Saturday
1 July 2017 –
Cairns
Our last day in Cairns and throughout the night it rained
and by the time we got up to go to the loo the awning was bowed with the weight
of water, that Paul relieved by lowering one corner and creating an almighty torrent
that gushed ever which way reminiscent of the waterfalls we have experienced.
Paul was going to be fishing with Ben, one of the workers,
but with the rain they both pulled the pin and neither was too upset. Paul was
happy he could stay in bed longer.
We read for a while before eventually getting out for real
just after 8am. With the weather set in we weren’t in any hurry to be anywhere
fast and we had no real plans for how we would spend the day. It wasn’t until
10am when we finally made a move and drove into Cairns to return to the Botanic
Garden and check out the areas we had missed the last time we were here.
By the time we arrived, the rain had stopped and it was
quite sunny. The butterflies must have enjoyed the break, as they were out in
force and sunning themselves. I took some quick pics as we continued our walk
along the path and then up through the gates and into the rest of the garden.
We found a conservatory to walk around that had interesting
plants, including the pitcher varieties. The conservatory doubled as a
Butterfly house and there were many floating around from plant to plant,
catching the sun and having a feed on one plant’s flowers.
We left the conservatory and walked around other areas of
the garden admiring the plants they had on show from all over the world. Some
had beautiful bright flowers, others had striking barks and one was covered in
red fruits, many having been dropped to the floor and had the texture of a
small plum.
We then entered the Tanks art space. Here a number of
disused concrete tanks have been reclaimed as exhibition space for artists,
dance performances and plays. In the avenue and area around the tanks were
interesting pieces of art much of it strung up around and within the vines of
the fig tree.
We did a walk around an art exhibition admiring the many lino prints as well as acrylic paintings before making our way to the car and into Cairns central, where we eventually found a parking spot and got out to walk around the esplanade and wharf area. Surprisingly we found an area we hadn’t explored before and were able to enjoy some new sights along the waterfront.
We rounded the end of the wharf and made our way back along
the front strip doing our best to avoid the food stores pumping out their lunch
time smells, trying to entice us in and made our way back to the car just as
the rain settled in again.
Once home, it was time for lunch and a sit around. I was
finding it hard to get motivated and was feeling a little flat. We needed to do
a shop and stock up on a few bits before heading on tomorrow, so we drove out
to Smithfield shops and wandered around Coles before loading it into the car
and making a final stop at Macalister Brewery where Paul was shouted to free
schooners making him a happy boy. We got talking to a couple of blokes Rob and
Tim. Rob was a teacher at a local school and shared Paul’s birthday and Tim was
up visiting. We had a great time sharing stories and picking up some tips on
places to stay while in the area I was busily writing down all the places in my
phone for future reference.
Paul bought a two take away bottles to sustain him for a
couple of days and then we made our way to Dan Murphys for a few extras and
finally back to the van, just as the weather was starting to turn again.
Once the shopping was unloaded, it was time to sit back and
relax before thinking about dinner which wasn't a high priority and soup from a can sufficed. The rest of the evening disappeared as Paul read an I surfed the net before finally heading on to bed.
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