Extreme Illusionist
On Friday Nov 9th we attended a local magicians' performance. It is held at the casino in the Down Under Velvet Bar. The name reflects the location as it is underground quite a bit. They turn this fancy nightclub into a theatre for the 75 minute performance by Sam Powers. A very small audience of around 20 watched with amazement at his tricks.
He does like to get his audience involved, which is okay for some. He came up behind me and said something I couldn't understand as it was the bad hearing ear.( Having quite a struggle understanding people at times with the accent). He called me a mute in humour and went onto another lady. She ended up on stage.........WHEW!!!!!!!!!!
He did a card trick where she chose a card and he would draw the card on his art page. He drew a card the Ace of spades, which was the wrong card of course and then added a line to the right to make it like a box or deck. Thereafter her card arose from the top of the deck.
The old cutting the girl in half illusion, and a variation on the Houdini escape from the locked trunk and handcuffs were executed well, with the pretty assistant and he exchanging places almost instantly.
After the break he drew a bowling ball on his pad, and made the ball appear to drop from the page as a real bowling ball.
The old cut the string into pieces and put it back together again was performed. However he used thread to do this. Apparently a lot more difficult.
A great evening of entertainment and still wonder how these tricks are accomplished.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Cairns Eclipse
Not a bust!
We got up only a little early, as we had a balcony view from our room. The clouds parted briefly to tease us with only minutes to go to totality, then closed again until about a third of the sun was back. So we missed the corona. The sky over the ocean turned sunset pink for the 2 minutes of totality.Worth it!
Monday, 12 November 2012
Cairns Got It Right !!!
At Cairins Central Mall on Friday, Nov 09, there wasn't any signs of these decorations at all.
Today, Nov 13, the festive season is starting to take shape.
I believe Christmas Decor should not adorn our shops until after Nov 11th. at the earliest...........
So Cairns Got It Right
Love the big star filled with ornaments in the bottom and twinlking lights in the upper half. Quite stunning!
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Great Barrier Reef - November 10
Our second Cairns tour was Saturday, out to the Great Barrier Reef to the north east of Port Douglas. A Quicksilver coach picked us up at 8:05. We drove the Captain Cook highway along the coast to Port Douglas, enjoying the ocean view though not the twisty-turny. The prime view of the eclipse, our driver told us, bs from one of the small sandy beaches just off the highway.We plan to stay in Cairns.
Anyway we road the Quicksilver 8 catamaran to their platform positioned just inside the reef. You con see the surf breaking on the reef in the picture. I had arranged to join the marine biologist led Snorkel tour, so as soon or we arrived I had to get on my gear. Full body Lycra suit, then a wet suit knee length, snorkel, goggles and fins. I look pretty funny, don't l. The hard part was walking in bare feet on the metal grid deck But it was worth it. I took a "pool noodle" for flotation and spent about 45 minutes in the water. The reef and its residents were right there, in full colour. My fin actually touched the coral accidentally once, and I was not "duck diving" like sone of the more advanced snorkelers. Linda had already partaken of the lunch buffet by the time I returned. Once the gear was off and food eaten we. were just in time for the second-last departure of the semisubmersible, where these pictures were taken. They are a poor representation of what I saw while snorkeling. But the best I could do through the glass in the sub.
It was a long, enjoyable day that had us visit a very special place, one that may be had to save from the effects of global warming
Anyway we road the Quicksilver 8 catamaran to their platform positioned just inside the reef. You con see the surf breaking on the reef in the picture. I had arranged to join the marine biologist led Snorkel tour, so as soon or we arrived I had to get on my gear. Full body Lycra suit, then a wet suit knee length, snorkel, goggles and fins. I look pretty funny, don't l. The hard part was walking in bare feet on the metal grid deck But it was worth it. I took a "pool noodle" for flotation and spent about 45 minutes in the water. The reef and its residents were right there, in full colour. My fin actually touched the coral accidentally once, and I was not "duck diving" like sone of the more advanced snorkelers. Linda had already partaken of the lunch buffet by the time I returned. Once the gear was off and food eaten we. were just in time for the second-last departure of the semisubmersible, where these pictures were taken. They are a poor representation of what I saw while snorkeling. But the best I could do through the glass in the sub.
