International

 We gave ourselves extra time at the airport as this is an international flight even though we are not leaving the country. There is a rigamarol to do, like getting a dispensation to go through customs without a passport. The duty free grog was tempting but we were not allowed to purchase any. Not sure why you would fly across the country as an international passenger but that is the way they scheduled it. It seems more relaxed though as this terminal is huge and there are not many people here. Too bad I did not bring my fancy earbuds with wifi transmission to pickup the audio.

morning blue afternoon black

Pistacchi

 We wandered along one of the streets here looking for our last meal and it was a beauty. The other places had a few occupied tables but this place was busy featuring Italian style. We spied one empty table out front and were told we could have it.  As well, they had a Hemingways beer from across at the wharf where we ate last year.  Good old dependable spaghetti with seafood. This very tasty and a huge plate so we shared one serve.  It had a large morton bug sliced in two and sitting on top.  When next in Cairns try Pistacchi.

Trinity

It seemed like a good idea to try for a beach lunch. We had the sandwich, the drinks and the location.  We found it the other day on the bicycles. A corner tucked away out of the wind. Wrong. The wind found us with nasty gusts driving chunky sand particles into our faces. We were wondering why a large sand dune was built at this part of the beach and now we know. There was a short walk around the bluff with a seat and someone spied a turtle earlier. We retreated anyway back to Cairns for a snooze siesta. 

Muddy's

For some reason the weather has come good on our last full day. We did nine days of onshore heavy duty winds, accompanied by rain most mornings which cleared up well by the afternoon, except for the last two days of non stop soaking. My backpack is still wet and I need to dry it for todays outings. We went back to Muddy's cafe. Even mid week it is very busy with a 30min wait for coffee. We also had our first cooked breakfast which was very tasty and very large which is why we had half each of one serve. They also sell the trusty egg and lettuce sandwich so we are ready for our beach session later. Some of the other eateries we have used are Treasure Court for chinese and Splash for seafood. No shortage of choices.

Muddy's because on the other side of the path it is nothing but mud at low tide

Stoney Creek

The weather has closed in badly for two days but we are here so what can you do. The room is small like a cruise ship but there is no quick stroll to a pool, lounge or bar.  This trip requires getting out each day and today is Stoney Creek. This is part of Barron Gorge National Park which we have been to before. There is a sign that declares no maintenance whatsoever is done on this track up Stoney Creek. Beware! The rain kept coming and the rocks and stones were wet and slippery. It is a tough uphill walk for 1km to an old weir. We stopped here as it is another 1.5 hours of relentless, trackless rocks and water to get to the falls proper which you can see more easily from the Kuranda train.  We had half our lunch here and had to wade to get to a bank with a tree for shelter to sit down. We retreated back down after an hour or so to another spot with a gravel shore. The rain really hit here and soaked everything but we were wearing swimmers so went into the water anyway. It was coolish in the water but the other half of our lunch warmed us up.  It was about 30 mins here as we needed to keep moving to get warm. This reminded me of the Tassie days when everything was wet. There was a guy at the bottom reattaching the sign that says no track maintenance beyond this point. Good on ya.

                                        

Parking Update

We have been driving ourselves around this week to outlying beaches, waterfalls and attractions. I never asked about parking a car when we booked here however our type of room does not come with a carpark. If the neighbours, of whom we have now had three different groups since we have been here, if they have no car then we can use their spot in the garage. Each time a new neighbour comes we have to take the car out in case they bring one. Yesterday they brought a car. The council allows for the first two hours free in centre median slots only. Last time we brought it out overnight, it was Sunday with all day free. If you find a centre slot just at around 3:30pm you can leave the car there overnight but must move it out by 10:00am. We did not find a median slot so went for a paid secure 24 hr service at 50c an hour which works as we are not leaving today until 11:00am. However get the app, register the car, create an account, pay ahead of time. Get it, car parking made simples!

Tropics and Botanics

We had lunch at the Botanic Gardens hoping that the persistent rain would go away while we were under cover. It did not stop properly until late afternoon. The gardens are compact with many exotic types of plants there as well as walking tracks spreading out in different directions. We did not go upwards to the higher slopes however did the lower walks to the lakes area which was slimy, muddy, soaking and sloppy if you went off the track. There were dense mangroves and dark forest in parts. Looping back to the gardens there was a section of old wartime fuel tanks converted to art gallery space. Call me unsophisticated but some of this art is stupid. The conservatory was more spectacular with orchids and other flowers colourful in the dimness.