Cairns to Brisbane

Here we are cruising at about 35,000 feet... on my way back to Brisbane after a few days in Cairns. Stayed with Richard (my bro) and Beckie (his wife). Unfortunately, it was cloudy the whole time I was in Cairns! Nevertheless, we saw some nice sights up around Port Douglass and Daintree area. Very relaxed up in Cairns. Didn't feel like winter at all. And, not dry at all... the air was moist (unlike Toowoomba) and temperatures probably 20 to 25 degrees for the whole weekend.

Off to Singapore today! Flight leaves about 2:45 pm from Brisbane and arrives in Singapore 8:45 pm Singapore time (2 hours behind Brisbane). Got up at 3:13 am this morning to get the flight from Cairns, so it'll be a loooong day. Mum, Dad and Jared will see me off at the airport today, which will be nice.

Didn't get to see any crocodiles in Cairns, but better that than getting eaten :-) You have to be careful up here, but you don't have to freak out about them. Just don't go silly places. It's quite cloudy all the way from Cairns to Brisbane today. Of course it's fine weather up here. we're about to start heading down to Brisbane soon.

During my time in Cairns, we spent time at home just catching up, went to church on Saturday, and drove around a few places. Lots of sugar cane and cane trains. Also lots of rainforest area and plenty of water (even thought it's apparently the dry season!). Went across the Daintree river on the car ferry, looked at one of the lookouts, and walked along Cow Bay Beach. Plenty of windy roads and have to make sure you don't get car sick.

Last Thursday was my last day at home. Managed to pack everything into one (not two!) suitcases, plus a backpack and laptop case. Was some task to sort out all my stuff before I left. Some for storing in the garage and some to be gotten rid of.

Spent some nice times with Mum, Dad and Jared before I left. Ate out at Chinese restaurant (Marco Polo) in Toowoomba. Went for some walks around home. It's hard to think I won't see my neighbourhood for over a year. I'll miss the rolling hills, the gum trees, quite, spread out housing, the back yards, and I'll probably even miss the dry.

So, for now it's off to Japan with a 3 day stop in Singapore. Be interesting to see what Singapore is like... I'm expecting it to be quite hot, since it is about 200km from the equator.

The reason for going to Japan is to teach English. It will be at Hiroshima Seventh-day Adventist English School, which is a Christian school which holds English classes. I'll also be teaching Bible classes at the school.