It was a long, enjoyable day that had us visit a very special place, one that may be had to save from the effects of global warming
Clicketey – Click Twice
Our first tour was to the small town of Kuranda. As we rode along in the bus, the driver gave us some local knowledge of Cairins. Parts of the area actually flood to a meter high covering the roads and one park and school area in the rainy season. We have seen vehicles driving around with wide snorkle like tubes mounted on the edge of the front windshield. This will keep the engines from stalling as they go through the swollen water logged areas. The other interesting fact was about the houses built on stilts, in what is a flat region. Apparently when these homes were built in the early years, this was a form of air conditioning for the hot days. A lot are now being built in, making more living space to rent out to others.
Arriving at our destination point the Freshwater Station,we boarded the Kuranda train, a 1720 Class diesel electric locomotive, with heritage style passenger cars for our seating, for our “First Clickety Click ” ride that took 90 minutes. The train travels through rainforest, scenes of the ocean, waterfalls, over bridges and 15 hand made tunnels. At one of the falls, on the winding track you can see the engine from the back which is where we rode. A stop at Baron Falls, revealed spectacular gorges and waterfalls, which produces the electricity for the area. Many lives were lost over the construction period due to accidents and sickness. The process to build a railway through this region began in 1882, looking for the route to final completion with the first train in 1891. The current station in Kuranda dates back to 1915 and is well maintained. After a short visit in the town, for local handicrafts and foods, we then boarded our bus for the Rainforest Station Nature Park.
Next was a hot cold barbeque buffet for lunch, then on to the Ducks for a informative trip through the rainforest by land and water accompanied by quite an entertaining guide. Most important was to keep the hands inside and DON”T TOUCH THE PLANTS. Some pretty nasty species in the rainforest. We saw many types of ferns, with names of Basket, Staghorn, Birdnests, Elkhorn. Interesting was seeing the termite nests and size they grew as they invaded a tree and ate the insides. One nasty plant is the Stinging Tree, with long thin close barb edged wired with tiny pink bulbs, that grow up and around the trees. It's a very painful sting and can last up to six months. Keep it dry not too bad, but once moistened the pain is much more severe...
After this we saw the Pamagirri Dance Troupe who performed different dances from several tribes of the North Queensland area. The music was by a wood block being struck and another playing the Didgeridoo. We then saw spear throwing, how to play a didgeridoo and boomerang throwing which Frank gave an unsuccessful try. Next was a visit to see some of the Australian Animals, crocodiles of quite assorted sizes, cute koalas, snuggled in their trees sleeping 20 hours a day and wallaby hopping about inter mixing with the tourists. A young one nibbled on my shoe.
We climbed aboard our bus to be dropped at Clickety- Click 2, a cable car ride down 7.5 km to the bottom atop the rainforest with a stop to look at Baron Falls from another viewpoint. One could also see the Stinging trees at that height.
The weather was very fortunate with mostly cloud cover for this excursion, which makes it quite a lot more enjoyable. We are finding once we are back to the hotel, eating is not what we want to do. We haven't quite got our bodies changed over, meal wise.
Our first tour was to the small town of Kuranda. As we rode along in the bus, the driver gave us some local knowledge of Cairins. Parts of the area actually flood to a meter high covering the roads and one park and school area in the rainy season. We have seen vehicles driving around with wide snorkle like tubes mounted on the edge of the front windshield. This will keep the engines from stalling as they go through the swollen water logged areas. The other interesting fact was about the houses built on stilts, in what is a flat region. Apparently when these homes were built in the early years, this was a form of air conditioning for the hot days. A lot are now being built in, making more living space to rent out to others.
