Cairns Tropical Zoo

Today, its time for fun furry fluffy day in the zoo...  As I had mentioned earlier that our hotel package is included with this return transfer and the entry fee to the zoo as well.  So no need to worry of anything.  Just put on my pair of comfy shoe and I am ready to explore the world of animal.  Not gonna be too much talking in this blog and let's the pictures do the talk.  Agree!!!!  Save me some times too mhua.. hahahaha...



Pelican

Cockatoo



Sandwiches and Latte @ Koala Cafe



Kookaburra



Peacock

Funny story...  I'd been following this peacock from his back but he just didn't want to flares out his feathers and I was thinking "will I have a chance to see it?"  After that I saw he jumped in to the Kangaroos walkabout, with a few tourists were taking a photo of those lazy sleepy kangaroos there.  Suddenly, the peacock just flares out his feathers right in the middle of everyone...  He stole the scene....  Show off little boy!!!!!!!


Oopsy....

I really enjoyed this bird show...  It's more alive and closer to us as they flying around us from one corner to the other.  That's why zoo keeper mentioned earlier that we have to be there about 5 minutes before the show started and keep seated otherwise we may hit some of flying birds.


Black Cockatoo and Owl



Fearful Eagle



Halloooo..



Smart little bird...  He picked up the coin and put it in the money box for donation


.. Wedding Chapel



The Ring-tailed Lemur. Guess how many rings are there???



Red Panda



The zoo here in Cairns is much much smaller in size comparing with Taronga zoo but the numbers of Koala here is way much more, we spotted the awaken koala quite alot today, so lucky, normally they all sleeping fat on the branch..  Plus, we are able to hug them while taking some photos as well..  I think (can't remember now) it cost around $16 per person for one animal, they also have crocodile and snakes too.



The sexiest sleeping style





Chubby Aligator



Mommy and baby Joey



Feeding Kangaroo



My most favourite bird... Galah

This is one of the cutest bird beside Kookaburra, which like the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.  They have a nice pink colour on the chest with the grey wings, very short and chubby... 

Grilled Chicken, Lettuce, Tomato and Cheese Sandwich from Koala Cafe

As we all know, in the touristy place like this, they don't usually have a really good place to eat, so just fill up our tummy with a bit of food to avoid getting fade...  then keep our tummy for later mission when we back to city!!!!

That's all folks for the zoo trip and I will see you guys again in next blog for dinner cruise and so on...
So, Octie Appetie....


Keep on reading for the 3rd day in Cairns (part 2):

http://octieappetie.blogspot.com/2011/12/marina-bay-and-ocean-spirit-dinner.html

Green Island and Waterbar & Grill, Cairns

We went to Green Island with the Big Cat Cruise for snorkeling today and seeing the most beautiful coral life of Great Barrier Reef.  Apparently, GBR is the only living mechanism that you can see from the outer space. Ferry and the snorkeling equipment are included in the package.  We paid $18 per person on top of that for lunch buffet in the ferry as we thought that it maybe a bit hard to find the food in that small island.  End up our thought was completely wrong, they have few take away shops selling fish & chips, burgers, ice creams, drinks and some other light snacks that look way better and we felt so ripped off with the buffet from the ferry company, the food wasn't that nice, too bland, as well as chicken wing was totally fridge cold.  Not only that we had to walk a looong way (hyperbole!!!!) back to the wharf where the ferry was just to have those canteen-like buffet, unlike if we buy some food in island is just there.  Yeah.. Anyway what was done, was done!!!! can't change it!!

If you guys not really into snorkeling, they also have other variety of activities to do on the island, such as Glass Bottom Boat, Semi-Sub Marine, Seawalker or just wandering around the island. 

The weather wasn't  really on our side on that day, first we worried whether should we still do snorkeling, but the guy in the ticket office told us that many people are still going there for snorkeling.  So why not join them!!!!!  When we were on the shore, it was lightly drizzling but once we arrived the island the weather was completely different, it was bright and sunny but still very strong wind though (and I got sea sick so badly, even the lady who works in the boat got sea sick too, the wave was that rough!!!)

After tired with snorkeling, we had a relaxing walk around the island on the idyllic sandy beach and spotted some sea turtles too. How lucky.... They also have a small zoo or something like that, but we didn't manage to go in there.

We got back to the hotel around 5 pm, and without wasting no time we went straight to shower and ready to have dinner (as we planned) in Tamarind Restaurant, Casino Reef Hotel.  Once we arrived the place, we saw that the place wasn't really full, so we though we have abit of hope as we forgot to book the table.  But the waiter told us that unfortunately the table were all booked out until 9.30 pm.  Suck in big time!!!!!

