December 27-29 - Cairns/Sydney/Nabiac

Time to do some catch up posts!

Friday, December 27

We had good intentions of leaving Daintree Village at 5 am but Steve didn't want me to have to drive the Captain Cook Highway in the dark so we dawdled a bit, had some breakfast, and set out shortly after sunrise.  Again, it's such a beautiful drive.

We stopped at a newish wetlands just north of Cairns, called the Cattana Wetlands.

http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/facilities-and-recreation/parks/cattana-wetlands

They are man-made wetlands that were originally sugar cane fields, and then a mining quarry.  There wasn't a lot going on that morning, but you could see where it would be a good place for birding.

We headed on to the Cairns Esplanade, and later the Flecker Botanic Gardens and the Mangrove Boardwalk on the way out to the airport.  We had an afternoon flight to Sydney, and tried to make the most of our time in Cairns before going.

It was hard to say good-bye to Far North Queensland!

Saturday, December 28

Mark picked us up at the Sydney airport Friday evening, and we arrived at the apartment to see Fiona, her mum Dee, and enjoy a late supper that Fiona had prepared.  It was great to see everyone and catch up, but we needed to get on the road in the morning to Nabiac, so soon went to bed.

Mark wanted to be on the road by 7:30, and I think we made it.  I don't know, I was just a passenger.  We had a few hours in the car, so as you can imagine, still a lot of chatting and catching up.  We tried to make a pit stop at a McDonald's in a service area off the Pacific Highway, but turned back as I have never seen such a crowded service area in my life.  Steve declared that this was where he had seen the most beautiful woman he had ever seen on a stop back in 2007, but we were pretty sure she wasn't there this time.

A stop in Newcastle to drop off Dee, who was suffering from whatever dastardly disease Fiona foisted upon us all, then on to the farm in Nabiac.

Then the day went like this:

• Lazing about on daybeds on the screened in porch, chatting and more catching up
• Laundry and pegging clothes out on the line
• Mark taking Steve and me over to the new property to check it out, and give the cattle a bale of hay
• Fiona teaching me how to drive a quad and making me follow her around while she moved cattle
• Feeding the two bulls and scratching their gigantic heads
• Eating dinner late, out on the deck, under the gaze of a Tawny Frogmouth

Hello girls!

Sunday, December 29

I can't get out!  I wake earlier than everyone else but can't get out of the house.  The door has bolts that are too high for me to reach and all the other doors are locked from the inside and I can't find the keys.  So I start the day feeling short :-(  Eventually, Steve wakes up and releases me.

This is another day that isn't really about sightseeing, but about visiting with friends.  Steve takes walks to look at birds, Mark is doing something about thistles, Fiona waters and ties up plants.  Steve, Mark and I make a run into Nabiac, with stops along the fencelines to move any limbs that might have fallen on them.  There are a few, and they move them, Mark getting a rather impressive splinter in the process.

The impressive bougainvillea next to the deck over the river. 

Back on the road at 4.  Mark takes us back via Ku-ring-gai National Park.  We stop and stretch our legs at Bobbin Head.  Another spectacularly beautiful area, and one where we would love to spend more time down the road!

Picked up some take out Thai and called it a night!