Yesterday I went to Fitzroy Island with some people from my school. We had some trouble getting there because we forgot that the buses run on a different schedule on holidays (it was Cairns Show Day, a public holiday in Cairns) but we made it to the boat just in time. I love riding on boats, I think the rocking is very soothing and I love looking out at everything. It was a very sunny but mild day, perfect for our adventures. I spent the morning exploring the beach and swimming. The beach at Fitzroy Island is covered with broken pieces of coral and when you walk on it the coral clinks together making a tinkling sound a lot like windchimes. The water was perfect for swimming in. After lunch a few of my friends and I went on a hike to the summit of the island. It was fantastic. Beautiful tropical rainforest made up the first part of the hike. We saw so many different beautiful trees and tons of animals. We saw a few different kinds of birds including tons of (or if I'm speaking in Australian, heaps of) sulfur crested cockatoos (which you only see in pet stores in the States) and scrub foul, which reminded me of chickens. We also saw several small lizards, which I was pretty excited about. On our way back down the summit we also saw what appeared to be some kind of monitor lizard about 2 feet long. In other news, we saw some giant spiders with bright yellow spots on the joints of their legs. Anyways, the trail was pretty short but very steep. When we made it to the top my legs were worn out but the view was spectacular. It was a clear day so you could see the island and some of the islands nearby and ocean for ages.
There is an old abandoned lighthouse not far from the summit and it hadn't taken us as long as we expected to make it to the top so we decided to go check it out. The lighthouse looks quite modern and is covered in shiny white tile but was built in the forties and is no longer used. In the bottom part of the lighthouse there are signs that talk about some of the history of the island. It was used to quarantine Chinese immigrants during the gold rush because the Australians of the day were convinced that they were going to get smallpox from the Chinese miners. Unfortunately they didn't bother to equip the island suitably for such a task (not particularly surprising because it was exactly for humanitarian reasons that they were sending people there) and a lot of people died and are buried there. During WWII Australia built a radar station on the island to keep a look out in case Japan decided to invade the continent. In the forties, the lighthouse was built, but it was later replaced by a lighthouse on the neighboring island "Little Fitzroy." None of the doors were blocked off or locked so we decided to explore a bit. Apparently the lighthouse was used as a ranger station in the nineties and some of the reports and office supplies are still in an office within the lighthouse. We climbed up to the top of the lighthouse where the lamp used to be and looked out on miles of ocean. All in all, the island was fantastic. And hey, when else would I get to explore an abandoned lighthouse in a rainforest?
When we got back to Cairns we were starving from all the hiking and we went to a restaurant called Nando's which specializes in Peri Peri chicken. The chicken is based on an African roasted chicken that the Portugese brought back to Europe. It has a spicy sauce and is completely and fully delicious. So glad we went there!
All in all it was a fantastic day on a beautiful island. A wonderful end to my last week before classes start.
No comments:
Post a Comment