Mexicans

It’s a little while since we had a holiday, I mean it’s over a month for goodness sake, we’ve got itchy feet.

So tomorrow we fly to Cairns, gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, which is in far north Queensland, (or FNQ as it’s universally known). The Queenslanders would call us Mexicans, a term they use for those south of their borders who travel north to escape the winter in the colder states. It’s a three hour flight, a small price to pay for a return to more pleasant conditions.

The last time we went to Cairns was 1996 and we used it as a base for a fortnight travelling up and down the coast as far north as Cape Tribulation and south to Mission Beach.

To date, the area ranks as my favourite part of the world just for the scenery; tropical rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef, another of Australia’s four world heritage-listed sites (along with Fraser Island, Kakadu National Park and Ayer’s Rock), miles of sugar cane plantations, Queenslander houses, sweet fresh bananas, stripy and spotty tropical fish. And the winter is almost the only time it’s worth going – during summer it’s hot and wet and you can’t go into the water because of the box jellyfish, which has a lethal sting.

Our plans include three nights in Cairns with a trip to a pontoon on the outer Barrier Reef, the sort that has snorkelling facilities, an underwater viewing platform, glass bottom boat and helicopter. After that we’re heading north to Port Douglas for five nights, where we’ll probably go back out to the reef and visit the rainforest habitat for their “breakfast with the birds” before heading off to see Mosman Gorge, a tropical freshwater reserve.

Most of all we need some rest. We’re tired now, the sort of tired where you want to stay in your pyjamas and order some take-away food because you can’t be bothered to cook, less still to go shopping. Or perhaps that’s just the inconvenience of life in a big city. Almost six months after we arrived, we’ve hardly stopped to take a breath and though it’s exciting, it’s also stressful trying to combine it with a job, especially one which requires you to learn new skills, and trying to fit in other things like going to the gym and organising trips and maintaining a social life doesn’t leave much room for chilling out.

So we’re signing off for the big chill-out, we’ll be back with the photos a week on Sunday.