Food, Cocktails and Champagne

Champagne on the balcony

Tropical Rainforest

Tjapukai Park

Art Deco town

End of the Road

At the entrance to Daintree Rainforest National Park. Showing that we are not afraid of Warning signs, as we waited for the ferry to get back to our side of the river.

Extreme tourism

We walked home from the video shop in the RAIN!! It was AWESOME!! And the enjoyment was greatly improved by the Discovery Channel- style commentary from Connie, about the possibility of our imminent demise in these terrible conditions.
By the way we got Brothers Bloom - interesting, confusing and didnt quite click and Ron Burgundy -as funny and inane as expected.
There was a little problem when we tried to buy snacks, because the three people pictured didnt think you needed any money when you go to a shopping center.

Bonehead Bonanza!

Cute Aussies

At the Cairns tropical zoo we had a pleasant stroll around looking at the local fauna with a few foreigners like lemurs and lesser pandas.
We started with a bird show, which ended a little early when the white bellied sea-eagle took off and the handler had to go and retrieve him.
The kangaroo feeding was a bit of a loss as they were already so full, they preferred sleeping to performing for us.
The photo-op was a bit more lively, though I think the koala did look a little bored. Lawrence, Emma and Ryan stayed for the crocodile feeding and they came back with all limbs intact.

Up to Kuranda

Michaelmas Cay for Emma, Ryan, Ono-san, Nishizawa-san and Leo

Are you more intelligent than an octopus?

Hello from Cairns Marina

Blooper of the year (from Susan)

Whilst walking down the road to meet Robert and Karen, who had been on an afternoon tour of Cairns, a certain member of the family lost the plot totally.
A tour van pulled over just in front of us and Leo exclaimed "It's Robert and Karen" and rushed over to open the van door. Of course the little old lady and man sitting in the van were not Robert and Karen but they didn't let being accosted by a totally strange stranger upset them. They told Leo that he could get a good dinner at the sports club (perhaps they thought food would distract him) and went on their way.
The looks of absolute horror and embarrassment on the faces of Ryan and Emma as they fled from the scene were priceless.

No picture exists of the alleged incident, so we can safely presume its apocryphal nature.
The picture above was taken on the Thursday night after an excellent meal at L'Unico, an Italian seafood restaurant at Trinity Beach. Three stars from everyone. The manager was a dag and started teasing Emma about deserts, which were as good as the mains. However to help me to forget the alleged blooper, I had to have a Bango cocktail, a banana and mango concoction that could have done with more alcohol. Leo

Riding on the Skyrail

We lined up to get on the skyrail which would take us over the Barron Gorge to Kuranda. The car started off fast, which made Mum scream, and took us over the treetops. We saw many types of trees and animals, including blue and white butterflies. We continued onto Kuranda where we went for lunch and explored the markets. There were lots of handmade crafts and stalls which were very different.

Don't Dream It's Over

We now come to the end of our holiday, mae worse by the fact that school is starting on monday for me. However I think i can say for everyone that we have had an excellent time here in sunny Cairns. Because we have done so much we have not been able to write about everything in this blog, hence the blog will continue even after we return to our residences.

Journey to Daintree

We came to the end of the road, a wide river stretched before us. It was crucial that we got across, what were we do. Well maybe wait for the next ferry.
The river looked like your classic tropical river with crocodiles lurking beneath the surface. After the crossing we had a Mt. Messenger style road that led up to the Daintree Discovery Centre, a wonderful walk through the tropical rain forest. The highlight was a four story high tower into the canopy. The air of the rain forest was invigorating, and letting it blow through you was special. There were plenty of similarities with the bush around home, the ferns, the bush lawyer, the epiphytes: rain forests have alot in common.
I had always wanted to visit the Daintree and it was really something.
PS the views expressed in this blog may not represent the original blogger.

Come Together

After an exhausting day visiting several towns and the Daintree rainforest we relaxed by having a nice dinner on the beach with champagne and curry puffs. We then spent the rest of the night exploring the palm cove area, taking artistic photos and attempting to recreate the world famous Abbey Road photo. Thank you very much for the Beatles LP Marama!

Toasting to the sea

After a hectic day at the Daintree Rainforest and Port Douglas (brunch and walking through the Sunday art and craft markets), a relaxing night at the beach with champagne and curry puffs seem very rewarding! We dip our feet in the water and it was warm indeed..... we also had a look at Kochiyama-san's room, had pizzas and Dennis, you'll be proud of me, I finished a bottle of Corona all by myself - my first beer!!!

Here at last

It only took two trains and 27 hours, three times as long as the Japanese contingent, to get from
Emerald to Cairns. But it was worth it - none stop action involving food fun and family. Today was brunch in Port Douglas and a walk through the Daintree Rain Forest. Highlights - a bush fire (well scrub fire) a ferry trip across a nearly raging river and perilous heights and supernatural bio-dynamic organic ice-cream.

Cairns Esplanande

The Esplanade at Cairns is famous and is beautiful to walk along. But you cannot swim at Cairns, at the high tide mark the mud starts apart from the presence of stingers or crocodiles. So they built an artificial lagoon which is currently under maintenance.
Anyway the reef islands are available for swimming and the pools even if a bit cool.

A Day In The Life (of the cairns crew)

After reading the news whilst having a very nice breakfast we set off for the cairns zoo, with the promise of kangaroos, birds and of course crocodiles. The first show we watched featured a seemingly hungry lemur who was constantly reaching for the trainer's pouch for food. after taking photo's with koalas and freaking out about photos with snakes (mum), we went to the snake show where a large variety of snakes were touched and observed. At this point some of us split from the main group to see the aboriginal park near by whilst the rest of us witnessed the amazing croc show. After a few hours of relaxing we were destined for a classy dinner at 'Outback Jacks".

Work Experience

We met Uncle Leo and his crew for breakfast and showed him the room for the next couple a days. We then walked along the Esplenade to the centre of Cairns and checked out the shops and restaurants. Everyone walked to the Shangri-La shopping centre where we enjoyed a refreshing drink, i.e. milkshakes and mango-flavoured ice tea. We then headed into town to the museum which had many displays, including an old dentistry display which I used to fix Ryan's teeth. We then headed to the only big shopping centre in Cairns and enjoyed lunch. The trek back to the hotel was long and hot but we finally made it. Everyone rested in the afternoon and all the adults went on a dinner cruise that evening.

Come together in Cairns

Wednesday morning at the Bay Village resort. The crew so far ---- Mr. Ono is the new guy, you should know the rest. Guess who is the tallest? and who is the shortest?

Tokyo to Cairns

As the sakura was flowering in the Japanese garden at the church, I booked my tickets for Cairns. After the coldest winter that I had had in Meguro, the blossoms were very impressive, as if making up for being so late. And making up for the cold weather too, Cairns seemed pretty good for a break. Koshiyama-san, Nishizawa-san and Ono-san joined in.