July 3rd

Sunday, Airport day. The day we leave Sydney, and the day we land before we take off. Ariel wakes me and says we slept in, and we'll probably only have an hour or so to do stuff in Sydney. She brings me a small instant coffee which I empty in a single gulp.

We packed almost everything last night, so we put away the laptops, zip out luggage shut, put all the 'convenience' stuff back in the fridge, I put the 2 hot sauce bottles in my in my check-in bag, and I go up with Henry to the car to put the first load in the trunk.  Henry checks for skinks or emus or any suprise Australian wildlife that we can find. He's not picky. 

We put the first suitcases in the car, and I go to main office to get the paperwork started for checkout. There are two charges for internet access, which I am expecting. Did we use anything from the mini-bar? No.  I need Ariel's credit card to complete the transaction. I'll be right back with that. I meet Henry back at the car, and Henry reports that the skink has finally wisened up (or been collected by another resident). The other two boys meet us at the car, and we try to figure out how we'd managed to get all the suitcases to fit in the trunk on the drive down.  Ariel comes up the path, we pay for our room, and hit the road.  The day is sunner and warmer than any other day this entire trip.

The plan is to take the Harbor Bridge into Sydney and stop at "The Oak Barrel" on Elizabeth St, where I can pick up a bottle of Australian whisky, as requested by my friend Steve from work. Ariel reads the map.  It is bright outside, and I have a few more hours of sleep in me, so we successfully navigate onto the bridge and soon turn in to the city.  

As soon as we exit the expressway, there arises doubt as to which direction we are headed. I read aloud street names as we pass them, and Ariel tries to find them on the map.  When she does get bearings and tells me what direction to go, I go the opposite direction, instinctually feeling that it's right.  She throws up her hands and says 'see, that's why your so hard to navigate with, you don't follow directions.' I agree, I must be frustrating as hell to navigate for.  Despite our curious navigation system, we miraculously arrive at Elizabeth St. and find a place to park near the south end of Hyde park. Ariel asks if I know the address, I say 'yes'.  We walk North to where I think the bottle shop should be, but it's not there. We go another block and I start getting nervous. We go a third block and Ariel asks what the address is. I concede that I don't know the EXACT address, but I looked at it on Google maps back in Hayward, and I looked at the storefront using Google's "street view" and I'm absolutely certain that we're close. 

We find a Starbucks, and pop in for coffee, breakfast and directions.  While waiting for our order, I ask the barristas if they've heard of the "Oak Barrel", no one has heard of it.  I mention that it's a bottle shop, and watch their expressions change to one of recognition as one says "Oh, the bottle shop!!!", and they all point down the street, back the way we'd come. It's by the museum entrance...  We must have walked right past it.

 We head back to the car, slowly re-checking all the store fronts.  Most are closed on Sundays.  After traveling the full three blocks back to the car, I look across the street and see the shop. We parked in front of it.

We cross the street, and discover that it's closed. I look helplessly through the window and Ariel takes a picture to prove that at least we tried.  We now have about an hour left before we have to head to the airport, so I pull out the map and see how far we are from the Queen Victoria Building.  We're 3 blocks south, and 3 blocks east. We decide walking is more efficient than finding another parking spot, and we could definitely stand to stretch our legs before the 13 hour trip home.  So, at 11:00AM on our last day in Sydney, we walk back up the same three blocks for the third time.  We turn on to King St., and pass a pair of open bottle shop/bars. I vow to check them both on the return to the car.   We get to the QVB, and there is a man outside making a giant chalk mural. There is also a monument nearby with a life-size bronze statue of some sort of terrier. A recording emenates from the monument in a deep booming voice, "I am the friend and companion of Queen Elizabeth..." It is a talking monument to Queen Elizabeths dog. Puzzled as to how he keeps from going insane listening to this all day, I look at the artist, and he holds up a pair of head phones and smiles. Ariel hands Henry some change and has him put the money into the coin jars the man has set up at the four corners of his masterpiece, the man is earning it the hard way.

We ascend the escalators to the top floor, and dip into one of the first shops on the right side. There is a backpack there which looks very tough and rustic. The label on it says "Kakadu Packs", and it explains that the bag is made in Australia with only the finest quality materials. I consider buying it (for $99, marked down from $199) but I don't really need another backpack, and the straps look really hard to get open quickly.  Ariel says she's going to check out the paper store next door for souviners, I mumble something like, "ok, we'll meet up when we're done."  I look at wallets briefly, since mine has started to fall apart on the trip, but I don't really want a crocodile or kangaroo skin wallet, and nothing else really looks durable. I return to the rustic backpack,and undo the straps to check out the construction quality inside. In the seam, I notice a tiny label that reads "Made in China."  Everything in the store immediately ceases to be interesting, and I head out. The boys are mulling about near the top of the escalators looking unbearably bored. Henry runs over to show me a picture he took of the stained glass window nearby. It's a nice shot. 

I go in to see what is taking Ariel so long, and she meets me in the doorway, and asks what is taking us so long. Turns out, she had thought we were meeting her in the paper store. Back in one group, we continue along the length of the QVB, but all the shops are just variations on high-end clothing, jewelry or art stores. Nothing appeals, and we're quickly running out of time, so we head back along the opposite side of the building, looking for the down escalators.  Apparently the Queen didn't approve of down escalators because we couldn't find any. 

We take the stairs down, exit the way we came in, and pass the chalk artists who is now hard at work, working happily with his headphones on.  We stop at the crosswalk under a giant statue of Queen Victoria.  When the light turns to 'walk' everyone starts walking every which way through the intersection. I'd forgotten that in Sydney, when the cars stop, some intersection become a pedestrian free-for-all.  I run to the middle to take a 360 panoramic shot, but the camera is set wrong, and is moving a little slow, so when the panoramic is complete, I'm alone in the intersection, and the light is green. I retreat before anyone has time to honk, and we head to the first 'bottle shop' on the way back.  I enter, and ask about getting a bottle of fine Australian Whisky.  A gruff bald gentleman with bad teeth replies 'Sorry, we import all our whiskies from Scotland'.  Strike one. I move to the next pub/bottle shop. The young woman behind the bar says she doesn't think so, but goes in the back to ask her manager. A young well dressed man comes out, and I inform him that we're on our way to the airport in 10 minutes, and my friend back in the States needs a bottle of Australian whisky for his whisky club.  He looks over his collection in the window, and confirms that indeed they don't have anything resembling Australian Whisky, and at this point, my best bet was to try the duty-free shops at the airport. Strike two, with a possible lead.

We get to the car and I drive surface streets roughly south towards the airport. Ariel tries navigating for me, but I quickly pass the edge of the map, so we're flying blind. We pass 'Doody St.', and the boys giggle like school girls.  Henry tries to get a picture, but we're throught the intersection before he can get a shot.  We find a major looking street and head south hoping for the best.  We eventually hit Reiordan Street which takes us to a last-stop gas station that we'd visited almost exactly one week ago. I pump, and Ariel and the boys grab snacks for the long plane ride home.  

