Moana Kuewa

|Home Page |Back to stories |

		2010.07.13 - 2010.06.08 AUSTRALIA Cairns Location: AUSTRALIA Cairns HISTORY. Captain James Cook journeyed up the North Queensland coast on his first Voyage of Discovery in 1770, aboard the HM Bark Endeavour, arriving on Trinity Sunday and naming the area Trinity Bay. The journey was not a pleasant one as the Great Barrier Reef is one of the most difficult waterways to navigate in the world. Captain Cook was the first known European to visit the site where today's city of Cairns is located. The tropical far north is a rugged area which proved difficult for exploring. Aboriginal tribes had over thousands of years learnt to survive the harsh environment that white settlers found so inhospitable. GOLD RUSH. One hundred years later white settlement took a firm hold in the region. This can be largely credited to the severe cyclones and wet seasons, treacherous reefs, impenetrable vegetation, disease and dangerous animals. The discovery of gold by the early explorers began this development. Cairns was officially founded in 1876 as a frontier town to support the gold rush. The city took its name from the State Governor of the day, Sir William Cairns. The initial site for Cairns was a sandy bank lined with dense rainforest and mangroves. Cairns looked like it was about to pass into obscurity until it was chosen as a starting point for a railway line that serviced the Atherton Tableland. It provided a transport route for tin and timber to shipped to southern ports. The gold rush ultimately began to die out and the people of North Queensland began to look for other ways to make a living. The flat coastal lands became major sugar cane plantations. Cairns continued to thrive with fishing and pearling becoming large industries. TOURIST DESTINATION. Post war North Queensland continued to develop and became a popular holiday destination for other Australians. Appreciation and awareness of the Great Barrier Reef sparked tourism growth both domestically and internationally. In 1984 with the arrival of the international airport, major tourism boom began which transformed Cairns from a sleepy regional town to the thriving city of today. MOANA KUEWA has enjoyed the beautiful, modern, Marlin Marina that is embedded in the heart of Cairns. It was a fabulous location to spend two weeks. Yes, we were on “weather hold.” High winds delayed our departure. We are going to be navigating through the Great Barrier Reef and anchoring near reefs. Scuba diving in 30–45 knot winds would not be safe or fun. However, there was one good weather day when Jeff and Chris went scuba diving on Saxon & Norman Reefs with a professional dive boat T5. Meanwhile, Jeff and Chris met some wonderful people. Ted & Diana de Lyster, and Diana’s sister, Ingrid, flew in with PAE Salespeople, Peter Devers and Don Lees. Ted & Diana are planning on transitioning into retirement in Dec 2010 and are interested in purchasing a Nordhavn. Currently, they own & manage an olive grove producing gourmet olive oils and products in the Melbourne area. Then, Brian Finn has been tracking MOANA KUEWA through the website. He asked to see the boat, discuss Nordhavns, and offered to give Jeff & Chris an aerial tour of Cairns, Port Douglas, and some of the Great Barrier Reef. Are we lucky or what? We were also able to meet Brian’s delightful wife, Emmiline, and their two daughters, Alexandra and Georgia. Plus, MOANA KUEWA also caught up with new “boating buddies”, Bill & Janet Wickman, AIRSTREAM, who we met off Hook Island while at anchor; and Glen, Marilyn & Jaryd Middleton who are friends with Bill and Janet and who moored next to MOANA KUEWA in Magnetic Island. Jeff & Chris were able to join them in Cooktown and they enjoyed Jeff's famous barbeque ribs and baked beans for a going-away dinner on MOANA KUEWA. They are headed to Darwin to participate in an Indonesian rally starting at the end of July. Hopefully, they were not too uncomfortable and remain safe in the high winds. Lastly, we’ve befriended Erick off superyacht JEREMY. Erick is a boat Captain who specialized in live-onboard cruises for surfers out of Sumatra. He flew into Cairns as a second mate on the newly built, JERAMY. The owners of JEREMY are avid surfers. They had last minute preparations before departing from Cairns, so we’ve been able to enjoy each other’s companionship for a couple of weeks. Traveling Individuals Names: Jeffrey Cheske & Christine Bauman * Some of the descriptions are taken from www.cairns-australia.com