VIPs Arrive

Friday, 30th August

Both Wednesday and Thursday were fairly quiet days, with Cat keeping an eye on the nesting curlews.

Today, it was all systems go, with an early visit to the supermarket and then to Rusty’s for supplies, before we headed to the airport to wait for David, Shan, Jack and Aidan to arrive. Lots of hugs all round, although Aidan wasn’t all that keen on showing off his new vocabulary. After checking the family in to their accommodation, we all returned to the caravan for a late lunch. Then it was a rush to the pool (the new arrivals seemed to think the Queensland winter was a bit warmer than the Tasmanian winter). Aidan and Jack didn’t show much hesitation about getting into the water, however, their parents were a little reluctant to enter the unheated water. One parent only managed to get a couple of toes wet! We then had some grandparent/grandsons quality time; Grandpa and Jack went for a walk to find some turtles and fish, Nanny and Aidan enjoyed a Paddle Pop (well, Aidan did).

Cairns Again

Wednesday, 28th August

No worries about crocodiles or snakes sleeping in this!

Monday morning saw a mass exodus from the caravan park, with about half of the residents up bright and early in the rush to get out the gate. By 8.00 am, there was a long line stretching back from the gate; the sensible leavers waited until after 9.00 am, when rush hour traffic had lessened. James and Maureen were part of the rush, attempting to leave by 8.00 am. The remainder of the day was fairly quiet as we waited for the afternoon rush of inwards caravans. It is amazing how quickly the park refills, even at this time of the year. There is also quite a variety of camper-trailers! Cat has decided he definitely prefers the comfort of our caravan.

We had a quite heavy downpour during the night, with overcast skies for the early part of Tuesday. Tuesday morning was a chance to catch up with filling the bickie tins – we have cooking bickies in the turbo oven down pat by now, much to someone’s delight! The afternoon was spent at the hairdressers for one of us, and a quiet afternoon catching up on some reading for the other. We also played our final game of bowls last night, saying goodbye and promising to return, hopefully, next year.







Cairns Fesitval



One vanilla, three chocolate please



Geisha Girls

Part of the Japanese contingent



A happy snail



There goes a crocodile!

A happy chappy

A favourite with half the crowd!

The octopus float

Here come the jellyfish

The start of the Chinese section

Fire breathing dragon

Long, red dragon

Drummer

Elvis leaving the building

Not sure what it was

but it made a lot of smoke!

Underwater



and on the Reef

 We have cast our votes for the forthcoming elections; now if only we didn’t have to watch election advertisements for the next fortnight!

After a very sleepless night on Friday, a massage at the local beauty parlour yesterday morning was very soothing and relaxing. Later in the afternoon, we headed into Cairns for the parade and fireworks, which were the start of the Cairns Festival. When we tried to find a parking spot, we realised that the majority of people in Cairns also wanted to watch the parade! Purely by accident, we even managed to find a vacant spot for our chairs right outside the ice cream shop. Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed most of the entries (some entries seemed to think that extremely loud music made their float better – it didn’t), with both the Japanese and Chinese communities have a large representation. The theme of the parade was Living in Paradise and the reef did feature in many entries. One beautiful float of the Great Barrier Reef was followed by a large school of jelly fish – very simple and very effective. The parade commenced at 5.30 pm and it became dark quite quickly once the sun set; unfortunately the street lights in our section managed to turn themselves off for a period of time!

As soon as the parade had finished (it took one hour 15 minutes to pass us), we, along with everyone else, grabbed our chairs and made a dash for the edge of the boardwalk overlooking Trinity Inlet. We only had to wait just over half an hour – plenty of time to eat our rolls and listen to the fruit bats in the trees behind us– before the fireworks commenced. Wow!

Sunday seems to be pack up day for a large number of caravanners, James and Maureen included; a large number are leaving tomorrow. We took the opportunity today to have a very enjoyable lunch with James and Maureen at the Trinity Beach Tavern – such a beautiful spot, sitting on the upstairs balcony looking out over the Coral Sea.

