Cairns

Today we woke up at 7.15am. We were all prepared so it didn’t take us too long. We changed the bedding ready for Damelza for tonight. I bet she can’t wait to sleep in her bed again after being on the sofa for 3 weeks! We put on our backpacks and our front packs. They weren’t too bad but after just 5 minutes they were very heavy. We walked to the train station and squeezed on the train. It was packed like yesterday’s train but this time with our bags it was so much worse. Thanksfully at each station some people emptied out so by the time we got to Southern Cross we could sit down. Damelza came with us to make sure we got on the bus ok. We said goodbye to Damelza and got on the 8.40am bus to the airport. We had to stand up again but it was ok as we could take our bags off. We got the the airport and took our bags to the drop off point. We had about a minute to spare to check in. It was a bit confusing as we had to keep going up and down the levels to find the check in and then the gate. We literally walked to the gate and within half an hour we were on board the plane.

We slept for some of the way and did some of the quiz questions in the flight book. The stewardess were very good and were keeping the kids occupied by painting their faces. I found them really annoying after a while but the flight was only 3.5 hours long so before we knew it we had landed. It was 27C so we could feel the heat as soon as we got off the plane. The terminal was being improved so we had to walk through departures to get to arrivals and our bags. Thomas (my cousin’s husband) had come to pick us up and managed to find us among the chaos. We went to collect our bags and we were amazed that they came so quickly. It was brilliant. We walked to the car park and Thomas couldn’t remember where he had parked. He found the car and Dan decided to get changed into his shorts and vest. Thomas drove us to Port Douglas from Cairns. He pointed out places of interest on the way. We stopped half way to see a hang glider take off. The literally jumped off the edge of the cliff! We carried on our drive. Thomas had to pick up some photos from Mossman which is a village supported by the sugar cane mill. We got to Jackie’s house and went to buy some essentials, beer and diet coke! Thomas had to go and pick jackie and Hannah up so we had a swim in the pool, which is just outside their back door. Dan went in the jacuzzi too. It was cold to begin with but warmed up once we started moving about.

Hannah was excited to meet us but when she saw us I don’t think we were who she expected so she went all silly. She was really shy and screaming so we left her alone for a little while. We had a shower and then had dinner. I gave Hannah her bracelet I had made and she startedto come round to us. We went to get some leaflets fro m the reception area for things we can do while we’re here. Then we had to go and get a bed from Thomas’s brother who lives in the same complex. Hannah had livened up and was running everywhere. We got the bed back and she was bouncing on it. We went downstairs and I looked through the leaflets while Dan went on the internet. I spoke to Damelza and then my mum on the phone. Now we’re just watching TV while I type this up. Hannah is supposed to be going to sleep but I doubt her batteries are going to run out anytime soon!