In Tropical Northern Queensland

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Well, we're now staying in our last caravan park - we'll be leaving for home in only ten days. We're in Cairns. We decided we've had enough traveling; it's now time to stay in one spot for a while. No wonder Australian families love these caravan parks. Immediately after we checked into the office we were taken for a tour - in a large golf cart with a huge, colourful Nemo on the top - to view the whole park. There are two huge swimming pools and an outdoor movie screen, plus all the other extras you get in these parks. On two separate evenings we sat in our lawn chairs and watched a movie outside. The last one was a period movie about the poet John Keats and Barry and I outlasted the other thirty people who showed up to watch it. They got bored and all disappeared back to their campsites within 1/2 hour. We didn't really enjoy it that much either but it was so great to be all alone watching under the stars that we stayed till the end! We even saw a little hoppy creature go by but it was too dark to see what it was.

The part of the park we're in has, as usual, a lot of gray nomads, retired Australians who are here on vacation from the cold south (South Australia and Sydney are getting lots of rain storms now). Late this afternoon the couple in the travel trailer next to us invited us and six other people over to their 'deck' for a visit. One couple is from the U.S. They vacationed in Australia so many times over the years they decided to sell their house, buy a travel trailer and come here to live. They've been in Australia 2-1/2 years now. They'll stay in this park for 2 months then move on to another one in another part of the country.

Barry and I took a trip to Kuranda yesterday, a village up in the mountain above Cairns. It was a fun trip. We took an historic train ride up the mountain and rode a gondola 7 kilometres down. It's really something seeing the rain forest from up above. Most of all we enjoyed the Bird World park. We were given a bag of food and sent into a huge aviary. Suddenly we were covered with birds, a huge brilliantly coloured macaw and several rainbow-coloured parrots. The macaw was interested in the water bottle I carry in my knapsack. He tore the white plastic ring off the bottle then started gnawing at the buckles of my pack before I managed to get him off. Barry was covered in birds too. One grabbed onto his hat and then pulled a brochure out of his pocket and let it drop. We had a good laugh; the birds are so cheeky if they know food is nearby.

Two days now Barry has gone golfing and I've taken a bus into the city. I like poking around in all the shops and still have more to see. The city isn't very big and it's in a bit of a depression now. Two business people and a bus-tour guide have told me the numbers of tourists are way down now. Apparently this year only 400,000 people were here instead of the usual 4 million. There are still lots of domestic Australians traveling up the coast but the international numbers are really low due to the world's financial problems. It has sure made things easy for us, though. Being that it's also off-season for international travelers we never have to wait in line-ups and all the tours we've taken have been small and more personal.

Today we drove into the city and went to a Caravan/Home Show. We're still astounded at the prices of the recreational vehicles. A motorhome the size of the one we're driving was on sale for $126,000. I checked online and found a similar motorhome in Texas; it's selling for $66,000.

We're doing our best to enjoy every minute of the warm weather while we're here. It's quite hilarious to hear local people complaining about the cold mornings. We feel sweaty all the time and are drinking gallons of water. Sometimes the days get cloudy, even stormy-looking, but they're still hot at about 28C.

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Photos

Hooty Playing Dangerously
It's a joke, Glenna.

Comments

[anonymous]

I wonder if you are tempted to move there too, like the American couple you mentioned? I would come to visit, I promise :)