First, of all, it is pronounced Cans. As in kick the. Now that is out of the way, on to hearing about our week up in North Queensland!
We left on Tuesday, 4 September. We were supposed to have a morning flight, but it was cancelled and we were rebooked onto the afternoon flight. It all worked out. Kudos to the rebook folks too-we were still able to sit together. Last time that happened on a stateside flight they had us scattered all over the plane and we had to ask/beg individuals to swap seats. Can't imagine they didn't want to sit next to our charming kids under the age of 10 without a parent!
The flight up was so easy. I love traveling with our kids now. They buckle up on their own, know the safety lecture by heart, and relax to enjoy the flight. I have to laugh though-the little ones both asked where the TV's in the seats were-not on the domestic flight kiddos! They liked that it was a "short hop" instead of a sleeper flight. But still complained about the lack of personal TV. Spoiled!
We had a transfer to our apartment, which was quite close to the airport, as the planes taking off at 6am all week long would attest to. The apartment was very comfortable-tile throughout, nice size, and right next to a good pool! The kids liked it! I also went on cooking strike all week-so we ordered from the Italian place attached to the resort. Nothing special about it but the price! Close and convenient counted for it today.
Nothing was scheduled activity wise until Thursday, so we hopped the shuttle and went into town on Wednesday. Nice sized place, and the driver was a wealth of information. We got the grand tour, picked up some groceries for breakfasts, snacks, and lunch, and retired to the pool for the afternoon. Met a fun family from Melbourne up for holiday as well. Both are police officers. He is a motorbike officer doing official motorcades and has met most of the heads of state who have come to Australia! He preferred the dirk bike version for search and rescue work. She works in a country town outside of Melbourne as well as in the middle of a stint at the public relations office in Melbourne CBD. They have 2 kids, ages 8 and 10, so all of our crowd got on well! Met up with them intermittently as activities allowed and had a great last night there together as well. Pizza, wine, and clean out the fridge for all!
Based on advice from the shuttle driver, we rescheduled our reef trip until Friday as the wind was pretty steady and the waves pretty good sized. We wandered through the botanical gardens behind the resort area as well as the park. No swimming signs everywhere due to crocs! They were not kidding about it either. Didn't see one, but really didn't want to either. And back to the pools!
The reef trip was fine. I have decided that Chinese tourists really need a cultural educator to lecture before they go anywhere. Cutting in line is a no-no. Stuffing your face for lunch and then cutting in line before you have even finished the first plate is also a no-no. On the other hand, the Japanese tourists were so sweet! Alex and Lyle were the snorkeling pair-Alex loved it again. She got some nice pics of the coral and a swimming turtle as well. Here's some pics! I'll caption them so you know what the story is!
A classic beach shot of the two littles.
Alex and Lyle coming out of the surf from their snorkel.
Kiddos at the Baron Falls stop. Everyone had to get this shot!
A Cairns Birdwing at the butterfly pavillion. Native to the area-the wings are as big as Ian's hand! They move fast so nearly impossible to get a shot with open wings. They are lime green bordered with black. Beautiful! The Ulysses Birdwing is grey and black under with bright blue wings and they moved even faster!
Alex with the black headed python.
Annika with the python.
No hesitation for Ian to get his picture with the snake too!
Walk like an Egyption kiddo!
Isn't she getting big? So stylish too. . .
Imagined a T-Rex pounding down the stream?
Ahhhhh! It's going to get me!
These ladies fell in love with Ian! They were trying to get him to smile all afternoon. "Are those girls talking to me?" Yes! Finally got a picture with them all at a gondola stop. They loved it!
Alex took this one of a green sea turtle.
And this one of her dad!
Who returned the favor.
Trees were so tall! 200 ft or so for most of the tallest.
Gnarly growth on this one. Neato!
Patterns on the ground level leaves. Beautiful!
General photo of the ground level.
The boardwalk through the forest. Felt quite primitive.
The pitcher plants were pretty cool!
Here's an up close of the pitcher plants.
The view coming over the last hill on the skyway gondola over the rainforest.
We left on Tuesday, 4 September. We were supposed to have a morning flight, but it was cancelled and we were rebooked onto the afternoon flight. It all worked out. Kudos to the rebook folks too-we were still able to sit together. Last time that happened on a stateside flight they had us scattered all over the plane and we had to ask/beg individuals to swap seats. Can't imagine they didn't want to sit next to our charming kids under the age of 10 without a parent!
