The pics!!!!

Long weekend in Cairns
22-25/July/2016

Cairns used to be the place where you landed on your way to Palm Cove and Port Douglas. No more. The city has had a face lift, particularly along the promenade which now includes a gorgeous semi-open bar cum restaurant and a swimming pool complex. I finally understood why Cairns' coast is a mudflat rather than a sandy beach - it's on a river bank! Oh, maps are so useful when you consult them. Anyway, who notices the mudflat when you have the majestic mountains as a backdrop? I'd say natural beauty in this region is on a par with Hawaii, which is to say something.

After a week of rain during the dry season (brrrr....), the weather was fabulous all the time Tony and I were there. It was the peak of the winter, still temperature of 22C-28C while relatively dry was already on the limits of the bearable for me. But Lenore and Matt were in their element! How much they enjoy it there. It was nice to see.

I discovered that Fitzroy Island is 20 times the size of Green Island but receives 1/20th of the visitors - again, the usefulness of maps knows no bounds... Fitzroy Island is a coral island. What this means is that the entire island is made of corals. Including the beaches. It felt very other-worldly in a nice way.

Fitzroy Island also provided great "rock climbing" opportunities for the four of us. We so much enjoyed trekking up 45 degree inclines that when we got to the top Tony was begging to go down and come back up again :-)

The beaches along the coast north of Cairns were simply paradisaical. And there's no-one anywhere. Well, apart from the blue bottles and the sharks, but I'm sure we can come to an understanding with them.

But even inland is very beautiful. We drove around Edge Hill with its stunning houses perched on the steep hills.

The Crystal Cascades was another high point. In general, surprisingly, the fauna density was less than I expected. Even insects were sparse. I can see us coming back here soon.

The mystery that will remain unresolved is how Tony managed to get his back side and the car seat covered in chewing gum. Unfortunately the case has now gone cold.

Anna

Adventure No.1 - a tinnie on Pittwater and back again

Since when did HD video with sound and zoom-in-picture functionality not equal a paragraph or two?

However, I had a great time. I really enjoyed the location and amazed about what we achieved in such a short timeframe, and yet still did not feel rushed. The picnic before and after at two separate locations was also fantastic.

The weather was perfect.

Ok Matt, looking for good spot to anchor the boat is really a case of studying the tides, corrosion of the shoreline, sunspot activity and specific moon phases. Once you understand those, simply finding the perfect spot is much easier.

I Loved the tinnie. I was afraid we might hit someone or ram someone down who were on slower boats. However once the tinnie was under full throttle, that was no longer a concern.

I was most impressed with Lenore’s tea box. Even after asking for Liquorice tea, other than me, who would have that on them?

Lessons learned: We need a bigger coffee pot and some way to heat milk. For anything else, trust Aldi

TonyG  

Discovering new territory

Not a games night over a good wine or a coffee in a cafe but out immersed in a nature, a new experience with old friends. A great start to LL's fabulous idea of sharing new adventures with our wonderful friends in 2016.

It was a long lazy day with an overall plan but some of the best parts made up on the fly - a picnic somewhere which became a lazy lunch on right next to the river.  Despite there being lots of people around we all preserved, consciously or otherwise, the serenity of the place.

A Tinnie launched from Cottage Point - now this was new. None of us experienced boat pilots, busy waterways and Trevor who showed us how to drive a boat wasn't too fussed when the life jackets remain safety stowed away where they wouldn't get wet :). Then we were off, out in the water ways, heading for nowhere particular at lazy pace.

I love the view from the ocean back to land. Its rare for a land lover and in our little tinnie we were cruising past otherwise inaccessible sandstone landings, micro beaches, tossing about on the wake of boats half our size and twice our size, clear water stretching out through steep bushy cliffs. A bit of a swim, a little lunch, a cuppa.

The day could have been over after our jaunt on the water but continuing to go with the flow we found a spot to have a post lunch picnic. Why not so we did! Picnic rug, boil the billy, German Bread to die for with hummus and cheese, sweet treats, easy conversation and rounded out by a visit by an lazy Goanna and a Kookaburra or two. We were four very chilled out folks at the end of a day immersed in nature.

A great first adventure shared with friends. Thanks all. Loved it.

Adventure No.1 - a tinnie on Pittwater with picnic/s (Anna)

It was a very calm day, with things just flowing naturally from one thing to the next in the warmth of friends who feel like family. 

The most gorgeous weather! Neither too warm nor too chilly, with a soft breeze, and a few cumulus decorating the sky. 

It was a day of surprise and discovery of the hidden corners of our known universe: 

• McCarrs Creek Reserve has a creek running by it
• A large clearing by Akuna Bay which only two families seem to know about
• Cockatoos can also be black
• Iguanas in Australia are called goannas and they are not even related
• No flying insects
• Beautiful tree in the forest scarred by an old fire
• Lenore's green toe nails
• We didn't talk about anyone's work or the US elections
• I really need to bin this old camera

Looking forward to the next adventure! 

 

Adventure No.1 - a tinnie on Pittwater with picnic/s

Ok, so I didn't get my act together to follow up my email to the boat hire place this week to see if we needed to book....which means we only had 2hrs for our fun on the water. It would have been nice to have longer....BUT...I really enjoyed our tapas day. It was a bit like tapas wasn't it?! An early lunch picnic at McCarr's Ck, then boil the billy and a 2nd lunch on Shark and Oyster Beach (ok, that wasn't its name, but it was shark and something beach!), and then another billy boiling for our afternoon tea and cake. Kookaburras and a goanna to top off the day. 

Gorgeous sunshine, nature, food, drink, the simple things, and good friends. It doesn't get much better!

Of course part of the idea of doing a bigger variety of things together is to experience each other in more ways and learn more about each other. As our first adventure together I learned a few things about you guys: 

• You are both really good at the go-with-the-flow thing, which I love! You seemed to enjoy spontaneity and on-the-fly decisions too! 
• I learned that you both like the outdoors - wasn't sure about that one given you've both been known to walk on the beach in summer with socks and shoes on! 
• I learned that sometimes Tony might like to ease his way into a new challenge such as driving the boat. Even if he says no at first, once he's seen someone else do it and he's had some time to think about it, he might be up for it. 
• I learned that Anna has a very healthy comfort with her body as evidenced by her happiness to flash her boobs in public.
• Having your own car is worth at least $12 to you.
• If we are short on storage space, we shouldn't leave the catering to you guys ha ha! 

Thanks AnT! I really enjoyed today!

LL

x

P.S. I don't have any pictures to post - can you guys post some?