Sunday & Monday (Week 6)- Cairns (FEAT-Christopher B)

Welcome friends! I hope that this post finds you all well!

This blog post will cover Sunday (Mum's sizable birthday) and Monday! It will also include a snippet from my brother Christopher as he covers what he did on Monday afternoon with Dad, while I went to...woops! I guess you will just have to wait and read to find out.

Sunday

On Sunday, we had a relaxing morning, and Dad (with a little help from me) cooked breakfast for Mum, which included eggs, bacon, asparagus and haloumi (Mum's fav). The morning flew by as we did dishes, Mum's presents and then packed for going out. At about 10am we headed into the Atherton Tablelands to visit the Crystal Caves, a series of manmade caves holding one man's gem collection. He had over 600 gems! It was really cool seeing all the different types of gems, and we had headlamps that helped us see especially since some parts were a bit darker, even though it was all quite well lit. We spent a couple hours in there (see photos) and then we headed to a nearby fish and chip shop for lunch. We had planned to go to the Mareeba Historical Museum, however by the time we had finished lunch and would make the trip over to Mareeba (about 25min from Atherton) we would only have about 30min before it closed at 3pm. Let's just say it was a late lunch...

We decided to look at the Kuranda markets, even though we would be heading back there on Friday, and on our way back we were passing an ice-cream shop that Mum and I had visited on our last trip to Cairns (by flight). It had really good ice-cream, so we stopped there again, this time with the guys. I had guava flavoured, which tasted nearly exactly like the Guava drink that Bundaberg makes. Then Dad had ginger, and Mum had cappuccino, while Christopher got caramel fudge since they didn't have caramel ice-cream on offer that day.

By the time we had finished our ice-cream and also had a discussion about our plans of which way we would travel back home (we still haven't quite decided) there wasn't time to head into Kuranda, so we just headed back to Clifton Beach where we would be having dinner with Mum's brother Jon and his family at a Thai place (which we had visited before and loved). We had a really enjoyable dinner, and then after heading back home we just relaxed, and I read for a while, and Mum answered a heap of cards that people had sent up to Uncle Jon's address so that she could be celebrated even while we were away. (It was Dad's idea)

Overall, it was a very big day, but really nice, and a lovely way to celebrate Mum's (ahem)th Birthday.

Monday

Uhhhh today....

So today, we did school, and I felt really productive and even had time to organize some of my files on my desktop and do some other things that was on my to-do list. After lunch, we headed out to the Artillery Museum where Dad and Christopher went, while me and Mum (who don't really have an interest in finding out "all the different ways to kill people"- Dad's quote) went to Smithfield, a nearby shopping centre to unlock my phone. It took a while, but we are well on our way...

And then we got some afternoon tea at Coffee Club, and took it to the grassy area outside the Artillery Museum and relaxed while waiting for the guys.

Once they had come out, we headed back home, and then just had a relaxing hour before dinner, and then we had a really nice dinner of Marinated Chicken. It was sooo tender...

And now I am writing this blog. Sadly, I have now finished all the Bluey on ABCiview, and will only be able to watch one episode a week as they come out, so I will have to find a new series... Maybe Octonauts 🤣

Feat! Christopher- (Monday)

Me and Dad went to the Australian Armour & Artillery Museum in Cairns, which is mostly a massive warehouse full of tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery. It's amazing how big and heavy the tanks were, but while they were fascinating we came to the conclusion they were, in effect, weaponized coffins. Sporting massive guns, these tanks were horribly cramped and would have been incredibly hot and smelly. I can't imagine the amount of bruises the personnel would have received from bouncing around inside the tank, with all the bits of metal jutting out everywhere. And apparently the army has never heard about the wonderful invention called the cushion. But all it would take is one missile or shell from another tank and...well, you wouldn't know what hit you. Still, it was fun to see them all, and just to get an idea about what previous generations have been through, paying a toll one cannot comprehend unless you experience the horror of war firsthand, and paving the way for our freedom today.

Photos

Sunday-