Cairns, tropical Cairns...

As the plane descended through the azure blue towards the muddied white horses of the sea below I looked out and it felt like home. Arrival into Cairns for the weekend was somewhat unexpected. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but I guess beautiful green hills and mountains probably wasn’t it. I was pleasantly surprised. Mez had gone up a couple of days earlier for Abbey to meet yet another Aunt and Uncle to dote on her and shower with attention, which I think she is well used to now (as you can tell!)

First stop for the weekend for me though, was a meeting with potential employer number one, who picked me up from the airport (along with her husband) and drove me to her practice towards the south of Cairns. Nice place, nice people, and when Mez and Abbey joined us we then headed out to lunch and asked them to sell Cairns to us. For people trying to sell a city, Karen and Mike were refreshingly honest noting both the good and bad of the city in what (to me) seemed a very balanced take on their home. This was going well. So after a delightful lunch, they dropped us off at Mikaela and John’s place to muse over the possibilities.

It was great to finally have some quality time with Mikaela and John who we’ve not really had much opportunity to spend time with in the past couple of years, owing to our being in the UK and their being in Australia. Their home is beautifully homely and welcoming and it’s a real novelty and thrill to have a brother and sister in the same country! Great backyard too with enough grass to play on, and enough mature trees to feel distanced from the neighbours and shaded from the sometimes fierce, Cairns sun. Later that evening I also met with potential employer number two, at a bar on the waterfront downtown. Also a lovely lady, though the job on offer not quite as enticing as the first option.

Saturday evening was a delicious roast and a few beers around the table at Mikaela and John’s which was blissfully relaxing, Sunday morning found us out at Palm Cove again enjoying the company of Karen and Mike for brunch on the deck of their apartment. Again, really lovely to chat and spend time with them – this time with Mikaela and John as well. We then headed out to Crystal Cascades for a wander in the rainforest before church in the evening and pizza to follow. Good times. Most of these pics are from Crystal cascades – which is a bit of a favoured local spot, and largely free of tourists! Another couple of big Goanna’s clearly enjoy the spot too as we noted when walking back! Simply beautiful lush green bush through which the odd Ulysses, iridescent blue butterflies weaved their magic selves through the foliage. Spectacular spectacular!

Monday we went for a wander along the waterfront (esplanade) and checked out the inner city including an amazing childrens play area complete with little rivers and fountains of water gushing and spraying everywhere much to the childrens’ delight! Nice pool too – all free, on the esplanade and serviced by lifeguards from 6am – 10pm! Nice! The obligatory free BBQ’s also make an appearance along with exercise stations and a skating area with jumps/rails etc. Really well planned and executed development. In my humble opinion.

And looks like a good place to raise a family. So who knows – we may well be calling this town home in the not too distant future… we’ll see!