Port Douglas :: Day 3

We all slept in this morning to varying degrees ... Mum was up first at about 8:30, then me at about 9, then Wayne, Richie and finally Lizzy made an appearance at about 11.  Wayne made pancakes for everyone for brekky ... mine had bananas, ice cream and maple syrup.  Mum's had strawberries.

Then we took our books, newspapers, music, etc and lazed beside the pool for the rest of the morning.  Lizzy went to the beach, which is only two blocks away.

Oh, dear ... better get to work on that tan!

At about 1 o'clock we hopped in the car and went into "town" (the Port Douglas shops) and drove around to the beautiful marina, where we walked around for a while, looking at all the amazing boats and then stopped at a nice restaurant called "Lure" for lunch.

Mum and I had a drink called an Orange Mojito each, which was rather delicious,

and then we shared a plate of tempura battered Ocean Coral Trout with chips.  Lizzy had a zuccini salad.

After that, we walked to the activities shop and booked some of the things we have decided to do for the rest of the week, then shopped a little and went home to relax again.  We had chilli or garlic prawns with oriental rice for dinner.  Mum, Lizzy and Richie went to bed early, but Wayne & I stayed up to watch "The Voice", finally shuffling off to bed at about 10:30.

Port Douglas :: Day 2

Another lovely day in Paradise!  The pool looked beautiful today, but I didn't venture in.

We did, however go to the Port Douglas Market, where I bought a lovely top for Mum and some really nice herbal body scrub.

 

There was a man there who was crushing sugar cane to make fresh cane juice, which was absolutely delicious and so refreshing!

After we had finished dawdling through the market, looking at all handcrafts and listening to the buskers, we crossed the road to the Courthouse Hotel to have a relaxed drink.

 Then we spent an hour or so on the beach.

Then we came home and made chicken & avocado wraps for lunch and then just chilled on the couch for the afternoon.

In the evening we went out to dinner at a restaurant in Macrossan Street, which is the main shopping strip of Port Douglas.

 

 

We had a lovely evening and came home to enjoy an evening of movies and bowls of Connoisseur ice cream.  YUM!!

Port Douglas :: Day 1

At last ... after what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a week or so of incredibly busy time at work (end of term and farewell to exiting Principal), we have finally made it to our destination ... Port Douglas!  YAY!! The weather is just fantastic, warm & sunny, 27 degrees, a slight breeze to keep the humidity down.  Having left Melbourne freezing cold, rainy and blowing a gale, 3-1/2 hours later we touched down in beautiful Far North Queensland. 

We picked up a hire car from the airport and drove to Cairns to do a little shopping and then settled into Mondos for brunch.

Mum and I splashed out and had a Long Island Ice Tea each - quite alcoholic, but really refreshing. 

Then we drove up to Port Douglas and settled into our holiday house.  All very nice, I must say! 

Then Wayne, Lizzy and I went to the supermarket to get all the food and drink and back in time to put our feet up and enjoy ourselves.

The only thing missing is not having our beautiful oldest daughter Torie and her boyfriend Nick with us, but she is doing so well with her job at the bank that she didn't feel she could get away right on the Financial Year End.  Maybe next holiday?!

Footsies!!

I treated Wayne and myself to pedicures today!  It really came out of the fact that Wayne is having such trouble reaching his own toes to clip his nails, because his left hip is in such a bad state.  He can barely bend at all on that side!

 

His right hip was replaced with what's called a "Birmingham Procedure" five years ago and at that time his left hip was fine, but now the cartilage has worn down completely on that side and he is in a lot of pain with it.

 

So, anyway he asked me to clip his nails for him but I really hate having to do that because his toe nails are so tough and long they are like birds' talons!  He leaves it for ages before he reminds me to do them and then, even with the extra tough toenail clippers I can't cut through them and there is so much grunge behind them .... YUK!!!

 

So, this time, I said "NO!  We're going to my beauty salon and getting them to give us both a pedicure!!".  Wayne was very unsure about this, not only because his nails look so awful, but also because this was not a very manly thing to do.  What would he say to his motor bike buddies??!!  But, I insisted and so off we went.

You can see by the forced smile on his face that he is not exactly comfortable with the whole event, but at least his nails were clipped, filed, cleaned and shaped, along with a proper foot soak and massage, finishing up with a coconut oil massage.


He had a bit of fun chatting with the lady while she was working on his feet and they gave him a cup of coffee and a slice of cake, so he started to relax and enjoy himself.  In then end, I think he was pretty pleased with the whole thing.




Of course, I've been there many times before to have all sorts of things done - eyebrows waxed and tinted, nails done, massages and pedicures.  I've always been happy with how I've walked out of that salon and today was no different ...

 

 

But it was a new experience for Wayne.  I think his feet have never looked so good!

What's so especially wonderful is that, now that we have settled on our house sale, we have the time on a Saturday morning to treat ourselves like this.