Cairns Festival

Sunday, 30 August 2015

Maternity Ward

Lunch with James and Maureen

The calorie free version, of course

Mobile Medic

Stick people/insects

Big bug

More bugs

Cairns mob

PNG mob

School dragon

Japanese dancers

Old Man Emu

Two cute koalas

This koala wanted to be a kangaroo

The Hare Krishnas were there

All arms and legs

Bula!

Taipans' mascot

Chinese lion

Chinese dragon - part thereof

Chinese drummers

How to read music in the dark

Full moon over the inlet

Fireworks and moon

As the heat intensifies, our time in Cairns is fast drawing to a close – only two sleeps remain before we commence the drive south.

Last Wednesday, we joined James and Maureen for lunch at Barnacle Bill’s.  Even though we all had lovely main courses, none of us could resist the complimentary desserts!  Needless to say, it wasn’t necessary to cook an evening meal.

The remainder of the week just seemed to disappear, with the usual shopping, etc, and Friday was spent at the hairdressers for some maintenance.  However, we were “treated” to an all time departure record when a caravan a couple down from us was hitched up (and the road blocked) at 6.55 am.  The owners then disappeared into the caravan for a leisurely breakfast, ablutions and cleaning of the caravan, then jacks were retracted, remainder of gear stowed in boot, car loaded, power cord and hoses rolled and stowed.  Roof lowered, more visits to the amenities, goodbyes said and they were finally ready to leave at 8.35 am.  The poor bloke opposite, who also was waiting to leave, gave up and decided he could manage to back onto his van and left within 10 minutes.

The Cairns Festival Grand Parade was held on Saturday evening, commencing at 5.30 pm.  The weather was very balmy on the Esplanade, with a gentle breeze helping to keep the temperature about 25 degrees.  Although it was daylight when the parade started, it was quite dark when the last entry passed us at just after 7.00 pm, which made photography a bit difficult.  The theme this year was cultural diversity and really highlighted the many cultures living in this region.  Following the parade, we were treated to a fireworks display over the water, with a full moon as a backdrop.

Today, after making a lemon drizzle cake, we started to pack up – well, put the frying pan and rice cooker away, which was a start.  It wont really take long tomorrow to fold up the shade cloths and floor, a table and the cupboard.  The remainder will be secured late tomorrow afternoon.  This afternoon, we visited Rusty’s Market – the frig is now well stocked – and enjoyed what may be our final ice cream (although tomorrow is another day!).

Port Douglas Revisited

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

It's raining ...

Port Douglas Marina

A bit derelict

Some restoration required

One metre of watching crocodile

2 metres of warming crocodile

Over 4 metres of crocodile, just waiting

Cyclone mooring point

Sunbird nest

Rainbow bee eater

Hot and sticky

Chinese junk

Very popular for weddings

Old sugar wharf

Kapok tree

Last Saturday was our hottest day so far this season, sunny and humid.  We spent the morning wandering around the Esplanade markets, having our feet pampered once again (important to support the local economy), pampering our insides with an ice cream and adding to his shirt and shorts collection.  Lunch was at Cazaly’s before a quick walk (with the odd stop) through the DFO.

Not much happened on Sunday because the humidity increased dramatically overnight and we had a very soggy and very steamy day.  The curlews came to visit to get out of the rain for a while – and have a chicken snack as well.  They have now nested (ie deposited two eggs on the bare ground) not very far from our caravan.

Yesterday, with the humidity still very high and only the odd bit of mizzle, we decided to spend the day at Port Douglas, passing a large number of caravans heading south.  We spent a couple of hours or so wandering through the shops, adding to the shirt collections, but discovered our favourite lunch restaurant has been turned into a smelly hamburger joint.  The afternoon was spent on board the Lady Douglas, a little “paddle steamer” that does one and a half hour tourist cruises around the inlet.  It was very enjoyable on board, especially with the slight breeze as we moved among the expensive motor vessels and yachts, wrecks and mangroves.  Refreshments were also provided – wine, beer, juice, fruit platter, cheese platter, biscuits, lamingtons (for the international tourists) and fruit cake.  A very pleasant way to spend the afternoon, with plenty to look at, especially crocodiles – ranging in size from 1 metre to over 4 metres.