Arriving at our destination point the Freshwater Station,we boarded the Kuranda train, a 1720 Class diesel electric locomotive, with heritage style passenger cars for our seating, for our “First Clickety Click ” ride that took 90 minutes. The train travels through rainforest, scenes of the ocean, waterfalls, over bridges and 15 hand made tunnels. At one of the falls, on the winding track you can see the engine from the back which is where we rode. A stop at Baron Falls, revealed spectacular gorges and waterfalls, which produces the electricity for the area. Many lives were lost over the construction period due to accidents and sickness. The process to build a railway through this region began in 1882, looking for the route to final completion with the first train in 1891. The current station in Kuranda dates back to 1915 and is well maintained. After a short visit in the town, for local handicrafts and foods, we then boarded our bus for the Rainforest Station Nature Park.
Next was a hot cold barbeque buffet for lunch, then on to the Ducks for a informative trip through the rainforest by land and water accompanied by quite an entertaining guide. Most important was to keep the hands inside and DON”T TOUCH THE PLANTS. Some pretty nasty species in the rainforest. We saw many types of ferns, with names of Basket, Staghorn, Birdnests, Elkhorn. Interesting was seeing the termite nests and size they grew as they invaded a tree and ate the insides. One nasty plant is the Stinging Tree, with long thin close barb edged wired with tiny pink bulbs, that grow up and around the trees. It's a very painful sting and can last up to six months. Keep it dry not too bad, but once moistened the pain is much more severe...After this we saw the Pamagirri Dance Troupe who performed different dances from several tribes of the North Queensland area. The music was by a wood block being struck and another playing the Didgeridoo. We then saw spear throwing, how to play a didgeridoo and boomerang throwing which Frank gave an unsuccessful try. Next was a visit to see some of the Australian Animals, crocodiles of quite assorted sizes, cute koalas, snuggled in their trees sleeping 20 hours a day and wallaby hopping about inter mixing with the tourists. A young one nibbled on my shoe.
The weather was very fortunate with mostly cloud cover for this excursion, which makes it quite a lot more enjoyable. We are finding once we are back to the hotel, eating is not what we want to do. We haven't quite got our bodies changed over, meal wise.
Thursday, 8 November 2012
New Zealand - the first time
YVR
Waiting in an airport is one of my un-favourite things to do. . But we did our time and deported Vancouver pretty much on time. Cross the equator, and the dateline a few times to make it to Auckland about-5:30 am on Tuesday. A nine year old boy lost this birthday to the dateline. I told everyone he would probably appreciate this when he was turning 30. Short nap, followed by a second breakfast. A walk to a shopping centre just outside the airport grounds. Gas puce over $2 /litre.Wow!CAIRNS
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
Downunder Begins
Hi Everyone!
We are safely at our first destination point Carins, with tours starting tomorrow. The journey was pretty mundane till arriving in Auckland. We had golf shoes that needed to be bio cleaned, so delayed. With other people coming up behind, I rushed to put my passport away. With a neat new purse one can take apart, thus causing a space between sections the passport went on it's own journey. I was careful all along till the end. Guess tiredness caused the mishap of a wondering passport. Don't know why I rechecked for it, but not where it was suppose to be. While figuring out what to do, I was paged to the HELP desk where someone turned it in and then our shoes were ready. Yes I was quite bothered by this mishap for the rest of the day, fortunately one nightmare defused!!!! We do carry copies of our passports in other luggage, but getting a replacement would be time consuming. I am super careful now and have changed the passport home location in the purse.
Time for sleep.
We are safely at our first destination point Carins, with tours starting tomorrow. The journey was pretty mundane till arriving in Auckland. We had golf shoes that needed to be bio cleaned, so delayed. With other people coming up behind, I rushed to put my passport away. With a neat new purse one can take apart, thus causing a space between sections the passport went on it's own journey. I was careful all along till the end. Guess tiredness caused the mishap of a wondering passport. Don't know why I rechecked for it, but not where it was suppose to be. While figuring out what to do, I was paged to the HELP desk where someone turned it in and then our shoes were ready. Yes I was quite bothered by this mishap for the rest of the day, fortunately one nightmare defused!!!! We do carry copies of our passports in other luggage, but getting a replacement would be time consuming. I am super careful now and have changed the passport home location in the purse.
Time for sleep.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)