Wind Same as yesterday – Howling
Morning broke amongst squalls, with a walk for Morgan and I along the esplanade while John caught up on sleep. We strolled slowly (as that’s Morgans pace these days at age of 12 ½) past the lagoon, along shaded pathways and grassy areas.
Cairns esplanade is a recreational area for people from all walks of life — backpackers, visitors looking for beautiful views (although not so when the tide is out) joggers and fitness enthusiasts, family picnics. markets and areas where the City of Cairns can display musical, arts and cultural events throughout the year.
An intricate stingray statue
The flower and fruit of the cannonball tree. The fruit takes between a year and 18months to mature.
Back on O’vive, John had surfaced so we pedalled down to Wharf One Café for breakfast. Wharf One is right next to the cruise ship wharf overlooking Trinity inlet. The Carnival Splendour was docked disgorging its passengers, so negotiating the path on bikes was hazardous.
The Australian cruise ship was enroute to Port Douglas and Willis Island before returning to Sydney. It carries 3000 passengers and now that the channel has been dredged deeper, passenger ships of this size are able to tie up to the terminal. Previously they had to anchor off and unload their passengers on ferry boats to bring ashore.
The Cairns Port is one of Australia’s busiest cruising destinations with both major international and domestic cruise ships. It provides capacity for up to two cruise vessels at a time with a terminal that is fast and efficient in moving passengers through customs clearance. The biggest ship that has tied up there is the QE2 at 963ft long and 100ft wide.
Breakfast was delicious as per usual and John tells me the coffee there is excellent.
Looking over at the superyacht wharf from O’vive
Once we got back onboard, I tied a crab pot to the back of the transom with some mullet for bait that I’d had in the freezer hoping to catch either muddies or blue swimmers. I was aiming to check the pot every morning.
Later that day I rode the bike up to Cairns Central shopping Mall to do a little shopping.
Stormy weather
In the evening we dined at Piato restaurant at the Pier marina just above the pontoons. They served a variety of high-quality Mediterranean cuisine. We ordered char grilled steak with red wine jus served with steamed vegetables as a change from fish. The steaks were the tender and tasty, we will definitely come back here again. The location is so convenient, plus the staff were very friendly. We were able to tie Morgan up just outside the barriers which she enjoyed, especially the tid bit of steak she received when we had finished.