Milestone -T4T blog

~300 posts and 13,000 page views.

And lots of pvs from overseas, nice.

This weeks snapshot of traffic volume and origin.
(Courtesy Google)

Pageviews by Countries Entry Pageviews France 46 United States 45 Australia 11 China 10 Brazil 9 Indonesia 6 Vietnam 5 Sweden 4 Ukraine 3 Spain 2

Maroochy River

Lots of activity in the river and along the beach at Maroochydore.

The council is spending lots of dollars 'replenishing/renourishing' (Council's words) the beach by dredging sand from the river. The plan is to pump 100,000 cubic meters of sand from the river to deposit on the beach and increase the current flow past Cotton Tree Park and Cornmeal Creek. A pipe runs from the dredge out along the river bed, then via the caravan park and about 1km, to disgorge the sand and water on the surf beach.

From the link-google-photos, you can see it's not the first time and probably not the last time we will be seeing the dredge in action. Over time and after storms the sand on the beach is carried away and most of it seems to end up in the river again. The river and its course are apt to change month by month but what is most noticeable is the continual buildup of sand.

But life goes on regardless: sunset and sunrise here can have you spellbound.

Replenishing the beach

Dredging the river.

Sunrise.

Sunrise.

Moon on the rise.

Cairns Festival

The timing of this trip was perfect with the first week of the Cairns Festival in full swing. All sorts of stuff going on down at the Esplanade, live music, a float parade, fireworks, and steel band competition.

For the first time, I stayed in an Airbnb and had an enjoyable and comfortable stay. The main attraction was the location close to the Cairns Central Railway Station and shopping centre. A bedroom to myself and sharing the lounge, kitchen, and other facilities. Added benefits included the use of push bikes and pool etc. Dee and Pat were perfect hosts. Dee went out of her way to make my stay enjoyable. Actually, I know she does that for all her guests, she makes you feel very welcome.

Riding push bikes around Cairns is easy, as it's flat, and besides the many dedicated bike trails, the roads mostly have bike lanes.

Every weekend in Cairns Rusty's Market on Sheridan St is open. A very colorful and vibrant market with the usual trinkets and great food options.

The only way to do a 24h trip, very comfortable!

Music in the park.

Rusty's Market

Rusty's Market

Cairns and Kuranda

One train to another. This time it's the Kuranda tourist train and the Skyrail cableway. The Karunda tourist train is very interesting and the audio commentary along the way details points of interest and historical facts. The climb takes nearly two hours up the Macalister Range and through the Barron Gorge NP to the very touristy town of Kuranda.

The markets at Kuranda sell all sorts of stuff I don't need and there are lots of food options as well. A short walk to the Skyrail terminal and the cableway takes you back down again.

The cableway has two stops where it's possible to disembark and walk the tropical rain forest and viewing platforms overlooking the Barron Falls. Overall it's about 7km cruising the tree tops. For me, the details regarding the building of the cableway are far more interesting than the ride itself.

 

Tourist train on the way up.

Skyrail on the way down.

Cairns

Packing. Well, a different type of packing. Packing for a train trip from Brisbane to Cairns.

Only going to be away a week but not sure about what needs to go. It's not like packing an 8-ton motorhome where weight and space are not normally an issue.

Must admit I didn't give it a lot of thought when booking the tickets. As it stands, I will be traveling to Brisbane from Maroochydore via the train station at Nambour only to ride the train back via Nambour on the way to Cairns. I think the Spirit of Queensland would stop to pick me up in Nambour, well if I had booked it like that. Anyway will ask if they will drop me off at Nambour on the way back.

FNQ and Cairns are familiar, been there before. The first time was back in the 80s, and later in my motorhome adventures in the last couple of years. But this time I'm staying in an Airbnb right in the middle of town and I will be able to explore the CBD and not have to worry about where my MH is parked or if it's safe or getting a parking ticket. (There are all sorts of parking restrictions for large, long, heavy vehicles, commercial or not). My Airbnb host has a push-bike available for me and I have places and things planned that I want to see and do, but more of that later.

In the meantime: Anticipation running high!