Port Douglas

We've just spent a week in Port Douglas.  We did wonder about the sense of having a holiday before the wedding but it has proved to be the best thing out.  I spent most of my time fighting a virus and then Harry caught it, so it was a reasonably quite holiday on the North Queensland coast.  First of all the weather - it is a bit rich for Wellingtonians to say it was windy - but it was.  Cooled the temperatures down a bit as it wasn't quite the high 20's we were hoping for - still teeshirt and shorts weather so we can't complain.  Only one day of rain - when we aptly visited the rain forest so all pretty good. There's some pretty good views from the Captain Cook Highway and on the way up to the Tablelands, Daintree Forest and Kurunda.  Climbing above the coast and rain forests into the dry grasslands above.

We loved the nature...picture a golden sandy beach lined with coconut palms (a few coconuts lying on the ground), a few bougainvillea and hibiscus - though not as much colour as we thought - thinking about it rain forests do have a natural 'green' look about them similar to the kiwi native forests.  The colour is in the garden and the wildlife.

In Port Douglas there is an apartment complex, with the bathroom cupboards open to full view of the streets - it's true - we can see the medicines residents were taking, find out whether they were tidy, work out the most popular face wash ... wonder what the architect was thinking.

The birdlife really is amazing.  Lots of noise early morning (who needs an alarm?), early evening with bats flying around and signs on the road to watch out for cassawary.   We decided the signs are a bit like 'kiwi' and 'little blue penguins' crossing the road signs - have you ever seen one - nope. A few wild indigenous turkeys were all we saw. We ended up visiting an animal reserve/refuge centre to catch some of the bird life.

On our trip up to Cape Tribulation (across on the car ferry) we stopped at a sandy beach.  What a find.  Beach art - the artists hidden below the surface probably little crabs 6or periwinkles making their homes in the wet sand and warm water - swimming pool temperature.

Our first walk around Port Douglas started with an evening walk along the beach - dark with the tide in, possibly not the best time to explore.  Still it was fun heading for the village along the sandy shore with the lights obscured by trees and coconut palms.  We stayed about 1 km out of Port Douglas, in a apartment, so breakfast was cereal and fresh fruit and lunch was salady stuff in wraps.  Dinner was out - Italian, Pub, Seafood - some restaurants didn't have much choice for vegetarians but others were very good, and we had some lovely pastas and salads.  One night we had fish and chips and couldn't find anywhere to eat them so settled for a park bench under a tree.  It was pretty dark and we listened to the band playing across the road, while eating salad with our fingers (didn't find the plastic forks until after our meal - it was dark remember).  So, we went back the next day and took a photo of the bench and the tree...

We drove up to Daintree Rain forest one day, and took the car across on the little car ferry.  Did a few boardwalks through the trees and mangrove swamps (Rainforest, Wetlands, Grasslands are all pretty close really) and went for a boat trip to spot a crocodile in its natural inhabitants.  Saw a baby - a couple of inches long, a teenager (couple of feet), and big Daddy (3 metres).

There is some pretty big industry up here - besides sugar cane, tea and coffee growing, there is ice cream (flavours from the natural seeds like wattle) and the local Atherton dairy cows, wineries and lots of fresh fruit etc, so we didn't starve.  We drove up to Kuranda one day - I have memories of my visit 30 or so years ago.  We must have caught the train from Cairns as we soon discovered that this little tourist spot didn't offer a train trip through the forest unless we went back to Cairns.  The place is very touristy now, with lots of cheap clothing and coffee shops.  The little church St Saviours offered a peaceful respite - and have a look at the stain glass window photo.  Not far from Kuranda is the Baron Falls which would have been spectacular in the rainy season.

Another day we drove to the Tablelands.  Experienced coffee and icecream makers are up here. There are lots of dairy cows here, termite mounds, tea plantations and mango and pineapples.

Another day we went to Atherton table lands - which was a bit of a non adventure.  I was not feeling wonderful and so didn't really enjoy the driving - but the fig trees (that take over other trees) was quite spectacular.

