Leaving Australia

 After our day at the Great Barrier Reef, it was time to leave.  We were in Port Douglas and the plane was back at the airport in Cairns, so it was an hour and half bus ride.  But by leaving a bit earlier, we could stop at a place between the two: Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures and see their display of Australian animals.

Kangaroos, of course.


And the kangaroos were really tame.





And Koalas


And of course, crocodiles, alligators, monitor lizards, and caraway birds.





Then we got back on the bus and continued on to the airport.  Once at the airport, it was going thru security and immigration control, and back on the plane.

But one of the things they have been doing on the trip was selecting one person to be able to sit in the cockpit during takeoff and landing.  And I was chosen to be in the cockpit for takeoff!


There were 3 guys in the cockpit — the captain, the pilot, and a 2nd captain.  They explained how to put the seat belt on — it was one of those 4 point harnesses like what I see for race car drivers.  And in truth it was pretty … boring.  They kept pushing and adjusting buttons, drove the plane out to the runway, waited for another plane to land (there being only one runway), and then turned onto the runway, pulled the big handle in the middle back and took off.  All pretty quiet and matter of fact; no engine failure, no bird hits, no fires or anything.  Just calm, deliberate driving the plane.

And 7 hours later (after two lectures — one on photography and the other on the Angkor sites — and lunch), we were in Cambodia.

Linda apparently liked the sun-rise photo shoot experience on Easter Island, because she signed us up for a sun-rise photo shoot at Angkor Wat tomorrow.  So we need to get to bed early



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