Life is not measured ....

Our pacific journey rolls on

Latest stop …. Cairns.

Two weeks of spring school holidays so Louise, Daniel and I took the opportunity to catch a flight over to Australia, spent the weekend with friends in Brisbane and then travelled up the coast.

Cairns was a real surprise for me, I expected to be wowed by the Great Barrier Reef but in fact it was the rainforest and inland scenery that completely blew us away.

The flight path from Brisbane up to Cairns follows the coast line and we were sat on the right side of the plane to have spectacular views the whole way – beaches, islands and the reef all from above.

It was strange to be travelling with just the kids and not Ben. I think I’ve become pretty good at searching out good travel spots and accommodation that balances the needs of the kids with our ideal of being slightly off the beaten track and living a bit on the edge but I was pleased to find that I was still prepared to be a bit adventurous even on my own. It was a good confidence thing, we had a blast, we did miss Ben though.

We were staying about 15 minutes north of Cairns at Trinity Beach in apartments at Marlin Cove. It was an ideal base and we all loved the lagoon pool. On our first day we took a boat trip out to Green Island and saw the reef from a semi-sub and glass bottomed boat. I have to say that I was slightly disappointed with the variety of fish and colours that we got to see, perhaps we should have gone further out to the outer reef but the kids enjoyed it.

On the second day, we had an early start and took a steam train from Freshwater station up to Kuranda. An hour through the rainforest, past the Barron Falls and up to the market town of Kuranda where we spent a couple of hours wandering through the streets stopping to notice the artwork on shop fronts and pavements. We then took the Skyrail on the way down, 7.5km over the top of the rainforest, stopping off at the falls and at the highest point of the forest to walk on the boardwalk. We learnt about how plants survive in the dark of the forest floor, spotted lots of climbers and a couple of rainforest giants which towered above us. Once back at sea level, it was then onto Tjapukai, an Aboriginal centre. Tjapukai (jab-oo-kai) has won a number of awards and whilst it was a bit organised for me, it was an amazing place. We started in the history theatre where we saw a film about the history of the tribe (Louise is still retelling the stories) and then saw an interactive laser show. We watched aboriginal dancing and didgeridoo playing and then the kids had a go at spear and boomerang throwing (they curled but didn’t come back on the first attempt so we have brought two back with us so that we can practice at the park!).

The following day we had a hire car and did a four hour circuit through sugar cane and pineapple plantations to Lake Eacham, where we had a swim, a picnic and watched some turtles. We stopped at Millaa Millaa and Zillie waterfalls and noticed how orange the sand was, it was a very pretty drive. We passed some of the time in the car by making up a series of stories about Bill and Bob, two ants who have adventures with a range of Australian animals – wombats, platypus and crocodiles.

On our final day we drove up the coast to port Douglas and walked round the marina before going back to Marlin Cove for one last swim. By the time we got on the plane back to Brisbane we were all exhausted.

One of the main reasons for travelling to Brisbane was to see family friends Joyce and Noel. We stopped here on our way over in April and since then Noel has had a minor stroke. Unfortunately Noel is now in hospital with an as yet unknown but possible fungal infection which is affecting his brain. Obviously it is a difficult time for Joyce and their daughter, my friend Lesley. We kept the kids busy mainly on the nearby beaches (Daniel has announced that as well as being in a band he also wants to be a surfer – he has started by practising on his boogie board as you can see from the photos). Louise and Daniel have also been watching the crocodile hunter series and have been captured by the stories in the press since Steve Irwin’s death a few weeks ago - I put aside my strange views about zoos for a day and we went to Australia zoo, Louise and Daniel enjoyed the crocs.

Cairns photos

We are now back at home and have a few more days before the start of the summer term. This way of life can’t last forever! Ben has noticed that he is working hard whilst I am spending hard!!

posted by Sharon, Ben, Louise and Daniel @ 12:12 pm