I pull into the airport, and we drop off the car at Budget, take an 'it's sad to be leaving Australia' picture under the 'International' sign, and head in to luggage check. We walk to one end of the airport, and then are told that it's on the other end. We are running a little tight, so we all walk quickly through the crowds to the other side of the departures building. We get to the counter, and the woman there explains we all have to fill out forms before we can get checked in. Ariel starts filling out forms. JP anounces that he's found free wi-fi on his Droid. I realize my phone has no charge, so I find an outlet, pull my phone and charger from my luggage, and plug in.  It takes us 15 more minutes to get the luggage checked, and before heading to the terminal, I pull my phone from the charger, only to find that the 'charging' light had not come on. The outlet didn't have power.

The luggage lady instructs us in the direction of Security, and informs us that from there, it's a 25 minute walk to the plane. We have exactly 25 minutes before the plane begins boarding.  We rush to the security line. The line doesn't budge for 5 minutes, but when it finally does, we go through without incident. We weave our way through the obstical course of shops, strategically positioned to keep passengers from getting to their planes without first having to swerve through every display of their duty-free wares.  I find a shop that sells alcohol and ask if they have anything resembling Australian whisky. The gentleman says no, (strike three), but they do have a bottle of Tazmanian whisky. I say I'll take it without asking about price. The gentleman goes into the back for 3 minutes, and I start to get nervous. I ask another attendant how much said bottle of whisky will cost, but the first gentleman returns before he can get me a price. I am relieved to see that the price is not too outrageous, so I put it on the Amex, and we dash the rest of the way to the plane.  The plane is already boarding, and we are on the plane before anyone has a chance to think about so much as a bathroom break.  We're seated next to Justin, a kinesiology student from Calgary who has spent the last semester at a college near Brisbane. 

The plane takes off quickly, and the captain announces that we have a good tail wind and should land in less than 13 hours. The in-flight entertainment begins and we watch the first movie, a cute, witty New York chick-flick called 'Thank you, more please.' 

I grab the boys' camera and transfer all the images to my desktop. I've only selectively been copying the best ones for the web, but Ariel wants me to burn a CD when we get back.  The engine is loud, so I'm not sure how my 'video interview with the boys' idea is going to work.  I'm thinking maybe it would be best to do it at the 4th of July picnic tomorrow. I think I'll try to get some sleep now, and we'll all find out how the story ends in a few hours.

How the story Ends:

The plane lands, I say fare-well to Justin (who has another 5 hour flight to Canada ahead of him.)  Ariel says she can't imagine a worse flying experience.  Ariel and JP have been feeling claustrophobic the whole trip, and are dying for a cigarette. Stiffly we exit the plane and JP sends Rebecca a text message that we are back onto American soil, or at least boarding-tube carpet.

We walk to the customs line, and a cheery Philipino officer asks us if we are bringing anything alive or dangerous into the country. We say no, and he takes our word for it.  No food sniffing beagles, no bomb or drug checks, just a short walk to the luggage carousel to pick up our luggage and were done.

After 10 minutes, my luggage pops out onto the carousel, and I joke with William that it's a lonely feeling waiting for your luggage to arrive.  Half an hour later, the carousel shuts down.  I ask a guy in a yellow vest where the rest of our luggage is, and he says that was all there is, and to go to the claims window to figure out what happened.  After another half an hour the claims-desk attendant confirms that our other four bags never left Sydney. Ariel fills out a form, and they promise to call us if anything shows up.  Exasperated, we head out the final doors to meet Rebecca and Rachel.  We step outside where the smokers can find relief, and after a brief debriefing, to make sure all the boys are in fact home safe and in one piece, we split off to our respective homes to get some decent sleep. We can all re-convene tomorrow over pulled-pork and fireworks. 

Sydney Again

Sydney, Last full day:

We begin with a reluctant 4:00AM wakeup, then another 4:15 re-wake-up for the boys... and we are driving out of the Alassio parking garage by 4:45.  We drive down the Highway to the Cairns airport, drop off the rental, check our bags, and grab some coffee from an airport "Skybury" Coffee stand. Ariel gets a latte with a nice heart shape in the foam.  I order a chai for $4.00 which tastes like weak apple cider.  

We get to the gate in time for boarding, and the airline attendant is talking into a microphone, a mere four yards away, but somehow the accoustics of the hallway make everything she says completely unintelligible.  Ariel goes up to clarify, and the woman relates that she has called rows 28-40, but she will board anyone in line. We all grab our bags, but then when we get up to the front of the line, she changes her tune, and says that since we are in rows 3-5, we need to wait.  After that bit of fun, we board our Virgin Australia flight to Sydney, and are greeted by a male steward who tells everyone we are ahead of schedule and are prepped to fly 15 minutes early. We then taxi out and sit on the tarmac for 15 minutes before take-off.  I fire up the laptop and write a short program, William reads his Harry Potter book, Ariel and the other two boys try to find a comfortable enough position to catch up on sleep.

Two and a half hour later, we land in Sydney, grab our luggage, get coffee and muffins (I get a mocha this time) and we argue with the Budget rental guy about what size car we should have and how much it should cost us for one day.  Eventually we come to an accord.  

In the midst of this, Henry and JP engage in a suitcase fight, and JP's left side big toenail gets caught, bends up and starts to bleed.  It's the same toe, on the same side as the toenail I bent up shortly after we landed in Sydney a week ago.  This time I have extra bandaids handy.

After negotiations end with the Budget representative, we decide on a Holden SV6, a popular Australian car, which the rep assures us has more trunk space than the Ford.  When we go out to the garage to pick it up, the lady with the keys informs us ours is the red car.   We manage, barely, to cram all 5 suitcases in the trunk and we drive out of the airport in search of the fastest route to our hotel.

Having not clearly defined what that route looks like exactly, we quickly end up in Southern Sydney's maze of streets, with no obvious route to the Harbor Bridge.  Eventually luck smiles, and we get to familiar territory and the rest of the drive to North Ryde is smooth sailing.  We stop briefly at a mini-mart to grab some milk and cereal for breakfast. 

Ariel tells me that she heard from a local at the airport that every time there is a hurricane or flood in North Queensland, the gecko and cane-toad populations are displaced/decimated, and it takes a year or two for the populations to replenish. That explains why we had'nt seen even one this trip.

We continue to the hotel, and Ariel checks us in while we unload, we are in room 28 this time instead of 26, the only noticable difference is that we take the left walkway instead of the right. While bringing down our luggage, William spots a two-foot-long blue-tongue skink against the wall of the parking garage.  Now you're probably saturated with pictures of us petting native Australian wildlife, but seeing something like this just lying out in the open is a bit of a shock. Stuff like that just never happens back home.  I cautiously pick up the skink and check him out. He's reluctant, but docile. He's got some pretty deep scars and has a few mites near his head. I try to pull them off, but he hisses loudly, so Henry takes a few glamor shots, and we set him on his way. 