We then walked around the Esplanade, keep searching and hoping any nice restaurant will catch our eyes...  None..  none of them look interesting to me cos my mind was still hanging around with those alluring menu in Tamarind, so far nothing up to that standard...  Then we decided to bet our luck at the Pier which just underneath Shangri-La Hotel.  After walked nearly finish one whole Pier round ..  We spotted this Waterbar & Grill restaurant, the place looked nice, funky and bustling busy, but we still give it a try and the lady told us that we gotta wait about 20 minutes...  My instinct told me right away that this is THE ONE and don't wanna keep on searching outside especially in the wet raining night like that, so here we were waiting....  She asked us to sit in their bar while waiting and we ordered some cocktails, by the time we just got our cocktails, she came back and told us that they got a table ready for us.  Wow!!!!  Real quick, I think it took less than 10 minutes waiting only.  Perfect timing because I was terribly starving ...


Waterbar & Grill
Shop G1a, The Pier at the Marina
Pierpoint Road, Cairns
Ph: (07) 4031 1199
Open 7 days a week from 11.30 am

Check out their menu on http://www.cairnsunlimited.com/dining.htm

As this grilled meat and pork ribs restaurant are South African food, most of the chef are African-look too, so it gives the ambience and the feeling like we eat local food....

The front one was my cocktail, It's called Vanilla Bliss ($14) and is basically a sweet vanilla vodka drink with a hint of lemony to balanced off the taste.  Really goooood, great I would say!!!!


Garlic Bread $5

Freshly baked garlic bread, still hot and the alluring smell comes from within with garlicky butter generously slathered in each single slices of that gorgeous bread log.



Oysters - served natural with sherry vinegar & eschallot dressing  $3 each

It's raw, it's real, it's Pacific Oyster....  Big, clean, fresh and juicy that's what a prime oyster should be!!!!  Served with vinaigrette dressing to give the punch of taste and acidity.



Rib Combo - Half rack of ribs with Portuguese chicken $40

I wasn't expecting this....  I mean..  this hugeeee!!!  I ordered half rack of pork rib.. repeat!!  'HALF' rack of pork ribs with Portuguese Chicken.  Maybe from the photo, it wasn't that clear how big those stacks of pork ribs, but let me tell you, that Rack-saurus was massiveeeeee.  If you put them in a straight line, I would say bigger and longer then the full rack of pork rib in 'popular' Sydney restaurant (no need to mention the name).  And that creamy mashed potato on the side was so smooth and rich. The pork and chicken were really meaty, thick and juicy and they lavishly basted with the sauce, I can't stop licking the yummy sauce off my fingers.



Rump 350g - $32 with sauce $2.50  

The steak was soooo tender and succulent, perfectly cooked for his medium rare... goes really well with the pepper sauce and the salad on the side made the dish somehow lighter.



Looking of what we just had and surprisingly we did manage to finish them all.  Even I always keen with desserts, this time I better back off, can't swallow anything anymore, felt like the food was sitting on the tip of my throat.

Started with some disaster of our bad that didn't book Tamarind restaurant in advance but it kinda luck that brought us to this steakhouse.  Honestly, I never ever eaten any pork ribs this goood in my entire life.  Sounds too much ... , but it's true.  The serving portion was generously huge and all of the food that we ordered were super delicious.  Loves the services too.  Highly highly recommended!!!!!!

Did you enjoy this blog???  Hope so..  Octie Appetie, folks.....

Keep on reading for the 3rd day in Cairns:

http://octieappetie.blogspot.com/2011/12/cairns-tropical-zoo.html

Just arrived in Cairns

Get ready for Rock 'n Roll Babieh !!!!!  Cairns....  Here we come !!!!!!!



Phewww... So peaceful

We got onto the earliest flight at 8 in the morning and it took us only a short-haul flight to Cairns, so we won't be wasted anytime for the day.

Pepper Steak Pie from Pie Face @ Airport



Cairns International Airport





Hotel Lobby



Everytime we go on holiday, we always have a tight schedule..  and this time too....  Actually, I always want to have a spontaneous unplan trip and just pack my luggage and go exploring a new place.  However, I'm afraid of missing out some of the famed scenic places and a-must-eat restaurants while I am there then I would be regret and those feeling is much stronger than just being spontan.  So yeah!!!  I get used to it now, I well prepared the itinerary each time before hand and always not much free spare time left. But who cares!!  We can always find ourself enjoying every moment of it.

So let's get some Octie Appetie...

Once we arrive Cairns airport, we catched a cab to the hotel took us around 10 minutes that cost about $25 then we dropped our luggage with the concierge, since we arrived there pretty early and wouldn't be able to check in until 2pm.

My tummy rumbled uncontrollably, so we headed straight to have an early lunch at sushi Zipang.  The restaurant wasn't hard to find, from the esplanade, walk along Shield street toward the Cairns Central, if you passing Cairns Museum means you on the right track and nearly there so just keep walking straight for roughly 2 more minutes. It is a sushi train restaurant with quite big dining area.  It wasn't busy by that time in the late morning, so we grabbed a seat and in no time few plates of sushi were sitting on our table.


