Northern Queensland - part 3

WEDNESDAY 22nd Jan

Today we headed north, further in to the Daintree Rainforest. To get there we had to cross the Daintree river by ferry. Does Jo look a little worried as we cross?:

Like Mossman Gorge there were lots of aerial walkways and themed areas, including the boys' favourite, Jurassic Park:

Asher surely has a career on stage ahead of him.

THURSDAY 23rd Jan

Today we had to vacate our lovely Air B&B villa and head south again to Cairns. Our plan was to drop the bags off at our hotel reception, return the Jeeps and head out, but we were pleased to find that our rooms were ready ahead of schedule so we completed checkin and took our bags up to the 5th floor.

Once Chris and I had returned the Jeeps we all walked round to Cairns museum for an hour or two, then another short walk to the Aquarium, where we grabbed a quick bite and raced round the exhibits before last entry at 3:30 pm:

Back to the hotel where Kelly, Miller and Asher opted for a movie night with takeaways whilst Chris, Jo and I took a walk round to Hemingway's brewery. On the way I spotted a wall of Aborigine art:

At the brewpub, we found a nice table where we could look across the water to the hills:

 

FRIDAY 24th Jan

Today was a historic train ride up the hills to the village of Kuranda. Our first stop was just outside Cairns at Freshwater station which hasn't changed much over the years:

It's a 2 hour slow chug up the hills at a steady 10 mph, snaking gently round the gorges, including a couple of what are described as hairpin (for trains) bends. We came to Barron Falls and we were allowed to get off the train for photographs:

Once we boarded again and set off, I looked back at our rear carriages as we took the bend:

It had been a difficult 2 hour scenic ride for the boys' attention spans and when we got to Kuranda, Miller, in particular, was suffering from the heat and just wanted to get on the Skytrain cablecar back down again, so we stopped in the shade and snacked, which seemed to revive him a little so we were able to persuade him to at least take a short river walk back to the cablecar.

We had return bookings at 2 pm but Chris managed to get this changed and soon we were heading back down again - Chris, Kelly, Miller and Asher in one cablecar and Jo and I following in another. Jo's fears have not diminished much over the years despite similar trips in the past in Palm Springs, Costa del Sol and Cape Town, but she was much happier when we changed her seat and was looking backwards:

I wasn't bothered either way:

Back at our hotel the big question was what to do for dinner? Asian takeway at one of the many outlets nearby was the preferred choice and we ate it next to our hotel pool. Jo and I finished our bottle of wine on the lovely terrace overlooking the sea and the ferris wheel. I made several attempts at a selfie before a waitress rescued me and took the lovely photo of the two of us published on FB, but here's one of my earlier efforts:

So that was our week in the tropics over. An early start on Saturday morning meant we were back in Old Noarlunga by early afternoon. Kelly and Chris have been busy since then catching up on shopping etc but Jo and I have just used it as recovery time.

Northern Queensland - part 2

 Continuing my daily diary of our adventure in the tropics:

MONDAY 20th Jan

A day at nearby Mossman Gorge in the lower Daintree Rainforest in an area known as the Wet Tropics of Queensland - a World Heritage site. Roughly 180 million years old, predating the Amazon rainforest.

There are aerial walkways but it is also a popular bathing spot. However, the heavy rains of the previous evening had led the park authorities to declare it a non-swimming day due to the potentially dangerous currents. However, we came to a spot that was fairly flat and mostly shallow and noticed that there were many people in the water there so we decided to join them:

We took a walk round the trails after that:

TUESDAY 21st Jan

This was the day when our 6-seater van had to be returned to Cairns and we would pick up a couple of Jeeps for our drive tomorrow deeper in to the Daintree Forest, simulating a Jurassic Park experience for the boys. We had time on the way down to Cairns to stop off at Hartley's Crocodile Adventures where the first stop was a boat ride in the swamp:

Camouflaged croc heads popped up everywhere. Then it was off to the crocodile feeding show. Some of the staff were very brave, feeding them by hand. Others used a safer method:

The Cassowary has a reputation for being aggressive and one of the last of the dinosaurs but this one was pretty docile:

Other sights there were:

Termite hill

Once we'd finished there we headed down to Cairns, picked up the Jeeps and joined Kelly and the boys in the huge beachfront lagoon. Then it was time to head north again in time for our evening meal. A lot of places were either shut, unsuitable or too busy but we managed to get an outdoor table at Chilly's Pizza & Trattoria where there was the added "attraction" of it being Cane Toad Race Night:

Northern Queensland - part 1

We got back from our week in Northern Queensland on Saturday morning (25th) but, for the day before we flew north, Jo and I did one of our favourite walks - Hallett Cove. On the way up there we were stopped in Lonsdale by the huge peleton, police out-riders, support crews and TV helicopters on the first day of the Tour Down Under - an event I usually manage to see some action from - but this interruption in our journey was a little unexpected.

