The Reef and the Rainforest

Tuesday was all about the Great Barrier Reef. We were picked up at 7:40am—this was going to be a full-day adventure. We got to the marina and checked-in: price of admission included 3-4 hours of snorkeling in two different Reef locations and we paid extra for scuba diving lessons and two subsequent dives. The day was gorgeous: all sun, no clouds, and more importantly, winds at 5 knots, meaning the water would be calm all the way out to Opal Reef.

While the boat was heading out to Opal Reef, we learned about the equipment we’d be using and what the dive would be like. Our instructor told us all about what we would experience, how to equalize the pressure in our sinuses and chest, and what hand signals we should use when communicating underwater. After a 20-minute session, we got all geared up and ready to go, but when it was my turn to dive-in, I put my head under water and couldn’t breathe well. The combination of the weight of the gear, the underwater pressure, and breathing the compressed air from the oxygen tank made it feel like I got hit by a truck. I felt too much pressure on my chest and was nervous it would just get worse as I went deeper.

The good news was that I could still snorkel. I waited for Andrew to return from the first 20-minute dive and then we explored the reef together snorkeling. We were one of five people who rented a digital underwater camera, which gave us up to 500 pictures, so we went all out snapping away. We saw beautiful coral and fish. During lunch, we moved to the other side of the Opal Reef and were ready for more. This time, Andrew went down for a 30-40 minute dive with the camera (cameras aren’t allowed on the first dive) and I explored the reef on my own. This side had more character: the colors were brighter and there was more variety of fish. As I swam, beautiful schools of fish swam all around me. At one point, I saw Andrew and his instructor below me and I followed them around for a bit. Unfortunately though, while the scenery was better on this side, the water was murkier, so the pictures we have didn’t come out too great.

On Wednesday, we drove to Daintree Rainforest. This part of Australia is the only place in the entire world where you have two World Heritage locations sitting side-by-side to one another. We drove to Daintree Village and then took the car ferry to the other side of the Daintree River, where the road takes you through parts of the rainforest and up to Cape Tribulation. The Cape Trib side of the river is not connected to an electrical grid, but there are small towns all along the 39-km road through the rainforest, which means that all of them are run by alternative modes of energy, which is pretty damn cool. We stopped at the Discovery Center and took a self-guided walking tour along designated paths inside the rainforest. Later, as we reached Cape Trib, we parked and had lunch at the last lookout point before the unpaved road starts (only 4WD vehicles are allowed past that point). We were basically at the edge of one part of the rainforest which led to the Cape Trib beach. As we stood between the edge of the rainforest and the beach, you could feel both a hot and cool breeze: the cool breeze coming in from the shore and the hot breeze blowing out from the rainforest. This is one place where you can see the rainforest and the Reef meet and oddly enough, live in perfect harmony.

The Original Australian Coffee Pioneers

We pulled into the plantation parking lot at 4:30pm. There were no other cars around. There was a café which also doubled as the check-in point and there we met the Jaques family. They officially closed at 5pm but were more than happy to give us the tour, which consisted of a 10-minute introductory film to the family and the plantation and then a tour of the plantation itself on the Bean Machine. And considering we were the only people there, we got terrific personalized service and access to the family and the land.

Their story is absolutely fascinating. Nat Jaques originated from Tanzinia and Linda came from Zanzibar. He grew coffee; she grew tea. After getting married, they decided to move to Australia and open their own coffee plantation. After doing much research, they decided to settle in Cairns as the climate seemed perfect for coffee growing. In the late 1970’s, they purchased land and planted 25,000 coffee seeds. Coffee takes about 5 years to flower and ripen and by 1983, they were about ready for their first harvest when Australia suffered a major recession. Bank interest rates skyrocketed to 22% and they were forced to give up their land and leave the 25,000 plants of coffee ready to be picked. Not to be deterred, they purchased another plot of land a few years later and tried again. This time around, as the coffee was ready for its first harvest, the government came in and sprayed the entire plantation with pesticides, since there was a fruit fly infestation in the area, though there was no evidence of the fruit fly in the plantation itself. But instead of spraying the legal amount they were supposed to, they sprayed 10x over the prescribed limit and killed the entire crop.

