Australia arrival

Monday Jan. 10 - Arrival

We arrived in Cairns to lovely PLUS 30 degree weather!!  We didn't have any problems at immigration and all 9 pieces of luggage made it our last leg of the trip.  I guess we can put the pants and coats away for awhile!  A friend of Brendan & Carol picked us up at the airport.  Scott got a rental car there and followed Tony home.  Nothing like jumping right in traveling on the opposite side of the road.

We unpacked our luggage, ordered in pizza and then found the IGA for a few basic breakfast items to get us started.

Tues. Jan. 11 - Shopping

Did a couple of loads of laundry and got them on the line before we went to buy groceries...told you it would be exciting.  Went for a walk in our new neighbourhood and found a playground for the kids.  Had a BBQ for tea (supper) outside under the covered deck area at home.

outside covered deck with spa in the back

Wed. Jan. 12 -  Shopping again & Crystal Cascade

- drove into downtown Cairns to the mall to open a bank account.  Cairns is about the size of Red Deer, so not to big, just perfect.  We did a little shopping and bought the kids runners for school.  We then started looking for a vehicle.  Scott had done his homework and the first vehicle we looked at is the one we bought.  We now own a 2004 Toyota Kluger, it's bigger than a Rav and about the same size as an Explorer.  It has a lovely ROO BAR on the front, yes it's for if you hit a mob of kangaroos!

We did have some excitement in the mall parking lot as we witnessed a man trying to steal a dirt bike from the dealership across the road.  He lost his flip flops, which they call thongs, and almost his shorts as he tried to push the motorcycle passed us.  Serves him right, wearing his shorts so low like that, I wish they would have fallen down.  Scott was about to inquire what he was doing when 3 men from different directions got him and the bike.

On our way home we drove to Crystal Cascades and went for an impromptu swim in the river with our clothes on!  FUN!!  Oh yeah we did see a KANGAROO....sign!  LOL



swimming at Crystal Cascades









Thurs. Jan. 13 - Wharf
-we did some more work on securing our new vehicle.  Scott started on some yard work and I'm sure he lost 4 lbs in sweat.
We did have some fun again, we walked along the wharf and then went swimming at the Esplanade lagoon next to the ocean.  We didn't go in the ocean because of the crocodiles!

Fri. Jan. 14 - visit school & new vehicle

. Up early for me and went for a tour of my school, Holy Cross.  My principal Wendy picked me up and showed me around.  The school looks typical for most schools the week before it's due to open, STILL under construction, even half way around the world it's still the same thing!  Boxes everywhere and the library, office and staffroom are not ready to go yet.  My classroom is on the top of 2 floors, and there are no hallways.  All the room doors open to outside.  I did see some KANGAROO ...droppings!  LOL!  Scott and the kids picked me up and I showed them around and where their classrooms would be.  On the way home we stopped at the cable park to watch and sign the kids up for wake boarding on Monday morning.  Not sure it will be good for skiing as they had only one slalom ski and it looked like it had seen better days. Boo Hoo!

In the afternoon we picked up the new vehicle!  Thank goodness Scott did his homework and was well prepared.  The steps included: opening a bank account, transferring funds from Canada to our new account, (no problems), putting a deposit down on the Kluger, getting a registration number (RCN) from the transportation office, back to the bank for a certified cheque and then back to the dealership to finalize the purchase!  Then we returned the rental car to the airport, that meant it was my turn to drive.  Not to bad, I only turned the wipers on a 3 times instead of my turn signal!  LOL



2004 Toyota Kluger





 Sat. Jan. 15 - Great Barrier Reef After Scott did some more yard work and lost a few more pounds, we headed out for a spur of the moment trip to the Great Barrier Reef.  We took a boat out to Green Island and snorkeled with the fish for 2 hours!  A definite must to go back to, to enjoy some more.  We snorkeled from the beach and played in the sand.  The kids didn't like the salt water getting in their eyes.  This was their first salt water swim.  Yes we were wearing our stinger suits to protect us from the jellyfish.





Cindy snorkeling




Great Barrier Reef fish




Brody having fun