CAIRNS FESTIVAL CONTINUES

Friday, 30 August 2019

Spot the crocodile?

Cassowaries also

Neon trees for neon dogs

At least these dogs don't jump!

Someone needs a doggy bag...

Actually managed to capture a blue butterfly

Small waterfall at Crystal Cascades

Aquarium at Dundees

Reef Eye - "Yes, No, Maybe..."

YES!!!

Lagoon from a new perspective

Looking west over the city

Marina - and mud

North towards the airport - and mud

Our time in Cairns has drawn to a close, with only one day remaining.  This week has been filled with some old favourites (as well as new!); the weather has been glorious.

On Monday evening, with the Cairns Festival organising a “music” concert only a couple of hundred metres from the caravan park, we decided it would be a good time to head into the CBD to inspect the illuminations on the Cairns Public Library and the Neon Dogs along the Esplanade.  The Library lights were the prettiest we have seen in the years it has been happening, and the dogs were interesting.  A visit to the Night Market – always fascinating – and an ice cream completed the evening.  By the time we returned to the caravan, the concert had finished.

Wednesday saw us return to Crystal Cascades for a walk and we were fortunate enough to spot a rather large turtle soaking up the sun and lots and lots of Ulysses butterflies.  On Thursday we revisited Dundees for lunch (rather like this restaurant!) and a stroll along the Esplanade.  Today it was time for a ride on the newly erected Reef Eye.  Although Green Island is supposedly visible, it was hiding below the horizon today.  With king tides this week, it also means king mud at low tides!  However, the views were well worth the ride (about 8-10 revolutions).

CAIRNS & THE FESTIVAL

Monday, 26 August 2019

A beautiful flower garden

A  couple of little Korean cuties

Bigger Korean beauties

Serious work

First of the "flesh"

Butterflies are always lovely

As are mermaids

A flamingo pretty in pink

Also pretty in pink

Plenty to look at - admired their ability to walk the parade in such high shoes

A vision in blue

Look who turned up!

Mowbray River - how many crocodiles?

Rex Lookout

Murky view from the lookout

Trinity Inlet

Old wooden piers

Landscaped walkway

HMAS Melville

Sculptures

The weather continued warm and sunny on Saturday, just perfect for the annual Cairns Festival Parade in the late afternoon.  We joined the many thousands who made their way to the Esplanade and were lucky enough to spot a couple of vacant parking spots in the RSL carpark.  With the service ribbons sticker on the back window and intending to purchase some food from the RSL, we thought we had all the parking criteria covered.  Unfortunately, the security guard at the back of the car park didn’t think so; we had to replace our folding chairs in the car and make our way inside the RSL to watch the parade.  We had a pretty good view, but about half way through the parade, we retrieved our chairs and moved to a better viewing point.  The parade was up to its usual standard, although there did seem to be more flesh on display this year!  John and Jason White even participated with their Targa car (Targa FNQ next weekend).  Following the completion of the two hour parade, we had a thirty minute wait for the traditional fireworks display.

Sunday morning was overcast but very warm and humid, so we decided to undertake our planned trip to the Port Douglas market.  However, we had only gone about a third of the way when the mizzle commenced, then became heavier.  By the time we crossed the Mowbray River, it was absolutely pouring.  We continued into Port Douglas and were lucky enough to find a parking spot in the main street; we sat and looked at all the brunching crowds, looked at the market set up at the end of the street and looked at the rain.  It didn’t take long to convince each other we didn’t really want to get wet and cold, as well as very muddy.  We drove off without even getting out of the car and headed south to drier skies and warmer temperatures.  After a quick stop at the Rex Lookout, we continued to Cairns and enjoyed a very nice lunch at Dundees.

Today, it was clear blue skies and a gentle breeze as we strolled along the shore of the inlet, south of the Esplanade.  This walk has now been fully landscaped with many restaurants and coffee shops and some magnificent views of the inlet and further east.  We watched HMAS Melville depart, with her crew on parade on the foredeck; not long afterwards another much smaller Naval vessel (inflatable, actually) returned to port.  There was also plenty of other water traffic, with tourists boats, tugs and the dredge all moving about.

CAIRNS Continues

Friday, 23 August 2019

Enjoying a healthy waffle

Esplanade sculpture

Busy, busy, busy

Cenotaph with wreaths after Vietnam Veterans' Day

Three of the thousands of bats outside the Cairns Library

Advertising banner from Bolands - can you spot the spelling mistake?

Original lift inside Bolands, now suspended above the door

Cairns  "posh" hotel - Douglas McArthur supposedly stayed in the upper right hand corner suite

Enjoying the RSL Museum with Roy

Large poster in the Museum - can you find John Wayne?

We must be having fun, because time is certainly flying!

Last week was fairly quiet, with just our normal daily routine including walks along the creek and a couple of visits of Movenpick (we feel it is important to support the local economy!).  The new (last year) sculpture on the Esplanade has been screened off since we arrived while the Cairns Council undertook landscaping and waterworks in the vicinity, but it has now been opened up to the public again and will have much more attractive surrounds once the garden is mature.  With the weather being more settled now, the helicopter joy flights over the Great Barrier Reef have been increasing.

Last Sunday was Vietnam Veterans’ Day (or Long Tan Day as it was originally known as), so we joined a large number of veterans, family members, serving members of the Defence Force and the general public for the service at 11.00am.  The weather was very sunny and very hot; fortunately, there were seats under cover for the veterans and partners.  Unfortunately, the Air Force Cadets who formed the Honour Guard had no such luxury and were on parade from 10.30am, standing in the full sun.  Despite each of the teenagers being issued with water, it wasn’t long after 11.00am when the first cadet went to his knees and only about half were still on parade at the conclusion of the service.  A very tough morning for the youngsters.  We followed the service with a very nice lunch at Dundees Restaurant at the Cairns Aquarium – very pleasant sitting “inside” with the outside walls open and the complete back wall of the restaurant was a large aquarium with a large assortment of tropical fish and sharks.

The next few days were back to “normal,” with bowls on Tuesday night and some prize money for Les.  Early on Thursday morning we joined a number of tourists for a walking tour of Cairns’ World War 2 sites and history – this was run by the Cairns Library and the RSL.  We had three very friendly guides who walked us around the city, pointing out places of interest (some no longer there), with photos from the era, including local cafes, the newspaper building, the Post and Telegraph Offices, Boland Centre (a large department store opened in the 1920’s and now only part of the upper façade remains and the inside has been converted to short term office/meeting spaces), the wharf area, many hotels, dance halls and the notorious red light district – including many stories from the time.  The library part of the tour finished at the Cenotaph, at which time the RSL took over and explained their role before taking us inside to the RSL Museum and morning tea.

With only eight days remaining before we pack up and start the long journey south, today we headed to Mareeba to stock up on the necessities for the next few months, with a visit to the Termite shop for chilli chutney and Skybury for NQ Gold coffee.  The car did smell nice on the way home.

The weather has been very clear and sunny, with a couple of very hot days, but the constant wind has kept the temperature down to a very comfortable 25-27.  Unfortunately, last night/this morning Cairns endured its coldest night since 1953, with the temperature dropping below 8 degrees; the heater was certainly needed this morning!