Home and Garden

Babinda Boulders.

So, here we are in sunny Queensland. Today my sister and her husband acted as tour guides, driving us (along with a picnic lunch) to the Babinda Boulders. When we arrived at The Boulders Wilderness Reserve it was teeming with rain but we donned our raincoats and put up our umbrellas to take the short walk to Babinda Creek. The guys pushed ahead while my sister and I stood and viewed the black, slippery boulders, with water gushing over them, in the creek.

We set off after our better halves but they were nowhere to be seen so we thought they'd gone back to the car. But no, they hadn't, so we sat and waited at one of the covered picnic tables until they returned.

When they returned we had lunch under the covered picnic table while the rain fell about us.

The rain is a bit of a disappointment but the positive to this is that after all that dust we've travelled through, everything is lush and green here. And we musn't forget, we are now in the wet tropics (as opposed to the dry tropics!)

While we were in Karumba, Honey Pie and I had to decide whether to go north to Cairns or South to Townsville. In Townsville we'd like to visit Andrew's neice and her family. Should we do this before heading north again to Cairns, to stay with my sister and her family?

My sister's son departs Queensland to join the army on the seventeenth of this month and we dearly wanted to catch up with him before he leaves so the decision was made back in Karumba that we would head straight for Cairns and visit Katie and her family in Townsville on the trip back down the east coast.

Also, my sister's daughter is getting married on the first Saturday of August and we have planned our trip to include an extended stop-over to include the wedding.

Andrew and I have been asked to be masters of ceromony on her big day. I also happen to be her God Mother so it's a great honor to be here and to particpate in her marriage ceromony in such a significant way. The last time I was in Cairns was to be God Mother to Kate way back in 1986 while I was still at Teacher's College. Wow. That particular trip, I caught a coach up on my own, leaving my family behind in Sydney, during my mid-year break. Those of you who know me well, know just how much I hate flying, and that was the reason I took a coach.

So here we are in back in Cairns, with my sister and her family. We intend to stay with them for a few days before heading further north to Mossman, Port Douglas, Daintree via the Bloomfield Track, Cooktown and then return to Cairns via the Penninsula Development Road.

My sister has made us very comfortable in her home, setting up the spare bedroom for us with all the comforts of home. We're also very grateful that we don't have to camp while the weather is so damp!

My sister's home and garden, with Sammy the Maltese Terrier at the top.  He loved us to pieces the moment we walked in the door.