Week before the eclipse

05/11/2012
  I was gong to wash the other half of the van today but couldn’t be bothered. I swear it drives differently being half clean. . We went into Cairns just to check it hasn’t changed. It hasn’t. There are still a lot of tourists about, many are staying to watch the eclipse, then it should quieten down, especially when the heat and humidity start to increase.
 After Cairns and a visit to good old Dan Murphys we drove up to Palm Cove and had a walk along the jetty. From the end you get a very good view of Double Island looking north and you can see Yorkeys Knob Boat Club in the distance looking south. Being a beautiful clear day the whole of the coastline stood out really well and the sea looks so inviting, but of course it’s only advisable to swim within the stinger nets. No worries we just head back to Clifton and a dip in the pool. Just realised it’s Bonfire night. We won’t be having one unless you count the electric BBQ.

 06/11/2012
  It’s Melbourne Cup day, the race that stops the nation, it  is said. Certainly it’s a big occasion with hotel and pub parties, everyone dressing up in their finest to watch racing. The race is arguably the richest and greatest in the world, but the Aussies would say that wouldn’t they. Ladies Day at Royal Ascot is a big occasion but  doesn’t affect the nation like here, nor does the Derby or the Grand National We decided to listen to the race on the radio but completely got our timings wrong as there is a one hour time difference between here and Victoria. We switched on for a 3 o clock race only to find it had already been run at 2 o clock our time. Didn’t pick a winner anyway!
 We had our first overnight rain storm which took us by surprise and had us scurrying to put things under cover at 1 30am. Lovely warm rain even in the middle of the night. By mid morning it’s all back to normal, blue skies and hot sunshine.

 One of the  local radio station runs a bit of a quiz. This morning, one of Cairns finest was asked “which is the  race that stops the  nation?” His answer……the Aborigines.  Silence ensued!

 07/11/2012
  Coffee morning with the boys followed by one or two caretaking duties. We don’t have to do it but clearing away a few leaves from out of the pool seems the  right thing to do before getting in! Besides Jane has her keep fit class in the pool later with a few girls and a personal trainer so it has to look good.
  We have our first Christmas Party invite, other than Christmas Day, which is already organised. We are going to Alan and Cynthias house on the 9th December. Looks like an early start to the festivities.

08/11/2012

  Cairns seems to be the rendezvous for the great unwashed of the world at the moment. After a doctors appointment (she recommended an E N T consultation as there is a problem with my R eardrum, possibly caused by diving) we went into Cairns so Jane could have a haircut. Wandering around we noticed a lot more battered old campervans and unkempt youth than usual. There are always plenty of backpackers doing their thing in their gap year but this new lot are different. There are lots of nationalities , Europeans trying to look like Orientals  or Zen bloody Buddhists, white people with dreadlocks and afro haircuts and I can’t begin to describe the clothing…..all very strange and of course they are here to watch the solar eclipse. You can buy postcards of the eclipse………how does that work? It’s not until next week!

 09/11/2012

  Back to our winning ways, as we won a meat tray at Centrals rugby club. Steak, lamb joint, snags, bacon, and eggs. We will have to freeze some of it in the store room freezer. We were ready for a beer or two as we, well me, spent the day lawn mowing, gardening and collecting green ant bites. They are viscous little buggers but their bite doesn’t seem to have any long term effect. Now we are into the wet season we reckon we can tell when it’s going to rain by watching the green ants. They always head up the walls of the units and gather under the eaves, millions of them. 

 10/11/2012

  Not much sun today but so humid, around 80%apparently, with rain showers. If it’s cloudy like this on Wednesday there are going to be lots of disappointed eclipse freaks. Julie has a great scheme going for the eclipse. Her Outriggers Club are taking punters out in their boats to watch the eclipse offshore. They are charging a hundred bucks a head and giving them a tropical breakfast after. No idea what a tropical breakfast is but it will raise lots of money for the club.

 Outriggers are canoes with a single stabiliser or side flotation unit, which 6 people paddle, and it looks like hard work to me. 

 This afternoon we walked the 40 minutes it takes to Palm Cove along the beach to Apres Bar for a couple of beers. Boy did we need  them when we got there. Apres are doing eclipse stubby cooler at $15 a throw, you can get eclipse T shirts and all sorts of paraphernalia. It may be good  for business but can you really get excited about 2 minutes of darkness?

 11/11/2012

  Steak for last nights dinner, bacon and eggs on the BBQ for brekkie and snags for tonight’s evening meal, all courtesy of the rugby club raffle. It’s a pity they have stopped the prawn tray raffle at the boat club as we have been known to win there as well. Still we had a pleasant afternoon on the boat club deck with my brother Stephen and saw snippets of the rugby internationals on TV. England winning comprehensively and Wales getting stuffed by a second rate team from Argentina, not a bad day all round!