Well I’m now sitting at home in Nelson, I had a great trip in Queensland. The last couple of weeks were in the far north around Cairns. In the Mossman area I visited my glass blowing friends Ola and Marie Hoglund, thanks so much guys for the hospitality, such an interesting area for plants and animals.
I thoroughly recommend house sitting, those last 2 weeks mixing it with the tourists and backpackers in Cairns is not really my scene any more!
Still a little weird for me to see people having a beer outside the pubs at 9.30am!
Mark Culleton, with the Qoull on the esplande, surrounded by tourists, a fair dinkum Australian ...Mate! Both of them!
Going out to the great Barrier Reef has quite a few different options…… you can go the fast way.....
or the slow way…….
Guess which I chose?
Yup..... the slow way, on a Chinese Junk
The Low Isles is formed by the coral, making it one of the few like this and therefore unique in its structure. Snorkeling out there amongst the turtles, fish coral and other tourists, was a lot of fun! Apparently crocodiles sometimes do make it out to the reef & sharks are also fairly common! I swam in unison for 30 seconds with a 2 foot long turtle, but mostly in awe, with my nose on the Coral.
With all the tourist activity the fish are pretty tame, although they do have strict rules around no feeding and no standing on the living reef!
This one's called Elephant ear coral (obviously)Back in Cairns shifting backpackers regularly in search of sleep, there’s heaps of em, I attended a barbeque which had Crocodile, Kangaroo and Emu on the Barbie..... Mate, but I chose the vegetarian option, preferring not to eat something that could eat me!
Cairns's first International Busking festival, was well attended, although in talking to the buskers afterwards, their feedback was, that it was hard working up the crowd to participate. I particularly liked the Irishman Patrick (in chains) and Wacky Chad (Pogo stick, unicycle) both slick operators, who improvised a lot on the spot!
On the Cairns Esplanade, a great place for walking, viewing the local birds feathered and otherwise, and the signs like below.
Achtung… Crocodiles inhabit this area, Attacks may cause injury or Death.......so you've been warned!!! Also watch out for ferocious skateboarders, scooter fanatics and practicing cocktail waiters (tricks with the shakers).
Walking past all the ultra modern and huge tourist boats, I spotted a replica of the Duyfken, The Dutch ship that landed on Cape York Peninsula in 1606.
Looked really authentic….apart from its location in the Cairns Marina!
As a budding muso , it’s not everyday I come across a three story music shop full of goodies.
This is part of the range of drum symbols at Buzz Music!
A guitarists dream on two floors, not sure if they had a sound proof room……probably! Oh to visit such a shop with an unlimited budget and time to indulge!
Back on the Waterfront, the Cairns Festival certainly went out with a Fizz and a Bang, out over the lagoon.Well 3 months in Queensland comes to a close, I hope you enjoyed reading my blogs half as much as I did, because, you would have had a “Ripper of a time” Mate’s…..........Now it’s back to normality….whatever that is……..
Already planning the next one.....is Orebro next to Cortona?
Live like there's no tomorrow, if you don't wake up...it's happened!
Cheers
Jimu
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