This morning we watched in amazement as a neighbour hitched up and then blocked the roadway for nearly 45 minutes.  He hitched the car and van (turned the engine off, thank goodness), then unplugged the power cord, detached the hose, detached the sullage hose, put all them away, wiped the car all over, pulled down the old television antennae and put that and the pole away, lowered and secured the pop-top, socialised with friends who arrived to say goodbye, wiped the car once again, then decided he needed a comfort stop!

The mango trees are now in full bloom, with their strong, sweet perfume.  The high humidity continues today …

Winter Days

Thursday, 20 August 2015

Vietnam Veterans' Day

Inlet at Port Douglas

Looking the other way

Waiting for lunch

Fast boat

Slow boat

Four Mile Beach

Monday saw a mass exodus of caravans from the park, but amazingly, most of the sites were occupied again by the end of the afternoon.  Monday was just a day for general cleaning, laundry, etc., followed by a walk to keep the fish happy and growing.  James and Maureen managed to help finish off the orange and poppyseed cake at afternoon tea time.

Tuesday was much the same, with a visit to the supermarket thrown in and a new cake baked to refill the tin.  Being Vietnam Veterans’ Day, we joined a number of veterans (and midgies) at the War Cenotaph late in the afternoon for the memorial service.  Following that, it was our usual game of bowls at Edgehill.

Wednesday, we travelled north to Port Douglas – the drive along the coast was superb, with clear, blue seas and long, golden beaches.  We had arranged to meet John and Brenda at Glengarry Caravan Park (a very nice, tropical park on the outskirts of Port Douglas) before continuing in to the tourist town.  We had lunch at The Tin Shed, a restaurant right on the waterfront near the marina.  Such a beautiful setting, with a gentle breeze to keep us cool while we watched a variety of tourist boats sail past – fast ones, slow ones, basic ones and very palatial ones.  The food was okay, too.  After lunch, John drove us to the lookout (beats walking up the hill!) for the limited view through the trees of the Port Douglas Beach stretching away into the distance.  We were also treated to a sausage sizzle at the caravan park last night, and someone even managed to eat two sausages plus all the trimmings!

This morning was spent at Cairns Central and Toys R Us – some little people’s names were on the shopping list, as well as a birthday present, which is still under consideration.  It was a lunch time that Himself realised that our refrigerator hasn’t as cold as it should be, so after consulting the manual, the change was made from electricity to gas and the local repairer contacted.  We will be taking the caravan for a little drive tomorrow afternoon.

Catana Wetlands

Sunday, 16 August 2015

Thursday couldn’t have been very exciting – can’t recall that we did anything exciting, although Himself did want some “me time” to visit Bunnings.

Friday morning was spent doing housework type stuff – laundry, cleaning, dunny run …  Following lunch, we headed into Cairns for an ice cream and stroll along the Esplanade before spending the remainder of the afternoon looking for toilet chemical sachets.  Anaconda had plenty to look at throughout the store (we did check out their snow wear) but not what we were seeking, then it was on to BCF and Ray’s for the same result.  We ended up the other side of Cairns at Cairns Camping and eventually made a purchase there, so the drive back south should now be “comfortable.”

We had a long walk along the creek on Saturday morning, feeding the fish on the way.  During the afternoon, we decided to visit the Catana Wetlands – a beautiful area of lakes, paperbarks and birdlife.  Despite the crocodile warning signs and the large photo board detailing all the snakes we might meet, our walk was quite uneventful.

The sun disappeared for a short time this morning (but not for long, thank goodness) – we have been truly blessed with the weather this year.  We chose to have a light lunch at Cazaly’s today, before heading into Rusty’s Market.  Lunch was nice and we then attempted to make a small donation to the machines with the pretty, flashing lights.  I quickly recovered my stake, plus a couple of dollars; Himself just sat staring at the flashing lights and listening to the music play on and on.  A nice lady had to come and hand over folding money – more than covered our lunch, fruit and vegetables from Rusty’s and an ice cream each!