Cairns Festival Parade

SUNDAY, 28 AUGUST 2016

Behind the thin, blue line

Free hugs were on offer

School bike train 

Serious work being in a parade

No photo, please!

Girl Guides singing songs

Mobility scooter overload

Men and their brollies

BIG truck negotiating the bends

The little mermaid

Anemones and jelly fish

Butterlies

The garbage bag monster

Rio comes to Cairns

So does Japan

A Cairns Taipan

Sparkly rickshaw

Checking footy scores

Is that a Minion on the Hare Krishna float?

Must have been!

The sun and the moon

The Chinese were there, too

A big, red lion

A bigger, red dragon

Sydney won!!!

The Pier

Yesterday morning was spent undertaking some retail therapy before returning to the city late in the afternoon with James and Maureen to watch the annual Cairns Festival Parade.  We arrived early as there seem to be less parking spaces available this year (or maybe there are more cars?) and were able to set up our chairs in front of the Cenotaph.  The tide was in, which was much nicer to look at than the mud, the air was warm but not too hot and the thousands of spectators were well spread out over the route.  The first part of the parade was in daylight, with the latter half of the parade decorated with thousands of lights.  Lots of children, lots of different cultures, plenty of bubbles and the occasional float with loud music.  As the parade had more entries this year, we didn’t have long to wait until the fireworks commenced over Trinity Inlet.  Lots of bright lights, loud bangs and plenty of ooohs and aaahs from the crowds lining the boardwalk.  We then retired to Movenpick for an ice cream before making the long trek back to the car.

This morning we farewelled more travellers as they began their journeys south – the park is starting to have empty sites now, with more people, including James and Maureen, leaving tomorrow.  We also took the opportunity to pay a final visit to Rusty’s Market and stock up before we leave on Thursday.

Cairns Continued

FRIDAY, 26 AUGUT 2016

 

Sunset

Migratory birds

Motor yacht

With Maureen

Jelly Boys

The rain has disappeared this week and the heat returned with a vengeance!  Yesterday was very, very humid – temperature of 30 degrees with over 80% humidity meant lots of showers and changing of clothes.  Cat has spent the majority of the days stretched out in front of the fan under the awning.

Last weekend, we once again visited the Esplanade Markets (which seem to be getting smaller each week) and enjoyed a long walk along the Esplanade boardwalk.  We also walked around the pier and marina and joined the many spectators staring at the large motor yacht which has been moored at the marina for a couple of weeks.

Sunday night became a bit drama filled after Himself received an email from Amazon USA thanking him for his order and it would be sent to an address in Indonesia.  This resulted in an immediate telephone call to the USA; Amazon weren’t really helpful apart from saying that the order had been placed on his account and to ring the Australian Amazon the next day.  It was then a matter of working through all the urgent password changes that had a credit card linked to them before retiring for the night.  An early telephone call next day to Amazon again didn’t help much, so the credit card had to be cancelled and the remainder of the passwords changed.  A very stressful 18 hours and it was felt that a foot massage would help with stress relief.

We have been continuing our walks when possible, however, the pathway was closed on Wednesday for a few days while cane cutting was in progress.  This also means that there will be a lot of snakes on the move looking for a new home.  Wednesday afternoon, we escaped the heat for a time with a visit to the Botanic Gardens and the shade.

Yesterday, we enjoyed a farewell lunch at Barnacle Bill’s with James and Maureen, who will be departing Cairns on Monday.  We were lucky enough to find a free car park outside the Contemporary Arts Theatre, with its jelly baby statues lining the footpath.

The little used bicycle has been sitting on display with a “For Sale” sign the last couple of weeks – a few people have expressed an interest and yesterday it left us for a new home in Cairns.

Spirit of Anzac

FRIDAY, 19 AUGUST 2016

This time in one month we will be home – our time in the north has gone very quickly this year.

Unfortunately, the rain has continued this week as well, rather restricting our exercise regime, but we are still wearing our shorts and t-shirts!  Earlier in the week, we enjoyed a lunch at Trinity Beach with James and Maureen.  However, the usually blue Coral Sea was a rather cloudy grey, possibly due to the very grey clouds overhead.  Following lunch, we travelled back into Cairns for a quick visit to the RSL, then undertook another quality control test on the ice cream.  We also took the time to visit Munro Martin Park, which has just re-opened after a major reconstruction and facelift.  This park has also had a large stage built within its boundaries and it is planned that major productions will take place here (weather permitting, of course) until the new theatre is constructed.  The old wartime command post, which became the Scout Shop after some cosmetic work, has also been retained.  We were very impressed with the grounds and gardens and the place, especially the stage, will look stunning in another year when all the vines have grown over their supports.

On Thursday afternoon, we visited the Spirit of Anzac Experience, a touring exhibition from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.  Focused primarily on the First World War, the complete exhibition was very well planned and put together – well worth the visit.  At last, it was clearly explained how the assassination of an archduke resulted in a world war!  The afternoon was completed by attending the twilight service at the Cenotaph to commemorate Long Tan Day and remember all the Vietnam veterans.

We are now regularly visited by one of the resident stone bush curlews which has discovered that some chicken meat will usually be provided for a snack.  Himself has also decided that he no longer requires a bicycle for exercise.