We drop off our luggage, fire up the netbook, buy 24 hours of internet time, and check the ferry schedules for the Manly Ferry. It runs every half hour, so we drive to Sydney to take a ferry ride. We've learned by now that parking in Sydney sucks, so we head up George St. to the the Rocks where we had good luck last time.  We notice the Weekend Market is in swing again, and pull into a nearby parking spot. Then we see the 'P2' and 'P4' parking signs. We look around and notice there are solar powered parking ticket dispensers every hundred yards or so, and we postulate that their purpose is allow you to pre-purchase parking time up to 4 hours, but we cannot seem to get the device to register more than an hours worth of time.  Looking up at the underside of the brige above us, we notice a group of blue-jersey tourists making their way across a girder. It appears we are witnissing a bridge-walk tour.  JP comments that his fear of heights would not make that a very fun thing to do.

We assume there is just something wrong with that particular parking meter, and circle around to the far side of the Rocks.  There we find the area too is metered parking, with slightly different rules.  Ariel tries a meter machine again, this time using a credit card, but the charge doesn't go through. We all scramble our loose change together, and somehow get a 4 hour card to spit out.  

We head up the stairs, and under the harbor bridge to the Weekend Street Market.  One of the first stands we see it the "Hottest Chili in the World" stand, and I think, "Oh here we go again", but miraculously, although it is the same company as the one in the Kuranda Markets, this stand does have a sauce made from the pulp of the Scorpoin Butch T. pepper, the for-reals hottest pepper in the world.  

I ask if the man has a sample we can taste, and again, unlike the Kuranda market, he pulls out a sample jar, and asks me to grab a chip. I hold out my chip and as he dips the bottle, a huge blob pours out of the jar, I hear him say 'whoops' to himself. JP grabs a chip and gets a sample as well.  We pop them in our mouths, and I recognise the nice taste, and then the burn. It's the same sauce that was used on the burger that I had to sign a waiver before ordering, (and ultimately could not finish) at the Swingin' Door Pub in San Mateo.  The burn is like the Energizer bunny.  It doesn't stop for 15 minutes, so, of course, I bought a bottle. 

We decide to do some more souviner shopping and grab lunch before hitting the ferry dock.  We walk back along George Street where we I noticed a 'rock shop' from the car on the way in.  unfortunately, much like all the other rock-shops we've seen this trip, it turns out to be just a jewelry store that specializes in opals.  We leave the store, and find a souviner shop across the street. There we find some cool shirts and stuff.  About this time the burn in my mouth is starting to subside, but my stomache is starting to react as if I had swallowed battery acid.

We cross the street again and enter "The Rocks Cafe."  We are lead up a tightly wound wooden staircase in the back, and are seated on the second floor.  We order and Henry sets his camera down on the next table over, to do a timed shot.  The waitress notices and offers to take our picture. She snaps no less than 7 shots from several different angles, talking the whole time.  All the shots turn out blurry or uninteresting. The food is good though, and the chips and sandwich take care of my battery acid problem. I order another chai just to keep from passing out from exhaustion. When it comes, it's almost all froth, and goes down like warm milk. Not the effect I was hoping for.

Sated, and almost two hours in-to our four hour parking validation, we head for the ferry. The Aboriginal guy is still on the corner jamming out his tunes. We rush to the Manly ferry terminal to find that we missed the boat by two minutes. We decide to ride the Darling Harbor ferry instead. The Darling ferry leaves in four minutes, and we have to run two terminals over to catch it. We get our tickets just as the ferry starts to board.  The boys want to ride on the top level, so we climb the steps, but by the time we get there, there are only seats open for the two older boys.  The rest of us stand, which is fine by me.  I try to snap a picture of all the boys as we pass by the Opera House, but the ferry is rotating quickly, and the sun is low, and every time everything is lined up, I end up facing into the sun, and the boys are all silouhetted. A crew member instructs us that if we don't have a place to sit, we'll have to ride below. 

Grudgingly, Ariel, Henry and I decend to the lower platform. The ferry goes under the Harbor Bridge, and stops at Luna Park, as it takes off again, I ascend to try to get another shot of the big boys, but the entire ferry is now in shadow. I also notice that a bunch of new people had boarded at the last stop, and a lot of them were standing on the top deck. We pass back into the sun, but now there isn't much along the lines of majestic backdrops, so I go below again to find Ariel, and the boys soon follow.  We make a few more stops and end up in Darling Harbor. This is the same area where we ate kangaroo the first night in Sydney. Ariel wants a latte, so we walk South towards the Starbucks. The ferry docked farther North than we expected, and it takes us a good half hour to get to the coffe shop. 

We order (I get a chai, because I know it won't suck), and when we get our drinks, Ariel realizes that we'd have only 8 minutes to get back on the next ferry. We decide to take our time and mozy back slowly. It's going on 5:00PM, so all the shops are closing as we pass by. 

We get back to the ferry terminal, and are within 3 minutes of the next launch, which returns directly to Circular Quey. We board, the boat backs out.  It's not yet dark, but it is long past the time when we could get good photos of anything. Before we know it, the ferry is pulling in to the Quey.  Walking back to the car, we pass the Aboriginal Didgeridoo-er and JP stops and buys a CD.

Heading back, I have the now ritual hard time navigating to the turnaround for the bridge.  Just past North Sydney, everyone has fallen asleep, and where I'm supposed to turn for the hotel, I don't, and we get stuck on the M2 for an additional 7 kilometers as there are no exits until the town of Epping.  Ariel tries to help me navigate, but it's dark, and the map is printed very small, and I'm 

frustrated and tired, and am not really being as communicative as I could be, and it just takes a lot longer to get back than it should.  As we pull up to the hotel, I find a taxi parked smack across the driveway. He gets out and motions us to pass not understanding that he's in our way, meanwhile a bus pulls toward us from the opposite direction. I pull behind the taxi who doesn't budge, and the bus has barely enough room to pass behind us. After what feels like an eternity, the taxi cedes, and pulls forward. Descending into the sloped driveway, I'm relieved, and even a bit smug, that at least all the fuss wasn't because of my American driving habits.  

I park, and we all pile back in to the hotel room. JP goes upstairs and crashes immediately, Ariel fires up her netbook to arrange boarding passes for the flight home. We ponder swapping our seats to the next class up, but the upgrade would cost us an extra $500, and we wouldn't be seated together. When I find out, that we wouldn't get those nice 180 degree reclining seats and personal TV screens that United was advertising, I decide that not only is it not worth it, but I don't want give United any more money than we absolutely have to. Ariel shows me the seating arrangements, and while it's still cramped, it's much better than our flight out.  We should have that big center box behind us this time, instead of next to us, crowding out the middle row.  That change alone should ease some of the clostrophobic feel.  

