Christmas in Cairns!

Arriving back in Cairns mid December, we were looking forward to spending the next month looking after our friends beautiful home and their horse sized dog, Buddy! 

Buddy

Along with our excitement to be getting out of the caravan for abit, we were also looking forward to experiencing some of the beautiful, wet, warm weather that only the far north of Australia can offer. 

After dropping Mel, Mike and little Mia off at the airport, we took no one to settle ourselves in! 

The girls keeping cool

Buddy and I woke early each day and went for long walks through the neighbourhood and along the creek. Stopping for a splash and a play in the creek along the way most days. 

With Christmas fast approaching we spent many nights driving around the surrounding suburbs checking out the many impressive light displays that the locals had obviously spent a lot of time decorating their homes with. 

A couple of my fav light displays

The Christmas tree in Cairns 

We planned a big Christmas lunch and dinner, and just like last year in Exmouth, I was quite excited to have the opportunity to do all the preparation and cooking and just spend the day relaxing without all the running around Chriatmas day often involves back in Adelaide! (Sorry extended family... I love and miss you all... But not having to travel all over the place... Well that's my kind of Christmas Day! ;)) 

We had fun making lots of Christmas biscuits and also got busy with lots of Christmas arts and crafts. 

Christmas biscuits 

The Christmas house we made and some treats left out for Santa ;)

Merry Christmas! 

Ella the Elf!

On Christmas morning the girls woke early and were thrilled with all their gifts. Buddy even had a gift under the tree to open (some treats and a few squeaky toys which he played with loudly all day!!!) which he just loved!!! 

Christmas morning 

Presents!

We enjoyed a long, lazy day full of lots of yummy foods, and a couple of drinks to wash it all down. 

The girls enjoying some delicious nibbles! 

Prawn, mango and mint Salad 

Lunch time! 

Buddy even had a fancy bowl and bonbon ;) 

Yum! 

I think Buddy partied too hard on Christmas.. This was him on Boxing Day! Clearly hungover! 

 

The weather didn't disappoint! We had many days in the first two weeks were it just poured down with rain. Some days over 100mms fell. It was lovely to sit outside under the verandah and listen to the sound of the rain falling on the roof and the creek that runs directly behind the house flowing.

When we arrived the creek was dry... After one huge downpour it had filled up quite alot! 

After one particular heavy fall, we decided to drive up to Barron Falls. 

Having been here back in August, and with there being barely a trickle... We were really hoping for a spectacular display... We certainly were not disappointed! The falls were unreal! 

From only trickling to full flow... in just 48hrs! 

View from a lookout up in the hills behind Cairns

I posted the video footage I captured on a popular Facebook weather page also, and last time I checked it had well over 60,000 views and has been shared nearly 1000 times! 

We went on many long drives through the stunning landscape both inland and along the coast. 

Rock towers! 

View along the Coast on our drive up to Port Douglas 

At this time of year also, there are ripe Mango trees everywhere! I just loved been able to pick them freshly off the trees and turned many into yummy smoothies and use them in my salads! Delicious! 

Ella with one of the many mangoes we picked.

For New Years Eve we headed down to check out the fireworks on the Cairns esplanade and spent the evening soaking up the atmosphere. 

Happy New Year! 

Ella checking out some super cool street art. 

Having the extra luxury of a house to spread out in, we spent time doing some extra arts and craft. 

Ella decided she wanted to learn how to knit and has really taken to it! She barely puts her needles down and is doing a great job knitting a scarf for winter.

We also put together our own loom and after collecting all our old clothes, we got to weaving a mat out of them. By the time I had finished our first mat, I was addicted and had to visit the nearby op shop for more clothes/material so I could make a second mat! 

The beginning of our first mat

Our two completed mats

The Pizzas Ella cooked for us one night :) 

We visited Crystal Cascades twice and just loved swimming in all the different swimming holes and sliding down the natural rock slides. 

Crystal Cascades 

We also spent quite a few evenings swimming in the large man made lagoon on the esplanade whilst cooking our dinner on the BBQs.

Night swims in the Lagoon

We took Tori to this playground when she was only 18 months old... She still loves it!! 

Before we knew it, our month in Cairns came to an end. 

After picking up Mel, Mike and Mia from the airport, we shared an early dinner and caught up on each other's holiday stories before Mel and Mike headed off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.

