Day 60: The stuff that nightmares are made of

We got up and started trying to feed the kids every bit of food that was left in the house.  There was a ton of it!!  As we cleaned and gathered it soon became apparent that π had lost his key.  We figured it would turn up if we just kept cleaning up so that’s just what we did. 

After an hour, panic really started to rise.  I tried reminding myself that, ‘It all works out in the end,’ like President Hinckley used to say.  It kept the panic at bay, but we still didn’t find the keys.  Our ten o’clock check out time came and went and still no key.  The cleaning crew arrived around 10:30 and still no key.  I called the rental car place to find out what the cost would be to get a new key.  Are you ready for this?  No really, you ought to sit down before I tell you. 

The woman from Hertz was kind enough, but she had no clue.  So she turned to the lady next to her and this is what I heard through the phone.

“We charge $!000 for towing , $500 for a replacement key and $200 for the roadside assistance.  Then you’ll need to rent a new car for the remainder of the day so you’re looking at just under $2000.”  Her tone was one of condemnation and scolding.  How dare that irresponsible woman lose track of such an important item! 

I laughed at her then.  She was confused by my mirth. 

“Are you alright Ma’am?” she asked.

“Oh I’m fine.  I’m just laughing because I’m thinking of the review I’m going to write about your company.  You want to charge me $2000 for losing the key to your car?!  That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard of.  That’s twice the charge for renting this car for the past month and driving it the entire length of your country!  For a key!!  Thanks, I’ll solve this problem on my own,”  I said, then I hung up on her as she was trying to rebut what I’d just said.

I called my credit card company just to find out that my road side assistance is only good in the US and Canada and that there really was nothing they could do for me.  (And all this time on the phone was costing me .20/minute!!)

By noon I was a gigantic abscessed nerve ready to snap.  The house was almost entirely clean.  They’d only found a pair of shorts Jordane had left and a box of weird stuff for Mireya’s braces—that was it.  In a last ditch effort π was going to go through al of his bags one more time while I called a tow company to see what our other options were. 

The tow company basically told me they could tow the car (only about $200) to the airport for us, but they couldn’t make us a replacement key because we’re not the legal owners of the car.  Fair enough, only Hertz was going to charge us $500 for a $200 key!!  $400 is still an exorbitant price to pay for a lost key, but it’s a heck of a lot better than the original $2000 that I’d been quoted but $700 was still something that I wasn’t willing to even consider as an option!  I was on the verge of being physically sick as I hung up the phone and heard é call from below,

“FOUND IT!!!”

I wept.  Tears falling down my cheeks I sunk to the ground and offered my thousandth prayer of the day, this time one of extreme gratitude.  The lady in charge of cleaning the house must have thought I was crazy, on my knees in the driveway crying like that but I really didn’t care.  She’d been so good to us, offering whatever suggestions she could think of to try and help us out.  She just smiled as I composed myself and we both asked, “Where were they?!”

In.  My.  Purse.

WHAT!?!  I wasn’t even home when π got home, how could they have ended up in my purse?  That will forever remain a mystery. 

We loaded three car loads of crap into two cars and away we went!  We had lunch all ready to heat and eat so we headed over to Vaiari’s house that she’d so graciously offered us to use to while away our extra day.  When we got there we were surprised to learn she’d picked up pizza for lunch!  Such a sweet and caring lady!  It’s inexplicable that I’m going to miss her – but there it is.  I totally am.  She’s amazing.

The kids loved that they had instruments and that they were welcome to stay and swim in their pool while we ran our last few errands.  We pulled into the airport car park at 6:15—two hours before our flight.  We returned our cars and headed for the gate. 

Up till now, we’ve never had our carry on luggage weighed.  Still, I’ve made sure to keep it within the limits that the airport allows—although I’ve gotten a bit lax.  Well, this time I flubbed up!  I totally thought we had 15 kilo’s per bag when we only had ten.  We spent the next hour with a fairly friendly lady shuffling our stuff all about.  In the end we had to pay an extra $210 for the weight we were bringing back—and most of that was clothes. 

By the time we got to the gate, they were just starting to queue up.  We walked straight into the line and breathed a deep sigh.  By the time we were all sitting in our seats on the plane, I was weary to the bone and hacking up a lung!  My cough had turned terrible.