We probably have a few hours in Sydney tomorrow before we board the plane, but we won't have internet access until we're back state-side, so this will be the last blog post of the trip.  I plan to do some videos with the boys on the plane ride back, just discussing their favorite, and least favorite parts, etc.  I'm not sure what I'll do with it all, maybe one last blog post after we've all rested up a bit. Hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have.

- A, J & the Boyz  

Port Douglas

This morning, I woke late, and not having a clear plan in mind, we didn't hit the road until almost noon. We headed North with a rough idea of hit a beach somewhere, hopefully near a reef.  We drove for 15 minutes, stopping a few times, and deciding to move on, waiting for something better. The sun had been shining all morning, but dark clouds were quickly advancing from the South. We stopped at Thala Beach Lodge to grab a coffee, and ask the locals about a good place to swim.  While waiting for my latte, I wandered through the restaurant, and saw about 20 rainbow lorakeets squawking over some food in a tree just off the veranda.  The woman who took my order said that any accessible beach to the North was pretty good for swimming, but there weren't any nearby reefs within swimming range.   Undeterred, we got back on the road, but just past the entrance to Oak Beach, the road turned inland.  I pulled over so we could decide whether to go back to the last beach we passed, or to continue on to Port Douglas for lunch.  Henry and Ariel wanted to go back. JP and I wanted to go forward. William didn't want the responsibility of being the tie-breaker, so nature broke the stalemate. As we deliberated, it began to rain.  

We drove another 5 minutes, and arrived at the roundabout to Port Douglas. The town is built entirely on a tiny peninsula, and in many respects, is just a glitzier, and larger version of Palm Cove. It is advertised as the 'jumping off place' to explore the wonders of Far North Queensland.  The bottom of the peninsula is lined on both sides with expensive looking resorts, and the tip is, among other things, a giant shopping center.  I knew this going in, but still wanted to add it to our list of 'been-there' locations.  We drove through the shopping district, and managed to find a parking spot not too far from food.  By this time the rain had subsided, but the wind was kicking up.  We walked down the main sprawl, full of mostly cliché junk (except for Disco Buddha,) and settled on an outdoor restaurant/bar at the corner of Wharf Street and Macrossan, appropriately named, Wharf Street Bistro.

Kangaroo steak was on the menu, and since we had all enjoyed marsupial meat so much in Sydney, I ordered it again. This time though, it was much larger, a bit chewier, and covered in a pepper sauce that really didn't work for me.  Ariel thought the sauce was good, and JP confirmed the meat itself was not.  Ariel, Henry and JP all had burgers which they said were excellent, and William ordered a fried calamari, which looked amazing.  Unfortunately, I was a little premature in the picture taking department today, and only have a shot of us at the table before the food arrived. At least we'll always remember that we were order number 35.

After we ate, Henry found some weaver ants on a pole, and a gruff local warned, "careful, they bite." In 2006 outside 'the Outback Opal Mine', I'd learned that you could eat them, and he verified that the abdomen's tasted sweet like a grape, but again he warned that their bites hurt... I replied that it sounded like a reasonable response to getting your abdomen eaten, and that we were far too full from lunch to try one now.

We crossed Wharf street heading toward the beach, but it started to drizzle again, and so we took shelter under a pair of curtain fig trees. Years ago, other visitors had tied and braided the dangling roots, which had  since, fused together into natural ropes and swings. Naturally, the boys and I climbed right up.  On the second tree, William attempted a Tarzan swing, but the thin roots were too weak, and half-way out, the root snapped and he landed on his butt. I apologize profusely for lack of video of this event.

The drizzle subsided, and we continued on to a beautiful beach, where the tide had receded far enough to allow some amazing shell hunting. I found the-most-incredible shell of the trip, which someone before us had left in a pile of shells.  The boys found some nickel sized black sea-stars, and Henry caught a little black crab.  We uncovered a foot-long black sea slug, but I have no record of this either, because it was featureless and for the most part just looked like wet poo.  We walked under the pier, and on the other side, saw some young fig trees suspended three feet into the air by their long root system which mirrored in size and shape, sans leaves, the branches above.

On our way back under the pier, I found an orange piece of live coral about the size of a Twinkie.  I took a photo, because at this point I'm afraid that's this is the only coral reef we are apt to see this trip.  Walking back I snapped another shot of Ariel from the ground near some fig tree saplings. The angle of the shot made it look like she is a giant.  

We walked down the shopping center looking for souvenirs, but nobody's heart was really into it, and Henry really wanted to hit a beach on the way home, so after popping into a few shops, we decided to head back. 

The van's gas gauge was almost empty, and we needed to be back at the hotel at 5:00 to check out before the office closed. (We could stay in the room until 4:00AM, but Ariel needed to work out the bill)  We had about an hour and a half to get back, but this was no big deal since the drive back to Palm Cove only took half an hour.  We stopped at the first point South of Port Douglas where the road met the beach, and jumped out. The tide was still out, and the water had receded about 200 meters out.  We saw what looked like reef poking out of the water, so the boys grabbed their swim gear and we headed across the sand.  

What appeared to be empty sand, turned out to be an entire mini-eco-system, with piles of sand tubes everywhere from clams, tiny balls of sand from some type of creature, and starfish. Thousands of star-shaped divots in the sand contained little brown starfish, most of which were about 4 inches across. You literally couldn't walk more than three feet without seeing one. In the troughs where there were little pools of water, the starfish were crawling around, and in the packed sand, all one could see was the silhouette they left when they buried themselves.    

The boys reached the water, and dropped their gear in a pile, and waded in. The water was murky and brown like a latte. The boys walked 100 yards out, but the water was barely past their knees.  They headed back to drop off their flippers, which were making it hard to walk.  I walked up the shore a bit, and tried to get some scenic shots, but we all met back after JP stepped on some sharp rocks, and got some very minor cuts on his feet.

I dropped Ariel and the boys off in front of our hotel, and drove down to Clifton beach to fill up the van.  On the way back, just before the Palm Cove turn off, I noticed a large brown stuffed-animal looking thing on the side of the road. Someone had hit a kangaroo. 

I got back, and the boys were watching TV, and Ariel was booking our rental car for tomorrow in Sydney. I wanted to visit the city of Yorky's Knob, (and maybe get a t-shirt), but the consensus for dinner was 'something easy'. It looked like things were leaning towards pizza delivery, but I really didn't want to spend my last night in Cairns in front of the TV eating pizza, so I fired up the laptop and found a restaurant in Yorky's  Knob that had an online take-out menu. I phoned in our order using Skype on the netbook, and at 6:30pm on our last night in Cairns, JP and I drove 20 minutes South to Krokodillo's in Yorky's Knob to pick up a pair of Meat-Lover's pizzas and a 2-Liter of Coke.  By this point Cooks Highway have become second nature, and we zipped through the roundabouts like pros.

