Barrys' Arrival

   19/12/2011
  Christmas Shopping in Cairns with mission accomplished and no blood spilt, not even a tiny row. We have bought small presents for just the few friends here, people we will be spending Christmas with.
  Now we are committed to the caretakers job here for the next few months, we decided it would not be fair on the people who will have to fill for us being away for 3 weeks when we go to Bali. So, we have gone online and altered our flight and are now going for just 2 weeks. We still haven’t booked any accommodation yet and will probably just book the first few days. We have found it much cheaper to leave it late as there are bargains to be had, and it  will be the low season.
  The weather has been rather gloomy the last few days, very cloudy with showers, still32c and humid. Good growing weather, not to mention drinking!

  20/12/2011
  At this time of the year we see several white haired, white bearded portly gentlemen wandering around the town, now we have taken possession of our very from the U K! Barry has arrived!! He arrived a bit knackered after a 30 hours in the air but has settled in well and is currently on his third stubbie. We have whipped him around the local shopping mall for him to buy some shorts and he is now fully equipped for the tropical north. We will introduce him to the great Aussie Barbie soon, then who knows!!

  21/12/2011
  Last nights Barbie was a success with Barry coping very well with jet lag.  So, today we did the introduction to Cairns. We went and had a look at the beautiful boats in the marina then a walk around the lagoon which was a bit thin on the ground for backpackers in their skimpies. Must have gone home for Christmas! A quick walk around Cairns Central shopping mall for more shorts then a drive over the range to Kuranda, which was full of Asian tourists, where we had a spot of lunch.  Back down the range after a stop at the lookout looking down over Cairns and up the coast to Yorkeys Knob. A beer in Apres Bar at  Palm Cove, then home for another BBQ. Prawns, prawns and more prawns on the menu, plus some green tack, Barry finally succumbing to jet lag early evening.

  22/12/2011
   We are having to be very careful with Barry, trying to keep him out of the direct sunlight as the U V here is very intense and people like him with fair skin burn easily. Like he said, his legs haven’t seen the light of day for 40 years! Walking him around the cool air conditioned malls was working well until he developed blisters.
  We all went with Phil and Julie up to Port Douglas, a pretty town  ( though a bit touristy) some 50K north of here. It’s a beautiful drive along the coast with fantastic views.
 The evening was spent with Paul Mcnamarra and the rest of the boys, at his house, playing pool, not very well, us Poms losing to the Aussies. The girls went to the Greek restaurant at Palm Cove for a Women and Wine night, and later ended up at Pauls house. We walked home in the early hours, further aggravating Barrys blister.

   23/12/2011
     Everyone here seems to be rushing around doing their last minute Christmas shopping, no different than home really.
 Phil and I spent the morning grass cutting and pool cleaning, so that’s that done for a while though the pool needs some attention every day.
 We had Matilda’s this evening, all of us gathering around under the palms on the beach for nibbles and drinks ( if you don’t know what Matilda is then you haven’t been concentrating on the blog). Barry has fitted in well with our friends and chats with them easily, they are nice people and easy to get on with.
 Later we spent the evening scheming a plan to entertain everyone on Boxing morning based on a typical English Boxing Day hunt meet as that is what we would be doing if we were at home. More to be revealed!