Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Ok, well there haven't been any trains, but we have been on a plane, 2 boats, a sailboat, a taxi, 2 buses,  a minivan and a ferry over the last week. We flew into Cairns last Wednesday and have been on the go ever since. Even now we're on an island and I am writing this from a dodgey coin operated desktop computer that is running the original version of Internet Explorer and will only let me type in HTML for some reason. So excuse the lack of photos and weird things happening with fonts and formatting if I can't quite get that figured out. Upon our arrival in Cairns, we immediately noticed the heat and humidity. We picked up our sweet rental minivan and drove in the dark (because the sun sets around 5:45) to our home for a few days.

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather by spending the next day at Green Island.  We took the boat over and spent the day hanging out on the beach and snorkelling.  While not technically The Great Barrier Reef,  it is Great Barrier Reef adjacent.   We saw sting rays, sea turtles, hundreds of multicoloured fish, coral, anemones, and starfish.   Arra was a bit nervous of the ocean at first, but quickly got over it and then loved swimming and playing in it and of course eating the sand.  I wish i could say she was thrilled with her first boat ride,  but she seemed unimpressed as she slept both ways. 

Arra and Cody loving the ocean.

Our next stop was a full day drive from Cairns to Airlie Beach.   Arra is getting a bit sick of travel days,  but she's a trooper.   Airlie Beach is a tourist town with lots of shops,  bars/restaurants and is a hub for sailing trips to The Great Barrier Reef.   Cody, Carly and Candra set off on a 2 day sailing adventure aboard the Waltzing Matilda while Arra and I had some mommy-daughter bonding time on shore (no babies allowed at sea).  Arra and I saw them off, then headed to the huge Saturday market where you can buy everything you can imagine. We bought some fresh eggs, fruit and vegetables and a mango sorbet to share and wandered through all of the stalls.  We had breakfast together on our patio overlooking the ocean and rainforest.   And our afternoon was spent swimming at The Lagoon.  Our second day was more of the same,  wandering through the shops and more swimming at The Lagoon under the clear sky, next to the perfectly tourquoise ocean, so I can't complain too much about staying ashore.  The sailors all reported a fabulous time on their trip too!

 Sailboats at Airlie Beach

Cody and Carly enjoying their time aboard The Waltzing Matilda

We next piled into our minivan and made our 

way to Hervey Bay.   After a bit of confusion ( through no fault of our own ) we ended up in a taxi, racing to catch the ferry that was being held for us. We made the ferry and enjoyed the short ride to Fraser Island.  We checked into the Kingfisher Bay Resort and made our way through the forest to our 3 bedroom villa.   All the comforts of home with a jacuzzi on the balcony and minutes walk from the ocean.   While on the island we enjoyed a ranger guided nature hike, fishing on the pier, wine and cheese and watching the sunset, and a 4x4  beauty spots tour of the island.  We finished off the visit with date night for Cody and me (thanks aunties!).

Soaking in our balcony jacuzzi

Today we catch the ferry back to shore, rent a new minivan and make the drive to Brisbane.