I'd heard they had built 2 new bridges over a couple of the gorges on the coastal trail so we went there first to check them out:

We went off-piste briefly and ventured on to the rocky beach:

The original plan had been to try to walk back to the nice cafe and have lunch there but it was very hot and so we decided to drive back a couple of miles, have lunch and then do the usual walk round the Sugarloaf area.

Jo was still so hot when we got back to Old Noarlunga that she finally broke her duck and took to the pool:

SATURDAY 18th Jan

It was a lunchtime Jetstar flight to Cairns so there was no rush, but our Uber, when it arrived was a little undersized for the 6 of us plus luggage. It was a bit of a job to get it all in but we just managed in the end. It was a timely 3 hour flight and we arrived in tropical Cairns mid/late afternoon. The original thought had been to get an Uber up to our holiday rental in Port Douglas which was an hour north by car, but we made the wise decision to hire our own vehicle instead - and this time there was plenty room for all of us plus luggage.

The thing that hits you is the humidity - the absolute temperature was manageable - almost static day and night around the 30 C mark. We had been to Queensland before - Brisbane, which we thought was pretty northerly, but Cairns is over 1,700 kms further north and well in to the tropical zone.

After some food shopping at the local Coles store we walked out on to the beach from our lovely villa and then just chilled after dinner. For future reference we took note of the warning sign at the edge of the beach:

SUNDAY 19th Jan

There was a Sunday market in Port Douglas so we all took a hot and steamy walk along Four Mile Beach to the town with a welcome cafe stop when we finally got there. After a quick walk round the market, Jo and I went exploring and found a lovely cliffside trail which, unfortunately for Jo, involved a fair bit of climbing. Chris, Kelly and the boys went back to the beach for a quick dip in a safe from stingers etc area created by a large beam. They then walked back to our villa via the beach.

Meanwhile, Jo and I staggered on, resting occasionally and taking advantage of a couple of nice viewing platforms:

Jo and I finally got to the end of our cliff adventure and were now desperate for some fluid intake - "water or beer, Jo?" The latter was the swift reply so we crossed the town down to the marina and Hemingway's brewery:

Suitably refreshed we planned for an UBER back to the villa but, despite over a dozen attempts none were forthcoming so we just hoofed it back. At one of our rest stops as we went to lean on a tree we noticed what we thought were 4 large bugs on the trunk - here's one of them:

On closer inspection we noticed they were just shells - probably of cicadas who had shed their outer layer. It was a relief when we finally got back to the villa - over 15 kms and 20,000 + steps on our first day in the tropical heat and humidity.

That evening we experienced the first of what we thought might be a daily thunderstorm, although it turned out to be the only one we had all week.

Holiday blog 2

MONDAY 13th Jan (cont'd)

I did go out on a bike ride on Monday - Chris' bike was ready to roll so I headed out gingerly through Seaford to the seafront clifftop trails. Drop handlebars, tricky gear changes and brakes plus pedals designed for clip-ons made me feel a bit vulnerable at the start but I think I eventually overcame most of my fears.

It's a lovely ride, meeting the Onkaparinga river mouth just before Port Noarlunga:

From there I cycled back along the park trails:

TUESDAY 14th Jan

We decided to go for a walk - Jo prefers beach walks so we took a car and drove down to Aldinga beach. It was another clear, sunny and hot day and we hoped we might go beyond Aldinga, past Silver Sands beach and out as far as the distant rocks, but I became aware that it was going to be a long way out and then back again and we had left the sun cream in the car accidentally.

We got close but felt it was wise to turn back, take a lunch break at Silver Sands cafe then head to the car. We made it OK but both of us suffered from a bit of sun burn.

Jo and I walked round to the local hotel for a couple of beers before dinner.

WEDNESDAY 15th Jan

We had arranged to meet up with David and Lorene at Strathalbyn, which turned out to be a beautiful little town with a strong Scots connection - including the weather - we went through a couple of fairly heavy showers but they soon subsided.

