Cairns Festival

Wednesday, 30 August 2017

Our time in Cairns has about come to an end, with only one more day remaining.  The last few days have been fairly busy, with the Cairns Festival Main Parade happening last Saturday.  There were 87 entries this year and it took well over an hour for the parade to pass.  There didn’t seem to be as many actual “floats” this year, but there were lots of entries from various schools, organisations and clubs with people in some form of dress special to that particular entry and walking behind their banners.  There were lots of children, which was very special for them.  Following the parade, after moving our chairs to the boardwalk, we only had a short wait until the much anticipated fireworks show drew the expected oohs and aaahs from the crowd.

On Monday night, we took James and Maureen with us to look at the light show on the Cairns Library (and dodge the bats which hadn’t left home for the night!).  This year, the colours were very bright and depicted Aboriginal designs.  After leaving the library and as we drove past the soon to be opened aquarium, we noticed that the restaurant area was open to view and a large tank was brightly lit.  Himself managed to make a sudden stop without damage to anyone or anything and we joined a number of other people having a free look at what can be expected after opening day.

Tuesday night we said farewell to our bowling acquaintances at Edge Hill, promising to return next year, hopefully.  Today we enjoyed lunch with James and Maureen – our last opportunity before leaving on Friday.

It will not be easy to leave the climate behind and head for the cold weather further south, but it will be rather nice to see our family again.