The flight up was so easy. I love traveling with our kids now. They buckle up on their own, know the safety lecture by heart, and relax to enjoy the flight. I have to laugh though-the little ones both asked where the TV's in the seats were-not on the domestic flight kiddos! They liked that it was a "short hop" instead of a sleeper flight. But still complained about the lack of personal TV. Spoiled!
We had a transfer to our apartment, which was quite close to the airport, as the planes taking off at 6am all week long would attest to. The apartment was very comfortable-tile throughout, nice size, and right next to a good pool! The kids liked it! I also went on cooking strike all week-so we ordered from the Italian place attached to the resort. Nothing special about it but the price! Close and convenient counted for it today.
Nothing was scheduled activity wise until Thursday, so we hopped the shuttle and went into town on Wednesday. Nice sized place, and the driver was a wealth of information. We got the grand tour, picked up some groceries for breakfasts, snacks, and lunch, and retired to the pool for the afternoon. Met a fun family from Melbourne up for holiday as well. Both are police officers. He is a motorbike officer doing official motorcades and has met most of the heads of state who have come to Australia! He preferred the dirk bike version for search and rescue work. She works in a country town outside of Melbourne as well as in the middle of a stint at the public relations office in Melbourne CBD. They have 2 kids, ages 8 and 10, so all of our crowd got on well! Met up with them intermittently as activities allowed and had a great last night there together as well. Pizza, wine, and clean out the fridge for all!
Based on advice from the shuttle driver, we rescheduled our reef trip until Friday as the wind was pretty steady and the waves pretty good sized. We wandered through the botanical gardens behind the resort area as well as the park. No swimming signs everywhere due to crocs! They were not kidding about it either. Didn't see one, but really didn't want to either. And back to the pools!
The reef trip was fine. I have decided that Chinese tourists really need a cultural educator to lecture before they go anywhere. Cutting in line is a no-no. Stuffing your face for lunch and then cutting in line before you have even finished the first plate is also a no-no. On the other hand, the Japanese tourists were so sweet! Alex and Lyle were the snorkeling pair-Alex loved it again. She got some nice pics of the coral and a swimming turtle as well. Here's some pics! I'll caption them so you know what the story is!
A classic beach shot of the two littles.
Alex and Lyle coming out of the surf from their snorkel.
Kiddos at the Baron Falls stop. Everyone had to get this shot!
A Cairns Birdwing at the butterfly pavillion. Native to the area-the wings are as big as Ian's hand! They move fast so nearly impossible to get a shot with open wings. They are lime green bordered with black. Beautiful! The Ulysses Birdwing is grey and black under with bright blue wings and they moved even faster!
Alex with the black headed python.
Annika with the python.
No hesitation for Ian to get his picture with the snake too!
Walk like an Egyption kiddo!
Isn't she getting big? So stylish too. . .
Imagined a T-Rex pounding down the stream?
Ahhhhh! It's going to get me!
These ladies fell in love with Ian! They were trying to get him to smile all afternoon. "Are those girls talking to me?" Yes! Finally got a picture with them all at a gondola stop. They loved it!
Alex took this one of a green sea turtle.
And this one of her dad!
Who returned the favor.
Trees were so tall! 200 ft or so for most of the tallest.
Gnarly growth on this one. Neato!
Patterns on the ground level leaves. Beautiful!
General photo of the ground level.
The boardwalk through the forest. Felt quite primitive.
The pitcher plants were pretty cool!
Here's an up close of the pitcher plants.
The view coming over the last hill on the skyway gondola over the rainforest.
We really didn't schedule much more. The reef day and the rainforest day were the only organized activities we did. The objective was to look around, which we did, and relax, which I say we did pretty well. Lots of time by the pool, I didn't cook a single meal, and everyone slept well, which is a rarity. Cairns is a very pretty little city and a fantastic area to visit and we would love to go back!
Have a super week everyone! It is the last week of the 3rd school term, so the kids are ready to have a break. Ian has to get his passport renewed this week, so I have to take a day off school and Lyle will meet us downtown to meet with the consular officials. Sent it all in last month, but have to sign in person in front of a consular witness before they will take the forms to process. Hope to have it back in about a month, so to travel outside of the country in the meantime. Darn! We had so much planned too!
Love ya!
