Hi!
Well. Apologies for not checking in sooner, again......! But, here we are on another beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon. There's a nice breeze, and it's thankfully not too hot or humid, which makes doing the chores and whatnot just a little easier to bear. Outside are the twittering birds (mainly yammering crows, warbling magpies, and chatty lorikeets) and napping cats, all to the usual hip n' cool jazz tunes and a nice, cool stand-by Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (always my favorite, even after 24 years - gasp!).
So work. Yep. It's good. Winding down to Xmas, and our move to the building next door. I must say I'm not too jazzed about my seating assignment - I'll have my back to all and sundry on the floor and am right next to a main pathway/aisle, but there's nothing I can do but be thankful for a decent, steady job.......! And we're just that much closer to having our contract officially extended
until the aircraft is basically in pieces after it's been 
retired, so
we'll hopefully have another five years or so of work - which is good I suppose if you have to work. Oh, and surprises of surprises, to mark my five years of "dedication to the corporation" I was presented with a certificate with a little badge pin and a gift certificate! Well, I'll be. That was nice of them. Most companies don't do anything let alone give you a gift certificate. I was pretty impressed they not only remembered but spelled my name right! Huh. So yes, work is good - hooray for gainful employment!
And then there were a few weekends in there..... One nice, extra long weekend was spent up in Cairns with my friends Glen and Alison! That was reeeeeally nice, even if it rained the whole time and we didn't get to go to Fitzroy Island like we'd bought tickets (for the ferry ride over) to do. It was great to see them tho, catch up and swim in their pool! We did make it onto the Skyrail (gondolas that glide quietly over the rainforest - one of my favorite things to do there, even if it was my third time doing it) and up to Kuranda for a wander around and have some lunch at the Rainforest View Cafe........ I'm not sure why it gets reviewed so badly on Trip Advisor, sure the 
food is nothing to write home about but it wasn't that bad (I had the kangaroo burger with fries (NOM!) and Mom had the supreme pizza with a couple glasses of wine) and I thought it was perfectly fine. The place was quiet and the service was good. Sure, it's not five-star fancy pants, but you're surrounded by rainforest and lovely cool breezes, and they cook and bring you food and wine - what's to complain about?! Some folks can be pretty precious sometimes I guess! And then we 
wandered down to meet the Kuranda Scenic Rail train for our ride back down the "mountain" and back into Cairns. That is always a nice way to spend a couple hours, especially when you're in a Gold Class carriage! All the views, breezes, and wine and cheese you can drink and eat! That was a good day.
Then the next day, even tho it was raining (off and on) we headed out across the Atherton Tablelands to Mareeba for a look around and a tour of the Jaques Coffee Plantation. Once at Jaques, before we set off, included in our ticket price was a cup of their coffee, any way we liked. And the coffee was excellent, I have to say. Then, to start our tour, we headed into a little tiny cinema for a little documentary about the plantation and the family and the trials and
tribulations they've gone through over the years to get the plantation established - wooooweeee they've been through some stuff (I highly recommend you read that 'history' article in the link above), but they've kept it going! Then it was off on our tour (just the four of us), with our tour guide being the son himself, Jason, and he took us out and about. Then it was back to the cafe for a quick tasting of the two liquers they do (a Kahluay one and a Bailey'sy one, both really, really good. Good thing they have an online shop!) It. Was. EX-cellent. He was so nice, personable, and really really friendly. Can't recommend the place enough. It was so good!
Afterwards we headed off to meet and feed some wild Rock Wallabies at Granite Gorge National Park.
The park itself is beautiful with these amazing, well, granite, rock
formations and tons of cute little wallabies hopping all over the place.
There were soooo many of them you were practically mugged! They were terribly cute tho, and one even had a tiny little joey in her pouch that would peek its little head out and have a look around with its biiiig, brown eyes. So cute. But then a storm came through and chased us back to our car. Everyone was happy - the wallabies all got a free lunch and we got tons of photos.Then we headed back towards Cairns with a stop for lunch in Palm Cove at the local surf club. Good food and the money always goes to a good cause - the surf lifesavers that will pluck your butt out of the sea
should you overestimate your swimming abilities! But, again, it was raining so you couldn't really see much even tho the sea was right across the road; still, lunch and good company couldn't be beaten!The next day we actually stayed close to home as the weather was still crap. Tho we did head out in the morning for an incredibly good breakfast at the Cairns Botanic Gardens Cafe where I had the largest cup of coffee known to man!
The food was soooo good, as was the service and the surrounds - right there within the rainforest. It was most, most excellent. Then we headed home for a lively game of Monopoly and even Yahtzee! And then the next day was Monday where we hung around the house before our flight home. Finishing off a most excellent weekend, rain and all.
And after that, well, the last couple of weekends just haven't compared! But now it's getting time to get stuff together for Xmas with my annual trip to the foster family over in Toowoomba. This'll be Mom's first Xmas here so it should be pretty good!
And really, that's been about it. Like I said, after Cairns the weekends around here just can't compare! So, one day, when you all get yer butts down here, we'll head up there!!!! You will love it! So, there you are. Hope you're all well up there and like I've said a gazillion times before, if you need help planning your itinerary for your trip down thisaway, I'll be more than happy!!!!!!
BYE!
J!
J!
