The Traveller's Table: 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!