Saturday 7 June 2025

When Cherrie was thinking about what she wanted to do for her 70th birthday, which was in March this year, she settled on an adventure with a tour company called Outback Spirit. This has us travelling from Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula right across to Darwin.

Over 13 days we will travel in a small van, but clearly luxurious since it’s a Mercedes which seats a maximum of 20. One can only hope the operators are disappointed in the bookings. We will stay in Communities and soak up the spirit of the outback. It all kicks off tomorrow, but in preparation we have managed to get ourselves to Cairns, and we need to be at the airport at 11.20am tomorrow to check in to the included flight to Nhulunbuy. In true Qantas style, this morning’s 9.30am flight departed at 11am. Smooth flying though, and we even managed to stay above the clouds most of the way.

We checked into our hotel around 3pm, and she then went and had a manicure

And I had my brows done, Groucho Marx style

It’s not as hot or as humid as we had expected, and so we walked a little. And I mean a little. A few steps is a challenge for me, and so I courageously managed maybe six blocks. But we walked past, and then did a u-turn and entered the Cairns Art Gallery. What a joy it is. A tiny, old building, with two small floors of exhibits, but so wonderful. Your first quiz of this blog is WHICH IS THE WITCH DOCTOR?

He is, of course, from the Tiwi Islands, along with his pals

The other exhibition was War Quilts: The Annette Gero Collection, which comprised amazing old and new works, drawn from wars

And so endeth today. Navigating my way around this blog has taken far too much of my holiday to date and the formatting is appalling, But, hey, you’ve heard from me. You can unsubscribe I’m sure. In fact, I recommend. Over and out (without a single typed profanity, but no guarantees into the next few days). Off to dinner. Good night folks.