Views Not

 From now on I am not paying any attention to the stats page that is compiled by the Google network monitoring which is supposed to report on all blog activity. I have read an article which says the Google counters are notorius for including every kind of  webcrawler, search bot and AI search algorithm. These must have all made a concerted effort lately as I have seen an explosion in stats, in the hundreds of thousands, in just the last few months. I am meant to be able to turn on some better counting where spurious stuff is excluded but so far my settings are showing these options as greyed out.  

consistent at 15,000 per day but not real

Valencia

 The tour of Spain has reached Valencia overnight and we did our fair share of navel gazing when we were there.  We also did some bike riding as well.  It is handy when hotels have bicycles right there for you to use or hire.  The locals suffered repeated flooding from their River Turia and the biggest and final straw, in 1957 caused them to reroute the river away from town. This left a huge urban expanse now called Turia Park, which they have filled with gardens, recreation and exhibition space. I remember catching a pedal on a gutter right in front of a police car and going down. They asked if I was ok but did not bother getting out of the car.  We were soon on our way to the Superdomes.

Beach Clearance

 I went back for another beach comb as my back is straightening out again after I bulged it a bit last week. I was mainly after the laminated board I left there last time. I noticed that the diversion structures are working well lately with a deeply scored channel running parallel to the groyne wall. The board was still in place so I walked the length of the beach again for another pickup run. Got an empty Jamieson bottle, a can and many plastics and rope pieces. Straws were the hot item this time including one straw in two halves that had washed up about 20 metres apart. Is that a science experiment telling us something? On the way back I found the big ticket item, being a medium sized tyre. Once I got the sand and seaweed out of it I could get it as far as the base of the ramp whilst juggling the full rubbish bag in the other hand. Good thing I have restarted my weight training.  However I still had the heavy board there so now the tyre has been left and the board taken to the bin. Beach combing never ends.

Small Details

 I found a stamp that the designer and engraver had altered slightly to add his own personal touch, a six point star of David symbol hidden in the detail of the stamp. It reminded me of the time when I was working to produce maps way back last century. On this occasion I added an extra town name to the general layout of the map. It was in small print and had to get passed several checks without being spotted as a fake town. This map was part of a booklet and on final production there it was, Brownlowville a new place you could not visit in Gippsland. I thought I had a copy of the sheet at least but could not find it. I have attached some of my other earlier work as a student and also from the MMBW days. These show some of the printing steps where you may be able to slip in something extra but highly unauthorised. There was another guy on the team who was forever putting "pubic space" on the water plans rather than "public space".

a colour proof to check alignment of plates

Moonee Ponds catchment

star circled

Children of the Revolution

 One thing about trying to ease up when you have a sore back is that there is more reading time. Sometimes you get a book that is a bit of a chore to get to the end. This was a whodunit where a body was found on page one and then the rest was a patient investigation which took to page 350 plus to name a killer. A little to patient for me. This is the interview style of thing. You start with someone nearby who mentions a name then you find that person who mentions another name. Before you know it we have gone back 40 yar and talked the talk to the same characters three times over. There were no butlers in this story but there was an accountant. They are always swifty to pull a shifty.

Beach Clean No 299

 The very last thing before leaving our hotel room last week was to weigh the bags. Using a hand held device to awkwardly lift a 20kg bag so it floats free is a tricky thing. After 10 days of activity I did not do it so well and gave my back a tweak that hurt. I have spent three days nursing it and to add to the mess my teeth started spiking up thru my head. This lasted 24 hours and the dentist said a nerve has died and that was the death throes you were feeling. He says he can try saving the tooth by taking the nerve out. In the meantime I have tested my back by picking up some beach junk.  The first item was a large frayed rope coil that half filled my bag.  There was another kindred bag man down there with two bags that he filled. This was good as I did not want to do that much bending. There was also a slab of pressed cabinet board but I left it there for another day. 

Cove Ride

 Last time we were around the Kewarra beach area a new bridge over the creek was being completed to link the bike track with Palm Cove. You can turn this into a 30km ride to Cairns all along bike paths however you have to get out from the beach and next to the highway to do it.  We tried looking for hire bikes in Cairns and the shop owner/mechanic there was negatively talking it down.  Worst bike theft rate in the country, the glass on that highway path is so bad, insurance is impossibly high for bike hiring yada yada. I got bikes in Palm Cove without a problem and wound our way to Trinity Beach right on the shoreline or thru forest most of the time. Last year I attached the gopro to the handle bars but the camera kept switching off.  I did it again with this ride and there was no problem. It may have been a heat issue back then but this time it was in the low 20s. 

Who goes first?

 The air temperature might be 24° but what about the water temperature and it looks dark in there, it's also  slippery, it's also rocky and all with bare feet.  My feet were a dappled pattern when I got back to the room later.  I was hoping for some more sooty grunters but nothing doing. Nevertheless once you got in it was a pleasant flow.  We had finished our egg and lettuce sandwiches so it was time to swim it off. PS we used eggs a bit in the evenings when a large lunch had been consumed, scrambled, poached and frittataed. No wonder we only went out for a cooked breakfast once. No more eggs for a month please.

