On To Cairns....

On to Cairns for a 3 night stay at Lake Placid Caravan Park.... the park facilities were great and in a beautiful quiet location out of the city, dog friendly and a great place to station ourselves while we explore the city.

I wish we could say the same about Cairns itself though. We were so in love with the surrounding areas of the Atherton Tablelands, the northern beaches of Palm Cove and Port Douglas, and  even further north  to mor rural surroundings... the city itself however didn't leave such a lasting impression.

We didn't get up to too much for a few days in Cairns, caught up on some blog, paid bills, did some shopping... all that fun stuff. The disappointment came from our visits into the city for dinner and to explore the hugely advertised "Night Markets". At risk of sounding extremely judgemental and racist, ever stall and most city shops were owned and operated by asian persons hounding you outside every shop to come in and buy from them. We wanted to go to a nice Asian restaurant for dinner but left because the waitresses stand out on the street trying to convince and pressure you into eating in their restaurant. I was not so much unhappy about the lack of Aussies providing services, but more the fact that all of this was very unaustralian! It was shocking that people are flying into our country and this is what that are seeing and it wasn't one bit Australian at all!

So now i have that off my chest.... time to head north to beautiful Palm Cove for a night of romance and luxury. Bring it on!! Our first night out of the camper and it really was beautiful. We stayed at Peppers Beach Club Palm Cove, and were gladly upgraded to a penthouse spa room for our honeymoon! Without a doubt i always feel totally relaxed when i visit Palm Cove!

It was a bit windy for us to try a spot of fishing off the jetty, but that didn't stop alot of people. We couldn't believe a group of young local lads that had a home made trolley that carried their rods, large ice box and a sound system. It was an awesome invention and probably the highlight of the trip for Ben so far!!

Feeling like a special treat we asked the locals where best to have dinner. On both occasions we asked we got the same answer "The Beach Almond" so the decision was made. What a laid back friendly atmosphere, the service was brilliant and the food exciting! The spring rolls and pork belly entree left us wanting more and never wanting to leave...you know its good when you eat super slow to make the delicious sensation last longer! I would highly recommend a meal at "The Beach Almond" on your next visit, even Ben was impressed. We couldn't eat all night though and forced ourselves to move on to take a relaxing walk on the beach before retiring to our balcony spa! (Now I'm rubbing it in!)

As much as i love Palm Cove, we did have to leave and we were excited to be leaving Cairns and starting our southbound journey. There was one more thing we had to do before we left though. The MINJIN BUNJY SWING. OMG - It really didn't look very scary at all from the ground, i can't believe i was contemplating doing a bunjy jump instead because it didn't look adventurous enough. Ha ha ha. Well, up Ben and I went together in our harness... up and up and up and up... they winch you about 40 metres into the canopy of the rainforest's i think. Then the light went green and it was time for me to pull the cord. I must have been white as a ghost, Ben was even scared and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I couldn't believe i had the courage to pull the cord that would result in us plunging towards the earth and swinging through the forest at up to 300km/h. Ahhhhhhhh. What a rush... it really was worth it, such a high and i was extremely proud of myself for pulling that cord!! Yahoo!

Pepper's Beach Club Resort & Spa - Palm Cove

Local Lads Fishing Trolley!

The Beach Almond - Thumbs Up!

Minjin Bunjy Swing.... Yahoo!

The Coffee Works - Mareeba

Ok.... so with all apologies, in between work and play, it's time to get this blog updated.

After a restless night sleep and disappointing stay at Granite Gorge Camping Ground we were bound for Cairns but not without a stop at the recently improved COFFEE WORKS! I wasn't quite sure what to expect, deceiving from the outside, a plain shed structure in the industrial area of Mareeba, neither of us connoisseurs of coffee, but my curiosity forbid me to drive right by.

OMG - Never judge a book by its cover! The saying could never have rang truer. Gallo Dairyland was impressive and very hard to beat but Coffee Works was right up there with them. I was quickly falling more and more in love with the Atherton Tablelands and drawing inspiration for my own future business ventures.

Entering Coffee Works we were greeted with bright coloured steel statues (all available for purchase), equally bright and chirpy staff and so much to look at! Gratefully, a very knowledgeable and friendly staff  member approached us and explained the options of browsing the gift shop or taking the tasting experience. From memory i think full price was $15 pp but we had a $5pp discount coupon... i really am becoming a coupon queen. The tasting experience was definitely worthwhile and so much so that once again i found myself in a place i never wanted to leave.

You would never know you were in a shed in the middle of an industrial estate... in a way i felt i had been transported to Byron Bay or Bangalow. The atmosphere alone was worth bottling. The $15 experience was inclusive of alot, not just a look around. We quickly stuck our stickers to our chest and our host walked us through to the tasting area to explain the procedure. The room was filled with numerous urns of hot coffee, both Australian and World varieties, milk, tea and to my surprise... more chocolate. Our host handed us a cup and explained that we are free to drink and try as many varieties of coffee and eat as much chocolate as desired! Had i died and gone to heaven? She then explained that when we are reading we could continue through to the coffee museum, onto the coffee roasting and packaging shed, through to the gift shop, coffee shop and chocolate shop. Lucky there was no rush, and the best thing was that we were then left to ourselves to take our time, and stay as long or little as we liked!

On to the coffee, i hoped we weren't planning on sleeping tonight. I think we could have driven for days. Different flavours of chocolate pieced where available including chilli, coconut, white, dark, some others i can't remember and a very interesting Lime and Cracked Pepper Chocolate? I can see you screwing your nose up, but truly it was very nice... not something you could eat a block of, but definitely something intriguing to serve with coffee to dinner guests.

The museum was amazing, at the entrance to yet another shed we picked up our handheld radio's. Very cleverly each item in the museum was numbered and on entering that number into the radio, you heard a detailed explanation of the item, what it did, what year it was used, what country etc. Highly valuable as some of the items where over 100 years old and very unfamiliar. I never new coffee was so highly regarded so many years ago. There were thousands of artifacts, all very interesting, and 6 individually themed booths. On a whole the layout of the museum was very well thought out, interactive, interesting and exciting... none of which i had ever associated with a museum previously.

Through to the amazing gift shop, one of those places you feel like you're exploring and seeing something new everytime you look, and then yet again, like a shining light from heaven, another chocolatier and shop. Although i demonstrated great willpower and walked away with nothing, both Ben and I had consumed enough coffee and chocolate in the tasting to last a lifetime... and there was nothing stopping us all day going back to the free stuff!

Being November, not long until Christmas, the chocolate Christmas trees were very impressive. I snuck in a quick photo and can't wait to make them one Christmas. Exploring there craftsmanship and detail they look incredible but would be achievable!

Just like Gallo Dairyland, Ben had to drag me kicking and screaming to leave this wonderful place. Do It! I had forgotten what good service was until now.