But the Jaques were determined to try again. And like they say, third time’s a charm. Since the pesticide devastation, they’ve been growing and roasting coffee unabated. But, they’ve also been involved in a 12-year battle with the government for compensation over the episode. They did win the original case but since then, they’ve been mired in appeal after appeal, with the case going all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in their favor yet the government found something else on which to extend the case, and they’re currently waiting for one more judgment, which will hopefully be in their favor, end the fight, and finally close this chapter of the story.

What is fascinating here is that the Jaques are normal people and their plantation is family-owned and operated. They know a hell of a lot about coffee, were the first ones to grow coffee in Australia, and they make a fantastic roast. After the movie and the tour, we sat for around 50 minutes in the café, sipping their coffee and chatting with Linda, learning about their plight and how they’d love to expand operations once the pesticide case is over. Just to give some perspective: anyone who has seen me drink coffee knows that I like it sweet. With this cup, I enjoyed the coffee with only 1 tsp of sugar. It was that good.

In addition to coffee, they have a few fruit trees growing. As we were getting ready to leave, they picked a few bananas off one of the trees and gave me one to taste. The banana was terrific.

We left the plantation with two bags of coffee, one bottle of excellent coffee liqueur (we asked if it was grape-based; she didn’t know, so she rang the winery down the street who makes it with her coffee base, and asked for us; they thankfully answered “no”), and a shot glass. More importantly, we learned something new about Australia, met some fantastic people, and had an excellent time yet again, off-the-beaten-touristy-trail.

A Day in the Life of Cairns

We awoke early Monday morning to catch our flight to Cairns, which is in Northern Queensland. After checking in, we proceeded to pass thru security, and there I was getting ready to take off my shoes, remove my coat and sweatshirt, empty my pockets, and show the security guard my boarding pass. Then Andrew laughed at me. “We’re not in America anymore, dear.” Right. While we wait in long lines to get thru security in American airports, the rest of the world is still living like its September 10, 2001. Ahhh, those were the days…

We landed in Cairns three hours later and as soon as we disembarked, the heat and humidity hit us like a ton of bricks. While we left Melbourne at a cool 16 degrees Celsius, Cairns greeted us at 35 degrees Celsius. For those who forget the conversion formula, it comes out to around 95 degrees Fahrenheit. We were going to be in for quite a shvitzy few days.

Our first, and only scheduled stop for the day, was the Tjabukai Aboriginal Culture Park. In just a couple of hours, we learned about the native tribe that lived in the area of Cairns before settlers from the English kingdom arrived. We learned how they lived, using the surrounding rainforest and rivers in all aspects of their lives, and how their world was turned upside-down upon the arrival of English settlers. It’s an old and unfortunately not unique story with which we are quite familiar—Native Americans, Africans, Yemenites in Israel, etc., etc. Specifically in Australia, I get the feeling that it’s a story I’m not quite sure the country has truly and come to terms with yet.

The park was pretty hands-on: we heard stories of Tjabukai culture and heritage, saw a dance performance, learned which plants they used for medicinal purposes, and learned how to throw boomerangs and spears. All in all, it was quite informative, but, at least from my perspective, I felt a bit uncomfortable taking pictures, especially of the dances, feeling that perhaps I was intruding or somehow mocking their culture.

We got back to the car at 3:30pm. We had nothing else scheduled for the day except to drive up to Port Douglas and check-in to our room. So, in following tradition, instead of taking the main highway to Port Douglas, we took a different route. The map showed a coffee farm just 20-30 km to the west, so why not check it out?

Well, we tried to check it out, but we got there and the sign simply said “Not Open Today,” so we continued driving. Good thing they weren’t open, because as we learned just 15 minutes later, a real coffee plantation was just around the bend waiting to be explored.

Our tour of the Jaques (pronounced Jakes) Coffee Plantation was so interesting and unique, it deserves its own post.