Great Cairns

We have finally made it to Cairns.  We have been talking about getting up here quicker to get the warm weather, but it has worked out perfect, the weather is only starting to get good here too.  It is about 3000km to get here direct but it has taken us 3 months and 8500km of driving.  Today we got the window fixed on the car, Wooz got a new bike (early birthday pressie) and Arch and I saw the final episode of Harry Potter.  Felt like a big day emotionally so finished it with a vodka and the best risotto on tour so far cooked by Kirst.  We are staying at the Big4 Coconut Holiday Resort and it has everything you could imagine for kids so the boys are loving it, although Wooz says they need to be zoopervised.  We have booked 7 nights and will probably extend it to 10 and are driving to Port Douglas to catch up with Fi and Ant tomorrow and will catch up with the Lummos Sundee. 
The day with Fi and Ant was really nice.  They were staying in a great place at a great spot, called Oak Beach.  We all had a walk on the beach then played coconut bocci on the way back with the dominating coconuts being Nipple, Sphincter and The Hammer. 

 Then we had a nice barbee lunch and passively smoked with Gracie while the crew played in the pool.  There were a couple of great swings at the beach and we went off there til dark, and finally tried to squeeze in some dinner and we met Jez and Karen who gave us some top travel tips and stories.
Now catching up to the last blog it is time to talk about our wonderful adventure in the Whitsundays.
Dropped the camper off to get fixed late in arvo, after the boys had got some air at the skatepark. 

 Then had a nice dinner in the camp kitchen while watching the 3rd stage of the tour.  Got picked up by the bus out the front with our little bag each and the wetsuit bag (no zipped bags allowed) and boarded the boat around 7pm meeting our first crew member, Jade. Kirst, me and NaDan slept in one room and Wooz and Arch in another across the hall.  Our bedroom was tiny with a little single above a double and no other room.  Unfortunately I had to sleep on the top bunk, which was like the coffin bed we had in the camper in Europe, because we were too scared of NaDan falling off and he wanted to be next to his Mummy ofcourse.

All was good after a few dirty waters though and breakfast was always at 7 so no sleeping in.  The first morning we woke up to absolute perfection (sun, no wind) and ventured through Hooks Passage  and around to Whitehaven on Whitsunday Island. 

 We saw our  first turtles while moored at Tongue Bay, met a lovely Danish family (mum with 3 daughters) while we waited on the rocks for everyone to arrive, and then did a walk up to the lookout with Nickers (what a view across Whitehaven). Then we walked down to the beach where Kirst washed her ring(s) in the perfect white sand and we followed sting rays and reef sharks in the shallow water.  NaDan cut his foot on a barnacle and Chris and Reet got engaged (a couple who had met on this adventure years before).

 Then back onto the boat for lunch and a bit of sailing with a little help from the engine - no wind!  We helped put up the top sail yelling "aye aye bosun, 2, 6, heave", like true pirates, and the boys erected a sail too.  We ventured back around the top of Hook Island and moored at Luncheon Bay.  There we pulled out the rope swing, Arch nailed a back flip, and the scenery and sunset was as good as you get.

By that stage we got to know everyone on board (31 passengers and 6 crew) and after dinner we played "pass the orange and pin".  Our team came last and got whipped with the cat of 9 tails, so we fired up for the second game called "eat the box", which tested your flexibility and Wooz, Arch, Caroline, Edouan, and Chris were equal winners and got free drinks before bed.  NaDan was the king of soft drink though. 

 Special mention to Caroline's parents (mama and papa who stretched their very old muscles further then me). Arch also learnt how to rope splice and Ronnie was great to talk to as skipper and a fun bloke too except when I asked if he wanted a banana.  Skippers are superstitious of bananas and there are a few stories explaining how that began- from bananas causing other fruit to rot, to natives hiding snakes in bunches of bananas to get the sailors back for being badly treated.  Tommy was the bosun (in charge of deck) and was great with the boys- got them to steer the boat on the way to Blue Pearl Bay, made Turksheads for Wooz and NaDan and showed us the emu in the sky and Scorpio. 

 The second morning we did some snorkeling at Luncheon Bay before going off to Blue Pearl for some more snorkeling and I had a scuba dive.  Wooz and NaDan were not that comfortable with snorkeling- Wooz was scared of sharks, but NaDan got more into it as the day wore on and Wooz eventually had a go on the rope swing. 

