Wow, can’t believe it’s October already ! This year is certainly buzzing by and it will be Christmas before we know it. Already our girls are wondering how Santa will find them in the caravan, and Olivia especially is suspicious. Her suspicions started when we did a tour of Uluru and the guide made a comparison (can’t remember exactly what though) between ‘something’ and Santa. I couldn’t believe he said it and I quickly looked at Sarah who didn’t pick up on it and then I felt her eyes boring into the back of my head.. I turn around and Olivia is staring at me.. Later that day she asked both Wayne and I (separately) if Santa was real like the ‘tooth fairy and the easter bunny’ ? Both of which she no longer believes in. Wayne and I got something right though, as our response was the same :

IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE, YOU DON’T RECEIVE… That kept her quiet… for now !

The last week and a bit we have been in Port Douglas and Cairns. .

Port Douglas 

We arrived in Port Douglas after leaving Cooktown and immediately had such a great vibe about the place. Can’t explain it really, like many places up this way it’s just so peaceful and vibrant. We were a little disappointed about the Caravan Park being a little way out of PD itself (a whole 8 km’s) but the park itself was really nice with a slide in the pool and a jumping pillow so for us it was a done deal. When we checked in we noticed a site was free right beside the pool, the caretaker tried to talk us out of it as there wasn’t much shade, but we have an awning and there were trees and after quickly weighing up that we could see the kids (Lulu and Sarah) in the pool from the caravan window, we decided to brave the heat and we snapped it up. Turned out it was perfect anyway. The girls made lots of little friends here and they were kept entertained.

We were in Port Douglas for 5 days. The first 3 days were spent just going into town, eating and shopping, checking out the famous markets on Sunday and spending time in the pool at the caravan park. Everyday was sunny and hot. The last 2 we spent exploring the Daintree (as much as we could by car) and going to Mossman Gorge.

Mossman Gorge was spectacular. It was crammed with people (again – school holidays) and hard to get a spot to sit down. We had planned on taking a picnic down there but ended up having our picnic where the bus departs just at the top of the gorge. Glad we did, otherwise we would have eaten standing up. The Gorge itself was ice-cold, but what a place. . Something we’ll never forget.

Cairns 

Arrived in Cairns a few days ago. This is the place that we have talked about since we left home in August and it’s all due to the Caravan Park ! Sounds silly I know but some of the parks we’ve stayed at haven’t had much in the way of ‘things to do’ for the girls. Mainly at the overnighters that we’ve used, so we’ve continued to say ‘wait til we get to Cairns and Coconuts’.. then I remembered that we hadn’t actually booked a spot and it was school holidays. Thankfully we were lucky and managed to get a ‘bus site’ (lucky for us our van is considered a ‘large’ rig although it doesn’t feel like that when you’re living in it 24/7). I’ve never stayed in a park like this before, and its safe to say that Wayne hasn’t either. When we checked in we were told to leave the car and van and they took us around the park in a golf buggy (but with a frog on top) so they could give us a tour of the park. Lucky they did or we would have been lost within minutes. The park is like Disneyland. . slight exaggeration and I’ve never been to Disneyland but it feels like it. There are 3 pools, each with slides and wading pools for babies, there’s a huge playground with an interactive bike trail that runs around the edge for scooters and bmx bandits etc (Sarah fallen off a few times) 2 huge jumping pillows, a water splash park that is the #1 attraction. Outdoor movie nights, indoor movies throughout the day, all day everyday. Free pancakes on Thursday’s and not just a pancake slapped on a paper plate either. They set up tables and chairs in the ‘garden pool’ and they have lucky door prizes AND sugar, lemon and maple syrup.. I mean c’mon! Then there’s the tennis, the mini golf, the table tennis, the fire engine truck that comes around every 2nd day, the water aerobics and the cafe on site and the snorkelling lessons,honesty… the kids are in heaven so we’ve not left the park much. .

We have been into Cairns though, spent some time along the Esplanade and the Cairns Lagoon. I thought Perth was pretty well set up for the great outdoors, but not compared to this place. Perth Foreshore could take a hint or 2 from this place. The Muddys playground is H U G E and so is the Lagoon that is right in the middle of Cairns CBD. You can’t swim in the water so why not make a man-made beach ? Sounds pretty simple.. Have to add though, the beaches up here are not much compared to Perth/WA.. We are pretty spoilt and I feel a little guilty for slamming the place I live and love 🙂

We drove out to Palm Cove yesterday.  I liked Palm Cove even more than Cairns and we are going to stay there for 4 nights after Coconuts. A little shire run caravan park, right opposite the beach and right in the middle of the cafe/shopping precinct. Wayne’s happy that there is a jetty, I’m happy because there are cute little boutiques everywhere and a million places to have a coffee. I could see myself living in a place like Palm Cove. Sarah still not up for a ‘sea change’ however. We are supposed to be heading south down the coast, but after driving to PC and loving it for the 2 hours we spent there, we thought ‘why not’ we have nowhere to be for a couple of months.. It’s good to be this free.

We were planning on doing the Skyrail and the Reef tour while we were in Cairns, but had a few little hiccups (nothing major) so we will do it from Palm Cove now.. All in all, we are all feeling very chilled and relaxed in this part of the world.

(Wayne has taken some amazing photo’s of Cairns and Port Douglas, but I’ve been unable to upload them as the file is too large).

I know I’ve dedicated a lot this blog to Coconuts and at the end of the day it’s just a caravan park, but it still doesn’t stop us from singing all the time ‘I’ve got a lovely bunch of Coconuts’…

I think we’ve finally slowed down a little.  We are not just on this trip for a month, we have 8 months so it’s ok to have a few days where we do absolutely nothing. Today it’s hot but cloudy and a little rainy. I think we will go on a bike ride later this afternoon but for now the girls are in the pool with Wayne and I’m here in the van writing this blog while Frankie has a little sleep and then I’ll think about maybe making a Banana cake.

Until next time…

TTM x