1st January 2012
Happy New Year! 2012 started in style. Just before midnight, I walked the short distance to the beach to watch the Cairns fireworks display. I was so impressed by the scene; good humoured and low key, very Australian. On the stroke of midnight, the spectacle began. There is something uplifting and quite thrilling about fireworks. A large black man standing beside me, who I had been eyeing with a degree of suspicion, turned to me and with a smile and 4 little words, lit up my night, “Happy New Year, Lady”
This morning a stretch limousine arrived to drive me to the ferry for my trip to Fitzroy Island. I felt like I was living the dream. I arrived and checked into my hotel room for an overnight stay. It I ever win the lottery, I will head straight back to Fitzroy Island. I am in heaven. Not only is this little island out on the Barrier Reef, stunningly beautiful but I am staying in the most amazing place. A luxury apartment on the top floor overlooking the gardens and a private beach with…. wait for it girls, its own laundry facilities!
There is no Wi-Fi here, so I will write the blog and post on my return to Cairns.
With love from paradise X
2nd January 2012
I spent one night and two days on Fitzroy Island. It really was beautiful. On the ferry over, I got talking to a rather genteel lady who told me that she used to live on the island. Her husband was the lighthouse keeper and she raised her children there. She was on a family outing with her daughter and grandchildren. On my first afternoon, I decided to walk to the lighthouse. It was a 2.8km walk up a steep path in the sweltering heat. The view from the lighthouse was stunning but it struck me that this would have been a rather lonely and remote life for the lighthouse keeper’s family.
When I was booking my holiday I told Jamie, my travel agent, that I wanted to be somewhere special on New Year’s Day. She didn’t let me down. After that little bit of luxury, I need to prepare myself for the budget aspect of my trip – Alice Springs and Ayers Rock. This also happens to be the trip that I am most looking forward to. As a young girl, I was enthralled by the film, A Town Like Alice. The film was based on a novel by Neville Shute and on checking Wikipedia; I discovered that the film was made in 1956.
Off to pack again.
Ann x
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