Day 247. Cairns

A Surprise for Scarlett...

Wow! What a humid night! Now that we are back on the coast and at the base of the mountain range, the humidity and morning dew are unbelievable! It has to be experienced to be believed. We woke not to just the heat, but also the dreaded humidity. This might take a little bit of getting use to...

The water park

Scarlett hitting the slide

At 8:30am (just after we finished breakfast), Bec and Scarlett headed straight for the pool for a morning dip! The plus side of the heat is that the water is beautiful all day long - inlcuding first thing in the morning!

I wish I could of joined them, but there was work to do and I wanted to get as much done as early as possible. I started by cleaning the Pajero's wheels and rims, as I had an appointment with 'Bob Jane T-Mart' to get the tyre fixed that went flat the other day back at O'Briens Campground.

The girls soon returned from their morning swim; and jeez they looked refreshed! I was seriously jealous! But no sooner had they returned, and they were off again - this time to play a game of putt-putt golf. The Coconut Holiday Resort has just about everything - which is great, as its keeping Scarlett busy playing and exploring all day long! But I wasn't going to be left out this time, and I followed them to play a round of golf.

Look Out!

Scarlett showing dad how to play golf

We played all 18 holes, which was great; but the heat and humidity made it a little uncomfortable. If only we brought some water with us! It was a fun game, but by the time we were finished Scarlett had had enough, and just wanted to return to the van and turn on the air conditioner...

The things you find when playing golf!

I then disappeared into town for an hour or two to get the tyre fixed; while Bec and Scarlett relaxed in the air-conditioned caravan, before later returning to the pool for more swimming and playing. By the time I got back, they had both had enough of the heat again and were back inside. I can't blame them, as the temp was in the mid to high 30's, and the humidity was... well yuck!

I still had to wash the car, so I took off again to the local car wash to get rid of the dirt, dust and grime that has been clinging to the old Pajero for weeks now. I was lucky in that I had a little helper with me this time - Scarlett! She wanted to give me a hand, so off we went to get down and dirty - if not a little wet in the process. Admittedly, it took a little longer than normal to get done, and might of cost a few dollars more in the process (as Scarlett was in charge of the high pressure gernie that just wanted to throw her off her feet everytime she squeezed the trigger), but we had a lot of fun throwing 'bubbles' on each other and squirting each other with water! It certainly cooled us down, that's for sure!

Get ready to see a hole in one mum!

Shortly after returning to the van, we had some very welcome visitors in the form of Jo, Maya, Grace and Jai! Scarlett was bubbling with excitement, as the last time we saw these guys was back in Derby! The kids all played in the water park and pool, while Bec and Jo caught up with everything that each other has been doing since we parted company almost 3 months ago. How time flies...

Jai, Maya, Scarlett and Grace enjoying a sausage sizzle



Hang on.... Here we go!

It was great to catch up with these guys, and Scarlett had the most amazing time playing with the kids again. They played like they had only seen each the other day. We didn't get a chance to catch up with Jace unfortunately, as he has found work here in Cairns and is doing the respectable thing. (Oh... How I'm dreading returning to the working lifestyle again).

We finished off the day with a sausage sizzle and cold drinks, before they all finally had to leave and return home. Scarlett had such a good time that she can't wait to catch up and play with the kids again, so hopefully we'll see them before we leave Cairns.

You just never know...



This has got to hurt....