Happy Birthday, Lyana!

I have been commissioned by Lyana to write this post telling all the world all about her 29th birthday!!  The last year of her twenties!!  One year from today she will join me in the ranks of thirtieshood.  But let not this day be one of tragedy.  Nay, let us rejoice in a day filled with joy and good food . . . in Australia.

It’s Lyana’s day, and on Lyana’s day one would be wise to let Lyana do whatever Lyana wants.  So, we did.  First up, breakfast.  Kept it simple and went down the street:  pancakes with blueberries for her (scrambled eggs on toast for me).  Even tried some Vegemite (not a fan). 

Off to the beach right after, where we (upon Lyana’s insistence) were very, very lazy: lounged in the sun reading books until we went for a quick swim in the ocean, then right back to reading books on the beach again.  That lasted the rest of the morning.  (Tell me who wouldn’t want to do that on their birthday?  No chores, no kids, no responsibilities [unless you count putting on sunscreen.])

Lunchtime.  Hmmm, getting hungry now.  Let’s say we hop a bus to downtown Cairns and stroll the Esplanade (waterfront district).  Good on ya’, mate!  Let’s go. 

So off to Cairns.  Did I ever mention that traveling by bus through roundabouts is akin to boating through 30-knot ocean swells?  Both give me motion sickness.  Ugh!  I’ve had enough of roundabouts for a lifetime.  Oh, yeah, back to the birthday girl. 

So we got to Cairns and walked around a bit till we found just the right place for lunch—Perrata’s (thank you, Emily).  I don’t know what that means (and the internet not’s connected right now, so you’ll have to look it up yourself), but it was very delicious, albeit overpriced.  Lyana was craving breakfast again, so she had some concoction of apple, caramel crepes with ricotta on top, and I had the parmesan crusted chicken schnitzel panini thing.  Actually filled us up quite well.

Now where would you expect the birthday girl wanted to go next?  If you guessed “the supermarket” then you are absolutely correct, well, mostly.  We actually meandered up and down the streets of Cairns for a few hours, going in and out of the shops, mostly looking for fun, not useless souvenirs.  And let me tell you, it was not easy finding good, affordable souvenirs.  Sure, we could spend a few hundred dollars on a genuine dijiridoo, but who has the money for that (or the luggage space)?  So we opted for something smaller and more affordable, like “Rice Bubbles.”

Just kidding, we didn’t really buy the “Rice Bubbles”, though we did pick up a few snacks for the plane ride home.  The souvenirs we worked so hard to find were genuine, hand-painted by real (non-factory) artists, boomerangs (as I mentioned in a previous post).  We eventually found this store run by a man of Aboriginal descent who did not sell anything except those kinds of souvenirs, so we bought several from him (for a little bit of a bargain, which included him allowing me to take a picture with him).

After a bit of shopping, we headed out to stroll the waterfront and look for a good place to eat.  Yes, here I am, though not strolling in this particular photo, but I am grinning, which is almost the same thing.

I don’t know why I always feel awkward asking someone to take a photo for us.  I guess I’m probably too judgmental when I’m scoping out a potential target.  “He looks like he’d probably run off with our camera.  That guy doesn’t look like photographer material.  She’s too much in a hurry.  Ah, there’s a nice bloke.  Let’s ask him.”  To be honest, we usually end up asking a young couple holding hands or an elderly lady who reminds me of my grandma.

Beautiful sunset we had that night.  Gorgeous scenery to go with it too.

Here’s us taking our own photo again.  It’s become sort of a “thing” (can’t think of the right word right now) for us to self-photographize ourselves.  Helps that I have long arms too.  Notice that I’m always holding the camera with my left hand, because I can’t hold the camera out far enough with my right hand and still reach the button.  (it’s because the button is positioned too far to one side of the camera, not because my right arm is shorter).

The beach in Cairns is not “swimmable” so they built a pool just next to it, with fountains and all (mostly for the kids).  If we weren’t wearing our “dinner clothes” we would have been jumping in.

Here’s the last shot we have of Cairns itself.  It was such a beautiful evening—pleasant sea breeze, comfortable temperature, delicious aromas from the restaurants mixing with the smell of the ocean, and of course excellent company.

We strolled further up the waterfront, heading for “Dundee’s” restaurant (because the info lady recommended it).  We soon found it, along the boardwalk, only to discover it was a little more expensive than we wanted (yes, I know it was Lyana’s birthday dinner, but even she didn’t want to spend a fortune on dinner—that would have to wait until our anniversary in two days).  So we walked, half fast (because we were hungry) and half slow (because our feet were sore from walking all day), back to the main street lined with shops and restaurants, which by now were bustling with diners occupying tables inside and outside (except the Indian restaurant, which was incongruously empty). 

We walked up the street, all the way to Barnacle Bill’s (nope), then looked next door at Raw Prawns (double nope).  Even though seafood seemed great, we weren’t in the mood for experimenting with new dishes.  We (especially Lyana) wanted comfort food; something familiar.  So we walked back down the street until, what did we find: a sign with a picture of two Ostrich heads smiling and the name “Rattle and Hum.”  It was packed to the brim with Aussies, which was a good sign, so we sat down and ordered: bruschetta over ciabatta bread, Caesar salad with chicken, and the “Rattler” pizza (no, Rattle wasn’t on it, but it had onions, beef roast, mushrooms, BBQ sauce, cheese, and two or three other toppings I can’t recall.  With dinner in our tummies, it was time for ICE CREAM (homemade hazelnut and caramel gelato).  No more, let’s go home.  Back on the bus and 40 minutes till home.  More roundabouts (Ugh), but I’m getting better. 

Good to be back.  Sleeeeeeeep.  So good.

Happy Birthday Sweets!!

Rob

PS. Sorry, long post.  Thanks for reading (or just scrolling) this far.