Luckily for me, I’ve got the best kids in the whole wide world and they’re just old pro’s now at air travel.  They were settled in their seats just as quickly as I was!!  I got my bags stowed, turned around to help them and there was nothing to do!  They were all sitting with their seat belts on with beautiful smiles on their faces.  I leaned against π and was headed to lala land when we heard the scream. 

A holy terror in the form of a three year old little girl was displaying her parent’s need for Super Nanny to come for an intervention.  Her ear splitting protestations was earning them more dirty looks than the freaky family of ten with the barking Mother had been getting before!

A smile bubbled up from deep inside of me as I reached down into my bag.  I pulled out a stuffed kookaburra that we’d purchased as a gift this afternoon and leaned through the seats in front of me and started talking to the shrieking eel.   It never ceases to amaze me how quickly a tantrum turns off when distraction techniques are employed!  She hugged the kookaburra and we started up quite the conversation!  We decided it’s name is Bluey—and that’s okay that it rhymes with Lui—and she has kookaburra’s all over in her back yard and they have blue wings too!

It wasn’t a 3 minute interaction but it did it’s job.  She stopped screaming, sat down and started playing a video game while eating a lolly.  Her Mum was so grateful she’s told me several times already on the flight what a ‘darling woman’ I am for my help.  And I promptly forgot about the missing key and the overweight bags and the headache and the tummy ache and all the rest because I helped somebody!!!  How that one little tiny nice deed is capable of wiping out the worst day of vacation so far, I’ll never know.  But I’ll never forget the lesson it’s taught me!

Oh, and K wants evidence of her many injuries of the trip--here's where she scraped her leg up on the swimming pool today.

Day 59: SUNDAY!!!

I hate packing day.  Especially when it’s at the end of a week like this.  It has been an amazing week!  We’ve hiked through the daintree rainforest and played in a river (find river name!)  We saw the oldest captive crocodile and fed cassowaries and held snakes, we scuba dove and snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef, we learned tons about the indigenous Aboriginal people and surfed through the tops of the oldest trees on earth.  How is that even possible?!?!

And today we got to renew our covenants after two weeks of missing sacrament meeting!  It was so nice to be back in church!  To remember our Savior and to recommit ourselves to living after the manner of happiness.  I love the joy and peace the gospel brings into my life!  And the people!! WOW!!  The Cairns 2^nd Branch is one I could easily call home.  After just two weeks of visiting, I felt like one of them.  They were so warm and welcoming and open!!  I am truly going to miss this amazing place!

After church we just packed and packed and packed.  We got to visit with Robin (Cathy's neighbor and dear friend) and her friend Chris and π made some awesome fajitas--all in all it was a great night, but bittersweet knowing we're leaving in the morning. 

I don't want to go.

Day 58: Jungle Surfing and Tjapukai by Day

We started the day by returning to Tjapukai this time with the littles.  Tjapukai by day is a different beast than by night!  By day it’s totally kid friendly and focused.  We walked in and, after getting our faces painted, we headed over the bridge to a  to a didgeridoo demonstration that turns into a hands on try it for yourself workshop.  So fun!

Before we made it across the bridge we saw the last animal we’ve been wanting to see, TURTLES!! Heaps of them!  Swimming in a pool of fish!!  L was SO excited!!  We also saw a couple of eels which was an added bonus!

Then we went to a dance performance followed by spear throwing and boomerang throwing lessons.  Because we were booked to go jungle surfing we had to leave by noon so the last thing we had time to do was paint a story rock.  We could have easily stayed for twice as long as we did…it was amazing! 

The staff really makes a place, I’ve decided.   “Sea Turtle” was our favorite, he did the didgeridoo demonstration and taught us how to throw boomerangs. 

At one station, I think it was the spears, one of their staff asked how many kids I have.  I guess they were too hard to count , running around like they were.  When I said eight his eyes bugged out a bit and he said, “That’s a whole tribe!  How do you manage?”

I’d just learned a bunch about their culture so I asked, “How would you manage without your tribe?”

His eyebrows shot up, a thoughtful expression claimed his face and he said, “Is that really what it’s like?”

“It’s exactly what it’s like.  Didn’t you just call us a tribe?”

He nodded knowingly and said, “Thank you, I have learned something new today.”

