We started today with breakfast in the hotel's courtyard - it was still cool out there as the sun hadn't reached it yet.
We were due at the riverfront at 10.45am to board the bus for the swamp & bayou tour but we left the hotel early to go to the chemist so Robyn could get her antibiotics & cough medicine.
We still had some time after that so we sat under a tree in Jackson Square, home to the lovely St Louis Cathedral. It was still relatively early & there were a few artists setting up their wares but later in the day it is full of artists & street performers.
We booked in at the ticket office & then boarded our bus. There were only about a dozen people on the tour & half were Aussies.
Our driver gave us some information as we drove out to the wetlands about 20mins away in Jefferson parish.
The interstate we were on is the towns evacuation route. When a mandatory evacuation is called, a contraflow is put in place so all 6 lanes are heading out of town. You are not allowed to enter the interstate heading into town for 60miles. A trip that usually takes an hour can take 12hrs in an evacuation. You must fill up with petrol prior to the evacuation being announced because the town will run out as soon as it becomes mandatory.
We have seen lots of signs showing evacuation route on our travels in the south but this was the first time we have understood the impact.
The riverfront area is the highest point in New Orleans, followed by the French Quarter. During Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi didn't flood. The French Quarter was the only part of the city not flooded. The rest of the city was flooded by Lake Pontchartrain, which we crossed yesterday.
When we were coming into New Orleans yesterday, we passed a couple of large cemeteries with lots of large mausoleums. This is the lowest point in town, 17ft below sea level. During Katrina, these cemeteries were 17ft below water. Many of the mausoleums & coffins were washed away. One coffin made its way to California. All lost coffins have been recovered.
There is a flood protection wall which now protects the city. We crossed that point today in Jefferson parish.
When we arrived at the wetlands, our guide boarded the bus, told us which boat to board & where there were some gators & turtles in enclosures to look at.
The boat we travelled in was a flat bottomed, covered boat called Swamp Queen 5. There was lots of room to move around because there were so few of us.
Firstly we went down the canal - a man made waterway, before going into the bayou at the end - a naturally formed waterway.
It was lovely & cool on the water & the gators were plentiful. Our guide would stop the boat & back up whenever one was spotted so everyone could get photos.
There was a lot of Hurricane Isaac debris in the water - logs, tree stumps & branches would crunch underneath the boat as the water was only about 3ft deep.
We also saw a couple of turtles & green heron. Our guide was very knowledgable & gave us lots of information about the wetlands & the animals.
Alligators have a very good sense of smell but also use the vibrations in the water to alert them to things. Our guide demonstrated this by throwing a couple of marshmallows into the water. If a gator was nearby, it would reach it & snap its jaws around it. Another time a gator further up felt the water vibrate & sped along to try & get there first. They can move surprisingly quickly.
On the way back, the guide introduced us to Sunshine. He was a small gator- about 2yrs old. He taped Sunshine's jaw shut & them we were free to pass Sunshine around, take photos & hold him for as long as we wanted. He was gorgeous & Robyn & I had him for ages.
The ticket said it was a 2hr tour & we would arrive back around 1pm. We only got off the boat at 1.45pm so it was value for money. Luckily we had no bookings for the afternoon.
It was an excellent tour. Far better than The Everglades in Florida. We saw far more gators & we got to pass around Sunshine. At the Everglades we were able to get a photo holding a small gator but it was bigger than Sunshine, we had to pay $3 for each photo & you only got one.
I would recommend this tour over the Everglades to anyone. Thanks very much Jane & Jo! We loved it!
We had been told by 2 different people in different states to eat at Cafe Du Monde while in New Orleans. It was right near the riverfront where we came back to so we decided to have lunch there. What we didn't know, was they only sell coffee, soft drinks & beignets.
Beignets are a small square piece of pastry which has been fried & covered with icing sugar. Basically a French donut. We ordered them & they were delicious but messy!
Afterwards we continued down Decatur St to the French Market. In my opinion, this was a bit disappointing. Many of the stalls/shops were selling the same thing. I expected a lot more artists works & nice things but got lots of tacky souvenirs.
Still, we looked at just about everything before heading back to Jackson Square & getting in a buggy for a mule driven ride. We had to wait a bit while the driver tried to fill up but eventually he left with just 4 of us on board.
He took us below the French Quarter to where the 'locals go for real music'. He also gave us some history - New Orleans was another town to be burned to the ground in a fire - this time twice. Two buildings survived the fires & he showed them to us. It was about a half hour tour.
When we got off we headed back to the hotel. I wanted to call Mum & Dad - happy 50th anniversary! & Rob called her Mum. About 8.30pm we headed out in search of a typical New Orleans meal. We ended up at The Gumbo Pot & shared a gumbo & a jambalaya.
Afterwards we walked down a bit further to The Market Cafe where a jazz band were playing & had dessert here. The typical Louisiana dessert is a bread pudding with a spiced rum sauce. I have never had bread pudding before because I have always thought it would be soggy bread. But, this wasn't & it was surprisingly nice.
It was still humid when we walked back to the hotel but nothing like Miami. I think we are in for the same tomorrow.