The restaurant was on the towns single main road, so we didn't need a map to find it. I parked, it was already dark out. There were a few locals mulling around outside, inside, Krokodillo's looked more like a hip café, it was small, and had some local artists work on the walls.    While waiting for food I walked over to a large black and white spiral piece that had caught my eye.  I'd assumed it was made with tile, but up close, I observed it was actually just strategically placed drops of enamel paint on brown canvas. The result was stunning.

No other pictures this day. We returned with food, and ate.  Ariel cleaned the shells we found, and then discovered that my "most-incredible shell" was still occupied by a hermit crab. Henry walked him out to the beach where he can hopefully make it to safety before getting harassed by some other unsuspecting tourists.

Everyone packed their stuff, and headed to bed around 9:00. We'll need to get up by 4:00AM to get to the Cairns airport on time.  If all goes according to plan, this marks the end of our time in Far-North Queensland. 

Kuranda Markets

We miraculously got the boys up and out of the apartment by 9:00 this morning. It was raining again.  We drove South through three roundabouts to the Skyrail station, and headed quickly in to the (warm and dry) gift shop to work out a plan for the day. Ariel and JP ordered lattes from the concession stand and I hesitantly requested a chai (curious to know what Aussie chai was like)  Though I can't vouch for the chai throughout the rest of Australia, I was pleasantly surprised to discover this chai was the best I'd ever had. It was like warm spicy cream with thick foam and nutmeg.

Outside the rain was blowing sideways, so no one relished the idea of spending an hour and a half dangling from a glorified ski-lift and starting the day getting soaked in freezing rain, and then, possibly not seeing anything through the low and heavy cloud cover.  We decided unanimously to save the $66 (per person) and instead, just drive the 15km to Kuranda.  On the way out of the Skyrail gift shop, Henry spotted a 2.5 inch black spider at the top of a three-foot wide web, in the awning. Australia is like that sometimes.

After a brief but winding drive, we arrived at our first stop, an eco-tourist park called "Rainforestation", that gave tours of the rain-forest in 6 wheeled amphibious WWII vehicles called 'ducks'.  Even in the parking lot there were amazing plants everywhere.  We walked through the dining-hall shaped gift shop/entrance, and discovered that the duck tours ran every hour.  It was 10:15, so we had 45 minutes to kill.  We purchased tickets to their mini-zoo, and for the 11:00 duck tour.  Ariel also bought some roo-feed bags and we ventured left through the zoos entrance. The Rainforestation zoo was smaller than the others we'd visited. The entire thing was probably less than 100 square yards, but they had all the expected exibits.  A handful of wallabys bounded freely across the central manicured grass.  We discovered most of the roos were taking shelter farther down under the covered walkway near  "Jack the Ripper", the zoos lone giant crocodile, who had apparently eaten 12 of his previous 'girlfriends'. 

The zoo also had a large collection of Koalas. After quickly walking through, I noticed a sign pointing out that some of the Koalas could be seen holding their babies, born earlier this year.  I walked back through but they were all so balled up and it was so dark under the awning that no babies were visible.  Shortly after we arrived, a keeper came out with a tray of needle-less syringes filled with milky white goop.  It turns out goo was nutrient rich post-natal vitamins; it was feeding time for the mother Koalas. The keeper grabbed the first Koala, and a little head and arm popped out from her mid-section.  In the process of the Koala feeding, we were fortunate enough to not only see, but to pet one of adorable babies. Henry and I snapped our cameras like paparazzi, but since we were asked to follow a strict 'no-flash' policy, most of the shots were either too dark, or too blurry to be of much interest. Due to the sheer volume of shots though, we got a few good ones. 

Eleven o'clock was rolling around quickly, so we walked back out to the duck docking station.  The vehicle hadn't arrived yet, so we wandered around the fruit garden. Henry found a passion fruit vine with dangling fruits the size of melons.  Ariel found some pretty red-leaf plants, and then we noticed a group of tourists piling into the duck at the platform.  We got back to the duck just in time to all slide in to the farthest back seat. The driver/tour-guide passed us all maps of the route, rolled down the tarp roof to protect us from the rain, and fired up the engine. The driver explained that during the war, there were 22,000 ducks manufactured, but today there are thought to be only about 300 in existence. The park owned 11 of them, and they were all running on the original engines.  JP laughed reading that in it's current 'low speed' setting, the ducks only got 1 mpg. So much for eco-tourism...

The guide stopped the vehicle, and showed us the "wait-a-while" palm, a tree which climbs to the sun at the top of the canopy by latching on to other plants using long tendrils covered with serrated teeth. The teeth catch on your clothes if you brush by and don't easily let go, hence the name.  He explained that other plants (like air ferns) in the rain-forest are known as epiphytes, meaning plants that live on other plants, but neither help nor harm the host.  The guide then drove the bus into the lake.  After a few violent rocks back and forth, I was relieved to find that the literature describing the vehicles amphibious nature was accurate.  We tooled slowly around the lake looking at termite mounds built high in the trees, and learned that some breeds of kingfisher had taken to laying their eggs in these mounds where the termite activity kept the eggs safe and warm.  Along the shore we spotted a large male water dragon on a low-lying branch. Then we were introduced to one of the scariest plants in Australia. Covered in fine silica spines, the Gympie-Gympie's sting will burn like fire, and can last for up to six months if you are unfortunate enough to bump into one.  Luckily the lone plant was on an island in the middle of the lake, and was far enough from the waters edge that accidental human contact was not possible. The guide informed us that the lake was about 12 meters deep, and was man-made, created in the last century because the coffee farmers needed a consistent water supply. Unfortunately for them, a hurricane came through destroying the plantations, and the lake was now, all that remained of their efforts.  The ride ended shortly after returning to land, and we walked back through the fruit gardens, and back into the zoo, where we blew through a few more bags of kangaroo-feed, forging ephemeral friendships and taking more photos with the hungry marsupials within. A bit later, out of roo-feed, and getting hungry ourselves, we left Rainforestation, and headed out to the nearby town of Kuranda in search of something a little more digestible.

A short 2km drive, and we were parking near a sign directing us to the 'Original' Kuranda Market. JP wanted to eat Pho, and there was indeed a Vietnamese food vendor on the corner, so we ordered there, sat down at tables in the semi-covered mini-mall and had an unremarkable lunch.  After lunch, we walked through the twisting paths of the maze-like market, but apparently rainy Thursday's weren't the best time to go shopping in Kuranda. Most of the store-fronts were empty or padlocked.  Henry did find an open shop that sold crocodile bracelets, so we got him another one.  This one I tied with a knot that wouldn't unravel, ever.  Ariel and I remembered the Market being larger and more flat, and so we left the 'original' Kuranda market, and shortly we found the 'other' market.  We headed across the street to the far more successful and open-for-business, "non-original" market, which was visibly bustling with shops and full of souvenir seeking tourists like us.  

