We'd been dreading the drive we had ahead of us today but we'd made a family decision to do the power drive from Cairns to Dingo Beach in one day so, after a quick breakfast, we hit the road.

Australian driving is much different than Canadian driving. The speed limit changes all the time and the road passes through many towns. Many of the roads are single lane, but there are many passing lanes along the way, so we tended to follow slower traffic waiting for the safety of a passing lane. The result was that a 650 km drive turned into a ten-hour trip. Mission Beach called us in for a quick swim, but other than that, we drove single-mindedly to our destination.

At 7:00 pm, we pulled into Dingo Beach, exhausted but impressed by our first wallaby sighting on the way in. As we pulled up to a beautiful house, our friends, Pat and Bertha Wells, walked out to greet us. It was like seeing family!! We'd met them on a train in Germany (see our July 26 entry) and they had invited us to visit so, being the poor travelers we are, we took them up on their offer. We also met Zuang, their friend from China; and Lily, Bertha's mom who had a wonderful sense of humor and great stories. The kids were thrilled to meet Bertha's dog, Major, and Lily's dog, Finnegan - both little Yorkies. As we walked into their incredibly beautiful home, with its Christmas tree, outdoor fire pit blazing and carols playing in the background, we thanked God for these wonderful people. They had prepared a wonderful supper of steak and chops, baked potatoes, baked pumpkin, carrots and a lovely salad and we all thought we'd died and gone to heaven. Only one thing topped it and that was the dessert of Pavlova (meringue topped with an assortment of Aussie fruits - to die for!). We spent the rest of the night catching up on each other's adventures since we'd last met up. It was an excellent evening and we were very grateful for the way things turn out.