Saturday

Saturday saw myself and the girls head 'up the range' to a little hamlet called 'Speewah'. Up through rainforest, a windy road and twenty-odd minutes later we were there. Monet had been invited to a birthday party at the 'Tavern'. I was a little weary about going to a birthday party at a Speewah to begin with, but to say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. Surrounded by trees, the Tavern had heaps of outside undercover seating and tables, a lush green lawn and a safe, two tiered swimming pool behind a child-proof gate.

Lily and I dropped off Monet and headed back to Kuranda, a five minute drive away.  They call Kuranda a village in the rainforest.  I call it a Hippy Town in the Rainforest.   We actually had a nice time together, looking at the little shops and market stalls.  Lily was rewarded with an ice-cream (BANANA!!) for her good behaviour.  I'm pretty sure she enjoyed every lick...

Kuranda is one of those towns that is actually very pretty and it is nice to visit.

I particularly love the big trees in the main street.  Made us realise we are a long way from Abu Dhabi.

With a bit of time still to kill before collecting Monet from the party, Lily and I drove down to the Barron Falls Lookout.  After living in the area previously, it was one place I had never been before, except by the Scenic railway back when we first moved to Cairns in 2006.

It was awesome.  I only wished we had seen the falls six weeks ago when they were in full flight!  It isn't so much of the wet season up here now...

It was very pretty, with a fabulous boardwalk through the forest treetops.  Lily and I did start the walk but as time was clicking we turned around to collect Monet.  I will make sure that we keep going along the boardwalk at a later date.

Monet had a terrific time at her party which was nice to see.  She's starting to fit in and find friends from school.

And it made me realise just how amazingly different the world is.  From rainforest, to desert and back to rainforest again.