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!