Today is my mama’s birthday. She would be turning 58. We didn’t really know what we were meant to do. I mean, what are you meant to do?
We went to visit her. We lit a handful of joss sticks, prayed to her and gave her three joss sticks from our bunches of joss sticks. Then we did the same for her neighbours who are keeping her company, but they only get one joss stick. We only know to do this through tradition.
It’s a weird and sad day. I don’t want it to go by forgotten yet I don’t know how to do this day. I posted a video on Instagram of mum playing with our family cat. Her smile in it is radiant and she is so happy. It’s a memory I want to keep. It’s how I want her to be remembered. It’s hard to forget the shell she became and how the cancer turned her into a stranger. It’s hard to remember the person she was before she was diagnosed. It’s hard to remember the good memories. It’s hard to remind myself of who she was because a large part of me still cannot accept she is no longer here. It’s like a weird horrible dream that I can’t wake up from.
So I’ve been in Cooktown just over a week now. We’re all settled in (mostly except for a few bits and bobs here and there) to our new home.
Most of last weekend was spent assembling furniture – officially done with flatpack for a while – and choosing our room, the guest bedrooms and the fun sun room.
This weekend was also pretty busy but we were lucky enough to have another long weekend up north (Queensland public holiday perks!). Sleep ins all weekend, but we still managed to get a fair bit done.
I did my first touristy thing in Cooktown on Friday afternoon… I skipped out early and went on a lovely riverboat “sunset” cruise on the legendary Endeavour River.
There’s little Cooktown from up the river – that hill on the left is Grassy Hill (I think!) and the bigger one on the right that is hidden by the cloud is Mt Cook.Happy selfie with my main squeeze
The next morning we drove to Cairns (it takes 4 hours to get there…) and picked up extra things we needed for the house then after a huge day we headed to Davies Creek to camp for the night. Handy hint: book ahead for top camping spots like Davies Creek – especially on a long weekend.
My first tree frog! And giant rhino beetle!
Despite intermittent rain, Tim managed to make the best campfire and we had roast chicken (well Tim did) and I had roast potatoes (and maybe some chicken…)
Tim actually drove off at one point to get more fire wood and bark… there were a few Wolf Creek moments while he was gone but I busied myself with a few photos of the fire.What a view to wake up to. So much nature and right next to the most perfect stream!We were very lucky. It was perfect.
On the way back to Cooktown, about an hour or so out, there is this amazing man made lagoon (which is probably more like a dam) and at the moment there are all these lotus growing and there are all these dead trees! Dead trees are my favourite king of tree. I find them so beautiful, a little sad yet so magnificent. How despite the lack of life, their skeletons still reach up to the sky.
See those beautiful dead trees! If it weren’t for the danger of crocodiles, I’d have liked to go for a swim up to them.
Of course we had to make the most of our weekend. We’d heard about this waterfall nearby and it was on the top of our list, so we headed out of a late afternoon adventure to seek out Trevethan Falls. It was a bit of a mission to get there but well worth the mud covered car (poor Tim) and gravel embedded in my feet (we forgot footwear!). We had a few false starts to begin as we drove down a few unsealed tracks to no avail then defeated, we headed back to mobile phone reception to get help from the almighty Google. Armed with the correct information, we headed down Mount Amos Road and followed all the hand painted signs directing us to “FALLS”. We knew we were on the right track when we came across a couple of little cars parked next to a large puddle (more like a small pond) which I powered through with the trusty Volvo… the car may have slid slightly to the right and floated a tad before making it to “dry land” on the other side. Those poor souls walked forever to get to the falls because it was quite a drive past the pond before we arrived at the end of the “road”. We hopped out of the car and realised that neither of us had shoes… but the sound of cascading water indicated that we were close, so Tim transversed the sketchy foot path to the beautiful waterfall! There was a perfect water hole at the bottom of the waterfall and despite the rude disruption of beats from a boom box, it was incredibly peaceful.
The water wasn’t as cold as we anticipated and it was a perfect place for a quick dip in the afternoon heat.
Tiny me and the waterfall. It really is a special spot. Captured by my love.
Yeah, we had a huge long weekend and this was only my first full weekend in Cooktown. Stay tuned for more adventures.
I’m currently typing this from the balcony of a beautiful old Queenslander, in the lovely and peaceful suburb of Edge Hill (a suburb in Cairns). There’s an intermittent light breeze that rustles the leaves of the vibrant green palms. That, coupled with the droning cicadas and the occasional bird call is incredibly peaceful. The sun setting behind the beautiful silhouette of the tropical trees takes the remnants of the golden hour with it. It’s basically paradise and I’m not even up to the good part…
I’m writing this in my togs! Yes, this morning I was in my usual Melburian get up (black jeans, my beloved Acne Pistol boots and my newly acquired leather motorcycle jacket) but now I am wearing my togs.
So how did I get here?
Well that’s a story for another post. But you know the usual, girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, boy moves to the other side of the country, girl adventures around with boy, girl decides to move to the other side of the country to be with boy. And the story continues…
