21 March – Port Douglas to Sydney:

Cyclone Larry has gone, but won’t be forgotten soon in Queensland. While we had minimal problems here in Port Douglas, the damage was much worse just a few miles south of here….the sugar cane and banana crops, which are the major industries here, have been destroyed. And there is a new cyclone out in the Coral Sea that is heading this way: Cyclone Wati

This seems like a good day to say farewell to Port Douglas.

So, what with one cyclone down, another building out to sea and the waves hitting heights of 6 to 8 meters……how about if we go for a boat ride? As the ‘Crocodile Hunter’ would say: Crikey!!

We head out of Port Douglas towards the airport in Cairns on a winding mountain road along the coast on a bus driven by what must be the funniest bus driver in Australia. This guy had a bunch of hot, sweaty, tired, sleep-deprived, and whining tourists laughing all the way to the airport with his stories of him and his neighbors getting through the storm. I won’t try to repeat any of his stories (you really had to be there), but I just wanted to point out that even though he had lost power, water, sewage and had damage to his house he was still there to take us to the airport and keep us entertained along the way.

The travel Gods continued to look kindly upon us in Cairns. The plane to Sydney was a large Qantas jet that had been chartered by several tour groups. For reasons that escape us we were one of the few lucky couples that got assigned seats in business class…..our fellow tourists hated us for it……we loved it.

Finally, we arrive in Sydney about 5pm and take a long bus ride to Circular Quay to board the ship. Boarding was uneventful. Dinner was cut short by a lifeboat drill….we missed dessert (oh, what hardship). And, finally at 9pm we sailed away from Sydney harbor and it’s spectacular skyline.