Our life in Tropical North Queensland

If you’ve been wondering what the hell’s going on in the world of Cairns Unlimited, so have we!!!

I swear I have never been so busy in my life. Since our last blog entry, we have bought a new car (well, second hand, but new to us!), moved into a new home on Cairns NORTHERN BEACHES, and are just about to set off on a two week road trip around the NORTHERN OUTBACK. You can probably imagine that a 3000 kilometre road trip through the Australian outback has taken a certain degree of planning and preparation, and that’s the best excuse I’ve got for our recent silence. If you’re interested to see where it is we’re heading, click on the map below to open an interactive map of the Northern Outback.

We will probably drive west for about five days to visit NORMANTON and KARUMBA; BURKETOWN also if our van is feeling up to the drive. Then, we’ll turn south to CLONCURRY - the hottest place in Australia - and check out one of Australia’s most important mining towns, MOUNT ISA, while we’re there. Then, it’s back to the coast via the OVERLANDER’S WAY - another four or five days - ending up at TOWNSVILLE, before we wind our way north again, through the CASSOWARY COAST. It will be great to get away, after the last three months (and a considerable amount of time before that!) almost chained to the computer. But it will be great to get home, as well, to our new townhouse on the beach. Ah, life in Tropical North Queensland… beautiful one day, perfect the next! Did someone already say that?

By the way, Maria was looking for cheap flights on the internet recently; for ourselves to visit South Queensland at Christmas, but also in case some of her friends are planning to visit… now that we have a townhouse with a swimming pool… right on the beach! Well, guess where she found the cheapest flight? Right here on Cairns Unlimited!! If you’re looking for a cheap flight from almost anywhere in the world to almost anywhere in the world, you won’t do better than use our FLIGHT FINDER, which allows you to compare all the major discounters by entering your details just once.

Well, the Cairns Festival, which had been running on for three weeks sadly said goodbay last Saturday. But it was a glorious evening and everybody who made it to the Cairns Esplanade had a great time. At least, we did.

After watching the Parade of Lights, a beautiful street parade with lots of people dressed up, trucks converted into fairy tale floats and loud music, it was time for the fireworks. We went to our friends Lachy and Nadege and Marlo, their gorgeous little kid. We were all very excited as it was the first time Marlo was going to see fireworks and we didn’t know how he was going to react. But as everything else with Marlo, he just looked very cool at the fireworks. Gosh, I think I will steal him one day.

The fireworks in Spain are the grand finale of the festivals, but Cairns had more in store for us after they had finished. On stage, just after the fireworks finished, were an Aboriginal band, from Papua New Guinea, and old colony of Australia. The girls performed some amazing dances, those where they shake their hips. Absolutely amazing!!! But it was the Brasilian band that followed what the four of us were waiting for and finally they arrived on stage. Their name is Tumbarumba and I strongly suggest that if you ever have a chance to see them live, don’t hesitate!. From the very first song they had gained me. I love Brasilian music and I love dancing Brasilian music, so it was a perfect night for me. And for Nadege, she didn’t stop shaking her hips and shoulders either. We were too busy to take photos, but I have included a couple of photos from Tumbarumba website. Really worth listening to their music.

Visit our TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND EVENTS CALENDAR to find out more about Cairns Festival and other events happening in the area.

I know… we’ll have to change it to the ‘Cairns Fortnightly Blog’ if we keep up this pace. Honestly, the business has just been manic over the last couple of weeks. In addition to welcoming so many new advertisers onto Cairns Unlimited, we have been working away on no less than four new sections for the site. They will be revealed very soon.

On top of all that, we are busy planning our upcoming road trip around the NORTHERN OUTBACK, and there are a few things that we need done to the van before undertaking such an odyssey. You know… bubble windows, fats, musical airhorn, lumpy cam, four barrel carby … that sort of thing!

But although Cairns Unlimited is occupying us for about eighteen hours a day (and for those of you who have never had your own business… no I am not exaggerating!), we still find some opportunity to live a little

The weekend before last, it was a friend’s birthday party. A toga party, no less. Our friend prefers not to be named on such a public medium, since he has a highly respectable position in the local community. But I don’t think he’ll mind us sharing a glimpse of his rather unorthodox toga style. Just be thankful it’s a rear view.

Oh, and the cards hanging around our necks? Don’t even ask!

And of course, it would be torture living in the middle of the WORLD’S BEST BEACHES without occasionally finding time to feel the sand between your toes. Just north of CAIRNS, there are a string of beachside communities known as the NORTHEN BEACHES. Maria and I try to pick a new beach to explore each time. This time, it was CLIFTON BEACH, and what a textbook tropical paradise it is. A long arc of soft sand, lined with leaning palm trees, rainforest clad islands just offshore, and nothing to hear but the waves lapping. If Europe had a beach like this, it would be shoulder to shoulder with tourists. We are so lucky…