Cairns - 2nd post

Day 4 - up bright and early to pack and check out before heading out sea kayaking around Cape Tribulation for the morning. Fantastic conditions and we saw sea turtle and sea hawks during the journey, as well as a baby reef shark. Great way to spend the morning and Dee and Greg were able to have their first try of green coconut juice and also some ripe coconut milk and flesh straight from a coconut, freshly husked in front of us - I had my fill in Tonga for a year, and I'm not really a fan so was happy to pass my share on to the others.

Back on the bus after that for the drive back to Cairns, with a stop at the Daintree River for a Croc cruise where we spotted 4 Crocs lounging around, including a baby having a feed near the bank. There was also a wild pig and a heap of other wildlife, so we had a real treat - we were fortunate that it was low tide and so much activity happening in the afternoon.

Day 5 - up even earlier today to head down to Tully for our white water rafting. The most fantastic day and highlight of the trip for each of us - perfect weather, great guide and a raft of people who actually knew what they were doing meant that we were treated to the extreme rafting trip, rather than the normal one that we'd actually paid for. We did some body rafting, slid (individually) down a lava shute where the force of the water and the drop kept us underwater for up to 10 seconds - Greg went first and it was a relief to see his helmet pop up (10 seconds seems a lot longer when you're watching for someone!). We also jumped 5m off a cliff into the river and rafted past some of the most beautiful heritage listed rainforest that I've ever seen. Our guide spent a good part of the day trying to get Greg out of the boat - a difficult task for anyone - although he did have the river to assist him. Finally after a few close calls Greg fell out about half an hour after lunch - I think his guard was down after having a full belly! All in all, it was a great day - rafting is so much fun, and the 5 hours on the river seemed to pass so quickly. We slept really well that night!!

Day 6 - the earliest start of all, up at 4am to get our flight home.
The girls were glad to see us, but the look of relief from Nanna and Granddad said it all - thanks Mum and Dad!!! You're awesome!

Cairns trip - first update

Day 1 - after arriving around midnight and a sleep-in (which for me in about 6am, but I did let Greg and Dee sleep slightly longer!), we decided to hire a car and went to the Aboriginal Culture park in the morning where Dee painted her own boomerang and we all had a go at throwing those, and also spears, learnt about how to prepare and eat foods (including poisonous ones) so that they are fine to eat, watched some dancing and singing etc. - it was really quite good. And no - for those who know my unco-ordination problems, I did not nearly kill someone with the boomerang (don't believe anything Greg says!!).

Then we headed up to Kuranda in the car and went down to the Barron Valley lookout and walk, which isn't too long but does give spectacular views. Wandered around Kuranda and Dee picked up some more gifts for people back home. Greg of course had to check out the Foodworks up there and see how it was going (typical!!). Drove from there down to Palm Cove and along the strip there, then into the centre of Cairns where we parked and then wandered the waterfront and the shops for a few hours.

Day 2 - off out on the reef for the day. Two sites on the outer reef for snorkelling and also a glass bottom boat trip - had a great time. Glad we didn't pay any extra to do diving though, as we were going as deep as the divers were just using our snorkels - all that swimming training and lung development finally paid off Mum! The most awesome weather, which was a bonus (although a number of other tourists left the boat later that day looking more like lobsters than those in the restaurant...crazy!).

Day 3 - we headed north to Cape Tribulation stopping off at Mossman Gorge for a paddle and again just before the Daintree River for lunch at an animal sanctuary where a little wallaby had been rescued and was being cared for - as you can see he was lovely and cuddly. Arrived at Cape Trib that afternoon and relaxed down at the beach. We stayed in backpacker accommodation in a mixed dorm with a guy from South Korea and a girl from Israel, so that was most interesting!

Congratulations!

