AUSTRALIA HOME

 QUEENSLAND - 11 May to 18 May 2000

The Glee Club spent a whole week in the state of Queensland, first in the capital, Brisbane, and then in the northern city of Cairns. Brisbane is a very pleasant city, but we did not have much time to see it because we were the featured ensemble of the Men of Song Festival, the first-ever men's choral festival in Australia. The rehearsals for this concert did not keep us from going out on the town on Saturday night. We returned to the tropics on a flight to Cairns, which has to be situated in one of the most beautiful areas of the world. The first day, we visited an Aboriginal cultural park before taking a skyrail gondola over the rainforest to the town of Kuranda. After a concert the next day, our last day in Cairns featured a cruise to the Great Barrier Reef. The one-and-a-half hour boat ride led to lots of seasickness on the way, but the reef was worth the trip. Even though it rained most of the day, snorkeling within a few feet of the reef was amazing. It was also amazing that the whole club was awake when our bus left for the airport at 4:30 the next morning.

 

 SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The Jondarayan Woolshed - note the absence of sheep

Seasick on the way to the Great Barrier Reef

 NEW SOUTH WALES

 NORTHERN TERRITORY

 

The Kuranda Range from Skyrail

Looking down into the rainforest

 QUEENSLAND

 VICTORIA

Getting on the boat to the Great Barrier Reef

Snorkeling at the Reef in the rain

 A.C.T.
 

 

 

Sailing out of Cairns Harbour - this side of paradise

 

 

 

5:30 AM, Cairns Airport - the beginning of the longest day