[placeholder post for Cairns]

The crazy mini-vacation to Cairns exceeded all expectations.  I have to say I was skeptical that everything could work out, especially since we were so late in getting the planning started, but the travel guide Tasha who’d done the great job on the Blue Mountains excursion responded to an e-mail plea by Amelie, and miraculously conjured a long-weekend itinerary including airplane reservations to and from Cairns, three nights’ accommodation at a medium-priced hotel on the Esplanade, a reef day on Friday, a rainforest minibus day Saturday, and a bunch of suggestions for the morning of Sunday.  All we had to do was heat up the credit card (after some maneuvering of funds because of the second installment of our rent) and print out the boarding passes! 

I’d never done anything quite like this before--just trusting someone else to make all the arrangements without knowing at all what to expect.  We made our way to the airport with our gear, picking up Alex at school (not wanting to risk another transition), cleared security easily, and then started waiting, and waiting,and waiting, for Virgin Australia to get us onto a plane.  Well, an hour and a half later, we were on our way.