Australia 2019 – Day 23 – A quiet day in Cairns

For once I have taken a day off. I wanted to visit the Cairns Aquarium in peace, reading every placard and admiring the fishes. It was relaxing, except for the tourists who park themselves right on front of a display blocking everyone else’s view. Why do some people need 5 minutes to take a picture with their phones?

The aquarium has a great tank with the denizens of the reef, and another great display with manta rays and sharks. The collection is excellent, but the story is not very well told. I did learn, however, that parallel to the Great Barrier Reef, on the ocean side, there is another marine “park” formed by isolated coral pillars and a few sandy shoals, which is referred to as The Coral Sea. Not easy to visit, but regrettably famous because many of the World War II sea battles took place precisely there as part of the New Guinea – Salomon Islands campaigns.

And that is about it. I walked a bit in downtown, had a delicious goat curry for lunch, and after some serious window shopping finally came back to my hotel, to read and ponder about the true meaning of life. I will let you know if I ever solve that riddle.