Cruise from Sydney to Northern Queensland, Australia
Part B
This is Part B of the description of the cruise from Sydney to Northern Queensland.
For Part A click here.
This is Part B of the description of the ports of call during the 12-night cruise that departed from Sydney on the Princess Cruises ship, the Sun Princess. This is a ship of approximately 75,000 tons, designed for about 2,100 passengers, in addition to about 800 crew members.
The cruise began in Sydney and its route was northward along the coast of the state of Queensland, with stops in the Whitsunday Islands, Cairns, Port Douglas, and Cooktown, and on the way back, stops in Townsville, Brisbane, and finishing in Sydney.
♦ Trip to Cooktown – Cooktown, at the far northeastern tip of Australia
The town of Cooktown is located at the far northeastern tip of Australia, at the mouth of the crocodile-infested Endeavour River. Cooktown has great historical significance. In 1770, Captain Cook ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef off this spot and brought his damaged ship for repairs to the banks of the river adjacent to the city, which was named after his damaged ship, the Endeavour. Cook and his crew stayed in the area for seven weeks, which is the longest time he stayed in one place in Australia. In addition to repairing the ship, his crew studied and documented the local flora and fauna.
A hundred years later, gold was discovered not far from here, and the town developed as a commercial port, becoming the second largest in Queensland with 4,000 residents. After the gold rush subsided, the town shrank to 400 residents. Later, two powerful cyclones hit the town and destroyed most of it. The town was rebuilt and is now a popular tourist destination.
In this town, there are a number of historical buildings from the end of the nineteenth century, and the town borders rainforests on one side, and on the other, it is the closest to the Great Barrier Reef, just about ten kilometers from its shores.
We arrived in Cooktown on the cruise ship in early October 2008.
The ship anchored some distance from the shore, and we went ashore on one of the ship's tenders. The sea was quite choppy, and we rocked heavily until we reached the town's fishing wharf, which was once a bustling port. We were greeted by a warning sign that crocodiles had been spotted in the area and that it was dangerous to approach the water's edge on the local beaches.
From the port, we set out on a walking tour of the town that began on a paved path with drawings and text on tiles, continuing to the town's main street, Charlotte St.
At the beginning of the paved path, there is a wall with colorful paintings on tiles, made by Aboriginal artists, depicting the history of the town from the day Cook arrived there.
Along the street and on the banks of the river next to it are several monuments: a statue of Cook, a monument in his memory, and a cannon from 1881 that was placed to defend the town against a Russian invasion.
Since it was Saturday, there was a local market on the main street with several stalls selling various food items, mainly cookies, and various souvenirs.
We entered one of the bars on the street because it had billiards; we played two games and continued on our way.
We passed several historical buildings, including the town's old bank, which operates as a museum.
We headed toward the town's botanical gardens, and on our way there, we passed the local museum.
In the botanical gardens, we saw several kangaroos that were eating a fruit called jackfruit with great appetite, which they apparently pulled from a nearby tree.
From there, we set out on a fairly strenuous five-kilometer hike toward the beach and then to the lighthouse. The route started with a moderate climb into a forest and then continued on a moderate descent until we reached a sandy beach with large rocks next to it.
We did not enter the water because there is a danger of crocodiles; honestly, we were also a little worried about the presence of crocodiles in the vegetation near the beach. We walked along the beach, climbed a steep hill, and descended again to another beach where we barely found the continuation of the path to the lighthouse on the next hill. The climb was quite difficult, through a forest, until we reached the lighthouse located in an unwooded area. From the lighthouse, there is a beautiful panoramic view of the town and its surroundings.
From there, we went back down to the town, where we entered the first liquor store we saw and quenched our thirst with cold drinks because our supply had run out on the long way.
The duration of the trip was about four hours, the weather was hot and humid, and for a short time, a light tropical rain even fell.
Link to Cooktown:
Cooktown Day Tours & North Queensland Tours
♦ Trip to Townsville in Northern Australia
Townsville is located on the northern coast of Queensland and is the third-largest city in this state, with about 160,000 residents.
Adjacent to the city, a high hill of about 300 meters rises, called Castle Hill, from which there is an excellent view of the city and its surroundings.
From this city, you can take boat and diving trips to the nearby Great Barrier Reef, or for those who prefer not to get wet, this city has a large aquarium with a variety of the beautiful fish and corals that are in the famous reef.
We arrived in this city on Sunday, October 5th, on a cruise ship which, due to its size, could not get close to the city because the water was too shallow for it, so we anchored about 15 kilometers from the city. A fast ferry boat transported the ship's passengers to the city port in a half-hour ride. From the port, we set out on foot to tour the city. We walked along the river that crosses the city to the center, where there is a pedestrian mall and a large shopping center called Flinders Mall. A colorful market is held in the pedestrian mall every Sunday.
From the center of the pedestrian mall, we turned toward the river, which we crossed over the old Victoria Bridge, which was once used for vehicles and is now only for pedestrians. Near the bridge stands a statue of the man for whom the city is named - Towns.
From the city center, we took a taxi to the top of the hill overlooking the city – Castle Hill.
From this hill, you can see how large this city is in area. West of the hill, the city stretches to the nearby mountains, where a large military base is located.
East of the hill, the entire city center, its beaches, and the nearby Magnetic Island, which is a tourist attraction in its own right, are spread out for the viewer. Half of this island is a national park with a variety of animals and birds.
After we looked at the view from several different vantage points on the hill, we returned to the taxi that was waiting for us and drove down to the city's promenade, located in the northwest of the city on the waterfront. The promenade was bustling with activity. On the beach and the nearby lawn, a spectacular kite festival was taking place, and in the sky, dozens of huge colorful kites in the shapes of various animals were flying.
On the beach were four young people who performed aerial acrobatics with amazing coordination using four agile kites.
On the promenade, there were many food stalls and restaurants. There is also a marina, a pier, a swimming beach, lawns, and playgrounds for children on the promenade.
And at the end, there is the large rock pool with seawater, which is open freely to the public.
The pool allows for safe swimming because, in the summer, there are poisonous jellyfish in the sea that can cause death, and in addition to them, there is also, of course, the danger of sharks and crocodiles... The jellyfish season starts in November, but the taxi driver said that several jellyfish had already been spotted in the water. To our surprise, we saw that despite this, there were quite a few people who swam in the sea between the flags that the lifeguards set up on the beach.
We walked along the entire promenade and thought about swimming in the rock pool, but the water was a bit murky and didn't attract us to enter it.
From the pool, we called to order a taxi that arrived within a few minutes and drove us back to the ferry terminal, from where we returned to the ship by ferry.
The weather was hot, it did not rain, and the entire tour of the city lasted about four hours.
The next port of call for the ship was Brisbane.