Friday, 22 April 2005

I took John's friendly taxi-bus from Kuranda to Cairns - at $2 still the best deal in town! (it was still $1 during my last visit in November 2003, there's inflation for you) - and was dropped at Woolworths from where it's just a short walk to Trinity Wharf. SEASWIFT's "VIP Terminal" for passengers intending to board the MV Trinity Bay was a 40ft-container with its sides knocked out. A clear indication that this was not going to be a glamour cruise but a passage on a working cargo ship. Loading was still underway: an amazing array of groceries, fuel, building materials, vehicles and astonishingly large quantities of beer were being crammed into the Trinity Bay's hold.

Passengers were allowed on board just after lunchtime and shown to their cabins which were surprisingly large: comfy but not luxurious, of much the same standard as rooms in a mum-and-dad roadside motel. In these hectic times, we can no longer voyage as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean but this was as near to it as it gets.