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Cairn 3
[Dear faithful reader, I had this post mostly ready to go, but then Perpetua was born and I forgot to finish it! This is the last installment of our Cairns trip last year.]
Friday, 14 December, 2018
We took it easy this day and only planned to go to the Botanical Gardens and hang out at the resort. The Gardens themselves were huge with lots of different sections, so we spent most of the day there.
Where’s Anastasia?
A highlight was the conservatory which featured orchids and carnivorous plants.
Zimmermans under conservation
It will eat you . . .
We had sushi for lunch, which was a real treat. Anastasia loves sushi and tends to eat it all while Rebecca and I tend to Tabby and Toby.
Annie is thinking about whether she can sneak some sushi while everyone is looking at the camera.
Another highlight was a boardwalk through different kinds of mangrove swamps. We even saw some mudskippers!
This vine is a straggler fig. It climbs its host to get to sunlight and then kills it. It’s fruit is essential for the life cycle of a wasp.
Pregnant and fit!
The resort has a small salt water pool, and really, the kids could have probably spent a whole day just romping around in it.
Saturday, 15 December was supposed to be a Cairns city day, but there was supposed to be a topical cyclone coming through, so we simply went to morning mass at the cathedral and then prepared to return to PNG. The Cathedral at Cairns had lovely stained glass windows which depicted the creation and destruction of the world from contemporary cosmological perspective: cosmic dust swirling to form the Earth, the gradual emergence of life, humans in a cloud rainforest . . . We put the best of the pictures (from CC’s phone) on Facebook; unfortunately, I did not bring the camera.
We’ll probably go back to Cairns after Christmas this year. Want to join us?
Cairns II
Thursday, December 13 – Waterfall Tour
We rented a minivan from the resort and left around 7:15 for an epic waterfall tour.
The first destination was Clamshell Falls which is located on the backside of Walsh’s Pyramid, which will be a potential hiking destination for me next time.
The pyramid from the car. Alas, we did not take any pictures when we were right behind it.
It was a 3 km walk one way to the falls, along a sometimes steep forest-service only road. The girls and Rebecca were champs!
A tremendous series of cascades with big falls in the back.
They were quite happy to be done walking!
I tried to swim to the base of the falls, but the current was strong and the water was too rough.
A bit down from the falls we found an clear, circular swimming hole fed by a small off-shoot of the many cascade. We had a great time.
A private pool of sparkling mineral water
Then we drove to Josephine Falls, which is one of the more popular waterfalls. This one was only a .75 km walk one way. The Falls is divided into three cascades with viewing platforms for each.
Tabitha with the upper and middle cascades
The lower cascades are the main attraction. You can slide down the rocks and ride the cascade into a deep pool.
Better than an amusement park!
So I ferried the kids one by one on my back to rock slide. Then I lay down at the very bottom of slide at the edge of the cascade. Annie and Tabby came down one by one and my bulk absorbed their momentum. Meanwhile Tobiah made his own slide simply by walking up a dry section of rocks and then sliding down into little pool.
The two downsides of this amusement were ripped bathing suits and small leeches on the kids. Josephine Falls is also the starting point for Bartle Frere, the Queensland Highpoint, but I decided to save it for next time because it is supposed to be a 14 hour hike.
The next two waterfalls were off the beaten tourist track. We basically pulled over on the side of the highway and then did a 4 km walk to
Tchupala Falls
and Wallicher Falls.
The Falls themselves were great, but we had a lot of small leeches to deal with once we got back to the car . . . so I’m not sure if I can recommend them.
At this point, we were starting to lose daylight, so we cut out Mangalli Falls. Our next stop was Ellinjaa Falls, where two honeymooning Americans took our picture.
Blurry due to fading light.
We skipped Zillie Falls too, and arrived at Milla Milla Falls just as the sun was setting and heavy rains were starting!
Yay Team Zimmerman! Very blurry due to darkness.
The drive back was quite the adventure (we skipped Malanda Falls). The ‘highway’ was a twisting and turning mountain road in heavy fog. Thankfully, we made it back around 9:30 pm!
