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Free & BrEasy - Care Less in Cairns



The 3 day passage from The Whitsundays to Cairns was windy (+35 knots) and bumpy despite being in the protection of the Great Barrier Reef. Blue skies and light winds greeted us on arrival in Cairns Marina and we quickly went into port mode with the four of us unashamedly getting in to heavy internetting and Skyping followed by showers. Cairns is a delightful city with a beautiful beach esplanade kitted out for promenading, swimming, jogging and exercising. Every young person in Cairns seemed to be out paying homage to the gods of sunshine. At night the Banyan trees are highlighted with blue, green and red lights giving the area a carnival atmosphere. Further into town, street entertainers were in force with fire eaters, violins, guitars and even flamenco dancing.
Next day we were off to the tree tops on the Skyrail Experience. Suspended above the rain forest canopy in gondolas watching bright blue butterflies and listening to the rasp of circadas, we sped up to Red Peak and on to Barron Falls. There we stopped to walk through the trees hoping to catch sight of a Cassowary, a brightly coloured prehistoric-looking ostrich-like bird with lethal claws on its feet. Barron Falls would be an immense cascade but lacked water as it has been dammed higher up and feeds a hydroelectric power station. After lunch we walked through miles of paths through the rain forest and returned to Kuranda station to catch the 100 year old train back to Cairns. The train creaked and clanked its way round a dozen hairpin bends over deep rocky gorges.

The next adventure was to join a boat for a "Reef Experience". Queuing up for the boat our hearts sank as we saw the size of the boat and huge crowd of tourists who would be sharing our experience. What a relief when we were told it was not our boat and were directed to a smaller sleek boat! Within minutes of waving goodbye to Annabelle on the dock we were travelling at high speed to the outer reef, eating muffins and drinking coffee. Just over an hour later we were taking a giant stride in full scuba gear for the first of three great dives on the reef. The coral and fish were impressive but what made the day was the inquisitive Napolean fish, house proud Clown fish and a very cheeky "in your face" turtle. We all posed for portraits with our marine friends and hoped they get a cut of the profits! A great days eating, diving and yacking. We were so full there was no room for Annabelles delicious curry which was postponed till the following night. Up to then meals had largely been Alejandro's new speciality "The Cuckolds Dinner". These are delicious fry-ups and so named in Spain because you should suspect your wife if she only has time to serve up a quick fried meal at the end of the day!


We had been having some problems with the main sail sliders which fit into the mast track and while measuring for replacement pins, Roger was alarmed to see a large rip in the sail just above the third reef line. It seemed that those strong winds had also been damaging! Off came the sail and we were fortunate to meet a very friendly sail maker called John who made a repair within 2 days. We were also out in contact with a rigger called Peter who went up the mast to check our shroud lollipop fittings in their T-bar mast seats. We dreaded having to go through all that nonsense that took so much time in Fiji but Peter was happy with our set up although he recommended the best sheep's grease or lanolin to lubricate the joints! Good to know there is a place for agricultural produce in all this high-tech stainless steel and fibre glass! Peter told us his family has a claim on a Scottish Castle and that we should call him "The Laird"! We offered to raise a peasant's army in Scotland and reclaim his heritage for him!

All was now ready to leave Cairns for Darwin as all we had to do was replace the sail, fill up with diesel and go, but Cairns did not want us to leave so easily. Replacing the main sail we noticed a big crack in one of the fibre glass battens that give the sail shape. Furthermore there was a problem at the fuel supply depot meaning no diesel till Monday. By now it was late Saturday and everybody was shutting down but a series of frantic phone calls assured us that we could get the batten repaired and be away on Monday.


We originally only planned to spend three days at Cairns but the carefree, happy lifestyle has infected us and even when we have gear problems, we just shrug our shoulders and say "Who Cairns". We are in danger of putting down roots so hopefully the next blog will find us well on our way to Darwin. We hear they may be problems of getting catamarans into the Marina at Darwin before the start of September so we have a bit more time but both Annabelle and Alejandro have booked flights to Bali on the 2nd September. Meanwhile we are making the most of being "Care Less in Cairns"!

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