Cairns Continues

Friday, 23rd August

Thursday morning, the clouds started to build up – as did the humidity! The morning was spent quietly, catching up with laundry, housework, etc. After lunch, we headed to the boys’ toy store (Masters) to look for some replacement hinges for a couple of hatches in the caravan. However, I think the main reason was to look and drool, as we didn’t buy any hinges! We continued on to the Lagoon, where one of us sat and sipped a coffee (and admired the “scenery”) while the other conducted a bit of retain therapy. Then – shock, horror – we discovered the ice cream lady had closed the shop for a short period.  :-(

Today, Himself saw the sunrise again (the second time this year) as the Pajero needed to be at Mitsubishi by 7.30 am for a replacement seal – something to do with the power steering. As this took most of the morning, we waited until the afternoon to return to Cairns for our weekly supply of fruit and vegetables, some purchases from Lenards Chicken and then a walk along the Esplanade. With the Cairns Festival due to commence tomorrow, workmen were busy setting up the Lagoon area with tents, etc – and very pretty lanterns, flowers and insects decorating the trees. More importantly, the ice cream shop was open!!!

The weather continues very overcast and humid but is supposed to clear in the next couple of days.

Swimming Hole

Wednesday, 21st August



Life Guard

 Monday was a momentous day – we actually both entered the swimming pool (unheated, I might add!) and while one of us only submerged to shoulder level, the other actually went right under.

Tuesday continued to be very hot and dry and with an election fast approaching (the sooner it is over, the better), we made our way to the Electoral Office to cast an early vote. Despite the advertising, our electoral ballots had not yet arrived in Cairns, so we will need to return next week. Following this, we made our way to the Esplanade for a light lunch and – you guessed it – an ice cream. I’m sure the ice cream lady is not looking forward to us leaving. Our bowls match in the evening was very pleasant, temperature wise, and we thought it would be politic to allow some other players to take home the prizes.

Wednesday morning, I headed to Smithfield Shopping Centre for some necessaries, a bit of a wander and a couple of purchases in preparation for a visit by our grandchildren. This afternoon, we conducted quality control tests on the pool noodles (it would be terrible for the boys if they didn’t float!) and tonight I am taking Himself out to dinner (there is a free sausage sizzle in the caravan park).

Today, there seemed to be a mass exodus from the caravan park – the tourist season is slowly starting to wind down.

Vietnam Veterans' Day

Sunday, 18th August

I forgot one very important event when we went to Port Douglas. We saw a real live crocodile in the wild! There is a large crocodile which lives in the Mowbray River and likes to sun himself on the mud when the tide is low and the tide was low and the sun was shining.
Saturday morning (the sun was still shining and the tide was still out), the weather continued to be very hot and Maureen and I had a girls’ morning out. Our first stop was at Rusty’s Market and we discovered that mangoes are now in season – in Darwin! The fruit is being imported into Cairns, for a price. However, the local strawberries are absolutely delicious. We also enjoyed a wander around the Saturday market on the Esplanade. It was so hot during the afternoon that I actually sat on the edge of the caravan park’s swimming pool and dangled my feet in the water!

Sunday was rather a busy day for us; we attended a concert by David Helfgott during the afternoon. We thoroughly enjoyed his playing, especially his signature “Flight of the Bumblebee.” After seeing David performing, we realised how well Geoffrey Rush portrayed him in “Shine.” After the performance, we made our way to the RSL and managed to watch some of the Sydney Swans game before the Vietnam Veterans’ Day Service.  Prior to the service commencing, a young female (no doubting she was female!), wearing very tight, short silver lame shorts and something that passed for a very brief bikini top, skated passed the old diggers.  As one, they all executed a perfect "Eyes Right!"  Following the service, the President of the RSL shouted everyone to a drink and nibbles were also provided. We then stayed for a meal and even managed to visit the Night Markets. This market is really aimed at the Asian tourists and is absolutely full of souvenirs (some rather on the tacky side) and dozens of masseurs offering full massages for $15. However, the ambience is somewhat lacking.

