Cairns

We arrived in Cairns last night and were very pleased Wyndham came through again. I was able to use our Wyndham timeshare points and book a unit at the Cairns Worldmark. It was nice to walk into the unit and find everything we expect.

We also found something we didn't expect. Ants in the kitchen. Those of you who know me know that I have a long history with ants. Anyway to Worldmark's credit upon their knowledge of the issue (next morning) they sent a pesticide person to look after it. Believe it or not they were even carpenter ants! LOL! From complaint to spraying was no more than 3 hours. Pretty fast in my opinion.

By the time we arrived in Cairns it was pretty clear that Steve did not have a usual cold. We had managed to change our booking at the Divers Den to a day later, but now we were not sure that Steve could go into the water to dive at all. In order to get at least the dive portion of our refund Steve needed a doctor's certificate. While he was at the clinic waiting to see a doctor I walked along the Cairns esplanade.

Saltwater crocodiles are clearly a concern. Although I kept my eyes out for them.... no show.

The esplanade is quite well developed and seems to have something for everyone.

You can imagine my surprise and pleasure at stumbling upon a large flock of pelicans.

Here's a nice view of the walk.

I got a coffee and went to find Steve at the clinic. As it turned out he has a throat infection and no diving for 7 days. A little disappointing but health comes first. Tropical waters are teeming with bacteria and I want to ensure that Steve comes home safely.

We visited the Diver's Den with medical certificates in hand. They were quite accommodating and took all of our deposit and applied it to a snorkel trip on Sunday and a dive trip out of Port Douglas for a week Sunday. We were quite pleased and happy. If Steve is not well enough to snorkel Sunday he may just go on the boat ride. A week from now he should be able to get a dive in.

The cost of the doctor's visit was $80. And, the antibiotic was $10. Even though we were visitors I am fairly sure that the AU government subsidized our medical visit in some way. Steve also only needed to wait for an hour to see the doctor. I know that is not the case in Sidney even with people who are residents in the province. Perhaps our Canadian health care system has something to learn from the Aussies?

Tomorrow we are planning to head to a nature park and see if we can get close to some koalas and other native animals.

Bye for now

Ann