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August 20 August 2009In June John and I set off to Cairns and Port Douglas for a break. I caught the train up to Cairns with the Subaru on the back so we could drive back - John hates long train trips as much as I like them so he flew up the next day. Next time I must remember eye drops and pressure socks as 30 hours on the train is as hard on the body as 30 hours on a plane. Dry eye sockets and swollen feet were quickly overcome once I got off and I managed to devour 2 books on the way so I was in seventh heaven. Once I got the car and my bike off the train and set up the bike rack I headed off to the airport to pick up John. We then drove to Port Douglas under a very full moon and it was a beautiful drive. We stayed 3 days at Sabaya Resort - got a good deal from Rydges and thoroughly enjoyed it - was worth taking the bike as went for a few bike rides both here and in Mission Beach and the bike proved useful in caravan parks once we set up. The cost of taking the car on the train is less if you are a passenger - the trainfare ($109) was cheaper than the plane (Johns NSW rail discount helps) and the cost of the car ($299) is about equal to 2 nights accommodation and petrol if you drove up - plus apparently the drive is not all that great from Rocky to Cairns. We just didnt have enough time to drive up, rest, have a holiday and drive back. We went out on the reef and did some snorkelling, went for a drive up to Daintree and had lunch in a nice cafe - however we missed the river cruise as we opted to take the last one of the day and they were all cancelled as it was too quiet. 3 days in Port Douglas, 3 in Cairns, 3 in Mission Beach, 3 in Townsville then off to Hughenden, Winton, Longreach, Rubyvale, Blackwater and home - about 3000 kilometres in all - was very easy driving and we didnt feel pushed at all. We camped at Townsville and Hughenden and stayed in cabins or similar everywhere else except Mission Beach where we had a Rydges deal we used. We did all the usual touristy things: Kuranda Rail and Skyway, visited the Muttaburrasauras, the Stockmans Hall of fame and Qantas Founders Museum, went down a gem mine in Rubyvale and had dinner in the pub at Winton with some locals and some really nice truck drivers. Came home and had a week at home with mum, Cheryl and Ron passed thru on their way from living in UAE to living in China. Garth came down for a few days also. Went back to work and am currently very busy with a new computer system which got me the opportunity of a different job - I now manage the correspondence that comes in to our section and am thoroughly enjoying it for a change - as it all settles in I am sure it will become mundane but for the time being there is lots to sort out and manage so the change is great. Much better than researching and writing long legal reports for dodgy taxpayers who want to get out of the penalties they incurred for 'minimising' their tax illegally. Sometimes you just want to say to them that if it looks too good to be true then it probably is. It becomes very easy to tell the difference between honest mistakes and someone who just doesnt care. Pat comes over regularly and has dinner with us and seems to be settling down - Katie has gone back to Shellharbour to live with her mother. Pat has a job in a factory recycling computer games - he has never really had a job from 7-4 and is enjoying having evenings and weekends free. He is playing touch footy and seems to be enjoying life. Evan is doing ok in Horsham and getting work on a regular erratic basis. Sarah is struggling with work and apparently not getting enough. Evan works doing paper deliveries, at a frozen foodstore and in a timber yard on the weekends. I am up early today as Kermit is on my mind - when I put him in for his last service Ian told us that the brakes are unserviceable and need replacing - it was basically more than we were prepared to pay and so we have put him up for sale - we have had lots of interest but the fellow who rang yesterday wants to get a quote from Ian to put Kermit back on the road and I dont know if Ian is happy to do it. I want to sell Kermit but dont know that we can. We have had to take the rego off and cant get a roadworthy - looks like we are going to wear a big loss - but we have had a couple of years of fun and done things we would never do so there is no price you can put on that. If you did your heart would break - pouring money into a black hole is quite daunting and it's a bit of a relief to know it has come to a stop. We have even had a fellow from UK make an offer which involves us delivering Kermit to the Port of Brisbane for travel to UK. Kim and Joanne are arriving next weekend - both decided to come at the same time but luckily Kim is coming Saturday and Joanne on Sunday so all's cools. John will probably go to Sydney for Raymond's 21st however I am committed to work for the next couple of months and not interested in going to Sydney for 2 days - the cost far outweights the bother of plane flights, hire cars, accommodation etc. Nothing much is planned for the next few months - Kim and I are going to Alexandra Headland in October and we just had a great weekend at Stanthorpe for Xmas in July with Max and Carol. TrackbacksThe trackback URL for this entry is: http://newspapertranscripts.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5B54D514E8E56FA8!1136.trak Weblogs that reference this entry
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