Sushi Zipang
39 Shields St., Cairns
(07) 40513328

The thing I love from them was the fact that their sushi were really fresh with generous serving size and the price was reasonably good, also their service is prompt and friendly.

Hot Green Tea

Green plate is $3.80 each





Chicken Katsu Don $11.80



Grilled Salmon Nigiri



Top: Deep Fried Crumbed Oysters and Bottom: Sweet Potato Tempura


Had a jiffy before we can check in to the hotel, we decided to walk along this popular man-made lagoon with flying fish sculptures as a landmark in Cairns.  That day wasn't a good bright day as you can see from the photo that wasn't many people swimming there.  However in the hot sunny day this place normally become so packed with teenagers and family having a fun relaxing day or BBQ get-together things.

Now..  Back to Shangri-La Hotel...

Shangri-La's Pool Bar

It was totally a bad choice to go swimming today because the weather was unfriendly and terribly windy but that the only spare time we had.  After today, our schedule would be fully packed.  So end up we just had a few free drinks ($50 credit from our hotel package, yayyy) from the pool bar and played table tennis and few pool games which is just right next to the bar.  For 5 star hotel, I didn't expect that the pool bar would be this tiny and unattended most of the time and some of the Liqueur wasn't available as well.  The drink itself isn't that bad though, I ordered this Island Affair which was a tropical Mango cocktail with creamy coconut milk on top.  Really summer-y drink and refreshingly enjoyable.

In the evening each day, in Cairns Esplanade, they have a Night Market that starting at 4.30pm and finishing up at 11pm.  Very good place to hunting some souvenirs, seashell stuffs, and they also sell Kangaroo, Emu, and Crocodile Jerky, though I didn't really enjoy them but just nice to know what they taste like.  Not forget to mention, a busy foodcourt on the Esplanade side will definitely make our night.  Lots of them actually selling self-serve hot food and the price is around $9 for a regular size.

Nevertheless, we booked restaurant already for tonight so we had to missed the food here and only walked pass those alluring aromatic food from the foodcourt.

Kani's Restaurant
59 The Esplanade
Cairns QLD 4870
(07) 4051 1550

Outback sampler $17.50

What can I say!!!  As we are in Australia at least we gotta try these Australian iconic meat, don't we??  Crocodile and kangaroo may sound pretty common and we tried this meat before and was taste quite good actually.  Emu..... Yeah rite!!  Why not give it a shot!!!!

This is a sample kofta dish of local Australian meat produce that have been marinated then grilled and served with lemon myrtle dipping sauce.  For me, this dish was tasteless and the sauce was so boring and nearly left totally untouched.  Crocodile meat wasn't anything like I ever tried before in Peter Doyle's restaurant in Sydney, here the meat was so dry and tough to the max, Emu meat was abit gamey.  I didn't like this entree at all and for 3 meat skewers with some dodgy green salad which obviously doesn't go well together for that much pricey is not worth the money.


Lobster Mornay $90

We really put such a great expectation on this dish and when this Lobster dish came to our table, they looked totally appetizing and smelled so inviting too.  Once we had our first bite of it, hmmmmm....  just not that justify the look, the flesh itself quite dry in texture but those creamy mornay sauce somehow helps making it abit more creamy.  The asian-style cooked vegetables, red cabbage and steamed rice on the side didn't tell the same story with this expensive lobster, it's clearly unnecessary to be there.  A fusion food ????  Didn't think so!!



French Fries



Pavlova $8.50

I'm so tempted to try the Salzburger Nockerl which is Kani's famous Austrian hazelnut souffle, but the waiter told us that it would take around 20 minutes to make.  If I know earlier, I will order before we even started our meal.  It was too late so we had the Australian classic dessert, Pavlova, which end up arrives our table in nearly 20 minutes.  What a shame!!!

The puffy meringue is nicely sweet and soft, fruits were fresh with a touch of passionfruit syrup, but only a dollop of whipped cream on top which wasn't enough to balance off the tower of meringue..

It's overall quite disappointing dining tonight.  From what we saw in the internet, we put a high expectation with this venue.  But so far nothing had wow me, despite the serving portion (not for outback sampler, but we didn't want any bigger than that anyway) was fairly huge but for the money wise..  So absolutely ripped off.


Shangri-La Hotel, Cairns
Pierpoint Road
Cairns Queensland 4870
Telp: (61 7) 4031 1411
Fax : (61 7) 4031 3226

A  little tips from me, if you guys would like to stay in Shangri-La hotel and looking for staying in the quite peace room, request the room on the higher floor.  Because at night, it tends to get very noisy as they have pubs right underneath the hotel rooms especially on the weekend.



Superior room with the bay view



Jet Star Flight ... Promotion price $$

3 night, Superior room for 2ppl ... $954

Green Island and Zoo day tours ... FREE

Stunning bay-view from my room ... PRICELESS....... 

Keep reading on for the 2nd day in Cairns :

http://octieappetie.blogspot.com/2011/12/green-island-and-waterbar-grill-cairns.html