First Day

Just a collection of pictures from the first day, after landing at Cairns just after 6am.

Kerry and Conor picked me up at the airport, and we headed towards their home in Port Douglas. We stopped off at Ellis Beach on the way for a coffee, and I also had what has to be one of the best egg and bacon rolls on the planet!

Photos show us all on the beach at 8am, Conor signposting the other beach residents to be aware of, me and Kerry seperately at the table (we sat together after the photos!) , Kerry and Conor's back garden showing the barbeque area and pool, the three of us supporting the local Port Douglas economy, and an old building in Mossman, a small rural town nearby where they've been crushing sugar cane for over a hundred and twenty five years.

Something I said I'd come back to - after landing at Cairns airport but before Border Control, there's a duty free shop. It's not the largest, but there's a good selection of alcohol and deals and you can take what you buy here into the country (subject to being within your allowance). It's got to be better than buying at Manchester and having it taken off you.

We had a look around Port Douglas, more for my benefit than Kerry and Conor's, then went to Mossman where I got my phone battery replaced. A couple of drinks at Hemingways Brewery, a walk along Four Mile beach (not all of it!), a glass of Pinot at the Barrier Reef Tavern, put the pillion footrests on the Speed Triple, enjoyed chicken kebabs and pitta bread cooked on the barbie and eaten outside, a last brew and it was time to crash after a full first day Down Under.

That was day one. I can't wait for the rest!