March 26-28: Ayers Rock
We set out at 7:45 on the 26th from Port Douglas to the Cairns airport to fly to Ayers Rock, but about an hour into the trip we had to turn the bus around and head back..........
Why? LANDSLIDE!
On the way to Port Douglas from the Rainforest our driver had talked about two things we'd heard a lot about on the ship - the torrential rains and the trouble with roads. Many times on the ship natives of Queensland (the state in which Cairns resides) and Australians in general had talked about how very bad the weather had been in Cairns. This was throughout the time frame of the cruise. Apparently it is near the end of what they call the rainy season, and the rains had been torrential. But when we landed in Cairns the weather was very nice, and the trip to Port Douglas was also very nice. The bus driver told us about how bad the weather had been the previous week and related the story of how the road we were on - a winding highway along the coast known as the Captain Cook Highway - had even been closed due to landslides. He pointed out the point about halfway through the trip. He said had we been there last week we would have had problems because the road had been closed for several days. Well, the next day it was a bit rainy on the way out to the Great Barrier Reef, but once we got there we had excellent weather. And both evenings we were in Port Douglas were very nice - though a bit muggy and warm. So now we get to the morning of the 26th. About 5 am I was awakened to the sound of pouring rain. And it rained all morning long while we prepared to leave from the beach resort. But, we were on our way. Then about 45 minutes to an hour into the trip we came to a stop as we were winding our way through the curves of the mountainside along the Pacific Coast.......there had been a landslide in the exact same spot there had been one the week before we arrived. In fact, it had happened about fifteen minutes before we reached that point.....had we left a half hour earlier we would have been home free into Cairns and made our flight. But now we were stuck.
Right away the driver and our tour guide Leslie began making calls and looking into alternatives. There is one other route from Port Douglas to Cairns, but that would require heading back to Port Douglas and then further inland and through a bit of the outer edges of the rainforest / mountain terrain. It would be a journey of about three hours from where we were, but at least we'd be in Cairns and maybe we'd catch the second flight to Ayers Rock; there are only two a day! We turned around and travelled for about 35 minutes when we stopped outside a gas station and were told this would be the only place we'd have a chance to use the restrooms and/or get something to eat. It was torrential rains and about 3/4 of the bus braved the weather to line up for the one-at-a-time facilities and/or buy snacks. I did not want to buy anything that would make me have to go to the bathroom, and I did not have to use the "toilets" as they are called here. Finally we were on the road. But within twenty minutes we got the call that the other road was now closed as well. Some feared we needed to get closer to Port Douglas so we wouldn't be stuck on the road, in the bus if another landslide occured between us and our original starting point. You have to give credit to the people at the Royal Caribbean office who were working the phones trying to arrange flights and accomodations. Within ten minutes it was announced we were going back to Port Douglas and we'd be able to have all our same reservations at Ayers Rock tomorrow, the 27th. Once we reached town, we stopped at the pier - which was a ghost town because the rains had cancelled everything, but the shops and restaurants were open. So we had some time to wander around while as the home office would make arrangements for us. Kim and I stopped in a shop and I found "my" Australia hat - everywhere I'd seen them they were anywhere from $75 to over $100, especially the fully leather hats. Here I found them for $50. Kim also found me a nice tie (with kangaroos on it :) ; she got a t-shirt and we bought ourselves a souvenir boomerang.
So about a half hour later we arrived back at the beach resort, and we even got our same room back. Our tour guide Leslie apologized and told us we had a "day of leisure." All we had to be concerned about was getting into Cairns tomorrow to make our flights. This was around 11:15 am. We went back to our room and within 20 minutes our luggage arrived and Kim went to sleep. Then at a little after noon we got a phone call in the room that we were leaving for Cairns, the secondary road had opened up! The thinking was to get to Cairns while we knew we could so that we would be certain of making our flight tomorrow. We had to bring our own luggage, up the steps and through the rain to the lobby, but no worries! When we got there MOST of the group had assembled. Within about twenty minutes we discovered we had all but one couple. They had been spotted in town having lunch, but were not at the hotel. Leslie headed into town, as did the bus driver. After an hour of fruitless searching in every store and restaurant along the main drag they were now where to be found! Sigh........Finally the two guys who had originally spotted them set out to find them and came back with them; the couple had ended up having lunch then headed to the marina where we were yesterday because of the fine shopping it offered. All of this, I might add was within ten to fifteen minutes walking distance from our resort.
Meanwhile we'd skipped lunch - first because Kim wanted to take a nap and didn't feel well; then because we were told we were "leaving immediately." As the time went on while the couple was "missing" we were told we could get sandwiches to go downstairs. It was $10 for two halves of a sandwhich or one full sandwich! I wasn't that hungry so I asked for two small bags of chips - like you'd get from a vending machine - and a can of Diet Coke......my bill was nearly $15! Finally we were all loaded and on the road at about 3 pm. About 4:30 we stopped for a break after making it through the very wet and winding roads of the rainforest. Once back on the bus we were told we'd be in Cairns about 5:30 and we had reservations at one of the top waterfront resorts. I'm telling you that the hotels/resorts that Royal Caribbean got us have been top shelf! And all of our times were confirmed - basically we'd just pushed everything a day back. The problem this posed for us, and two other couples was we had purchased Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb tickets for mid afternoon on the 28th. Now we would not arrive into Sydney until sometime after 7 pm on that day. So, after getting checked into our gorgeous and VERY large room, with a balcony that overlooked the pier, we went downstairs for our only meal of the day, so we had a nice steak. The Shangrila (our resort) staff offered everyone a 20% discount on their final bill to soften the blow of today's trials - which was nice because none of it had been their fault or issue. Then we came upstairs to get ready for an early bed time as our wake-up call is at 4:45 am to catch the early flight to Ayers Rock. We will have more time there, so we can take advantage of more of the activities, but miss time in Sydney. So I emailed the company and explained how I knew the tickets were non-refundable, but this was out of our hands. More news tomorrow I hope........