Port Douglas

Friday, 16th August

Himself saw something on Wednesday morning that he hasn’t seen for a long time – the sunrise! With the car booked in for a 7.30 am service, an early rise was necessary. Consequently, not much else happened during the morning, apart from catching up on some reading and it was too hot in the afternoon for much movement.


Thursday saw Himself add to his shirt collection, with a trip to the DFO. Again, the afternoon was fairly quiet, although we did walk to short distance to the bridge over Freshwater Creek and fed the fish – I’m sure they have grown since we arrived! I also strongly suspect that we aren’t the only ones providing food. We were also lucky to see at least six different Ulysses butterflies while we were on the bridge.

The resident curlews in the caravan park have had a family household re-arrangement. The bird with the broken leg, who has become quite tame and knows where food can be begged, was evicted from the family group and the parents have now laid two eggs and we are all waiting for the hatching. A couple of stray curlews attempted to move into the park a couple of mornings ago and it was almost like WW3 had started!

Today we headed to Port Douglas to have the day with the latte crowd. Apart from a few souvenir shops, the remainder are either very, very expensive resort wear or very, very cheap resort wear (probably imported by the containers from Bali!). A number of shops provided “men seats,” complete with magazines, for bored males. We did have a very enjoyable lunch of Spanish mackerel, though. We did find an access to the beach and spent probably 15 minutes sitting in the hot sun on the hot sand, getting hot. With deck chairs/lounges for hire, it was almost like being in Hyde Park, London (cushions were an optional extra). Cat was quite keen on hiring a rubber tube, but then realised it would mean getting wet! On the return journey to Cairns, we stopped at the Rex Lookout for a photo opportunity and a look at the tropical beaches and blue seas.

The weather continues to be good and the temperature continues to increase.

Warm Weather in Cairns

Tuesday, 13th August

The hot weather continues; we have even turned the air conditioner on a couple of times.


We have had a couple of quiet days, as someone has had a sore back and been fairly restricted in his movements – but still able to stand at the sink and wash up, fortunately! While one of us rested yesterday morning, I undertook a bit of retail therapy and some “me time.”

Cat has been feeling the heat quite badly – he keeps muttering that we don’t wear fur coats when it is 30 degrees! – and was quite happy to sit in front of Maureen’s fan at happy hour, enjoying a cool drink and some chips. However, the feathers did fly when James’ kookaburra decided to join the party. Today, Cat even decided to try out the pool, but did stop short of actually getting wet.

With physical activities still somewhat restricted today, we did manage a short walk along Freshwater Creek – very pleasant under the trees. When I suggested a drive into Cairns for an ice cream after lunch, the back didn’t have any trouble sitting in the car – evidently the car seats offer good support.

Flecker Botanic Gardens

Sunday, 11th August

At the risk of sounding boring, Saturday was another beautiful day – the only word to describe the weather, lately. Himself had a momentous and thought provoking start to the day. He actually thought for a short while and then washed the car! Following a quiet morning catching up on the housework and some reading, we headed into the esplanade for a walk after lunch. We parked opposite the hospital and discovered the paths alongside the park were blocked off as the medivac helicopter was about to take off. Very exciting. The new thongs which I thought had been suitably broken in, only allowed me to walk about 500 metres before creating a blister between the toes. Of course, it would have been rude to sit at a table while applying bandaids and not order an ice cream!!!


Sunday morning started off a little cloudy, but the temperature remained high. We made our weekly trek to Rusty’s Market for our supply of avocadoes and fresh produce, with a stop at the supermarket on the way home. After lunch, we headed to the Botanic Gardens for a walk – very humid under the trees, but generally shady. Many of the flowers were different to our last visit, and the gingers were just starting to bud and flower. There were a lot of tourists about today with their cameras, but I don’t think any of us were quick enough to capture the Ulysses butterflies.