A large sign conveyed that a chili stand nearby sold the 'hottest sauce in the world', and I got excited, because, I had just read in Discover magazine a few weeks previous that the hottest pepper (as of February 2011) is the "Butch T." scorpion pepper, which was grown in the town of Newcastle, 50km north of Sydney, and I thought I remembered an internet search yielding that it was available for purchase somewhere in the Kuranda market.

JP found the stand, but I was disappointed to see that their 'hottest' sauce was made from the Bhut Jolokia or Ghost pepper.  I asked about the scorpion pepper, but the woman behind the counter said that she had never heard of it.  I notice that the 'hottest pepper' clipping from the Guiness book they had posted was from 2007. 

The market was full of kitch trinkets, wallets, jackets, hats, belts, and bottle-openers made from a variety of parts from native Australian critters ranging from sharks and rays, to crocodile and kangaroo.  Before heading out, we bought a jar of the chili-sauce, and all (except Ariel) dipped a finger in to taste the heat. Nobody's face melted, so we crossed the street to get Ariel a latte, and to get the rest of us some fries to dip into the jar of chili sauce.  After a few rounds of dippings we agreed that the sauce was simultaneously incredibly hot, and horrible tasting (too vinegary).  Ariel popped into a nearby shop and picked up a "Kangaroo Crossing" sign for Henry.  While we ate, a large dog, a Great Dane, I think, wandered by. You could see his ribs, and a woman standing near by told us it belonged to the local Aboriginals. They don't take care of their animals like we do, and if one dies, they just get another. A damn shame, she said.  I offered it one of our fries, but I had to throw it to him, as he wouldn't get close enough to hand feed. I don't think I've ever seen a dog that hungry run off after being fed. I don't know what the poor dogs live was like, but food or no, he didn't trust anyone.  Ariel and William tried not to look at him because it was too sad to witness.

We returned to the car, and I drove us the 2.6 kilometers to the trail-head for Barron Falls.  I wasn't sure how good a view we would have, having only seen the falls from the train platform in 2006, but unlike the falls we all visited on Tuesday, Barron falls were huge, and worth the effort. The spectacle is arguably the best part of the Skyrail or train ride to Kuranda, so I didn't want the boys to miss it, provided we could see it at all through the low clouds. 

I'm so glad we took this route, because the path leading down to the viewing platform was an attraction in itself.  The canopy-walk platform through the rain-forest had amazing views and laminated plaques describing the different types of plant-life that lived within.  One of the plaques described the now-familiar 'wait-a-while' palm, although it called it by a different name, the 'lawyer-tree.'   Further along the path,  we found a giant (seven inch diameter) vine twirling from tree to tree, bowing down across the walkway, just within reach. Never one to miss a photo-op, William, did a pull-up.

The platform merged into a nature-trail, where Henry found a giant hard-shelled snail.  After appropriately documenting the incident, we hiked a few hundred yards further, passed over the Kuranda Rail train tracks, and arrived at the Barron Falls viewing platform, where we were presented with a giant impenetrable wall of grey fog, through which, the majestic falls were faintly visible.  Miraculously, as we grudgingly pulled out our cameras to take the requisite sub-par "proof-that-we-were-there" shots, the clouds began to whirl, and visibly evaporated providing us (in less than a minute), a completely clear shot of the gargantuan entirety of Barron Falls.

Let me interject for a moment... Upon reviewing the photos online, the photo fails miserably at conveying the size of the falls. If you look at the upper right where there is a tiny trickle that starts the whole thing. That is about a 20 foot drop, and would alone have been the largest falls we'd seen all trip. The bushes on the far side... Those are trees. The Skyrail cars go above the falls, and if the 4 person gondolas were in the shot, they would be smaller than a pin-head. OK, end interjection.

After taking our much improved "requisite shots", we hiked back to the car, and discussed the possibly of continuing further inland another 26km to the town of Mareeba.  No one wanted to spend another half-hour driving (and then another hour on the return trip), so we decided to head back to the hotel.   Everybody fell asleep in the car (except me, of course...)  To keep things cheap, we stopped at the Coles in Clifton Beach and grabbed some supplies for dinner.  We have one more full day here in Cairns, so we'll need to decide what to do with it.  At this point, I believe the plan is to try for Port Douglas, and weather permitting, maybe hit the beach again.  

Hartley's

Today we spent the morning finalizing our plans to visit Kuranda.  We were up last night until midnight working out logistics. The goal was to hit the Kuranda markets, to take the Skyrail lift, and to check out an animal park called Rainforestation, where they take you through a lake in an amphibious WWII military "duck". The trouble was figuring out timing and how not to get stuck in Kuranda without transportation. If we took the Skyrail up, we wouldn't have a car. One of us could drive, but that would be no fun. We found a taxi service that would take us to Rainforestation from Kuranda, but Ariel had read that the last Skyrail left Kuranda at 3:30, which didn't give us enough time in Kuranda or the park before having to leave.  After realizing this, we decided to shelve the Kuranda trip, and instead head North to look at crocodiles.  

We got everybody showered and out by 10:30 and headed the mere 15 minutes North along Cook's Highway to Hartley's Crocodile Farm.  The sun was shining, it was legitimately warm out, and there was more blue in the sky than white. The farm is just past Ellis Beach, inland from the town of Wangetti. The farm is marked by an unassuming sign that we might have missed had we not been looking for it.  We pulled into the parking lot, and got in the ticket line. The park entrance is made up like a rain-forest, with odd spiky trees and a pond full of prehistoric looking fish. The ticket-lady gave Ariel a brochure and explained the schedule of events for the day.

The crocodile feeding had just started, so we rushed over to the feeding lake to see a man tossing dead chickens into a wetland habitat area full of about 40 crocodiles. The largest of which was a massive giant named 'Spartacus' whom I believe was 4 meters in length. 

When the feedings were over, we grabbed some lunch.  Burgers, excellent fries, and a couple skewers of crocodile meat, so the boys could say they had eaten some, and yes it still tastes like chicken.   After lunch, Ariel and JP went out for a smoke,and William and Henry went to check out the aviary section of the park.  While waiting for the 1:30 lagoon boat ride, I found Henry and William had run ahead and found some black swans, and some black necked storks on the other side of a waist-high fence. The swans were comically aggressive, lunging at anything that got close enough to snap at. The storks just stood still, I'm sure, mortified by the behavior of their companions.

