A rather busy social life....

Be warned.  This is a long post!

Philip and I have become very much the social butterflies of late, hence the lack of posts on the blog.  The fact of the matter is that we love spending time with friends and family and can never say no to any get together with them.

We have just said goodbye to Philips step sisters' family who have been with us for the last few days.  It was great to have them visit and wonderful for the kids to experience farm life.  We mustered in our heifers so that they could see the cattle up close and also to touch them.  The kids were a little hesitant but it didn't take long for them to feel comfortable around them.  Can't say the same for the heifers!  They amaze us.  When it is just Philip and I working them they are so incredibly quiet and easy to work but the minute we introduce strangers they make out that they are wild cattle! 

The highlight of the kids stay with us was getting covered in mud when they went mustering with Philip this morning.  At first it was "ewwwww.... it's in my hair" but then they could see the funny side of it. 

Yesterday we took the family down to the Yacht Club at Port Douglas for lunch.  What a yummy meal.  They are turning out first class food from their new kitchen and I totally recommend it.  Port Douglas is very busy at the moment.  I think the apartment occupancy rate is close to 100% so I'm very pleased for the locals.  However, we are too used to walking into any restaurant and getting a table without a booking.  That is not the case at the moment.  The Yacht Club, being a little bit "out of the way" is never packed so you can always get a table without a booking.

After lunch we drove over to the Daintree for a Crocodile Tour.  The Daintree River Cruise Centre is certainly the best crocodile spotting cruise on the river.  We have been on this cruise numerous times and always spot at least one salty and this cruise was no different.  The kids loved it and thumbs up to the wonderful cruise guide that we were lucky enough to have.  He answered all questions that the kids (and adults) put to him even though some of the questions were probably a bit silly!

After the river cruise we headed into the Daintree Village for coffee (adults) and ice creams (kids).  The Daintree is such a lovely place to spend an afternoon.

Isaac wearing Philips favourite hat!

Amelia.....the kids loved our two dogs!

Isaac, Jackie, Amelia and Damien

Male Salty on the banks of the Daintree River

Just some of the birdlife along the banks of the river

The family aboard the cruise

All the family with one of the baby crocs.

Last week we drove down to Townsville for the Cowboys/Manly football game.  Our accountant had season pass tickets and invited us to come and stay with him and his lovely wife.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  Philip and Ross went to boarding school together so they go back a long way......more than 40 years!

Very good seats at Cowboy Stadium. Cowboys won!

The Bruce Highway between Cairns and Townsville was the busiest we had ever seen and we have travelled this road three times in the past 6 weeks.   Thumbs up to patient drivers especially when about 30 of us had to sit behind a very inconsiderate person driving a camper van at about 70kmh.  All he had to do was pull over!

Can you see the line up of cars behind us.  So inconsiderate.

This is him.....we are three cars back with about 30 behind us.

State of Origin number three is next week and we hosted number two. They are a terrific bunch and we loved celebrating a win with them.  Lets hope number three is also a celebration!

Half time nibblies!

All decked out in maroon and it's a win!!!!....

Two weekends ago we joined our Kuranda friends for a French Degustation Menu at the Pullman International in Cairns.  We met up for lunch at Yokozuna restaurant.  Wow.....loved the Japanese menu and will definitely go back again.  After lunch we went back to the Pullman where we had booked in for the night.  Katie and Mike provided drinks and nibblies (why do I never remember to do this....duuhh) and we sat and chattered until it was time to shower and change for dinner.  The meal was memorable.  Some courses were not as delicious as others but all in all it was a good value meal considering drinks were also included.

Yokozuna Restaurant smorgasbord

Our Table 6 

First Course

The Menu

The Beverage Menu

Main Course

Dessert

After dinner we walked off the food and wine with a walk along the waterfront.....three kilometres!  Sounds incredible,  but it was such a lovely balmy evening that we just thoroughly enjoyed it.....even though I had blisters the next day!

The view back toward the city of Cairns.  Such a pretty sight.