Kristy's 10th Cairns

Doomed! Our stay at Caravilla was short lived.

To say I miss my friends and family is a gross understatement.  I wouldn’t give this adventure up unless I absolutely had to and believe me that situation arises more often then I’d like.  Unfortunately our dogs have been an endless source of drama back home with Scarlett constantly escaping and Scout becoming miserable.  Time and time again my fabulous friends back home have come to the rescue.  Scarlett has been picked up from the pound by one person, billotted out to another person then rehoused with yet another.  Scout has been picked up and relocated and the cats have all been checked on.  I’m so grateful to get messages from friends at home who all say, “don’t worry we’ll deal with it”.  Now I’ve just heard from my Mum who has told me that she will be going under the knife in Oct for spinal surgery.  Aghhhhh if ever I need a friend it’s now.

Ann-Maree couldn’t have arrived in Cairns at a better time and the fun began immediately.  Ok it was a little slow to start, mainly due to the ridiculous time Amz, Dylan and Rob had to get on a plane.  We settled into a gorgeous caravan park in central cairns.  Parking ourselves at the pool for the afternoon we learnt that the caravan park was being used to house all of the displaced Cook Islanders after Yasi destroyed their homes.  Our kids quickly settled in with the locals, Snowball became one of our own.  Unfortunately all the staff would leave the park grounds at night and quite a few of the fellas would get on the drink.  On the third night a party broke out at midnight.  Taz packed herself and came flying into the van.   As bottles started breaking Chris and I ventured out to get Ry out of his tent (he was still sleeping like a baby even though the group of men was only 10mt away).  All safely locked in the van we waited for the park managers to come out and intervene, after an hour we called the police.  Strangely Chris didn’t even need to give the address.  The police just said, “Yep Caravilla, are the drunken people indigenous”.  Chris, the least racist, fascist person I know said simply “Um, I’m not positive but I don’t think they’re white Australians”.  It’s a difficult situation to be in but obviously a common problem.  The next day we were told by another camper that it happens regularly.  To add to the drama all the kids plus Snowball (yes it is his real name) headed out to do some cane toad catching that evening.  Each kid has their role in the hunt and they all know not to touch the toads with their bare hands.  They excitedly returned with 26 toads bagged and ready to put in someone’s freezer.  All the kids stank and there were all sorts of bodily fluids leaking from the bag.  After rebagging and sealing them up for the freezer all the kids washed their hands and headed off to bed.  Five hours later Taj started to stir in his bed, we were thinking that all the noise outside must have been disturbing him.  Then he started to whimper and said, “I’m going to be ……. Blughhhhh”.  Vomit went everywhere.  Hello Toad Poisoning.    Just what we needed while locked in a caravan with three kids fearing for our safety.  Thankfully he recovered quickly.  We were prepared to give it another night but by this time the kids were too scared to return to their tents.  I was too scared to go to the toilet at night and there was no way I was letting the kids go.  The final straw came after another night of partying when I went to the toilet in the morning.  Some disgraceful pig had done things in the toilet that don’t bear mentioning and I was told that the cleaners would be in on Monday.  Off to Cairns Villa we all go.

We were busting to get the kids to have another go at snorkelling after their time at Airlie and Green Island promised plenty of opportunities.  The reef is only about 10mts from the shore so the kids could make their way out gradually or stay in the shallows.  Giant trevally came within touching, nemos danced around their anemones, wrasse of all different colours teased the kids from the ocean floor.  It was beautiful.  To top it all off we took a glass bottom boat trip where we hovered right above a green sea turtle.  What a day.  One neither the kids nor adults will ever forget.

Our second great adventure commenced on the Kuranda Scenic Railway.  We meandered along the tracks winding all the way up to the top of Barron Gorge.  We stopped to take some photos of the amazing waterfall but I’m sorry to say the photos do it no justice at all (just put it on your things I must see before I die list).  We completed the first part of our journey at the little hippy town of Kuranda where we wandered around the street markets and enjoyed lunch.  The final stage of our day saw us board the most amazing chair lift I’ve ever seen.  We’re seated in these little six seat glass pods that are suspended 100s of feet in the air at the top of the rainforest canopy.  I challenge anyone who does this to tell me honestly that floating over the Barron River doesn’t take their breath away.  Lifting in and out of the rainforest is amazing and the view at the end as you come down from the final coastal mountain is just, oh there are no words to describe it.  Even the kids were speechless.

 

 



View from Skyrail as you pass the Barron River



Our day at Port Douglas was lovely but I’d have to mortgage the house if I was going to stay there for a period longer than 8 hours.  We enjoyed the market and Ry finally got the top he’s been begging for since Byron Bay. The coastal drive was beautiful.


Ry's new fav top.





Amz's backflip



Our final (unplanned, impromptu) adventure was a trip out to Fitzroy Island.  Like Green Island the reef was right on the shoreline and we were gliding our way across the coral in no time.  I couldn’t believe my eyes as I watched Tamsyn, Ry and Dylan confidently swim out further and further without a care in the world.  Hours passed by like minutes as we all drifted out finding our own adventures.  The kids were also treated to a water trampoline but were truly shown up when Ann-Maree pulled off the perfect backflip landing feet first in the water! As the day passed by it became apparent that we needed to get into the shade for a while so we headed off on a rainforest walk.  Our eventual destination was Nudey Beach (observe photo below if you don’t believe me). 

You may want any young children to look away before scrolling down to the next photo.

Sorry some photos are never meant to hit the net.

Well the week flew by so quickly and today we hugged, kissed and farewelled the Clutterbuck-Lang gang.  It was so lovely to have a little touch of home and the timing was impeccable.  However if we’re going to complete this lap before Chris is due back at work in Feb we better get moving again. 

It’s into the sunset for us now as we head west.  A common catchcry for Territorians is “Territory Tough”, well look out NT the Pentland’s are on their way.