...And that's just how we were feeling when we landed in Cairns, Australia, and the temperature was a balmy 35 degrees C. (Oh yeah, add... sweat, sweat, sweat to that.) Weather aside, Queensland is an amazing place to visit. We had a wonderful time snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands. As well we revisited the sand dunes of Fraser Island and enjoyed a day of driving on sand roads and the beach. We even took our turn being stuck on the beach with our bus as the tide came in.
One particular highlight revolved around our stay at Creole Castle, the home of Paul and Karen Savy, friends of Bernie and Kathleen Townsend. Talk about an island-type refuge... 50 plus acres of rainforest lovingly developed and cared for by both Paul and Karen to recreate their own Seychelles getaway. Walking around their yard was an epicurean, flora, and fauna adventure. Lemons, vanilla beans, ginger, spices of every variety, hibiscus, fragipani, Ulysses butterflies, cassowaries, kangaroos... it was all amazing in it exoticness and overwhelming in its beauty. We cannot thank them enough for their hospitality and the chance to share their personal 'Garden of Eden'.
Australia has changed a lot since our last visit in 2002. Small beach communities (read hippy) have expanded into coastal easy living properties (read retirement) and the beaches of the Gold Coast, once filled with a cluster of high rise buildings now boast an unending shoreline of skyscrapers. Prices of properties have skyrocketed but Bernie and I are still trying to figure out where we should retire to... should we decided to retire. Whatever we end up doing, Australia remains an amazing place to visit.
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