I ❤️ Cairns

Yesterday: a travelling day. A swing by the Ayers Rock Resort Museum for a final dose of art and information in the morning. (Ayers Rock is a single sandstone body formed 550 million years ago then covered by the desert; there is more of it beneath the sand than above, which is a mind-boggling thought.) Then lunch, an easy flight from one of the smallest airports ever (hooray for Qantas, much better than Virgin Australia; hooray for finding a John Grisham I haven't read in the airport shop; and hooray for Kevin settling Jemima to sleep and looking after her on the flight so I could gloriously indulge).

And then we were in Cairns. As hot as Ayers Rock but 90% humidity rather than 40%. (But actually (strangely) I love that sticky heat you get in the tropics, where the air smells damp and feels thick when the doors open out of the air conditioning.) When we got to our apartment in central Cairns, the sky was full of what we thought were giant birds, but actually they were hundreds of enormous fruit bats, heading out for the night, like nothing we've ever seen. A spectacular welcome. And then, after our dropping bags, we found the Night Market practically next door, like Bangkok transported to northern Australia: tiny shops selling jewellery, tie dye clothes, and flip flops; Thai massage and fish pedicure places; and Asian food of every description. And through that, out onto the seafront Esplanade for a hot, sweaty, humid open air Italian dinner under a whirling fan, packed with Valentine's couples. So far, so very good.

And the fun continued today. Slightly cooler but still that wonderful sticky weather. Kevin and Jemima disappeared in the morning to do birthday preparations for tomorrow, so I finished my Grisham by the hotel pool; then after lunch, we all headed there for some Jemima-led splashing about (which she LOVES). And after enjoying that for a while, we branched out to the Lagoon on the Esplanade, which was amazing: a huge sand-fringed shallow swimming pool overlooking the sea, and the rainforest in the distance. More glorious splashing about, with some very happy Cairns residents and visitors - it's just a great place. Finished by a delicious dinner of Moreton Bay bugs (a local crayfish) and prawns on the waterfront. We all ❤️ Cairns.