The next day after I took Buddy for one last walk, we packed up our caravan and said our goodbyes before heading off on the next part of our adventure... Back down the QLD coast and sooner rather than later... crossing into NSW! 

Xx

Sailing the Whitsundays

Traveling back up the coast of Queensland, we spent a couple of days visiting Hervey Bay and 1770.
The girls loved Hervey bay for its giant Hamster Wheel and for it Ice Cream Parlour with a massive 72 flavours to choose from!! Yum!!!

Hamster wheel fun! 

Mmmmm... Icecream....

1770 was lovely also. We spent 3 days in a great little camp there, and also took the boat out to explore the surrounding coast.

From there we headed up to the stunning Airlie Beach. We had organised to hire "Little Jeannie," a 32ft Catalina for the next week! 

Views around Airlie

Airlie Beach Pool 

We were all extremely excited to be heading off on this little adventure. It was all the girls could talk about! Finally, the day arrived!

After putting the car and caravan in storage once again, and going through a good 3hr long briefing on everything we needed to know about safely operating the yacht, we were on own, and sailing out of Airlie Beach Marina! Woohoo!!!

Finally on the boat!

Taking turns steering 

My girls and me! 

Hanging out on the boat 

The rest of this first day we spent sailing across to the Islands. The girls explored every inch of the yacht, and we all took turns at the helm steering the yacht.
Pulling into Nara Inlet just before 4pm, we soon anchored up and celebrated our first night with a bottle of champagne and a yummy platter of nibbles.

Tori steering 

Our first night dinner! 

Enjoying the sunsets 

Waking early on day 2, we sailed around to Hayman Island where we spent the morning snorkelling and exploring the surrounding reefs.
In the afternoon we headed over to Langford Island. A small, sandy Island that pretty much only appears on the low tide. We again spent some time snorkeling along the shoreline and diving down beside the big bommies looking under the many ledges.

Tori 

Ella 

That night we moored up in Shoalhaven Bay.

On arrival we noticed a giant stingray and what appeared to be a group of sharks surrounding it. Curious as usual, we quickly jumped in the small Tender boat and headed over to have a closer look!
We soon realised that it wasn't sharks at all, but about 8 very large fish! The Ray was angry and had its tail sticking right out the water whilst flapping its wings around on the spot.
I'm not quite sure how it would of ended if we hadn't headed over, but on our arrival the fish got scared of the motor and quickly swam away. The Stingray  spent a little more time still flapping around before also speeding off in the opposite direction. Wow!

On day 3 we as usual woke super early. With the sun making an appearance around 4:30am, we were all up most mornings around 5am.
Sailing off this morning we carefully negotiated the channel between Hayman and Hook Island.
We spent the day snorkeling and exploring around the Coast around Hook Island.
We explored Butterfly Bay, Luncheon Bay, Manta Ray and Pinnacle Bay, before heading across to Border Island where we moored up in Cataran Bay.
Cataran Bay had some amazing reefs to explore. A large shallow reef area filled with different coloured corals and so many brightly colored fish! Away from the shallows the reef quickly dropped off into the abyss! We all agreed that it would be a very interesting place to go for a Scuba dive.

Gary and myself headed out for a night time snorkel with our underwater torches. Although, beside a small ray, most the fish had gone into hiding for the night.

Day 4 saw us sailing over to the stunning Whitehaven Beach. We took a short walk trail to the top of a lookout at Tongue Point and was far from disappointed with the view! It was stunning!!!! The views over Whitehaven Beach and the surrounds were some of the most spectacular we had seen. 

The girls at the lookout over Whitehaven beach 

Whitehaven... Just stunning! 

We anchored just off the Northern end of Whitehaven Beach and took our Tender to shore where we spent the remainder of the day playing on the fine, white sand and swimming in the crystal, clear waters. 

More Whitehaven 

Ella on Whitehaven... X 3!! 

Tori... X4!!! spelling her name! 

Gary... X 3!!! 

Me ;) 

Jumping off of Little Jeannie 

Tori relaxing 

Little Jeannie 

Heading back out on the Tender to our yacht we sailed down to the Southern end of Whitehaven beach for the night.
One thing I just loved on the boat was the nights. From the sunsets, to gazing up at the thousands of stars in the sky it was just breathtaking and a great way to relax after a long day full of adventure in the sun.

Various sunsets 

On day 5 we decided to sail around to Chance bay. After tendering to shore we were amazed to find that the sand in the water here was full of air!!!! Every step we took brought hundreds of large bubbles to the surface and it seriously felt like we were in a spa bath! 