March 27-28: Ayers Rock
Tuesday March 27's wake up call came MUCH too early --> 4:45 am! We had to have our bags outside the room of the luxurious Shangrila suite no later than 5:15 am and we were leaving for the airport for a 7:15 flight to Ayers Rock. Our dinner the night before was simply wonderful. The hotel had offered everyone in our tour group a 20% discount off our total dinner bill (including drinks) as a "we're sorry for your tough day" kind of thing. So we took advantage of that and ate right on the pier - we both had steaks. It poured the entire time we were there! It was Florida summer deluge kind of rain, only it had been going on all day and night. I was glad we were getting up early instead of risking the weather keeping us here.
After the shopping we checked in with Leslie, our tour director. I had talked to her earlier in the morning - we'd been asked to stop by and get the details of our flights back to Sydney and transportation to the airport for our flights home. Because of the landslide incident all the travel arrangements had been redone - and now the group was being split into two halves on two flights out of Ayers Rock. So I got the info and found out we'd be taken from the Sydney Sheraton at 11 am for the flight to LAX. This led me to talk with Leslie about the Bridge Climb and she had said she would call them. So after shopping she told us she'd talk with them and they were very understanding. They would offer us the "Express Climb" on the morning of the 29th when we leave. Leslie told us that would start at 9 am and is a 2 1/2 hour event. I started shaking my head as she said "that's beyond your transportation pick-up and you'd be talking about a taxi with all your luggage...." and I said, no, that just isn't going to work. I asked her if they had been sympathetic - she said yes, but no mention of a refund. But she gave me their direct number and when I got back to our room I called them. I talked with "Hugh" who was very sympathetic. He said they'd recieved my email and were about to reply........they were sorry we couldn't make it and said they'd offer a full refund within two days! HORRAY! So afterwards I went back to chat with Leslie about other options for the brief stay in Sydney and to make a very, VERY long story shorter, we made dinner reservations at the Sydney Tower restaurant which offers a 360 degree spinning view of the town and harbor. It is quite an exclusive and pricey activity, but hey, we just got all our money back from the Bridge Climb, so we felt we deserved it! A great way to top off the afternoon..........
March 27: Sunset at Ayers Rock
After spending the afternoon shopping and relaxing it was finally time to see "the Rock!" As part of our tour we had the "Sounds of Silence" dinner in the desert for this evening. We met at 5:45 and boarded the bus for the 15 minute trip to the national park and arrived with the ominous rock in the background. We made about a five minute trek up a sand dune to a viewing platform where we were served champagne (or diet coke if you were like us) and we all began taking photos of Ayers Rock as the sun set behind us. The colors on the rock were just amazing it seemed to change hues with each passing minute. The sky turned from blue to shades of pink and purple. Pretty awesome. All the while a native Australian played original aborigine music on a native insturment. Noteworthy was that while both his father and grandfather were aborigines, his mother was Irish!
After the set we made our way down the opposite of the platform to a clearing in the desert where there were many tables with white linen table cloths and all the fixings - just like dinner on formal night on the cruise. As we took our seats there was a group of three left standing and we had only one seat. So we offered, Kim voiced it, that we'd get up and let them have our seats plus the empty. Only to discover that there were no two seats together now! But we found a table with several people we'd spent time with and everyone scrunched a little to make room for us. The dinner itself was billed as a barbeque but once we got up to the buffet-style line I got to the end with little on my plate anticipating barbeque, only to find there wasn't ..... perhaps it was all fixed on an outdoor barbeque. There were salads (not real interested) and potatoes; chicken sausage, kangaroo, and lamp. Not what I would rave about, but it was good. The desserts included a bread pudding, so that was nice :)
But, besides the actual sunset the highlight was when an astronomer took us on a "tour" of the stars. He was so passionate, and so knowledgeable. And the sky was so black that it was very easy to see all the constellations. An amazing part of the activity was his flashlight.......when he pointed to a star and shone his "torch" it truly seemed to extend all the way to the planet; I've never seen anything like it before. Afterwards he had two telescopes set up, one aimed at Saturn. Though small, it was as though someone had put a photograph from a science textbook at the end of the lens. Just an amazing sight. We boarded the busses and were back at the hotel around 10:30 pm......with a wake-up call scheduled for 5:15 am to see the sunrise at Ayers Rock!
March 28: Sunrise at Ayers Rock
It was actually pretty chilly as we boarded the bus at 5:45. It took about a half hour to reach Ayers Rock and it was still pitch dark, though there was a hint of sunrise off in the distance. We walked about 15 minutes up to a multi-level viewing platform and watched the amazing changes in colors as the sun rose. The video doesn't do it justice, but is as close as you can get I think. Afterwards we boarded the bus and then drove right up to the base of the rock and walked around the base seeing some ancient caves - that served as homes to the aborigines many eons ago, and saw some cave paintings. A spectacular morning! Back to the hotel and we headed to the airport for the return flight to Sydney around 11 am.
No comments:
Post a Comment