Jo & Tane come to stay...

Twas the beginning of February and all through the house, 4 creatures were stirring but not much (or else!) Dirty socks were all flung on the floor with no care, in the hopes the washing fairy soon would be there. (And here is where I depart from any reference to the actual poem...) The very next morning from Brisbane by plane, A sister Joelle and little Tane they came. To stay in the heat of a Cairns summer and explore, to have fun and see things and play with us four! So i'm about kerpluncked out of ideas to continue this wee ditty, so i think i'll just leave it at that. We had a great weekend, despite a bit of moisture hanging about in the atmosphere! Went to the Cairns tropical zoo and saw a Macau, Kangaroos (which Abbey is pretty chilled out in the presence of nowadays - wandering up to them pretty happily and getting all excited about feeding them) A snake show (Abbey was pretty keen on walking right up to the grate where the inland taipan was and putting her fingers through... not the wisest idea with the worlds deadliest nakey-snakey! Needless to say she was restrained, despite protest and much wriggling!) Abs was pretty fond of the koalas too, and even had a wee interaction with a big fat wombat. The Green Iguana was an exciting find and brought back happy memories of Hong Kong... There was a pretty cool reptile room with some cool lizards and snakes in it as well (like this Death Adder). Hmmm how did the Death Adder get named as such. Death was added to the person who tried to play with it? Dangerous mathematics? Emu's, Tamarin's, Lemurs. Eels. Cassowary. Cute little Red Panda's, Dingoes, Owls, Alligators, Freshwater and Saltwater Crocs all got a show, as well as dozens of other birds of varying colour, size and shape. But the highlight (well for me at least) was the free flight bird show. Basically birds flying in and out of an outdoor amphitheatre for the guy who was running the show in response to his tasty bribes. He had a magpie, a Pink Cockatoo (not all pink Cockatoo's are Galah's!) and an Eagle. All of which were quite thrilling flying around the audience and swooping within inches of your head... Really really cool. Anyway that was Saturday. Sunday we went for a drive up to Kuranda. First stop was the magnificent and thunderous Barron Falls... Contrast the pictures from our first trip to the 'falls' in August, and what they are like when there's been a bit of rain (ok so it's a big bit - measured in metres rather than millimetres, but you get the idea...) Really really cool display of the power and potential of nature. Just a boiling frothing mess really. Very cool. Kuranda township we just kinda wandered around, looked in some shops, and soaked in a bit of atmosphere, had some lunch, and looked in some of the galleries. Managed to find a painting for Mez and I to adorn a wall of our home with when we get back to NZ too. The painting is an aboriginal one that tells the story of a family who are trying to find a new home to settle in with their children, after the rains and floods drove them from their current home. Kinda apt we thought. Except we have internet to find us a home, and a plane to get us there. But I guess you could say we've been walkabout for the past few years... So really cool to catch up with Jo, and just hang out and meet her wee man Tane (again for me, but for the first time for Mez) and great for Abbey and Lucy to be able to hang out with their cousin... there will be a lot more of that when we get home - though not with this cousin! Nice to have family still on this side of the Tasman though. Maybe one-day we can take a family holiday and come over to visit them in Brisbane! Dreams are free anyway so it's probably in the 'dreamtime' that that one will stay for the moment!