It was the best ‘Holy Crap you have EIGHT kids!” conversation I’ve ever had.

We headed off then for the daintree rainforest to fly through the tree tops!  It was amazing!  In just the walk from the car park to the first platform we passed more species of plants than contained in all of north and south America and all of Europe.  It’s almost unfathomable the sheer numbers of plants there! 

What I didn’t know was that the Daintree is older than even the Amazon Rainforest! 

Surfing was fun!  The guides were great.   It was awesome!

Before we got in the cars to drive the almost 3 hours home, Cathy pulled out some sushi she’d picked up before the trip.  So sweet!!!  We remembered Fred for a minute, wished him a happy birthday then headed home.

Day 57: Sea Kayaking and Tjapukai

After a sleepless night, 5:30 came way too quickly but we got up anyway and headed to Palm Cove to go on a sunrise ride.  We loaded up in the kayaks at 6:30 right as the sun was coming up and rowed out to double island and had a little breakfast of cake and juice and fruit.  It was super nice. 

On the row back to Palm Cove, the sea was much more choppy than on the way out and my stomach started flopping about with the waves.  By the time we hit land, I was totally green about the gills and not doing well at all.  We sat at a café and gave my stomach some time to settle.  It was great to just sit and visit with Cathy, BJ and Reece. 

I think all the running around is really catching up with me.  I was completely wiped out and ended up sleeping the entire day while everyone else went up to Karanda and Cathy took the littles on the scenic train.  They were promised 2 tunnels and were surprised and elated by the 15 that they ended up going through.  It was a great experience for them—they love love love trains!

My napping through the day served it’s purpose and tonight I was able to enjoy Tjapukai by night.  It was a great indigenous show and dinner.  É was invited on stage to participate in the making fire performance and got a boomerang for his willingness.  He promptly went outside and threw in onto the roof. 

The staff was super friendly and laughed at him and gave him a new one. 

We hung around till the bitter end and were treated to some one on one time with the retail staff.  The main guy out front visited with us, played some word games and ended up teaching us the interpretation of a lot of the symbols of the aboriginal art.  It was great fun!  

Day 56: The Great Barrier Reef

The name doesn’t do it justice.  It was so intensely magnificent I wept at its beauty.  If there was ever anything to inspire one to up their interest in preserving the environment a day on the Reef with the company Reef Experience is the way to go. 

The day started early and we boarded the boat at 7:30.  We took off our shoes as we boarded and were given snorkel gear and a wet suit and directed to put them on to make sure everything fit well.  Things moved quickly from then on.  We suited up, got breakfast, listened to an intro to snorkeling, got our underwater camera we’d hired for the day, listened to the spiel that accompanied it, listed to the marine biologist’s brief intro and explanation and then we were there!  It was supposed to be an hour and a half trip out to the reef and it felt like ten minutes!   When the announcement came that we were almost to the reef I stopped by the bathroom before putting my wet suit on.  I thought I’d just been a bit sloshy but then I lost all my breakfast and then some.  The first and only time we’ve had someone get sick and it’s me!! Oh the shame!!

We were the first scuba diving group so we headed straight there.  I wasn’t too worried, a bit nervous but more excited than anything.  Once in the water though, I started to panic.  I didn’t know that I could do it.  I made it 6 meters under water and they had us clear our masks to make sure we could do it.  I couldn’t.  There was water in my mouth and I couldn’t breathe and I was going to drown.  I tried three or four times but the panic won out.  I would need a couple of hours of instruction and practice to be able to do it.  Thirty minutes just wasn’t going to cut it. 

I met Cathy on deck—looks like we’re more alike than I’d realized.  We had the exact same reaction to clearing our regulators.  BJ and Reece headed down though and had a great time—and lucky for us they got some great pictures!!

We spent about 2 hours out snorkeling with the kids—which is more like just swimming and trying to get them to put their faces in the water—but it was fun.  Then they took us out in the glass bottomed boat and we all got to see the most amazing things!  Giant clams!  Fish!  Coral!!  It was all incredible!!  At one point X exclaimed, “I want to come out here Every day!!”  The tired man captaining the boat looked at us and said, “It’s comments like that which remind me of the amazing place where I work!  Sometimes it’s easy to forget.”

