On Saturday I dropped Paul off at the Armour and Artillery Museum and then spent the rest of the morning looking around Cairns. As it happened, we were there for the last two days of the Cairns Festival, so there were markets and all sorts of interesting things. I then spent the afternoon lazing around until it was time to go and get Paul. He'd had a really good time, including a ride in a tank!
On Sunday morning we drove to Port Douglas. It's a beautiful place and it was a lovely day - this is from the roadside a little south of Port Douglas.
We then headed back to Cairns for a late lunch at a lovely burger place, then another wander followed by lazing around again!
Monday - off to Brisbane. We met up with Adam who had gone to Brisbane the same day we went to Cairns; he went to see his team (Manly) play the Broncos in the last game of the season. Then we all went off to the apartment we had booked to share. I haven't yet posted my Tripadvisor review but in short, it seems that we dodged a bullet. Somehow, I neglected to check the online reviews before we booked and if I had, we'd never have stayed there. As it turned out though, our apartment was nowhere near as bad as some of the (mostly really appalling) reviews indicated, and apart from some weird things - e.g. you could only get in to reception to check in by following someone with security access, something that's usually completely frowned upon in a building with security! - it was pretty reasonable.
On Tuesday we went to visit some of Paul's family - his mum, sister, and niece and her children. We had a really nice afternoon with them. Had dinner at PappaRich in the city. We've now eaten at PappaRich restaurants in Wellington, Canberra and Brisbane and they all follow the same pattern; really nice food an a total lack of intent to serve the meal in sensible timeframes. For example in Brisbane, I was eating my main course and Paul's and Adam's hadn't arrived yet when my dessert appeared on the table. Then we all had to wait for Paul's dessert which was served long after the rest of the food was demolished. It says something for their food that we're still all happy to eat there given the random way it's served :-)
Then on Wednesday it was out to Morayfield and Caboolture to see some of my family; particularly my dad as it was his 90th birthday. Here's Dad, Paul and Adam in Dad's room at the Regis:
Then finally we flew home from Brisbane on the Thursday.
Overall, a nice little trip away!