 We saw 2 humpback whales swimming along together on the way to Longford Spit (special) where we got to swim with the turtles.  Then we motored down to South Molle while the sun set in the background. You can imagine sitting on top of a 100yr old tall ship on a beautiful warm night just cruising on flat seas.  And finally our last dinner included dessert-  chocolate cake and icecream.  Had quite a few bourbons and vodkas to celebrate had a good chat to 2 French couples -Luke and Angelique who own the treetop adventure in Belgrave, and Edouan and Caroline traveling around Australia for 8 months.  On the last day we did a walk with Jade up to the lookout on South Molle, which was great, saw a big reef shark and some bat fish, then the wind came up so we sailed without the engine back to Airlie. 

 What a trip- beautiful people, beautiful places, beautiful ship and lots of fun and lots of laughs.  Got back and Alan had fixed the camper but it was the worst job he had ever had (thanks Alan), and then I realised a side window had been broken on the car by a stone from the mower (more things to fix).  Did a quick shop, greasies for dinner and into bed.  The next day we were off to Hideaway beach to catch up with Paul and Karen for a fish.
We called in to Proserpine on the way to get the window fixed but noone working Saturday, should have known.  So we drove on to Hydeaway Bay and arrived at a nice caravan park with lots of space surrounded by beautiful beaches and hardly anyone around.  There was no reception with phones or computer so it was a good time to relax.  Paul took Wooz and Nadan fishing and Arch and I snorkelled around the headland.  We saw a huge mud crab and Wooz caught a scorpion fish which can fetch $10000 if you have a permit.  Wooz told us all what he would have got with the 10 grand and guess what?  It included a motorbike.  We had a nice lunch on the beach then a big game of soccer then I drove down to the Dingo Creek Pub to replenish supplies and we got the woodfire barbee goin. 

 Had a nice dinner then played monopoly deal with Paul and Karen.  Had got them into the dirty waters earlier and Karen won having never played before and was quite pissed, what an achievement.  We then all sat around the fire and had some laughs.  The boys created a new fighting move called the Paul and then it all ended when NaDan nearly burnt Wooz with a huge stick.  The next morning I helped the owner Roz with her strained ankle and she offered us a free night but it was time to move on and catch up with Patricia and John (Kirst's aunty and uncle) in Townsville.  It was a pity we didn't get to see their garden before the cyclone hit but the pool and house were still there so there was still lots of fun to be had.  The boys were straight in the pool then Craig cooked up a barbee and we all caught up over dinner.  Then the next day Trish and John took us to Castle Hill for a 360degree view of Townsville and to Magnetic Island, then we went down to the Strand for a swim in the lagoon and a play on the flying fox. 

 Then back to the house for another swim and Kirst and I rode and towed the boys on their skateboards down to the skatepark.  The boys loved this skatepark and showed off their new skills, skating the bowl really well, and they stayed til dark.  Then we went out to the pub for dinner and home to bed so we could get up early and go fishing with John, and he definitely turned it on for the boys.  We saw crocs, mud crabs, sea snakes, mud skippers, netted herring and prawns, Wooz and NaDan caught cods and then NaDan hooked a huge flatty and we had him for lunch. 

I'm sure Townsville was turning it on for the Victorians, we were very impressed, and had a great time.  Thanks Trish and John.
So the boys had one last swim, then we packed and headed off to Mission Beach.  It was beautiful and warm there although the rainforest had been stripped by the cyclone.  We did a quick setup, had a stir fry dinner and Wooz got the record amount of money in monopoly deal of 66 million.  At 4 in the morning I was sleeping soundly and then felt a huge wet, sticky thing land on my bare shoulder.  I thought it was a huge scary leech and grabbed it and threw it in fright, then turned on the light in case it had landed on Kirst. Funnily it was a cute green tree frog and my shoulder still had all its blood.  Scared the shit out of me though.  Took a while to get going in the morning but we packed up and had a walk along the beach. 

 The boys collected coconuts and climbed the coconut trees, and we helped a couple of Germans pull one out of a tree. 
Then we drove to Peronella Park to see the old castle by the waterfall.  Unfortunately we had another weird tour guide, couldn't swim in the lake (OHand S ofcourse), but we fed the big fish, saw the tiny bats in the tunnel and walked out on the swingbridge. 

 Bit expensive at $95 for the family we thought, but we had a nice lunch then hopped in the car and drove the last 100km to Cairns.  Great Cairns.