Time for a Vacation Break

By request, no bad news today and more Australia photos, with explanations. We are going to start from day 1 and go forward as long as it takes. So, these are from my first day in Cairns. I was the wacky gal walking down the street pinching herself because I could not believe I was finally here! I was just amazed at the public art on the Esplanade, the tropical flowers that we only see in documentaries and just the smell, the feel, the sound of tropical birds making a heck of a racket from every tree - and these birds do not keep banker's hours, they make noise whenever the impulse arises.

Some kind of trailing orchid???








Public art at the play area on the Cairns esplanade.












My first hostel, not bad, but things got better as the trip progressed. The first night I needed a hotel within walking distance of where my tour met at 7:00 a.m. the next day. This photo is from the departing hotel just across the street.








Just a street in Cairns, my point for the boys is that it doesn't look much different except for the palm trees.




Play ground on the Cairns Esplanade.










This will be good therapy to go back through my trip day by day. Tomorrow will feature the tour group and going to the Great Barrier Reef - it was cold and cloudy that day, so the photos are not fantastic. Energy level is good today, Joe and I walked 1.5 miles this morning with only 3 short stops. I slept 10 hours last night and feel some semblance of normal except I feel like someone stabbed me in the lower abdominal region from time to time. It's getting better every day, I'm getting stronger every day and tomorrow we party!

Peace and blessings!
Michelle ;-P