Cairns

We packed up our camp and headed back North to Cairns in time for morning tea with Grandad and Grandma!  We set up camp next to them and enjoyed catching up.

We then met up with them again at the Lagoon for a swim. It was an enjoyable afternoon spent in the pool.

It must've been over 40 degrees or very high humidity because Grandad actually went for a swim!

We went back to the caravan park and for the first time in 4 months we left the kids to be babysat by Grandma and spent and enjoyable dinner with Matt & Wilma at a Thai Restaurant!

Etty Beach

We spent the morning doing school work with the kids and a nap for Axel.  Chad managed to spend some time fishing as well - and watching the tractors launch the boats at the boat ramp.

After lunch we drove to Etty Beach, which is well known for having some resident Cassowary birds. The Cassowary is slightly smaller than the ostrich and emu. It has an odd shaped skull and uses it's feet as weapons.

As we parked we saw the bird pretty quickly as it approached a group of people eating at a picnic table. It was obviously quite used to being around people.

Mars stayed in the car with Rowan while he napped.  The other kids had a blast climbing over the rocks and checking for crabs.  The afternoon was warm so it was really enjoyable to spend time at the beach even though we weren't keen to head into the water.  There were swimming nets set up for safe swimming - from the stingers.

The kids enjoyed setting up rivers and dams to block the tiny fish in. So much to see and explore! Then Rowan woke up and had to spend some time playing too.

 

 "Angry Ant Axel"

We finished off the day back at camp with a spectacular sunset and the boys trying to catch a fish or two.

Cardwell Forest

On Wednesday we drove out to the Murray Falls in the Girramay National Park. As soon as we hopped out the car it was intensely hot and humid. So we hurriedly gathered our swimming stuff and headed for the water.  The water was flowing quite strong so the floating devices were handy and made for a relaxing ride with the current!

It was definitely refreshing but there's still something foreign for us to be swimming in these sorts of water holes, knowing that it's safe from crocodiles but in the back of your mind alarm bells are going off.  We loved it there. Mars swam to the other side to try and get hold of the rope swing but the water levels were obviously too low and made it unreachable.

We spent quite some time there and had the swimming hole to ourselves! We had started thinking about leaving when we noticed company had arrived in the form of a snake swimming in the water! Being unsure of what kind it was, venomous or otherwise we decided to make a speedy exit across the hot, gravelly shore and back to the safety (and airconditioning) of the car!

As we made our way out of the park, we stopped for a quick photo of the waterfall that was creating the current downstream.  We only saw it from the lookout but it is possible to hike around to get closer.

We continued driving and made our way to the Cardwell Spa Pools. Being such a hot day we were a little reluctant to get out of the airconditioned car and so queried a few people in the carpark if it was worth looking at. We were strongly encouraged to go see it, so we all hopped out and made our way down to the Pools. 

The colour was amazing. It was so inviting to jump in! The water was warm, even though it was constantly flowing. We all went swimming and Brenton managed to borrow some goggles to check out all the little fish. We were so glad we went down for a look!  Eventually, the main 'spa pool' became available for us all to sit in and enjoy a natural 'spa' - although it was very slippery to get into!

Eventually we had the whole pool to ourselves! We seem to have that effect when we turn up with our tribe! We all had such an enjoyable time and there was no rush to leave as the water was so nice! Another fabulous part of Gods creation..

 

We made our way back to camp, stopping for some groceries and then back to camp where Chad spent some time fishing and watching the boats come in.