Handing this one over to Wayne again……..

Sorry we are a few days late again, but its hard to get to the computer with all the lazing about to do!

Cairns 

Well the pace of this holiday has definitely changed now, we are crawling compared to the ground we covered in the early weeks crossing the Nullarbor and up the centre. We haven’t filled the car in a week and yet I still hit the sack each night feeling knackered.  Griffo and I see all the retired couples sitting peacefully outside their immaculately polished and well organised Caravans or Winebago’s. In the morning’s they are drinking cups of tea, reading the paper or their favourite mills and boon. The afternoon brings on a bottle of wine, biscuits, crackers and cheese whilst the roast dinner cooks in the mini gas webber’s (they smell great!). They are having a ball and so are we, but it would be nice to find some of that extended peace for a change, not sure the kids agree. That said most of the old dears look at the kids, particularly Frankie and reminisce about their grand children back home who they miss desperately.

Well Griffo has already detailed the Cairns Coconut Caravan Park and Cairns esplanade etc.. Not a great deal to add other than poor Sarah had her backpack stolen from Cairns McDonalds. Pretty much my fault I forgot to ensure she had it on the way out and by the time we went back in the store it was gone. Poor thing was very disappointed, it contained her DS-lite, her camera and a few other precious things.Interestingly the thing she was most upset about was the photographs on the camera, she realised that she could never get them back, I didnt think that would hit home so quickly… I hope this is the sum of things we lose over the holiday, fingers crossed….

Well we did manage to get out of coconut land a couple of times. We headed up the mountain to Kuranda on the Skyrail. It was a dodgy day, raining with a lot of low lying cloud. But it never took away from the amazing Skyrail. Ive been on Skyrails before, one very dodgy one in Dalat, Vietnam but not like this. It just kept going up and up and up, there were a few nervous moments. Particularly as the cart transversed  the rollers at each support pole. Its all the more nerve racking when you cant see through the clouds to where your going and you don’t like heights. But Frankie and I made small talk and it was all good. One of the stops on the way to Kuranda village was at a Barron Falls lookout, not a bad view.

Kuranda Village is a nice place, well adjusted for the tourist. Unfortunately the rain spoiled the day a little, but it was still nice to wander through the market stalls, shops have lunch at a pleasant cafe. It was also my first chance to play with my new 70-300mm lens, which was not suited to the day at all, but needed to be played with.

To get down the mountain we took the Heritage Train which was a lovely trip. The view from the train in some places as we came down the hill was breath taking. Some of the places people have built their houses is amazing. I can imagine in this region there must be some houses which enjoy spectacular views all year round!

Palm Cove

On one of our days exploring the various bays of Cairns, we drove into Palm Cove and immediately liked it. Whats not to like, theres strip of expensive shops and restaurants which Griffo loves. Theres a jetty for fishing and a boat ramp to make it easy to get the kayak in the water which suits me.  Theres a playground on the beach strip which suits the kids and a caravan park opposite the water, happy days, and so it was… It was little windy for the first couple of days but then it came good and it was magic.

We got into the habit of walking down the strip each morning for coffee and hot chocolates for the kids, before hitting the playground and watching the day go buy. We also indulged a bit more than we usually do, but heh the cars not taking all our money for petrol these days so why the hell not.

Then there was BIG news, I caught my first fish, good thing I bought a zoom lens. I didnt even take a photo of the sucker, I immediately stuck a large hook through it and flicked out as live bait hoping to catch the monster. No more luck, but I did get to sit on my lazy chair and enjoy a couple of beers with the rod in the water, gold!!! The next day I put the yak in, the water was glassed off like a lake, a pleasure to be out. I flicked the lure about and trawled for a bit but no luck. It was more fun towing the kids on their boggie boards. Another beautiful day.

A few people had mentioned a Butterfly Sanctuary at Kuranda so we thought we would take a drive and have a look. It was excellent, they breed and release 1500-2000 butterfly’s into the aviary each week, so it was jam  packed with fluttering colour. The butterfly’s are attracted to bright colours and they loved Olivia’s straw hat. Frankie kept kicking at them as they landed on her white shoes.

Whilst there we also took in some more markets and local coffee. Olivia was wrapped when found a second hand book seller with two Roald Dahl books that she doesn’t have. Both for the reasonable sum of $6, bargain. Hopefully we will have most of the Olivia’s Dahl collection sorted by the end of this trip. I just wish he wrote five and six hundred pages per book rather than two hundred, she’s reading them in a night!!! Little miss Sarah continues to spend her pocket money on everyone but herself, she seems to really love giving to others. It was a nice moment to see Sarah get a new bag to replace the stolen one, she’s very happy with it. Olivia is always broke and continues to make the most of Sarah’s giving nature, what are siblings for, right……

Well thats about it for the week.We decided to stay in Palm Cove for a few more days and pick up a barrier reef tour next week, until then enjoy the 9-5 gigs.

Cheers

Wayno