Where did the last 10 days go?

As we have been on the go for the last little while, my blogging has suffered. It has been a busy time with the tour - up early, late to bed.
In a nutshell, we went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef (out to the Low Isles), had 2 nights on Dunk Island, 2 nights on Hamilton Island (my favourite), 1 uneventful night in Rockhampton, 2 nights on Fraser Island and now we are in Brisbane.

Kuranda Scenic Railway and Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

First day on the bus and it is a short drive. We are being dropped off at the Kuranda Scenic Railway that winds up The Barron Gorge to a little town called Kuranda. The views are stunning.


We did a lot of touristy things: went to an aboriginal cultural centre (tried to throw a boomerang), saw koalas, crocodiles and kangaroos in a wildlife park, went on an Army Duck and toured through the rainforest. Then we took a really long and high cable car back down the hill. I was pretty nervous but was glad I did just because of the great views.

Meeting my new tour group tonight

Today was a relaxing day enjoying a nice buffet breakfast, strolling through Cairns and swimming in the pool. Now I really feel like I'm on a holiday!
This evening is the drinks and dinner with my new tour group, who I will be spending the next 2 weeks with. The first 2 ladies I meet are Nelly from St. Albert and Joan from Edmonton. There are 3 solo female travelers and 1 solo male. The rest are 6 couples, all from the UK. The ages range from late 20's to late 60's (maybe 70's). Our tour guide is Zoe and the bus driver is Sid, both Aussies who seem super nice.
We had a 3 course dinner at the hotel restaurant, while it poured buckets outside.

Bye Bye Sydney (for now, anyways)

My flight to Cairns was leaving at 10:30AM, so I reserved a spot on the airport shuttle bus at 8:30AM. It was 20 minutes late and the traffic was a nightmare. I think everyone was leaving now that the games were over. There was a huge queue at the airport to check-in, but the Qantas staff were very good at getting everyone where they needed to be. I made it with 15 minutes to spare.

The approach into Cairns was bumpy because there were a lot of clouds. A driver and car were waiting there for me, so I had a pleasant ride to the Shangri-La (no crammed airport shuttle). The hotel looks right over the ocean and marina. Internet access and breakfast are included - ah the luxurious life!

Race Day!

In order to catch the train, I woke up at 4:30 AM, ate some cereal out of a coffee mug and headed to Olympic Park. I ran into David Guss on the train (he had a late night, so he looked a little sleepy). I got to the start line in plenty of time to warm up. The weather was great, not sure what the temperature was but probably around 12C to 15C, some clouds and little wind. The start was staggered, with the younger guys starting first, then the younger women (that's me), then older guys, etc. The course was two loops around the Olympic Park, very flat. I was at the 5km mark at 24 minutes, 10km at 50 minutes and 15km at 1:15. I was faster than I had expected, but then I started getting really tired. A woman in my age group was just in front of me, so I focused on staying with her. We finished a few seconds apart at the very end! I came in at 1:48:03. My best finish, so I was quite happy and relieved. Phew.

They gave out medals for all of the age groups. There was a guy, Bob, who was in the 75 to 79 age group who finished in 1:50ish. Very impressive.

Lisa, my friend from Sydney, and her friend Chantel came down to watch the finish. It was so nice of them, especially considering it was so early on a Sunday morning. Thanks girls!

Colin, Wendy Shank's husband, found me at the finish area. I run with Wendy in the Tues/Thurs 10K group. Colin came out on his own, so we went for dinner and then on to the Closing Ceremonies that night.

Day before the 1/2 marathon

I took the train out to Olympic Park to pick up my race number and timing chip. I wanted to hang out, but there wasn't much really happening around the venues for the games. The ferry runs from the park back to Circular Quay, so I took that instead of the train. It was much more picturesque!

Blue Mountains, Wildlife Park, dinner with Chretien

I woke up early to try to catch the sunrise over the mountains, but I was a little late and missed it. It was really cool out anyways, so I went for the buffet breakfast instead.
Then I got picked up by the bus tour again. As I walked onto the bus, it looked like there were not too many free seats. I continued on to the back of the bus and there was one seat left beside a guy, so I sat down. It ended up that this guy was from the Netherlands and was traveling alone as well. We had a nice chat on the bus and ended up going for dinner that night (more about that later).
We stopped at Scenic World, that has the steepest operating railway in the world (52 degrees, I think) and a cable car that goes across the valley.



I took the railway down to the valley floor - it was kind of like a rollercoaster, except straight down. Thankfully, it was really short!
Next stop was the Wildlife Park. There were all of the animals from Australia you would expect to see (kangaroos, koalas, a Tasmanian devil, dingos, emus, bats, snakes, penguins and tons of birds).



Just before Chretien (yes, his first name is just like Jean Chretien) got dropped off by the bus, he asked if I had any plans for dinner and, of course, I didn't. We quickly made plans to meet at Wharf 5 at Circular Quay.
With these bus tours, they drop off everyone at their hotels, so it takes awhile to get to your own hotel. I had a quick shower and headed off to the wharf. Chretien and I had a nice dinner at an outdoor cafe looking over Circular Quay. Afterwards we went to a bar on the other side of the wharf and ran into this guy, Alex, from St. Louis. He was quite the talker! Chretien and I were both tired, so he walked me back to my hotel. It was so nice meeting him - too bad he lives so far away!