Quick update on the last week or so - starting with Lisa's wedding, where I was bridesmaid. It was an absolutely beautiful day up on Tambourine Mountain and everything went so perfectly all day - the makeup and hair ladies even managed to make me look presentable (what a challenge!). Lisa and Craig jetted off to their honeymoon in Vietnam a few days later - congratulations again guys!

Update on activities

An unimpressed Ellen - she had just fallen backwards into the garden before this photo!

Slow down!!!!!!

Another day in paradise...

We're continuing our tourist activities this week, although not quite at the same pace as last - Dee did point out to me that I had told her we would have a quiet few days to start off with to help her get over the jet lag...ooops! She was fine though and hasn't had any problems - thankfully!
Last Friday we girls headed for the Big Pineapple (now there's a blast from the past!) where sadly, the highlight for the girls was playing on the coin operated things inside (without any coins) - it seems very rundown compared to my previous visits, although it appears that they plan to rejuvenate it.

Saturday we headed north to Noosa and enjoyed walking through the national park and paddling our feet on one of the beaches - it was the most glorious day, only marred by the fact that there were thousands of flies there - I've never known it to be like that before! Still, we did enjoy our time there and meandered our way down the coast to home. Had a fish'n chip dinner at Moffats that night and ran into friends with their kids also enjoying the 'pirate' playground.

Sunday we headed down to Brisbane for Greg to fly out to Cairns for his work conference and we girls to Church with Nanna, where Olivia again made an impression by knocking a hot cup of tea all over Mum's best friend Barbara's leg - sorry Barb! Thankfully there was no lasting damage for any party involved - although Barb's initial scream probably deafened a few nearby!!
That afternoon we enjoyed a great time catching up with everyone at Amelie's 2nd birthday party - I'm sorry that I forgot my camera to capture some of the occasion, but it was a fantastic party - great job Cath!

Monday was a day in Brisbane, shopping for an elusive book for Dee and enjoying the northside on a brilliant day - of course swimming and so on played a part as well. The highlight for the girls would definitely have been visiting 'Louis' - Bruce and Gillian's pet dog, who is all Ellen could talk about on the way over there...oh and playing with Declan on the trampoline would rank up there somewhere too.

Tuesday Dee, Olivia and I walked the bustling streets of downtown Caloundra and then on Wednesday we headed up to the Eumundi markets, which were great! So much there that I'm sure we missed a fair amount. Didn't really buy much, but had a great time browsing and playing in the playground in the middle of it all with Olivia. Tomorrow is hopefully the Glass House Mountains and Mary Cairncross Park, although we'll see how the weather is...

The zoo

We took Dee to the Zoo yesterday and had a great time - despite the weather looking ominous early. The highlight of her day was getting to cuddle a koala (and the photo of course), while Ellen from the moment we set foot inside the front gate wanted to hold a snake. So eventually we found an opportunity for her, but the only snake was a big one, so we had to be in the photo too - see above.
The kids were delighted by just about everything, although had some trouble staying attentive during the Crocoseum show - a bit slow and too far away for them to pick up what was going on, so we had a couple of wriggly worms to keep quiet for a while.
Ellen's nickname (or one of them at least) is wombat, and she was very taken with one that was walking around the park on a leash with some keepers - in fact it was hard to tear her away from talking to it and patting it...the wombat didn't seem to mind too much as long as there was plenty of grass to eat.
The highlight for Olivia and I was watching some koalas down on the ground and having some minor altercations, so they were running around chasing each other, and then wrestling with each other for quite a while. Unfortunately they'd finished by the time that we found the others and brought them to have a look.
Oh - and both the girls liked the spinning tea cup ride, so that bodes well for theme parks in the future.
Today was the Big Pineapple and Opals Down Under, and tomorrow is hopefully a surf and then the Glass House Mountains to climb one of the smaller ones...