We had coffee, went for a walk then lunch before heading home:

Naturally, it was St. Andrews church

Kelly had a works dinner in the city in the evening so we took Chris, Miller and Asher round to the "Oldy" for dinner.

THURSDAY 16th Jan

Kelly and Chris both working at home today and the boys are here too - they opted not to go to OSH so we took them out to the library, shops and cafe to pass a couple of hours in the morning.

Incidentally, this is what the living room usually looks like:

It's usually UNO or Monopoly in the evenings.

2025 and Oz

Happy New Year to everyone. The season of excess has now passed. There were 5 of us at home on Christmas Day and the same 5 at Wetherspoon's, Inverurie for Luca's 18th (his choice of venue):

Same again on New Year's Day when Gary brought the cake he had baked:

The snow finally arrived in Banchory just before we left for Australia:

It was just enough for us to make an earlier than planned departure on Monday 6th. Ross drove us over to Stonehaven but we didn't risk the Slug Road, taking the AWPR instead. In the end we arrived in Stonehaven with tons of time to spare before our train to Glasgow was due - sufficent for us to have coffees and scones at a local cafe.

The train journey was fine - timely and quiet - and we jumped in a taxi to take us to Elderslie where we were staying overnight with Brian and Mary.

Tuesday morning and our Emirates courtesy car picked us up for the short journey to Glasgow airport. We spent some time in the Emirates lounge enjoying a nice brunch before boarding our plane. The journey to Dubai is "just" 7.5 hours but we had a tight turn-round of just one hour before our flight to Adelaide departed. We fretted a little but were encouraged by the fact that our plane was parking at a gate very close to our departure gate.

It wasn't quite as simple as we thought, however, as the Connections signs at Dubai directed us downstairs and through an unexpected additional security check. We ran back up the stairs rather than take the busy escalators and boarded our flight. We were a little disappointed when the captain announced that we would be waiting for a bit for other passengers from connecting flights - our rushing had been unnecessary.

The second leg is longer - over 12 hours - but we arrived in Adelaide bang on schedule just before 9 pm local time on Wednesday. We sailed through passport control but our bags - mine especially - seemed to take forever before we were free and greeted by a welcome party of Kelly, Miller and Asher.

By the time we got to Old Noarlunga, unpacked a little and had a cup of tea, it was fast approaching midnight so off we toddled to the "garden room".

Here's a brief summary of our activities since then:

THURSDAY 9th Jan

Day of acclimatisation - fully unpack and hang up clothes etc - but time for a short wander round to the local Long Shot cafe for "spiders" - ice cream floats. After that, we detoured round past the boys' school and hung out for a bit in the field there:

We went for a walk along Moana beach in the evening. Asher heads towards the water:

FRIDAY 10th Jan

2nd recovery day. The boys had friends come over while Jo and I took one of the cars over to Port Noarlunga to see the new coastal walkway that had just opened there. I had thought it went from Port Noarlunga to Christie's Beach but the end bit wasn't finished so it was just a 1 km walk then back again:

Back at Port Noarlunga we decided to walk along the pier. Lots of folk jumping in to the sea and quite a few taking the short swim from the end of the pier to the reef. This is the view back towards the walkway from halfway along the pier:

It was hot again so we drove along to Christie's Beach for a refreshment and to read a chapter or two of our books. We came across the newly relocated Sand Bar, sitting right next to the beach:

SATURDAY 11th Jan

Chris and Kelly headed off to Adelaide to look at materials for their new house. I decided to take a short dip in the pool. As I was drying myself off afterwards I bent down to do my legs, not noticing how close I was to the glass surrounds which I effectively head-butted. I managed to open a gash next to my eyebrow. It was pretty sore and the bleeding took a bit of effort to staunch. Jo patched me up and Asher tried to help, bringing me a glass of iced water and a long bandage which he suggested I tie, bandana-style, round my head.

Chris' brother Matt popped round in the afternoon to catch up with us.

SUNDAY 12th Jan

Chris' Mum and Dad were arriving after lunch but before then Chris was taking Miller and Asher round to the school for some skateboard training so I went along to watch. Asher was first to try and looked like he will get the hang of it soon. Chris took the opportunity for a bit of fun and to demonstrate:

Miller had a slightly reluctant bash too:

The gash next to my eyebrow had closed up nicely overnight:

I had initially thought that I might need a stitch or two but all seems good now - thanks to nurse Jo and her paramedic Asher.