Cairns Vacation I
Our family was fortunate to be able to take a vacation in Cairns back between 9-16 December. We stayed at Treetops – a small resort that serves Christian missionaries working in PNG. Here are some of the highlights of our trip. I note that except for one day, we got around via Cairns public transit.
Monday, December 10 – We walked to a local farmers market and bought food for the week. Then, I took the kids to a playground that had a splash park. The kids had fun, but I forgot the camera.
Tuesday, December 11 – We were out the door before 7 to catch a bus to downtown so we could walk to the wharf to catch our 8 am boat to Fitzroy Island.
The kids, especially Tobiah, really enjoyed watching the waves that the boat made.
Fitzroy Island is a mountainous island. One part has an upscale hotel/resort. The north part has hiking trails up to the highpoint and along the coast to an old lighthouse. The south part is an untouched nature preserve, but there is a trail to a beach. When we first got there, the kids and I decided to hike the highpoint trail to the lighthouse while Rebecca went on the coast road.
Our destination
The views on the way up were nice!
There was a torrential downpour near the top, so I have no photos of us at the viewing platform. Annie and Tabby did well, though the elevation gain was only 375 m.
Annie near the lighthouse.
Unfortunately, due to asbestos, we could not go in the lighthouse, but we read the historical plaques through the windows. We had a nice walk back, seeing lots of lizards and some colorful birds.
Looking good at Nudey Beach.
Then we took a rocky trail from the resort to Nudey Beach – not what you think, public nudity is illegal in Queensland! The kids enjoyed sitting on the rocks and being pounded by the surf.
Next was a trip on a glass bottomed boat.
Not as good as snorkeling, but the whole family can do it.
Last, the kids and Rebecca waited for the ferry to return while Brandon did the final hiking trail at double time.
We got back to the lodge, but the tired kids to bed and Rebecca and I had Thai carryout. We highly recommend Fitzroy to our fit and active friends.
Wednesday, Dec 11
Today’s adventure was to the mountain town of Kuranda.
We had another early start in order to travel to Kuranda by sky gondola
The cabins were completely enclosed – no chance of losing Tobiah.
Looking towards the coast
The gondalas go over the Wet Tropics World Heritage Site, with two stops in the rainforest, so that you can get out, see exhibits about natural history, and walk among the trees. Due to its geographical isolation, Australia has a number of primitive forms of flora and fauna which date back to when Pangaea broke apart, which is why Australia customs is so tough!
Kuranda itself is a funny town. Its economy is based almost entirely on the day-tourists that come by sky gondola and train, so it is full of different kinds of shops and tourist attractions. There is an old market section that is stuck in the 1970’s with aging hippies hawking their wares in booths and then lots of more respectable looking booths and stores. We avoided the tourist tram and instead walked up to town along the river. Among the stores we browsed was a honey store. We bought 2kg of fine honey (only to have it taken by PNG customs because PNG has stuck a deal with two big Australian honey producers and only lets their products in!). The only super-touristy attraction we did was an aviary in which the birds will eat out of your hands:
Tobiah was the only family member not to have a bird land on him.
It’s good that Tabby developed her arm strength by climbing trees . . .
I’m not sure that I ever made this face before . . .
The birds generally enjoyed my hair and my Hawaiian shirt. I only realized afterwards that the birds slit the back of my shirt, such that this trip was its last hurrah.
Annie was very determined to get a bird, but the first couple of times one landed on her, she screamed and frightened it away.
Happy Tabby
After feeding birds, Rebecca and the girls went chocolate shopping. Tobiah and I walked a rainforest trail at double-time, covering 5 km in less than an hour. We met back up at the train station. The railroad track was built about a hundred years ago and is an engineering marvel. The story of its building was narrated to us, complete with tales of workers rappelling cliff faces in order to chisel away a cleft for the train to run on. I think there were 18 tunnels.
Barron River Falls
We had a brief stop at a lookout for Barron River Falls, which is supposed to be spectacular when there is lots of water. The train most hugs the edge of the Barron River Gorge.
