Cairns

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Last night at Cairns (Lake Placid) tonight, then it is off to the Daintree National Park. We had a family day on our own today & included some more family with a visit to Bec’s father-in-law Garry. We holed up at his place for a few beers & a chat this afternoon which was great. Much talk of potential moves up North. The morning was spent at Kuranda markets & the Butterfly Sanctuary. The butterflies are awesome. So much to learn! Did you know that most butterflies only live for two or three weeks but the longest lived one in Australia goes for a year or so? It all depends on how often they go about flapping their wings – the more you flap, the more scales fall off the wings & the less time you live! The Kuranda Markets were a bit disappointing considering the build up they get but we took a stroll around anyway.

Yesterday was spent in Cairns at the Esplanade which is again a South Bank like place right on the shore. The kids had a swim, we walked through the markets & then headed back to camp for lunch. Our family had dinner with an old friend Andy at a spot back on the esplanade which was great.

The two days before that we spent at Murray Falls, swimming in the drink, playing cricket & eating damper & fire roasted spuds (thanks Tony). It was such a great place. It is just past a small Aboriginal community that also got smashed by the cyclone. I only had the chance to meet a couple of locals but one had fresh little baby that was one of the cutest kids I have ever seen – only a few days old.

Phil, Tony & I are looking at doing a fishing charter from Cooktown or Karumba in the next week or two. If anyone has any experiences in charters from either of these spots, please let us know!

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