Chance Bay

We decided in the early afternoon that we wanted to really get the sails going, so we spent the next few hours sailing to Lindeman Island where we anchored up in Plantation Bay for the night. 

Sailing fun! 

Exploring tunnels 

Each morning and night at 9am and 3:45pm Queensland Yacht Charters (who we hired the yacht through) would call us up on the VHF. After listening to a group weather report we would then tell them our plans for the day in the morning and they would tell us whether the weather conditions were suitable for our plans. (Luckily we had a week of perfect weather, so the conditions were pretty much perfect for any plans we had!)
In the afternoon they would again radio us up again and make sure we had arrived safely at our destination.
With plenty of islands always close by, and plenty of boats around, I always felt safe and knew if we were to get into trouble, that help would be close by. The radio contact though was just another way I knew we wouldn't be left floating around the ocean if something malfunctioned. If we missed 3 call ins.. Well they would send a plane out hunting for us!

Day 6 saw us visiting a huge desserted Club Med resort on Lindeman Island. After closing down in 2012 this amazing resort was brought by an overseas company whom in the future plan to spend a huge 600million dollars knocking the current resort down, building a marina. and turning it into a 6 star resort!
We walked around the outskirts of it, and had a chat with the very friendly caretaker. What a job!
He lives in a beautiful large bungalow overlooking the resort with spectacular ocean views. Along with 2 other caretakers, (whom have all been there  since 2012) they have the tough job of keeping unwanted visitors out, and doing some general gardening. With visitors being few and far between, and nothing and no one else living on this island... It must be a pretty cruisey life, his smile said it all! 

Lindeman Island and the empty Club Med Resort

Lindeman Island Jetty 

From here we headed over to Hamilton Island. Pulling into the Marina we filled up our water tanks and headed off to explore this funky, extremely busy Island, for a couple of hours.
With no cars on this Island, the only way to get around was by Golf Buggy or by one of the few free shuttle buses that operate. We just loved it!
We ended up jumping on a free bus and had a full tour of the small island. There were golf buggies everywhere and the views around the island were just stunning.
Gary and I enjoyed a beer in one of the local pubs, whilst the girls enjoyed a Sausage Roll each for lunch.

Views of the Marina on Hamilton Island. Note all the Golf Buggies!!! 

Views from the top of Hamilton

Enjoying a beer at a local pub! 

The girls enjoying a sausage roll 

Jumping back on our boat a few hours later we all agreed that we would love to revisit Hamilton island for a longer visit/working adventure sometime in the not too far off future. (Another place to add to our ever growing list.)
We anchored up in Cid Harbour that afternoon, and spent our time jumping on and off the boat and just messing around! 

Boat fun! 

Fish feeding off the back of the boat! 

Day 7 saw us sailing over to Daydream Island. With extremely expensive moaring fees... ($150 even if you just wanted to visit the island for a hr or two...) We decided not to step foot on this island! Lol
Instead we checked it out by sailing around it. Being quite small, and just the one resort... We didn't feel like we missed out on anything.
We sailed around South Mollee Island and headed over to Marcona Inlet to spend our last night on the Yacht.
After 7 full on days and a few slightly sleepless nights due to the rocking of the boat (even when its calm sometimes there are just "boat noises," that can keep you from your sleep!) We woke ready to head back into Airlie Beach.
We all just loved our time sailing the Whitsundays and it was something Im sure none of us will forget! 

Tori and Ella 

From relaxing on deck with a good book, family board game nights, star gazing, sunsets and sunrises, snorkelling, jumping from the boat into the water, Island hopping, exploring secluded beaches, bbqs up on the deck, hand feeding huge fish and everything inbetween... We just loved every minute! To anyone who's ever even briefly thought they would like to do this.. I  really reccomend it!
Next lap of Australia... By boat...??? Hmmm... Maybe!!!
Till then.. Well we are headed back to Cairns for a month of housesitting and what could quite possibly be quite a wet Christmas season for us!
Hopefully a few good storms and dare I say maybe even a cyclone...??? For the storm lover in me.. These things excite me, and I'm looking forward to experiencing some of the wet season in Cairns. Tropical fruits and flowing waterfalls.. balmy nights and storms..

Till then, wishing you all a Merry Xmas and a safe and Happy New Year.. Wherever you are!!

Xx