The family is back! It's been a hugely successful trip showing Linc some of the most beautiful spots in Australia.
We started off on Saturday 29 Aug departing Canberra at 0625 (yuk) for Brisbane. Both Mum and Dad were a bit nervous about Linc's first flight but after some initial fussing as we climbed to cruising altitude, he soon fell asleep in his own seat (thanks Qantas). And as a matter of fact, the baby seated in front of us made more than enough noise for most of the flight anyway!
We landed in Brisbane just ahead of schedule and thank goodness we did - as Linc filled his nap on descent into Brisbane! The smell permeated throughout the cabin but everyone just grinned and pretended not to notice... Gotta love the Qantas Club baby change room! We just had enough time to give Linc a feed and drink before it was time to board the flight to Cairns. Again, thankfully Linc was an angel and we arrived at Cairns airport which is undergoing major reconstruction - despite this we eventually found some very excited grandparents, tracked down the rental place and headed to our luxury accommodation at Sunland Leisure Park. The whole family had a quiet afternoon and went to the club for a buffet dinner.
Sunday we got away from the cabin at about 1030 and headed for Port Douglas to spend the afternoon at the markets. It was a challenge to try to feed Linc without getting cooked in the sun or overrun by green ants. We then walked around the Port Douglas markets perusing stalls, dodging hippies and mixing with the (other) beautiful people.
Sunday night the grandparents looked after Linc so Mum and Dad went out on a date for wood fired pizza! We then had a lovely stroll along the esplanade. It wasn't too long before we had to dash back to make sure our little baby wasn't missing us only to find that Linc was fast asleep after watching the football with granfolks.
Monday we got away at about 1130 and headed to Kuranda. We visited the butterfly sanctuary and Linc loved it - even trying to grab the butterflies - although they did make him jump when they flew towards his head! From there we had some lunch, had a look in the shops along the streets then went to Barron falls (which was pretty dry due to a lack of rain in recent months). We departed Kuranda and spent the afternoon on the esplanade having coffee and checking out the superyachts - We saw 'Helios' worth $45m and even spotted the 'Keri lee' which was used in the movie 'Fools Gold' starring Matthew McConnaghy and Kate Hudson (1 star) - in the movie it was called the 'Precious Gem' - you can actually charter it for USD120,000 per week. We then left the esplanade, picked up some fasta pasta and took it back to the cabin to watch the Raiders thrash the Knights.
Tuesday got away right on check out time at 1000 (phew!). Headed to Hartleys crocodile zoo and took Linc on the boat ride to feed the crocs. The first croc jumped out of the water and made a huge snapping noise as it bit at the meat - and boy did Linc jump! From there we headed to Palm Cove and had coffees at Angsana Spa and Resort (which is where Mum and Dad had their honeymoon - ohhhhhh). Linc finally got to try out his new Havianas and clomp around in the sand which he seemed to enjoy. Keeping in mind we had a plane to catch (to Darwin!) we chowed down at Yorkeys Knob and dashed to the airport for our 2035 flight. Yet again, Linc charmed the hosties and so we got a spare seat in between Mum and Dad - but it didn't help with the view as on a Boeing-717 the back row (23) is directly adjacent to a Rolls Royce BR715 jet engine sitting 30 cm from the window! The hosties spent most of their time playing with Linc and so he slept very well when they eventually had to serve the other passengers - we eventually touched down in Darwin 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 2230 to a very excited Aunty Suze!
Mum and Dad decided to slow the pace down a little as little Linc caught a very minor cold and was feeling the effects of the heat. So for the majority of the stay in Darwin we hung around Suzie's brand new apartment and let Linc dictate our outings. He appreciated the rest, although we did drag him out to the Territory Wildlife Park in 36 degree heat with 367% humidity. We had a relatively decent look around (and caught the bird show) but poor Linc was the colour of a beetroot so we headed for the air-conditioned comfort of the brand new Mazda 6 (courtesy of Uncle Tony) and back home.
Other notable adventures include a trip to Litchfield National Park to see Florence Falls (and the water-holes), and Wangi Falls - where Dad and Linc went swimming! It was funny to see all the Asian tourists flocking to take photos of the little blonde haired, blue eyed nudey boy frolicking with his Dad in the lagoon!
We also visited Aunty Suze's friend Mark, who had a crocodile, 7 blue-tongue lizards and a children's snake, and was responsible for a whole tribe of children! Linc didn't seem too worried about the snakes or the lizards and seemed interested in the strange feel of their scaly bodies.
Our final adventure was a cruise on the Adelaide River to see the jumping crocs - the cruise we went on is the only one where you turn down the road past the Windows on the Wetlands - would highly recommend it! These crocs were quite lazy though (not surprising considering they get feeds at 9am, 11am and 3pm each day! They didn't even snap their jaws together like the one's at Hartleys.
Then it was time to depart, and with final goodbyes we headed back to the airport where we jumped on a 767 and had the luxury of a seat between us for Linc to sleep on. We arrived in Brisbane on time and with a quick nappy change, feed and drink, it was time to jump on the plane for the final flight home.
It was unfortunate though that Qantas failed to accommodate us (like they did with the other 4 flights) and we didn't get a seat for Linc in between us - whilst there were plenty of seats available to do this, the hosties (a bloke who looked like he will never have kids and a crusty old child-hating Cruella DeVille type hostie) refused to assist saying that as we had not paid for a seat for Linc that he couldn't have his own (but that I could move to another row if I wanted - how generous of them)... Yes, very not happy about this - but Dad wasn't about to let it ruin his holiday, and pinched an extra packet of biscuits and cheese for Mum from the trolley as it went past thereby ensuring he had the last laugh... ha ha ha! So as a result of this, Linc hardly slept the whole flight and had to be entertained for almost 2 hours - luckily the gentleman sitting in the third seat in our row quite enjoyed entertaining Linc - which was pretty funny for Mum and Dad also - picture a Police Tactical Response Group-sized guy hiding behind a book doing 'peek-a-boo'...!
A hand-picked selection of photos from the 1,112 (3.77 gb) taken during the trip to be posted shortly!
A wet, chilly Canberra morning - Linc prepares for take-off!
Port Douglas markets
Linc attracting the local wildlife
Linc meeting 'Psycho' the croc
Linc with the grandparents at Hartleys Crocodile Zoo
Linc jumping for joy!
Linc in the pool at Cairns Esplanade
How cool are my new Havianas?!
Dad - are you sure this lagoon is clothes-optional?
Hey Linc - what did you think about swimming in the lagoon at Wangi Falls? SWEET!
Linc's new friend Kinesha
Linc meeting a children's snake
Linc's new frowny-laugh
Linc and Aunty Suze
And here's a lovely photo taken tonight after a big day visiting Aunty Jo.
Lincoln battling a cold 