From Thursday 2nd July - Thursday 9th July Port Moresby - Cairns

We took off for hols two days earlier than planned due to the incompetence of Expedia - do not use this tour company, they were most unhelpful following the cancellation of our Qantas flight. Because we could no longer catch a connection on the Saturday and because Expedia were not willing to give us any other reasonable alternative, we had to change our Air Nuigini flight to Thursday, which then meant staying in Port Moresby for two extra nights. Luckily our friend Richard, who was a VSO volunteer but now works for the government, offered (insisted even) to put us up in his apartment with views over the bay, high up on a hill. But this was not to be our first taste of luxury. On arrival at PM airport, Richard told us he'd pick us up from the Airways hotel after lunch. Normally we would avoid airport hotels, but this was a gem with a lovely deli restaurant overlooking the runway and mountains. We had the most delicious lunch (absence definitely does make the heart grow fonder!) and probably instantly gained the weight we'd lost over 5 months.

Richard's apartment was well appointed, very comfortable and very impressive. We went for an evening meal at a Thai restaurant in town with Richard (who taught at Danbury, Essex some years ago) and Sam (a lad from up north). On Friday we visited the botanical gardens where the security guards insisted on escorting us around - and showing every orchid in the place! In the evening the three of us ate at a Japanese restaurant - delectable.

So having arrived at the airport in plenty of time to catch the Cairns flight, we were delayed, then boarded the plane, taxied to the runway start and sat on the tarmac until it was obvious that there was a problem. Sure enough we taxied back and sat on the plane whilst the engineers attempted to fix the problem - unsuccessfully, so we all got off to be ushered back to the lounge. Amazingly, half an hour later we were on another aircraft and arrived in Cairns mid-afternoon. Upon approaching Cairns, we could see that the infrastructure was well developed. The road to the hotel completely lacked any sign of a pothole, a patch of mud or any informal toll blockage. It was amazing to travel so smoothly and at speed, seeing real houses, gardens, lampposts, pavements, other vehicles etc.

Our hotel apartment - with a swimming pool and spa pool, was comfortable and just a few minutes walk from the esplanade. In the first half-hour, we saw a greater variety of birds along the seafront than we'd seen in PNG in 5 months - amazing. To walk without fear of encountering potential difficulties was refreshing and reassuring. To see well equipped playgrounds and skate parks, BBQ areas, joggers, power-walkers, cyclists, manicured lush lawns, organised streets and buildings made us realise how under-developed some countries are and how over-developed others.

Within a hour of arriving in Cairns, we'd booked our first activity for Sunday. Alison just went for it, as she does, thinking that otherwise we'd (I'd) dither for days deciding what to do (the choice was overwhelming), as each tour operator blinded their customers with rows and rows of leaflets, deals, booklets etc. Anyway we opted for a trip to Franklin Island which turned out to be wonderful. Mike snorkelled for most of the time and Alison sat on the idyllic beach and went on a semi-submerged glass-bottomed boat. The island has a conservation order, which limits the number of people allowed on the island at any one time to 100. On this particular day it was probably only 50. We became friendly with a young German couple who also recommended Osprey boatas being even better. The lad, Tommy, lent Mike his brand new underwater camera (with Mike's memory card fitted). This was most impressive because

1) boys and their toys do not easily part,

2) boys and their brand new toys definitely do not easily part

3) we'd only just met

Later he escorted Mike further out into the reef than he might otherwise have ventured, for Tommy was a trained lifeguard. They followed a turtle and saw an impressive array of sea-life.

On Monday we shopped for some of the things we wanted to take back to PNG (cotton wool buds, glasses, knickers, wet wipes etc) and visited our friends Lyn and Roger who are en-route back to England from PNG having completed 2 years VSO in Madang. Lyn fell over in the shower a couple of weeks ago and fractured her sacrum in two places. So they had to pack everything a week earlier than intended and are now in Cairns getting medical advice as to when they can travel. Not a good end to their very successful placement.

On Tuesday we walked to the botanic gardens and took a long environmental route around the rainforest. What a joy to be able to walk freely - though we ached somewhat the next day.

We were picked up at 10.00 a.m. to go to the Kuranda sky-rail, town and scenic railway. The skyrail (cable car) takes you 7.5 km over the canopy of the rainforest below. Its very impressive and lets you get off to see the striking Barron Falls and other viewpoints. We spent a lovely day with some more walking then a scenic return journey on the old-fashioned train carriages. We ended the day with a great Greek Meze with Lyn and Roger.

Today, on the recommendation of the Germans, we caught a boat to outerreefs - visiting Saxon and Hastings reefs. The snorkelling was superb, though the sea was very choppy and it was difficult to avoid getting water into the mask. Mike followed a turtle again and saw lots of colourful and weird and wonderful creatures. We threw caution to the wind and took a helicopter ride from a floating platoon, flying over 3 reefs. Great. On the way back to Cairns the boat sped through very choppy waters, resulting in getting soaked from the spray.

We fly back to Port Moresby on Friday morning where we'll stay with Richard overnight. We're not sure how we'll feel when we arrive back in PNG and back in Kundiawa, but no doubt we'll notice the difference.

An action-packed 10 day play-away.