Colours of Cairns...

Ok So immature minds should not be allowed to play in the Cairns botanical gardens. Which is where Mez and I headed saturday afternoon. Kinda hilarious tree there that has a multitude of varying sized Phallus' hanging off it and all over the ground. Mez and I couldn't resist poking fun... Other than that brief skirmish the botanical gardens are just beautiful and these photos are just to show you how beautiful tropical gardens can be! Enjoy the colours of Cairns... we sure did, excellent colour therapy for those in need of a splash! And excellent for those searching for bizarre looking plants - such as the snake cactus tree (see left) and the DO NOT CLIMB ME tree (with Mez on R!).

Sunday we went for a bit of a wander too up a small mountain (ok it was probably only a hill) with Abbey happy as an infant in a backpack on dad's back (= very happy). Really cool track through beautiful lush rainforest, and though warm, it was very bearable... not too tender in the legs too over the last couple of days which has been nice. Clearly i'm not as unfit as I felt attempting all those stairs with the extra 10kg on my back! We saw our first brown snake in the wild too, only about as round as your thumb, but probably about a metre long, and thankfully moving away from us! Exciting though and definately more thrilling to see than the plethora of Bush turkeys and Orange footed scrub fowls! The Elusive Cassowary managed to elude us though, so we'll be back for more for sure!

Abbey's First Birthday!!!

Wow! How fast does a year roll around?? Our little girl turned one on the 14th of July amidst moving into our new house in Cairns (kinda apt I guess) and a flurry of both phone calls and presents. And it genuinely does feel like the year has flown by... it's always amazing to look back and see what has been accomplished in that time, and this first year in Abbey's life has been no different... She's gone from cute little blob who didn't do much at all (which to be fair, is about par for most babies!), to a bubbly vivacious little girl, who is learning to use her considerable charm to her best advantage!

We've certainly enjoyed the ride thus far, possible exception being the somewhat regular late night wake-ups to remind us we don't have it completely sweet! (which we normally do!) Wee tot has been a bit unsettled of late - but then, so have we, so that probably accounts for the majority of it. It's nice to finally have a place for her to call home though, and from the way she throws her toys about the place, it seems she's accepted it as home too, which is fantastic! Clearly a great day though, as the photo's show (hopefully) and our little girl is well loved and doted on not only by parents and closest relatives (uncle John and aunty Mikaela) but the multitudes of friends and family all over the world - thanks for the messages and gifts for those that sent them - very much appreciated!