We walked to the harbor for our short cruise to the nearby mangroves with the Aboriginal village of the Mandingalbay Yidinji people. Our guide, Vincent, was hilarious. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a short ceremony with a cleansing fire. And bugs (biting midges)! We had been warned ahead of time about this, so we were prepared with toxic levels of insect repellant and mozzie nets. Vincent showed us medicinal plants, boomerangs, and other tools. By the time we left, we were all dripping with sweat due to the heat and humidity. The return boat ride was much cooler.
We walked back to the hotel for a quicken freshen and hotel checkout. After breakfast I felt a twinge in my chest and throat. Harry provided me with a COVID test. Luckily it was negative. I didn't think it would be positive, but I wanted to be sure. I took some ibuprofen, and it was much better shortly after.
We parted with Mark and our bus took us to the airport. Check-in was easy. Harry found out that our flight was delayed about an hour. Though it was still a little early, several of us had a beer in the airport. It was very refreshing, after being so hot this morning.
We had an uneventful flight to Sydney (our 3rd visit). It was so much cooler and less humid than Cairns. We had a short bus ride to the Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel (same one as a few nights ago). We received our keys and had a few minutes to organize. My time was mostly spent getting the air conditioning fixed in my room.
Several of us had wine in the bar. Harry rounded us up for dinner. We had a lovely time, chatting on our last night together. Jack expressed for all of us our gratitude to Harry. He was an AMAZING tour leader. He fixed every issue that we encountered. He made it look easy, but we know he worked hard behind the scenes. Thank you, Harry!
We all said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch. I think there will be many upcoming visits. Several of us are on the same flight tomorrow, so we'll see each other at the airport.
I will miss these AWESOME people.
Photo: Me on a boat in the mangrove swamps of Cairns.
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