When David and Lorene arrived we drove over to Port Noarlunga for coffees etc at Beck's Bakery. As ever, it was jam-packed - it's a proper little goldmine. Jo and I decided to have ice cream - 2 scoops was way too much as it soon began to turn liquid in the heat.

We've arranged to meet David and Lorene again on Wednesday in the pretty Scottish enclave of Strathalbyn which we had assumed there was a town of that name in Scotland, but apparently not?

MONDAY 13th Jan

The start of the working week and both Chris and Kelly are now off to work. Asher has gone to OSH (daycare equivalent at the school) and we're here with Miller, whose friend is arriving at 12:30 pm

I think I'll check out Chris' and Kelly's bikes and see what needs to be done before I can go riding today or tomorrow.

That's me up to date with the diary now.

Almost there

Typical - 4 days to Christmas and Jo and I have contracted what, so far, are minor ailments - head and chest colds. Mine has persisted for 10 days - more annoying than anything, although it's uncomfortable when sleeping.  Jo has now started with similar symptoms - we wish they would go away - ideally before Xmas but certainly before we head to Oz in just over 2 weeks' time.

Since my last post I've attended our cycling group Xmas lunch and the monthly golfers' beer night. That was then followed by a day trip to Edinburgh for lunch at La Bruschetta (https://labruschetta.co.uk/) with Barry, Helen and Dawn then another lunch at the lovely Fish Shop in Ballater (https://fishshopballater.co.uk/). I forgot to take any photos in Edinburgh, but here's the other ones:

All the meals were excellent - La Bruschetta was randomly chosen, mostly for its convenient location near Haymarket station, but the Fish Shop is locally very well known - and a classy place - it has the same owners as the very upmarket Fife Arms in Braemar, which is a bit of a celebrity haunt.

So it's been a fairly heavy week for me - I need some respite before it all starts again next week.

Today is the Winter Solstice - apparently it's a moment rather than a full day - 9:21 this morning - so, in theory, the days are already getting longer. Not before time too - we currently have just under 7 hours of daylight. It has been relatively mild this week, however - the freezing conditions of the previous week have gone and are not forecast to return for a while, it seems.

21st December was also Dad's birthday - he's a virtual 104 today.

I keep most of my activity stats on the Strava app - cycling, golf and hill-walking. Every year, Strava sends a summary of what has been recorded and this is this year's:

I feel my activity level has substantially dropped off in recent years - especially since the lockdown years and also with my left knee steadily getting worse. I am definitely playing much less golf now and hill-walking has diminished and even cycling has tailed off. However, when I checked back to previous years' Strava stats, the difference is not as much as I thought it would be. Maybe I didn't record everything in previous years?

Jo and I recently treated ourselves to new i-Phones - our old ones were failing. We've both now got i-Phone 15 Plus - not the latest release from Apple (i-Phone 16), but we chose the slightly larger Plus models. Jo also replaced her activity watch - the previous one was failing. I'm in a similar situation - I think I know which one I want but just haven't pressed the button yet.

This morning we had to renew our worldwide travel insurance. Every year we have to pay age-related premiums (over 70's) plus medically related premiums. Unsurprisingly, each year it's getting dearer but given, the long holidays we have and the distances we travel, it's still worth it - and it's essential - but there will come a time when it may be prohibitive - possibly at age 80?

So, with that cheerful thought, I'll sign off. Have a good Christmas everyone - hopefully we'll manage to reach out to a few of you on the day.

December update

Not a lot to report - we had a couple of days in Renfrewshire with Brian, Mary, Julie and the boys. I even managed a rare round of golf when Brian signed me in to his "other" club at West Kilbride and we had a fine take-away curry at Julie's afterwards.

On the way back we detoured to Edinburgh to see Ross, who had recently lost his job so we persuaded him to come home to Banchory with us. We crammed some of his belongings in to the back of the car and the 3 of us headed north. As it was the last day of November we wanted to avoid another month's rent so there was a return visit to Edinburgh early the following morning. This time, to ensure maximum room for the rest of Ross' belongings, only 2 of us could go back. Jo was adamant that the flat needed a full clean before handing the keys back so it was Ross and Jo that made the return trip.

At one time it looked like there were only going to be 3 of us for Christmas this year but it now looks like there's going to be 5 of us - that's a bit more festive. Luca had originally planned to head south over the Xmas holidays to see his cousins but now that he's starting a new job he doesn't have time to go away.

