On another cloudy, overcast, and muggy day, we sailed into Cairns, Australia, early this afternoon. We docked right in town, which is always so much simpler when shuttles or tenders are not necessary. Cairns is in Queensland on the shores of the Coral Sea and is a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.
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| Sailing into Cairns |
Tim and I did not have an excursion today, but we walked into Cairns with an odd mission. Our destination was Woolworths, an Australian supermarket, and I was in search of Queensland Yoghurt. Why, one might ask, did I need yogurt when it’s available on the ship?
An Aussie ex-pat who had been living in Colorado tasted a yogurt produced by Queensland Yoghurt while on a visit to Noosa, a town on Australia’s Sunshine Coast. She was immediately obsessed with the creamy yogurt and returned to Colorado with the idea of making it the United States. She found a dairy farmer and processor near where Tim and I live, and together, the two of them founded their yogurt company, which they named noosa, with a small “n.”
Noosa is our favorite yogurt, and I was curious to try Queensland yoghurt to see noosa’s inspiration. When we walked into the supermarket, we found that most of the shelves were bare, due to the recent rains that have flooded much of the Queensland region, resulting in product shortages. By some stroke of luck, there was one lonely container of Queensland yoghurt on the shelf, which I purchased. I tried it after we returned to the ship, and it was delicious and very similar in creaminess to noosa.
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| Bare Shelves at Woolworths |
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| noosa and Queensland Yoghurts |
Tim and I walked back to the ship along Lake Street and saw several historic buildings along the way. We passed through the park by the cruise terminal and returned to the welcome air conditioning on the ship.
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| A Few Historic Buildings in Downtown Cairns |
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| A Nice Park by the Cruise Terminal |
After cocktails in the Explorers Lounge, Tim and I attended a very different presentation. Guest Lecturer Molly Townes O’Brien spoke on “The Music of the Torres Straits.” One can learn a lot about different cultures through their music, and it was so interesting to hear many of the songs from this area.
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| Music of the Torres Strait |
Next was dinner, and once again, Pryia waited on us. We learned tonight that Pryia, who is from India, graduated from a hospitality management college and had worked at five-star hotels in Mumbai before joining Viking. She appears at first to be very quiet and reserved, but we have witnessed her playful side. She is a delight to see every day.
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| Sarah and Pryia |
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