Next few weekends

The next few weekends are a bit of a blur.  Getting ready for a wedding is fun, but takes quite a lot of energy...We have

• had our photo shoot in the Botanical Gardens - the weekend before Tulip Sunday - so it was quite busy and we got quite a few stares.
• had a long chat with Danielle from Duck Creek about organisation etc.
• been to the movies to see The Sapphires (which was o.k.), looks as though some good movies are coming our way.
• had a weekend of gardening and organisation (Shaz and Az borrowed the car to go to Feilding as theirs broke down in Otaki)
• went to a conference one weekend on injury info - which actually was pretty good.

No photos this time, but there will be lots soon...

Carterton Daffodil Day

This week I went back to Bridge and enjoyed it.  So, after nearly 6 months my energy levels have returned - yeah!!  No more tv watching and more action!!  Saturday we cleaned out the garage, put a few boxes under the house, got rid of more rubbish and Harry and Aaron also fixed the door, so now we can get two cars in!!  We've also put the mirror up in the bathroom, attempted a bit more gardening and doing some more wedding organisation - all good stuff.  On the Sunday - it was daffodil day in Carterton.  The wind blew (a typical Spring breeze), but we took off ever hopeful that the rain would stay away.  It did for most of the day.  We wandered round the stalls (lots of mud), along a couple of streets (saw the old library built in 1881 and a few other old places), and met Cheryl and Marty for lunch.  Then we wandered the grounds of the historic Carrington House - funny how we never knew it was behind all those trees.  It was built back in 1874 rather close to the road.  It was then moved a few years later to make way for a garden - must have been quite a mission a number of metres back and now is circled by a great garden with rhodos, creek, pond, daffodil paddock etc.  After wandering through the mud and rain drops we went to the daffodil fields and then drove back along the back roads through Martinborough (where we avoid hitting pukekos, sheep, goats whom seemed to think they owned the road!) and back home - torrential rain over the Rimutakas!

Feilding Rhododendron Gardens

It's spring time - the rhodos, camellias, magnolias, daffodils are out in full bloom.  So, we decided to take a day off from the house renovations and tidying and wedding organisation and go to Feilding for the day.  Although, not all the trees were in full bloom, the weather was warm and there was enough colour and birdlife to keep us enthralled for a while.  On the way up we enjoyed the snow capped mountains and even got a glimpse of Mount Ruapehu - I jokingly said to Harry 'Lets go up the mountain for the day' and although he agreed, pointed the car back towards Wellington.  In the evenings it is getting lighter and so we're coming home and doing a bit in the garden before it gets dark.  It seems to be getting less weedier and resembling order a bit more which is good news.

Otaki

One weekend we went shoe shopping in Otaki - lots of great shoes - but none the right colour or size.  I never could wear really high heels and now I find I'm limited to almost flat ones - not a brilliant outcome for someone so short.  The upside of going shopping is going to the beach afterwards as a reward.  We had a picnic of hot bread and coffee buns and a lovely walk along a nearly deserted beach.  We've seen Kapiti from so many perspectives lately and here's another to add to the album.

Evening on Petone Beach

It's been a really busy few weeks and my blog writing has suffered.  Sharon and Aaron have moved in, and so we helped clean and move stuff over here.  Thank heavens for new knees - they survived pretty well.  We finished most of the redecorating in the bathroom and ensuite and now both rooms are the same pretty shade of green - we liked it so much.  We've  now got some decluttering to do in the garage - Trade Me here we come!!  We've enjoyed spending time with friends over coffee, brunch and pot luck dinners and now it is 'getting' ready for wedding.  The 'things to do' list is very long, but we are doing a few things every week and so it is getting better.  Things are falling into place which is great news.  We've been to the movies a few times, and went to Hairspray with Sharon and Aaron which was quite a lot of fun.  In the weekend we went to see Hope Springs (wouldn't really recommend it to anyone), had dinner at my favourite little Italian restaurant (I took Harry to Istanbul the previous week and it was great - we reminisced about our time in Turkey and wished we were there), and then went and listened to the Beat Girls for a while.  Saturday we went to the Settlers festival at Petone - had a nice walk along the beach looking for shells (of which there were few) and then sat with chips and coffee on the sea wall watching the bonfires being lit and the fireworks display. Wouldn't you know it we forgot our camera!! but here's a photo from the web with Wellington in the background. Sunday was a slow start and then a walk around Paekak rocks looking for more shells (decided having shells as table settings are a bad idea), but even so we enjoyed the walk and our picnic (sausages and bread) - took us back to our time in the UK.