Talking of Luca, he's passed the theory part of his driving test so now it's the practical one. He'll be 18 at the end of this month and will be out on the roads independently early in 2025 hopefully.

Meanwhile, down in Oz, Miller's and Asher's school made a film recently - "Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies". It was professionally done and there was a red carpet event at the local cinema for the launch of the film:

Unfortunately for Kelly, she was in New Zealand on work when this happened.

Next week, we are meeting up with Barry, Helen and Dawn in Edinburgh for lunch. We had originally planned to stay overnight but now that Ross is back here, there's no need. We had booked in to the Tynecastle Hotel at Hearts' football ground as it is very close to Ross' flat but then we heard yesterday there's going to be a match on that evening so that was another reason to cancel our overnight stay and just come back on the train that evening.

To close, another photo of Kendall - pinched from Audrey's FB page:

This brought back memories from nearly 40 years ago of little Ross sitting in a very similar car.

One more bit of news - "fence war" is back on. We had hoped that as our neighbour had now got her fence up, that would be that and we could all move on - but no such luck. Yesterday we received yet another long letter from her - hand delivered and also by recorded delivery. Merry Xmas!

Winter is coming

After a fairly prolonged mild late autumn, the temperature has dropped substantially this morning and we've been told we're now facing a week of frosty mornings and perhaps even some snow. I had to scrape the car windscreen for the first time this morning.

I got over the S & D bug I caught on the plane home from USA but I had my winter vaccinations on Monday this week - flu in the left arm and covid in the right. I got my usual adverse reaction to the latter - for the 7th time in a row. It's happened with Astra Zeneca, Pfizer and Moderna - it doesn't seem to matter which one. It was like a short dose of flu - a couple of days, then tiredness for a couple more. I need to think hard about whether or not I take the spring booster next year.

A major development in the saga of the fence. One morning, a contractors' van appeared in our neighbour's drive and a team of workers set about erecting a fence at the back of her garden - a job that the fencers we used refused to do because they felt the shifting embankment would soon bring it down. This was the scene after day 2:

The job is now complete and her contractors took away the remnants of the old fence. It's all very tidy and secure now but it looks a bit like Fort Knox. We never thought she would ever get round to making her mind up and getting a contractor to do it - but there you go. I think our action in putting our fence in annoyed her so much it jolted her into action.

We guess she must have been arranging everything when we were in USA. Anyway, so far it's all quiet - and we hope it stays that way.

Luca's got a new full-time job - starting next month at Scotbeef in Inverurie as a packer. He's also got an appointment in a couple of weeks for his written driving test. Gary's also changed employer.

I travelled to Glasgow 10 days ago for another reunion with my old school pals. Nice afternoon when I finally got there - despite Scotrail's best efforts to scupper my trip.

We spoke to Kelly on Friday - they've now taken on another rescue dog. It's just over 7 weeks now until we fly Down Under. I haven't heard any more about my knee operation but even if I get a letter tomorrow, it'll be too late. I'll have to go through the pre-med again as the last one has expired now and then there's a wait after that for the op - not to mention the fact that there has to be a 6-8 week gap before flying long haul. Looks like it'll have to be next spring/summer.

We're arranging to meet Barry, Helen and Dawn in Edinburgh for lunch when we go down to see Ross next month. Before that, we're heading to Elderslie to see Brian, Mary, Julie and the boys.

To close, a couple of wildlife photos I took on a recent walk up Scolty and a cycle:

First week back home

Our long journey home started in Oregon on Thursday and we arrived back in Aberdeenshire on Saturday afternoon. Gary picked us up at the airport:

We were pleased to be home at last but the last part of the journey had been a bit tricky - not just the usual jet lag etc, but I had picked up a bug on our travels. Without going in to too much detail, it was coming out of every orifice - I can't recall ever throwing up as much as I did that night.

I spent the next few days in bed and by midweek I was starting to recover. Unfortunately, that was when Jo started to feel worse - she was convinced she had picked up my bug and was going to go through the same symptoms. Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case.

We're both a bit better now - not 100% yet, but getting there. We weren't able to travel to Julie's fund-raising do yesterday in memory of Guy, but we're planning to join Gary and Luca for a light lunch today (Sunday).

Anyway, I'll close with a photo from the Chicago - London BA flight: