Day 6: Fishing the Cairns Estuary Saturday, August 13
A cold front passed through overnight and there was a very noticeable temperature drop. It is this front that caused the winds that cancelled my reef fishing trip. The winds were strong in Cairns as well but not enough to prevent estuary fishing. As it turned out the winds may as well have cancelled all of the fishing because the front affected the fishing anyway. we began by watching the captain throw a casting net to catch bait that he called sardines but they didn't look anything like the sardines I know and love. There were seven of us fishing (including the skipper) and only three fish were of a size to be kept. I got one of those but wouldn't you it was of an inedible variety (barracuda) so it too was released. We went looking for estuarine crocodiles but none were to be found. In spite of the poor fishing it was an enjoyable morning. I could have done well without the five noisy teenage rugby players but they were bearable. When I got back to the hotel I took advantage of the afternoon off to have a three hour nap. Morning tea consisted of coffee or some sort of cola. I skipped both and stuck to water.
Being here in the afternoon also gave me an opportunity to see that the ocean actually was in view from my balcony. Every other time I had looked it was at low tide so all I could see was mud. The photo below is the view from the balcony.
Before going to dinner tonight I debated for at least a half hour about which of two restaurants to go to (both sides had valid points!). Finally I decided to go to the BBQ restaurant for a hot meal. I went to the reception desk to ask where in the hotel that restaurant was only to be told that it no longer exists. The only one they now have is the one where I ate for the past two nights so I was faced with another dilemma - whether to have the seafood buffet again or to stay with my plan for a hot meal. Ultimately I decided to go with the hot.
I began with a seafood bouillabaisse that was very different from any one I have ever had but was quite tasty. It contained a variety of fish, prawns, mussels, baby octopus (I think or it could have been what they call bugs here), black beans and a puree of black olives. That was followed by prawns on a bed of avocado puree containing mango bits, tomato bits ands onion. Also very good. My main course was barbecued spareribs that were excellent but the serving was so huge I was able to eat less than half of it. That was ok because I brought the leftovers back to the room and will either eat them for breakfast (unlikely) or take them to Brisbane for dinner tomorrow night. Not the fish I had hoped to take back but they will do quite nicely. As I ate I watched people having the buffet and can easily say that no one did as much justice to the spread as I did the past two nights. When I left I complimented both my server and the hostess on the exemplary service. It was truly great. I also suggested that they warn people (like me) who order too many courses without knowing the size of the main dish.
The car is supposed to pick me up at 5:00 in the morning so that means I will be getting up around 3:00. Based on the times I have been waking up all week that shouldn't be a problem but the way things go I will likely be sound asleep at that time. I guess that a wake up call for 4:00 would be the right thing to do just in case.
Now it's time to pack and then go to bed.