Day 2 - Cains: Train, Skyrail, Croc Farm

Our first day in Cairns was full on - got up nice and early to get the party started. We forgot there was a little time change, we scheduled a 6:30am cab... got down and there wondering where it was....well we were an hour early! Watched the sunrise on the beach. Nothing is open late or early in this sleepy off season town - we were not able to get any brekkie

2 hour or so Scenic Train ride up to the small town of Karumba. Did some shopping in town, randomly played the didgeridoo with an aboriginal, had lunch and back down the mountain on a skyrail.

This skyrail was hundreds of feet in the air - skimming the top of the oldest rainforest in the world. It was not as exotic as it sounds. Very green, lush and loud with the vibrant noises of the rainforest. Stopped off at several look out points along the way. At one point the darn thing stops and I have a panic....curse words were flying. Luckily Emily is a little more well traveled and calm with these kinds of things. I just kept picturing the little gondola thing unsnapping from the line and dropping to my early demise.

Left was the water fall when we were going by in the train and below was later in the day on the skyrail. Beautiful green place!

Double Peace Sign! There was several Japanese tourists on the train, they were Emily and I's entertainment for the slow trip up to Karumba. They would get very excited, running around, we would go to see what the fuss was about and it wooould be tree or a sign. Every pic that this one guy took he did the double thumbs up - that is him behind me in the with the orange backpack on :)

These blue butterfly's were everywhere - love them! this was not a kodak moment shot - rather a pic of a postcard :) I couldnt get a good shot so I improvised...I call it resourcefulness

The water was mucky - Emily was my encyclopedia during our expedition (I was inquiring about random stuff she would come up with local responses), we think the muddy water is due to the lack of rock or sediment to clear the water. I guess I could Google it but thats too easy.

More wild life below - little turkey thing was peeling out in the dirt and moon walking looking for food.

Lake below actually had a rope/wire thing set up around the parameter which people used to water ski/wake board on the lake. Very peculiar!

Pic below is of the airport!! Yes that small little landing strip is where I flew into!

Pool side drinks, apps and more wildlife - these toads make loud hammering sounds and I guess they are poisonous...

My Bday Adventures - Emily Arrives

Another year older another year wiser so they say...this year I just felt like another year closer to 30! Scary to think but as I always tell people age is just an arbitrary number put on time. It is what you make it...

Emily visits!! Arriving the day before my bday it was great to have a flat mate for a few weeks and good to have a familiar face around my birthday.

First night - dinner and drinks with Kristen and Sean in Surry Hills.




Happy Valentines Day - bday lunch drinks at the local pub - good ole Lord Roberts followed by a little Big Buck Hunter Action...love it! Undefeated still!

My client sent me a beautiful bouquet - I love feeling so special and the team got cup cakes too. yum.

Typical Kai pic below - the old Ave A crew would know about these shots, always in the back drop doing some kind of silly pose.

Time to go out on the town - busy night with a bunch of love birds in the air. We went to Circular Quay for the Opera House and Harbor Bridge views. After a 2 hour wait for food in a completely dead place we really were not keen to make too big of a night. Em sore I would be dancing on the table before the end of the night...unfortunately not, sorry no good stories here.

Ice bar below - was going to check this out but it is a tourist trap. For a ridiculous cost to enter an empty bar we opted out - there was a window you could peak into so I got my fix. Everything is made of ice - the bar, the cups, the floor, etc. you are only aloud to be in there an 30 minutes.

Time to fly to Cains - 4 days off!! Getting ready to fly - lots of double vodka orange juice to start the day.


Beautiful coastal views from the airplane.

The view from our balcony - lots of tropical rain forest.









5 start luxury - the only way to roll! Em did a good job hooking up the holiday for the accommodations!

It was the off season so there was no one around - nice and chill time. Our hotel was the only one with beach access.

We ran straight into the water for some photos. Right after we started to noticed the large Jellies in the water and on the beach. Yup Jelly season - and they are pretty deadly as is everything is Australia.

There were designated places on the beach to swim - roped off so we tested it out. When the Lifeguard, and dont picture a hot aussie blonde life guard running baywatch style towards us, a rather dorkie guy strolls our way to ask us if we were stinging anywhere.....what we thought was just an itch from the salty water was actually a sting. We had to be sprayed w/ something to take away the irritation. Lucky me, I was stung on my bum...the life guard thought it was just a cheap way for me to pick him up..no it was a good laugh.

I guess the deadly Jelly Fish are only the size of your pinky nail so we wont be in the water again without full body protection.


Cute little shop area on the beach - everything closed super early and didnt open til late in the morning.

Yummy coconut - on our walk to hunt for wild kangaroo I found my first natural coconut, photo opp.

After some pizza in town we ended our first night early with a walk home in a flash flood and I had to jump in the hotel lobby fountain for yet another photo opp.

Emily in the lobby way - beautiful floral arrangement - wide open space, very tropical feel.

Video of the Bats from my balcony

The bats were flying close by my balcony finally - so I capture some video...very cool. It is just a constant reminder that I am not in Kansas anymore...

Chinese New Year - Feb 10

The year of the rat :) There is a large Asian population in Australia and the Chinese New Year was on February 7th with lots of festivities on the weekend. I made it down to Darlingharbor to see bits of the parade and the show (pics below). It was a beautiful weekend - finally no RAIN. Despite no rain there still were a lot of umbrellas out, I found it funny to look over the crowd and see so many.... :)

The guy below is just another street performer - very funny. I've seen him a few times now - hes up a that huge unicycle and the little girl was a volunteer that is throwing torches up to him, which he then juggled.

Left is my new found guilty pleasure - Afagato (shot of espresso, shot of Frangelico and gelato). UM - below is just an example of the divine meals here is Sydney. I went out to a publisher lunch on a Friday - another boozy lunch as they call it here :)

Left is a sunset and below is a sunrise (woke up, saw it and snapped a photo before going back to bed).

Left is a video of the parade - you can get the feel and vibe of the day