Lunch time came and we all took a break to eat while we moved to the next location on Hastings Reef.   Reece volunteered to stay on board with the non snorkeling crew so π and I could snorkel together.  It was life changing.  It was so beautiful!  There was so much life there!  It was truly incomprehensible.  

I’ve hiked the Grand Canyon, Zion’s National Park, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Yellowstone, and countless other incredible vistas and never in my life have I marveled so at the beauty that God created here on the earth.  At one point, π had gone back to the boat and we only had about 10 minutes left before it was time to head back so I was taking in as much as I could.  I came to a drop off right before a lagoon and a huge fish swam next to me.  I stopped to not scare it and in my silence, I was overcome.  It was more beauty than I could take in.  I had to go back to the boat to give my body time to process what I’d seen.  Little did I realize I was almost the last one back to the boat! 

The ride back to shore went much quicker than the ride to the reef.  Cath and I visited most of the way and just enjoyed our time together.  The triplets were making friends with the crew the whole time we were out on the reef and they were continuing their shenanigans.  X came up on deck with a coat hanger in the back of his wet suit—he told me that one of the crew said they were going to hang him out to dry. 

O had gotten a wiggly tooth that morning and it had progressed to a full on loose tooth and then to hanging by a thread in a matter of hours!  Damian was trying to convince her to let him pull it, he even went so far as to get the crew to pledge money if she’d let him do it.  I think he’d gathered $8 but she still said no.  Leave it to Cathy to win the day!  All she did was ask if she could wiggle it.  One touch and it was in her hand.

The crew was so engaging and kind that X wants to come back next year just to see his friends again.

It had been such a full day, it was hard to believe that it wasn’t over.  The littles stayed home with BJ while the rest of us went to the Ingles’ home for dinner.  Vaiari had invited us all and it was amazing!  Three different salads, Australia’s version of cheesy potatoes, a couple of different meats and bread!  It was a feast!!  And the food paled in comparison to the company!  I was spot on when I said that Valaria was a kindred spirit.  Her life has been amazing.  I wish I had a year to work side by side with her and get to know her better.  We were meant to meet.  I don’t know why, I don’t know when, but I know our paths will cross again.

As I lay here in bed remembering the events of this monumental day, I still feel like I’m sloshing about on the waves.  I’ve been getting ill, I’m pretty sure it’s going to get worse before it gets better, but every moment of today was worth it!!  This day easily makes the top ten days of my life.

Day 55: Hartley's Crocodile Adventure

Part of π’s dream vacation includes being able to cook yummy exotic things that we can’t at home.  Today was his day! We woke up at 6:30 and started prepping.  I’ll attach the recipe at the end of this post for the Seafood Gumbo Boil that we ate for dinner tonight.  Heaven. On. Earth!

We headed out to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventure and had a great day!  The river cruise was amazing!  The guide stopped at one spot and got the crocs to jump out of the river after a piece of chicken.  The biggest croc at the park is named Ted, he’s over 100 years old and has only one eye and one tooth left.  It’s rare that you get to see him, but he rocked up for us!  Isn’t he beautiful?!

The second biggest croc is Tex, fitting for us Yanks, wouldn’t you say?

We’ve run the kids ragged and Ted was about all the excitement some of them could take so I left with a car load and we went back to the house to nap while π and the rest enjoyed the rest of the park.  L was fascinated by the Cassowaries.  É got to pet a snake.  All in all it was a fun time.

Back at home the gumbo-boil was ready and the kids all got to try a Morton Bay Bug (little lobster-ish crustation) and some scallops and prawns.  Prawns definitely taste different than shrimp although I couldn’t tell you what the difference is—they both taste great in a gumbo sauce! 

Tomorrow is the great barrier reef!  I can’t believe we’re actually getting to share the Great Barrier Reef with our children while they’re young!

Day 54: The Esplanade

Because there are times of the year when the beaches in Cairns aren’t safe—stingers being the number one cause of danger—they’ve built a full on swimming pool just yards from the beach.  There are shops all down the one side of the street and a grassy walking path with art, plaques and benches down the other all along the beach—then, of course, there’s the pool.  It’s huge and free and just incredible.  We spent the day playing in the pool came home and ate some yummy tacos, then headed back to explore the shops on the other side of the street.

Not a lot to write home about, but a great memory day with the cousins!!