Dear Family and Friends.

Well, I have Ken back after his quick visit to Vic. He went to get the car registered and they were pedantic and he had to physically go and do it. He got a Tiger flight for $82 each way and he got to see each of the kids except Justin. While he was away I amused myself by reading and sewing and playing with Billy. I don't think I have told you about Billy yet. Billy is a young red cattle dog (I think) and she loves to play fetch. Billy belongs to Lucy who is the owner of the park so Billy wanders around the place like she owns it (well, she does , kind of).

She is funny to watch as she does the rounds, going from one van to the next visiting everyone. She will play fetch with anyone and she picks and chooses who she plays with. She comes with a bottle top, a stick of wood, a tennis ball or a large ball, pretty much anything you can throw or kick, the smaller items she rests on her tongue and even when she pants she keeps it on the front of her tongue until she drops it at your feet when she wants you to kick it again. She plays for a while and then moves on. She likes food too and if you feed her she will lay down and stay for a while. When she gets a bit overweight she has to go on a diet and at the moment she is wearing a sign that says "don't feed me, Mum says" and we are told in the peak season when this place is packed out they stensil a sign along her body which says "Nil by mouth"

Talking of clever dogs I must tell you about Tiddles. Tiddles belongs to Peter and Erica Fuller whom we met at church. She is a poodle cross but I can't remember what they said she is crossed with. She is white and has long hair and is similar in size to a Shitzue and she is learning to become a dog carer. Peter and Erica have a very steep driveway Peter has taught her how to collect the mail. When they hear the postie in the next street they know she is on her way around the corner. Peter opens the door near where he sits and Tiddles runs down to the letter box and waits. The postie puts the mail in her mouth and she runs back to Peter and delivers the mail to him. If they have been out then Erica gets the mail from the box and gives it to Tiddles who in turn gives it to Peter.

Like all dogs there are toys in the house that she plays with. The amazing thing with tiddles is that she knows each toy by name and she can distinguish between each toy by name. She knows which one is Turtle (her favorite) which one is Giraffe and which one is Zebra, which one is Big Elly and which one is Little Elly and so on. She will rummage around in the box till she finds where it is and if it's not there she will look for it. If she still can't find it they will tell her which room it is in and she will go straight to that room and get it. So she knows each room in the house by it's name. Clever. Peter will say give me a kiss and she will jump up give him a kiss them jump down again. When there is food around she will sit on her hind legs and stand the way a Meercat stands.

To become a dog carer there are certain things she has to be able to do for Peter on command such as pick up something dropped on the ground, get something he needs, get the mail etc. I have never seen a dog find toys and do what Tiddles can do. Peter and Erica have done an amazing job in training her. What dog can pick up a toy on command let alone determine which one is the big or small elephant.

On Tuesday we went for a drive. We headed toward Cairns and just before getting to Cairns we took a left hand turn and headed up the coast line toward Pt. Douglas and Mossman. Along the way we detoured off the main road to take a look at Trinity Beach. It turned out to be a really beautiful area. The coastal views were amazing and the blue of the water is hard to describe, I guess it could be called a teal blue or aqua in colour. It was stunning.We continued up toward Pt Douglas stopping a couple of times to enjoy the view and take some pictures.

We had been told there wasn't much at Pt Douglas as it was a stepping stone for people to go to some of the islands so I wasn't expecting too much. And I was surprised by its beauty , its size and it's shopping precinct. Yes it was resort after resort after resort, but their gardens and entrances were worth looking at. Qld has plants and flowers that I have never seen, not even in a magazine. Their colours are striking and the flowers are awesome.

It was heading toward lunch time so we decided to go the 20ks to Mossman and have lunch there. Mosman which we had been told was nice didn't rate that good for us. Less than average would be how I would describe it. It was quite dilpadated with many homes in quite a bad state of disrepair. The town looked to me like it would be more at home in outback NSW rather than here in far north Qld. We looked around for somewhere to eat and when we got out of the car there was a really unusual smell which was very unpleasant and we couln't place where it came from other than at a timber yard that was near the restaurant we were planning to have lunch at but the smell put us off.

That being the case we decided to hold off lunch till we got to Mount Molloy which was on the journey back home. Mount Molloy had a pub so we decided the pub was as good a place as any for lunch but wouldn't you know we got there about five past two and the kitchen was closed. With nowhere else to go we decided a Mrs Mac's pie was as good as anything, even with the temperature at a pleasant 31 degrees. After lunch it was back to Mareeba and home to Walkamin. All in all it was a lovely day with some amazing views along the way.

This week there are a number of long term residents of the park who are leaving. We've been here four weeks but others leaving have been here for six months or more. So Lucy decided to have a BBQ to say farewell to all those leaving. She put on a spread of steak, sausages, mashed potatoes, gravy, buns and dessert. Park patrons added to this with nibbles, garlic bread and salads and more dessert.. All up there was probably about 40 plus there. No cost, Lucy paid for the lot. It was a really good evening and would have cost her a pretty penny. We are told that in the winter months this place is bulging at the seams. Lucy has council approval for another toilet block and additional powered sites. Ken was told this morning that the park is up for sale appros 1.2 million so if you like the idea of running a caravan park , this would be a beauty.

On Friday we are leaving here and going out to Robin and Pauline's place It means we move down the map a little and inland a bit. It is much cooler than Cairns and doesn't have the humidity that you get closer to the coastline. We are starting to get some of the storms that come during the wet season. The mornings are hot (always in the low thirties) and humid. After lunch the storm clouds come over and for the past five days we have had very heavy rain that only lasts for a little while before clearing up. We were on our way home from Atherton when we drove into rain and visibility was very poor. Two other times I can remeber rain being that heavy were once we were on the Nullabour and the other was On Leanne's 13th birthday when we drove from Washington through Philladelphia and up to New York and it rained for the whole trip and we could hardly see anything along the way.

It's quite a long blog today. Hope you find it interesting

All our love and God bless. Ken and Lyn.