The next part of our fabulous holiday was spent in Northern Queensland, in a place called Trinity Beach which is just north of Cairns. Wow, what a lovely place Trinity Beach is!
(And yes, I did check out the real estate, schools and jobs in the area!)
We stayed at some lovely self-contained apartments which had 3 swimming pools, a tennis court and a fitness room to keep us occupied. Not that we were particularly active - it was a very, very restful 10 days!
Most days we spent some time at one of the pools...
In fact, we used the pool day and night!
However, the pools were unheated so although the daytime air temperatures tended to range between 24 to 28 degrees, I wasn't always brave enough to spend very long in the pool as the water was relatively cool. That suited me just fine - I got through plenty of books and enjoyed the view instead with a few quick lengths and splashy games with Alfie every so often to cool off! But for a lot of the time, this was my spot!
The beach was also just a few minutes walk from our apartments, and was very pretty and lovely! (apart from the "Danger: Crocodiles in the area" sign). We spent a lot of time here too.
At one point Jake, Alfie and I were all swimming in the sea when we saw a couple of dolphins playing just a few metres away! Ever cautious about scarey Australian wildlife, I leapt out of the water straight back onto the sand at the sight of the fin and made Alfie do the same - note I wasn't the only person to do this!
More Australian wildlife stories.....early one morning I went to a local yoga class (a 5.30am start on holiday doesn't feel right, but I'm glad I went!). It had to be one of the more unusual yoga classes I've ever been to - the class was outside and there were wallabies hopping around us. Most distracting when you're trying to stay in your downward dog position ;)
Back on the beach, we had endless sandcastle competitions and made mermaids, sharks and real castles too!
Here's a photo I never thought I'd share! Look what salt water does to my hair!!!
Along the beachfront at Trinity Beach are a handful of little bars, restaurants and cafes. We quickly found a favourite, and many a morning was spent enjoying coffee and iced chocolates while we played Uno and/or Scrabble.
We dedicated one day to a big long walk up the coast across several beaches and suburbs to Palm Cove. The walk was LOVELY. Just miles and miles of beach. The whole way there featured lots of giggling from Molly and Alfie and no one complained at all even after more than 2 hours of walking.
But one of our highlights was the day we spent at the Great Barrier Reef. We took the hard option but it paid off - we went out on a boat to the Outer Reef (where you see more marine life), and were based on a pontoon in the middle of the ocean for the whole day. Despite some initial nerves from Alfie about not being able to reach the bottom (of the ocean!!), the kids took to snorkelling like Pros and spent a lot of time in the water looking at all the fish - it was amazing!We also took a glass bottomed boat ride from the pontoon and saw a couple of sharks, as well as a semi-submersible boat ride and saw some turtles, awesome!
Back at the apartments, we discovered that some kind soul had left an anonymous box of chocolates and card outside our door, wishing Molly well in the recovery of her fingers (which she had bashed on the wall at the swimming pool the day before). We still have no idea who sent it, but how lovely of them!
Other little things we did.... one day we took a trip to Kuranda, a little village in the rainforest, where we went shopping at the markets, ate crepes at a cafe and went on a bushwalk.
And in the evenings, we drank G&Ts on our balcony, read books, watched movies, strolled down to the beachfront, went out for dinner a couple of times, and generally just hung out together. It was lovely!