Dee's here

Ellen and I headed out Monday morning early to pick up Dee at the airport, and then discovered that I had left my bag with money etc. at Mum & Dad's place (typical!), so we waited at the Kingsford Smith memorial for a while until the plane had definitely landed and I thought that she would have cleared customs. So by the time we met Dee in Arrivals (and stopped her accosting strangers who she thought might be me - we haven't seen each other in 8 years after all!), I then had to ask her to pay for parking so that we could get out of the airport. Thankfully she had some cash ($100 notes no less) so we were on our way. After flying for some 23 hours Dee was glad to finally be here, and we've taken it fairly easy for her first few days - swimming, beaches, shops (when it's raining) and today we headed up to Montville for her to check out the craft shops and the view etc.
Dee's a lot more arty than I am (that's not hard!) and had painted a number of gifts for us - the girls received a backpack each with their names and a picture on them - pictured above. They are delighted to have Aunty Dee here, and she's in demand from when they wake up - so a big thanks go to my Dad for providing her with a set of earplugs so that she can still enjoy her sleep ins...

My girls

Another week of madness and mayhem around here - perhaps I should just accept that that's going to be the norm and redefine my life... Still having a steady stream of people going through our house, but no offers yet, not even an insulting one - so we're resting in the confidence that God has it all under control and that His timing is so much better than ours.

Often an appointment to view the house comes at the most inconvenient time - mid nap-time for the girls or just when we were going to start baking or something like that, but we are getting used to the rapid clean up and exit and have found some great parks and other places to visit. Yesterday during an inspection we went to Moffat Beach and there were some whales offshore and a 'digger' working on the beach - some great entertainment for free. This morning was just a catchup with friends at the playground at Happy Valley - forgot it was school holidays though, so by 11am when we left the crowds were rolling in.

The pics above are of the girls yesterday and today - we've been planting our new veggie seeds for the next round, and Olivia took it upon herself to check on their progress - or just dig up the dirt, I'm not sure which. Ellen was exhausted after a big dance session in the lounge room with Olivia and myself - the poor girls have me as their only example, so there are some disturbingly unco moves coming out. Olivia's favourite dance move is to spin around until she's so dizzy that she falls over - then she laughs hysterically, gets up and does it all over again. The only break is for the quiet bit between songs - apparently you still need music to do such a move.

Last week/end

The girls and I spent most of last week in Brisbane with my parents, enjoying the resort style pool in their complex and checking out some of the local parks while Greg worked some huge days (4:30am to midnight) for the week to install the new shelving at the shop. We had a great time there (thanks Mum and Dad for inviting us down).

On Saturday night I went out to a Hens Night for my friend Lisa, for whom I'm being bridesmaid in just a few weeks time. We went to Garuva's in the Valley, which was a great experience with yummy food and a tad unique with the curtain dividers and sitting on the floor with pillows etc. Of course, being an 'old married woman' now, I was exhausted after a late night out - isn't that sad! And I didn't even make it out with the hard-core group to the last venue...just soft I guess! The lure of a comfy bed and the thought of two little girls being very ready to start the next day at 5am was enough to ensure I was home not long after midnight. Last of the party animals - I know!

Start of holidays

I finished up work for 4 weeks of holidays today and I'm very excited! My friend Dee from South Africa is arriving on Monday for nearly 4 weeks of fun with us - Greg is working, but we're planning on getting up to all sorts of mischief together. Thankfully she loves the outdoors as I do, so we'll be hiking, going to the beach etc. in and amongst visiting the zoo (the obligatory photos with kangaroos etc.) and a few other touristy things. The highlight (hopefully!) will be the trip to Cairns for a few days so that I can show her the reef and rainforest etc. - found an amazing budget package that's designed for backpackers - so no frills, but lots of experiences. We'll be white water rafting on the Tully River as well...and no, the kids aren't coming. My very wonderful mother is looking after them while we are away....thanks Mum!! We owe you BIG! I haven't had an adventure holiday in about 4 years - since our honeymoon in fact, and for me that's a big gap, so I'm looking forward to at least doing a few things like that again.
Can't wait until Monday Dee!!