Chores

 We made sure the house was exceptionally cleaned before we went away so we could come back and just put the feet up. We had no food so made a quick dash followed by another major supermarket haul.  The weather is brightly sunny and not a breeze so I have filled the line with washing from the last 10 days. Why bother trying to find Sun up North it you have it here by the thermometer full.  The lawns have gone jungle like. We may have had a clean house but the outside was left to itself. So an hours mowing effort turned into two as the Minister for Home Affairs suggested mowing the neighbours as well. They have been in and out of hospital she says, mowing their lawn would be good she says. Groan. I did have time to make a short clip of our turtle friends.

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.

Beaches Ride

 It has been raining most mornings and this morning seems the heaviest. We had a longish day yesterday getting to Palm Cove and and setting up two hire bikes for a ride to Trinity beach and back.  Two yar ago we could see the path under construction with a new bridge to connect the Palm Cove side to the Trinity beach side.  It works well. We took an hour or so work our way along the 7km to Trinity beach. We kept an eye out for luncheon opportunities in the next few days. This time we stopped at the Surf Club for lunch and tucked into a steak sandwich. We sat down on the beach for a while, at the same spot we did three yar ago.  These beaches always have muddy water due to close mangrove flats. 

Cascade Canyon

 We found a place with a large carpark but not so many cars. There was a note I read that said very crowded at the weekend. Good thing this was a Monday however there is plenty of space along the 1.2 km stretch of river for finding a swimming hole. We spent time gathering supplies before we arrived so carried lunch with us up to the top where the main waterfalls and swimming hole was located. We had it to ourselves until a band of muscians arrived however we had a prime rock table in the middle of the river. I think they were looking jealously at our egg sandwiches and wild turkey cans. We stayed for an hour or so here but I could not see any sooty grunters. On the way back there were other spots to sit amongst the gurgling. A three hour 2.5km walk with lunch and a swim.

Fish Frenzy

 I saw a thing where a QLD policeman said his state was Australia's most disaster prone state. Now we are getting to the crux of it. It rained yesterday and it seems it will again today, so don't tell me there is no rain here. We went for an indoor activity at the local aquarium. We have been to the Melbourne and Sydney versions of this, so this one is smaller but still worthwhile. We also combined lunch with it as there is a big fish tank to see while you are snapping at your snapper.  I had the ribs which were tasty but a huge plate full.  We spent 80 mins following the trail from tank to tank. The water clarity in this control room is way better than we saw on Green Island the other day.

I took photos of things that are similar to what I have seen in Corio Bay. These are rays, seahorses and jelly fish. They have upside down jellies here, very weird. There is also a section on killer fish which I wont see at home but then again they had no blue ringed octos or any octopii to see and we have plenty of those at Clifton Springs.

symmetry

stone fish stone cold killer

zebra killer

horned cow

Did you know it is male seahorses that get pregnant!

Chezest

 We are trying to step up our walking distance and this morning got it out to 4.5km. It was raining overnight so we put on the spray jackets but the Sun came out, the steam was up and the heat was on.  Not super hot but around 24° this morning. Along the way we spied the old ambo station which is now a cafe. Chezest seems a Frenchy type of name and the prices match those in Paris as well. The quality is very good though with a muffin that was huge. Tick off another venue that we wanted to try. There are only so many coffees you can down.

The Cairns Japanese Society

 We were wondering why there were so many Japanese on our boat to Green Island the other day. It seems during their Summer they flock to Cairns for cooler but sunny conditions and it is school holidays there. We wandered off to the Night Market last night as we had seen the tents being erected over the last few days and wanted some finger food to finish the day. This was no night market. That was somewhere else and we were slap bang in another Japanese invasion. It was the annual Japanese festival with fan dancing, drum banging and five kinds of chicken. We were there for finger food and we did try the fried chicken but the dim sum was better. Sayonara.

A Theory of Hosts

 Years ago hotels were hotels, nobody owned a hotel room. Part of the general digital disruption was AirBNB.  They said let us promote your holiday house online.  Then some monied up types started buying hotel rooms. This hotel is selling off rooms but then taking no responsibility for anyone staying in them. That is the hosts job. Our host is actually a remote hotel manager. She manages at least 30 rooms inside here by phone and is a paid employee of the owner of those rooms. I spoke to him and he lives in Melbourne. I asked why we could not use the gym here and we were told it was only for hotel guests as people in these 30 rooms are not hotel guests but he did negotiate use of the pool. Hooray. We have found this situation before say, at Mantra, they sell off rooms and in some cases all of them but they still manage it as a hotel however you will end up in a room that you can see has personal touches and is owned by someone else. I have not seen this at a high end Hilton or Ritz hotels but I have not been in one of those for a while.

Kewarra

 We are giving up any notion of staying at this hotel any time soon or most likely ever. We have been back three times now and the hotel redevelopment is not happening. It looks a bit shambolic and the original beach bar shack is still a ruin. I notice the Toasty Goat has set up shop nearby but this is not a bar, more a sitdown coffee and lunch van. Even this is on a block with a for sale sign. The beach here is good, except the whole place is an off leash dog zone. Couldn't they have made it just half the beach. It is the first time we have been on a Saturday. Dog City.  We will be back soon as the new bike path has now been completed.