 

The tour boat arrived, and began loading passengers. In line, Henry showed me some pictures of a giant spider he found in the aviary. It looked exactly like the spider I saw there in 2006. I wondered how long those things lived... We filed in the boat, and the tour guide gave us a brief tutorial on how not to loose appendages.  She backed the boat into the square kilometer man-made crocodile habitat explaining that when the crocs lay eggs, the park employees draw straws to decide who goes in to retrieve them.  She dangled some chicken on the end of a bamboo pole, and obediently, a couple of well trained crocs swam over and jumped for it, making the distinct 'poomp' noise when their jaws snapped shut with 3000lbs of force.   We passed the oldest crocodile, who was supposedly 100 years old and totally blind, but still the dominant croc in the pond. After the boat trip, we followed the group of tourists to the croc-farm tour, where we got to see the incubation vats and cinder-block pens where the croc-farmers segregate the crocs by size so they don't eat each other. After this part of the tour, we decided we were done with crocodiles for the day, but before leaving, we had to go pet the wallabys.

We followed the map passed the 'take a photo with a baby crocodile' booth, and the empty 'CROC ATTACK!' arena, to the wallaby and roo petting area, an open field with a handful of the animals scattered around, munching leaves and generally looking complacent. In the center of the field was an oblong sheltered area fenced off for a lone Koala, sleeping peacefully. I circled the Koala pen, and accidentally walked through a spider's web.  I never found the spider, but moments later, something bit me in the back of the leg, so I'm assuming that was payback for wrecking the little guys hard work.  We noticed a designated smoking area inside the petting area, which, both JP and Ariel thought was a really odd combination. Hopping and laughing, Henry chased a baby wallaby across the field. Surprisingly it eventually let him catch up, and even let him cuddle it a bit. I checked the spider bite to make sure my leg wasn't turning black, and we headed to the exit.   The park exit is strategically located on the far end of the gift shop, so on the way out we purchased Henry a crocodile bracelet for 8 bucks, a far more affordable souvenir than the croc wallets which were going for almost 300 dollars. I didn't check the price of the brief-case... In the parking-lot I helped henry tie on his new souvenir, but left it loose, so he could take it off when we went swimming, which was our next plan of action.

We drove up the coast to Oak Beach, and jumped out. There was a perfect blend of rocks on one side, and beach on the other. We searched the rocks for shells, finding some good ones, then the boys played in the waves for about an hour. Henry said this was the most fun he'd had all trip.  It was getting dark, so we headed back to the hotel to clean up before dinner.  We all agreed that weather permitting, we should hit the beach every remaining day in Cairns. It's hard to believe we only have 2 days left here.  Heading back we took some pictures at Rex Lookout, overlooking the beach and Double Island. 

When we got back, the boys jumped in the hot tub, and Ariel and I walked down the esplanade in search of lattes. About three blocks down, we found a coffee-shop/diner called Cockey's which fit the bill.  We noticed they had a dinner menu featuring bangers & mash, lamb shank, and ribs.  The prices looked reasonable, so we went back to the hotel to grab the kids.  Henry was looking frantically for his crocodile skin bracelet, and after not finding it in the expected places, he realized that he hadn't seen his bracelet since the beach, and, as he'd forgotten to take it off before swimming, it was probably now lost at sea. 

Dinner at Cockey's was quick and uneventful.  The food was decent, and everyone was in a good mood. The boys joked with each other, and we headed back to the hotel for the evening.  Tomorrow we do Kuranda for real.  We'll need to be out the door by 9:00AM sharp to catch the tram, so tonight we go to bed early. 

Innisfail

We woke late, took showers, had breakfast, and generally screwed around until finally hitting the road around 10:30.  Our plan: To travel South, along Captain Cooks Highway to visit Johnstone Crocodile Farm in Innisfail, stopping at the Babinda Boulders, and Josephine Falls, along the way.  Innisfail is 90km south of Cairns, which made it about a 2 hour drive from our hotel.  Just before leaving, I sent an email to the local kayak tour company to see about booking a kayak/snorkel trip sometime in the next few days.

As we pulled out of the hotels parking garage, it was raining and cloudy, but not particularly hot or cold.  We zipped through Cairns, and just 10km south passed the base of Walsh's Pyramid poking up through the clouds.   Henry spotted some wild kangaroos on the side of the road, and we passed field after field of sugar cane, and, bananas. 

According to the inter-nets, the "Babinda Boulders" was a freshwater swimming hole famed for it's beauty, and frequented by the locals.  To get there, you drive South, then turn right at the town of Babinda and follow the signs from there. Calling Babinda a small town is like calling calling a skink a small dinosaur. While arguably true, it distorts your sense of scale. Babinda did have a few shops, but we were in and out the other side in less than a minute.

By the time we arrived at the trail-head, the rain had subsided to a very light mist. We saw some red-headed Australian Brush turkeys in the parking lot along with a couple of wild roosters,  after a few excited photos, we began our hike through the rain-forest.  The trees in the rain-forest are covered in moss, and ivy and miles of inch thick vines that twist around everything, including each other, resembling cords of braided rope  veering chaotically around and between the trees. Many plants have sharp spines, or serrated leaves. This is not a placid, stagnant place; everything eats everything.  As if to accentuate that fact, John Paul's foot starts to itch, and he looks down to find a leech has attached itself to his foot. This is odd, and somewhat troubling, since he hasn't walked through any water, and the path thus far has been a four foot wide slab of asphalt. He pulls it off, puts it down, and it becomes obvious how he got the parasite. It starts, not slowly,  to crawl after him, lifting it's entire body up like an inch worm. I swear it was sniffing the air for blood.  I shot some video in slow motion, but after uploading it, I found another video on YouTube describing it better as the Australian blood sucking leech. This short video features the creature crawling on the hand of an un-fazed Australian park ranger who gives a little speech about how they feed.  From this point on in the hike, we all began checking our ankles every hundred paces or so.

A little farther down, William found a vine dangling by the path, and yanked on it to see if it would hold his weight. This of course shook the tree it was attached to, and all the loose water from all the leaves dumped on him at once.  The vine held though, so for the next five minutes, he and his brothers played Tarzan. I shot a video of William here, but forgot to change the settings from the last shoot, so this one is in slow motion as well. 

It started to rain a bit harder, and by the time we got to the Boulders lookout platform, it was definitely raining. The view was nice, but the water was flowing too fast to be swim-able, (not that we were in the mood to swim anyway.)  We found a few butterflies that were undeterred by the rain, we took a few token scenery shots and headed back up the 500m trail to the parking lot. The faster we walked, the harder the rain came down, and by the time we were back to the entrance field, it was officially torrential. I ran for the van, and drove it to the covered area so the rest of the group could stay dry, or at least, not get much wetter.

We toweled off in the car and returned to Bruce Highway. (Somewhere between Cairns and Innisfail Cook's Highway inexplicably changes it's name)  We decided to skip eating in Babinda, and, rather,  visit the falls, then grab some food in Innisfail.

