Australia : Cairns & Perth

Cairns (19th – 22nd Jan)

Well when they say Cairns is a very tropical climate they aren’t lying. It was scorching here and to make it worse it was unbelievably humid. We were so glad that we only needed to spend two nights in the Campervan before having a few luxury nights in an air-conditioned Motel! The campsite we stayed in for the first two nights was awesome. It was like a Butlins type site with lots of things to do including a outdoor movie screening which was great apart from the mozzies eating us alive as usual :O) I think the highlight was hearing a small boy complaining to reception that there was a snake at the villa he was staying on. Well after hearing that we were extra careful with coming and going in the dark from our van. Thankfully we didn’t encounter any deadly snakes LOL. After a sad good bye to Charlie our van we didn’t want to move from our AC’d room. This was pure heaven. As this was our first time in Cairns we devised a plan where we would leave the room around 2ish hoping the heat would die down but it didn’t. We were around 30 minutes from the CBD but had a lovely walk along the promenade which entertained us with funny looking Mud-Skippers and signs that Crocs inhabited the area. Again no signs of Crocs. I am sure the Aussies lie about most of these creatures living here as we haven’t seen anything yet!

Perth (22nd – 29th Jan)

Then it was a lovely 6hr flight to Perth for us. Can you believe we were closer to Wellington in Cairns that we were to Perth! Just shows you how big Oz actually is. We arrived around 1.30am into Perth and got straight into a cab to our Hotel. Stu was most impressed by the 24hr self check in at the Formule1 Hotel we stayed in. All computerised and worked perfectly. I think it must have been tiredness and slight jet lagged that made us laugh so much about this simple but effective check in system. Then it was head down for a few hours before an Annan reunite with Pud and Kari took place in the morning. The O’Donnell’s have moved over to Perth from Carlise/Annan to live and we had pre-arranged a wee roadtrip with them. This was an awesome week away. The laughs were non stop especially when we noticed that we were driving along with the car boot window open :O) I don’t know how these Annan boys passed their driving tests!! Honestly Pud – always remember to check if any lights are on that aren’t supposed to be…..
We basically did a road trip South of Perth and went through Margaret River, Augusta and Denmark. It was like a proper holiday with the kids. Kari and I sunbathed and wandered a bit and the boys jumped around the sea and played with their football. We also managed to take in a Rainforest Treetop walk. You can guess by the name what that entailed I’m sure. The views from the top were breathtaking. I just dont know how someone thought that it would be a good idea to build a bridge through the rainforest and then how they managed to do it!! ’suppose that’s the Aussies for you….
We also got our animal fix on a beach on Augusta and saw a pod of Stingray’s swimming around the bay. They were amazing things to see in the wild but we all felt a bit apprehensive about getting to close to them especially after what happened to poor old Steve Irwin…RIP Steve.
After a thoroughly enjoyable trip away with the O’Donnell’s we quickly realised why they wanted us with them. They were of course moving into their new apartment and needed a hand moving all Kari’s clothes, bags and shoes. This woman is worse than me :O) Their apartment is an amazingly modern set out close to the city centre and the River where we celebrated Australia Day. Can you believe we watched 35 solid minutes of fireworks. It was truley an amazing display so much better than the new year ones we’d seen in Brisbane.
Our last day in Perth for me was spent in the apartment as I was hiding from the sun. Somehow, me, Stu and Kari all got burnt after spending a day at Cottisloe Beach and I came out the worst. I am now paying for my stupidity of sleeping on the beach and peeling something rotten. Note to self hide if the sun it out!