Australia Ho!

First, we got to BRIEFLY catch up with Lois and Steve at their house in Auckland Friday night and Saturday morning. This was because we got there incredibly late due to the timing of our rental car (when we could pick it up and when it needed to be returned). So we weren’t able to actually talk until the following morning. We were actually quite shocked how warm it was in Auckland. It was probably in the mid to high sixties. No wonder people think Wellington has horrible weather! We flew out of Auckland at around 4:00, promising Lois and Steve that we would be back for a proper catch up on the 26th before we fly home!

We arrived in Cairns fairly late as the flight was six hours and with the time difference and plane delay, we got in at night. Checked into the hotel, ordered pizza, and we were thoroughly enjoying the nice warm night air. The following morning, Sunday, we shuttled into town and ordered the breakfast special at a restaurant. Here we are enjoying breakfast.





We then spent a great majority of the remainder of the day arranging some tours for the upcoming week at a travel agency. We also walked around the waterfront and Marian wanted to show Ang how important wearing sunscreen is in Australia.



We heard a lot of rattle up in the trees as we walked around, and John said, “Are those ___________?” (Can’t remember exactly which kinds of birds John thought they were.) Marian, “No! They’re BATS!” Denise Ladenburg would not have liked the amazing sight that followed. A tree FULL of screeching, HUGE bats. Here are pics to demonstrate:




We then headed back to the hotel. We managed to put together some dinner from some supermarket visits, and watched a bit of telly before calling it a day.

The today was fairly uneventful. We have to admit that while we were excited about the tours that we had booked, the city of Cairns was not overly impressive. After we booked the tours we inquired with the travel agent if there were some budget activities we could do around the area, without paying a fortune. She looked confused and basically brushed us off. We decided to hang around the pool, read, call some family members, and spend the day relaxing.