When we got to the Josephine Falls trail-head, Ariel decided she didn't want to hike anymore, and would stay by the car and read.  Henry found another butterfly, and then ran down to the trail-head to find some more animals to photograph, (there were more turkeys) The rest of us got our swim gear on, not so much to go swimming, but just to keep our pants from getting any more soaked. I left everything in the car, my wallet, the hotel key, opting to bring only Ariel's water-proof camera.  Henry ran back, reporting that he'd found a leech twice the size of JP's and this one had yellow stripes.  After checking out his new find, we headed down the 700m trail to the falls.  As soon as we started walking, the downpour returned. We stoically hiked to the falls anyway, took a picture, and hiked back as fast as possible. When we got back to the parking lot, Ariel was gone.  And so was the van.

I know... The same thoughts went through my mind. What the???   What extreme circumstance could possibly make her leave?  And, what now?

 Luckily, just as we started to panic, Ariel drove back around the bend, and explained that some creepy man was leering at her. Seeing no one else around, and having a strong desire to not become a statistic, Ariel did the smart thing and got the hell out.

She'd assumed that we'd still be away swimming at the falls for a while yet but after she'd left and had time to think, she realized how freaked out we'd be if we returned and she was gone, so she came back right away.  When she pulled up, both the man, and his car were nowhere in sight, so who knows... Ariel has honed her survival instincts by many years of watching scary movies. Better safe than sorry. No more leaving her alone though.

We returned to the highway, soaked, hungry and thoroughly done with waterfalls and rain-forests.  We drove into the town of Innisfail, which looks very much like every other rural town we'd driven through. It's got all the shops one would expect, and even a few main streets, but all the storefronts look a little old and dingy.  We chose a street with food and coffee options, and parked.  There was a Glorious Beans in an indoor mall, and we all ordered some lattes to take the chill off. While the coffees were brewing, Ariel and I popped into the market next door to grab some water, some road snacks, and a new box of  band-aids, we also got the name of a good nearby restaurant from the barrista.  

"JaggerD's" looked like a glorified coffee shop, but the food was cheap, organic, and amazingly well presented.  The waitress said she would seat us, but only after transferring our coffees into "JaggerD" cups. She didn't want us advertising for the competition. Funny, since we wouldn't have been there at all if the 'competition' hadn't sent us over.  By the time we finished eating, it was 4:00PM, and we conceded that at this point the Croc farm wasn't much of an option. One of the stores had marked a t-shirt with the city name in abbreviated form 'ifail', which summed up our opinion of the day nicely.  We were tired of being wet and decided, to head back to Palm Cove.  For most of the ride back the boys engaged in a lively debate as to their favorite actors, and the best films of their careers.  DiCaprio: "Blood Diamond, Tom Hanks: "Castaway", Jack Nicholson: "The Departed", Christian Bale:"The Dark Knight, and American Psycho".   I suggested Dennis Quaid in "Enemy Mine", and they responded with, "Who?"

Ugh, I'm getting old...

Trying to be more contemporary, I mentioned Matthew McConaughey who was awesome as the tank commander in "Reign of Fire" but JP insisted that I'd gotten him mixed up with another actor, though he didn't remember the name.

After a few minor wrong turns, I managed to get us safely back to our hotel room.  Ariel wanted to do some laundry, but the machines outside our hotel room were dollar-coin only.  We had only paper money, so the three nephews and I walked down the esplanade as a pack, from shop to shop, taking turns exchanging bills for change in 5 dollar increments.  Four loads, wash and dry, would cost us $30 dollars.  We returned with the pile of coins, and I fired up the laptop, and looked up "Reign of Fire" on the IMDB.  Turns out, it was McConaughey.  

I got a call back from the guy that runs Kayak tours out to the nearby island. He said the weather is not good enough, and he won't be doing any tours until Sunday.  The boys crashed out early, and now Ariel and I are planning our day for tomorrow. We're all pretty exhausted, so we're thinking East to Kuranda is a good option. It involves minimal driving, and zero hiking in the rain.

   

Monday

Monday has been our day of rest. I stayed in bed until 11:30. The boys ventured out to the beach, sat in the jacuzzi, and played around the pool.  Ariel did some research on the internet. We all went to breakfast at Ando's Grill, which is literally a stones throw from our back porch. The weather was cool and blustery, and the weather report sadly shows that the rest of our time in Cairns will be very similar.  Ariel went to the concierge and booked a snorkel trip to the reef tomorrow, but when she returned, she looked unhappy about it. When I found out that said trip would cost us close to $900.00, I too was unhappy.  We all decided to cancel that plan, and find a more cost effective way to experience the Great Barrier Reef.  Henry took some portrait shots across the table, and then it started to rain. We retreated back to the room, and prepared to go to Cole's, the local supermarket, for supplies. 

It was about a 5 minute drive on Cooks Highway, south towards Cairns. The market is in a mini-mall, and Ariel and I grabbed some lattes at Glorious Beans on the way in. We discovered that both produce and Coca-Cola is much more expensive than in the states.  We learned that there are at least 5 different varieties of vegemite, including a Snack-ables lunch pack. We found some humorously named products and Henry, William and I generally goofed around while Ariel tried to corral us all into thinking about what we'd need for the week.  We spent a lot of time choosing the right combinations of breakfast cereals and chips. Ariel was upset that they didn't have frosted mini wheats, only an un-sugar-coated "blackcurrant" variety. We'll report on how that tastes tomorrow...

We returned from the store, and JP fell asleep. Henry, William and I went on a walkabout in search of wild animals. I found my first Australian t-shirt in a local gift shop, and Henry found a really interesting spider.  Henry found a small furry mammal as well, but it disappeared before we could pull out a camera.  We walked back along the beach and picked up shells, a great amount of sand in our shoes, and a latte for Ariel from a nearby café. On returning, Henry and William were planning to hike out to the peer, but Henry found a small skink on the doorstep.  I picked him up, took a few macro shots and we let him go.  

We then woke JP up, and walked down the strip in search of an affordable dinner, which, in Palm Cove appears to be an elusive creature to find.  We settled for semi-expensive, and convenient.   After sitting down and ordering, while waiting for the food, Ariel spread out all the pamphlets that we had collected from the lobby, and we voted on what was options for what to do for the next few days. A large local seabird jumped up on deck looking for dropped chips.  We have broken the next few days into the cardinal directions, so we have a north trip to Daintree, a South trip to Innisfail, an East trip to Karanda, and an east trip, Kayaking around Green Island. This last option is much cheaper than the previous reef idea, and includes reef snorkeling, and the possibility of swimming with rays.  I think we settled on South tomorrow. Time will tell.

After dinner Ariel did some more comparisons of various attractions, and I figured out how to upload videos to YouTube. They are short, and unpolished, but hopefully they give a little bit of variation to the typical photo barrage.  here are the respective links.

•  First-person Wallaby Feeding
•  Pacing Koala
•  Golden Pheasant
•  Tasmanian Devil running laps

Time for sleep, we have an early start tomorrow.