Australia

It is 8 pm here and I can barely keep my eyes open. I would go to bed (since we have gone to bed no later than 8:30 each night we've been here) but I have clothes in the hotel dryer and have to wait until they are done, so I can go get them out. So, I am writing this blog post to try to keep me awake while I wait. The rest of my family went to bed at 7:30- even JMG. If this post makes no sense, then please understand that my diminished capacity is temporary and when I get some sleep, I should be back to my normal self. (I know what you are thinking. "Diminished capacity is normal for her." I walked right into that one)

Anyway, I will just show you some pics of our time here and keep my comments to a minimum, so as not to make myself look like a big idiot (ok, bigger idiot. I walked into that one too)

Here are the girls at "Muddies Playground". Cairns has a beautiful playground and splash park for kids that is completely free.



Not far from that is the "Lagoon" it is a man made pool and beach area which is also completely free.



The beach in downtown Cairns is really muddy (hence the name "Muddies Playground).



It wasn't always this way. Something about dredging it for boats in WWII. I read one of those informative signs by the beach but I didn't memorize it. There are nice beaches close by, but I was told that they are not really safe right now because it is still "stingers" season. So, here we are at this nice place the city built. The pictures will not show you how big it is, but the thing is completely humongous. This is just one small area. I actually like it better than a real beach, especially for the kids. There are no jelly fish, sharks, big waves, and it is shallow. I am going to ask JMG to make one for us in the backyard of our tribal hut.



Anyway, you can see that the girls had lots of fun!



In the morning we will say goodbye to air conditioning and television for the last time and we are off to our new home in Papua New Guinea! We are all pretty excited!!