trek up the absolutely gorgeous drive to Port Douglas which, this day, was to be the launching location of a trip out to the reef! Michelle, my parents and I drove separate from the rest of the crew and, of course, had to stop along the way for a short while for some scenic pictures before continuing on and meeting up in time to help push the boat into the water, pile in, and head out to the reef!

Low Isles

It was a day out at Low Isles this time, the weather and such indicating a better time snorkeling at the more sheltered island.  I don’t think “excited” quite describes how my parents felt about finally checking one off the bucket list.  I mean really, how often can you say you got to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef?! I think the highlight of the day for me was getting to see my first reef shark! It was complete chance too as I had been snorkeling up ahead with Michelle and had just turned back to say something to my dad and suddenly spotted this shark swimming beneath him.  I definitely grabbed his arm rather tightly in excitement and we raced off in hot pursuit of it before it glided off, back into the distant cloudy waters.  So cool! And don't worry, this particularly species are essentially harmless :).

Black-tipped Reef Shark