Hairpin turns enabled these pictures of the train.
Waiting for the public bus at the train station was a bit of a low point, but all in all it was a fantastic day.
Worth a Place in the Suitcase: Kid Gear
Just a short review post on my favorite things for travelling with three kids five and under, either for a weekend trip or two months on home leave. A friend from DC gearing up for a stint with MCC in Beirut asked me for my thoughts on moving abroad with kids, so here they are for the whole internet to hear, haha.
#1: Ergo Carrier. Don’t leave home without it. Actually I’m not sure I could go an entire day even at home without it.
#2: Clip-on high chair, another daily essential at our house but also good for restaurants/friends’ houses, etc. We have both a Chico Caddy, which is machine washable and fits on most everything, but is a little more cumbersome than the Mountain Buggy Pod, which is wipe-clean only but more compact. The Phil and Ted lobster chair looks good too but we don’t own that one (yet?).
#3: Babyhome Air: This bassinet/crib is much more attractive and easier to set up than a pack-n-play. It also fits in more spaces as it’s smaller. Plus it rocks/has wheels, and you can throw pretty much all of it into a washing machine. Tobiah’s just aging out of it now that he pulls up all the time – he still has some wiggle room in there though.
#4: Wetbag. Something is always going to get wet or muddy and you can carry it back without everything else getting yucky. Bumkins or Planetwise are nice, although we have all different kinds and sizes.
#5: JJ Cole Changing Clutch: This changing pad is the largest one available on Amazon last time I researched, which means all of my wiggly toddler will fit on the pad. Essential for when there are no public changing tables in your country of residence.
Home for the Holidays
We were able to travel to the US for Thanksgiving. We jammed the days full of seeing friends and family in various places around the country, starting with Rebecca’s family.
Tabitha, in her warm bear suit from Grandma, poses with Grandpa and Great-Grandma
Then we journeyed south to spent time with Brandon’s family as well.
Tabitha and her great-grandfather PopPop
Tabitha enjoys Zimmerxmas with Nonna and Uncle Scott
Not only did we visit grandparents, we also saw godparents:
Annie’s godfather, left; Tabby’s godparents, right
Annie’s godmother, left; Brandon’s godson, center wearing blue; picture taken at the highest point in MO
And of course, we gave presentations on our life and work in PNG.
Brandon finds an attentive audience in Grammy and Nonna
Eventually, thankful for all the people we love, but tired of living out of our suitcases, we journeyed back to PNG.
We had some time to walk around New York the day before our flight
When you can only crawl backwards you get trapped under furniture
Pro Tip: The bassinet seat is fantastic. I just wish they weren’t limited to long haul flights and that there was one on every airplane.
Sleeping so cozily, and I have my hands free to eat whatever random snack is served in the middle of the night
Last leg of the journey- short hop from the capital to the highlands
We returned in time to celebrate Christmas in PNG for the first time. The focus in our community was really on the church services and the Christian meaning of the holiday. (However, we didn’t really feel like we had done Advent that penitently; it had been filled with visiting and feasting, which normally belongs to Christmas!) We celebrated Christmas Eve in Banz, the next parish over:
The homily included the line “the shepherds were the lowest in their society, like someone without any pigs!”
The liturgical team for the evening was the men’s group, wearing white dress shirts, black ties, and feather headdresses
It was a 7 o’clock service, not a midnight mass, but that was still past some people’s bedtimes
We went to our home parish in Fatima the next morning, before having Christmas dinner with our friends at Christian Leaders’ Training College.
Anastasia watches the dancing very carefully, so she can replicate it at home in the kitchen
It was a bright and joyous occasion, as you can tell from the pennants
On new year’s eve we ate chinese food and played boardgames, late enough that we could hear the bells ringing, people shouting, and fireworks going off in different parts of the valley. However, none of the watches were synchronized, so bells and cries came from different areas several minutes apart!
Our holidays were merry, blessed, and bright! We hope yours were as well.
Plotinus in the Jungle 
