Cairns, etc.

I spent most of last week in Cairns in northern Queensland for the Third International Climate Change Impact Assessment Conference. This was my second trip to the city in the past few months, although the first time around, I spent my time about 60 km north in Port Douglas. Furthermore, last time I caught the tail end of the wet season, which made it unbearably hot and humid, whereas this time around the weather was perfect.

Uta flew up Thursday night, at which point we relocated to the Cairns Beach Resort north of town, spending Friday checking out the miniscule community of Holloway's Beach before heading back to town that night for dinner with Ian and Lisa. Saturday we were up bright and earlier and rented a car with Ian and Lisa, and headed north, stopping off in Port Douglas for a bite to eat, and breezing through posh Palm Cove before crossing the Daintree River and heading through Daintree National Park toward Cape Tribulation. We checked into PK's Jungle Village, went for a stroll along the beach, and had a leisurely dinner at the Ferntree Rainforest Lodge across the road.

Sunday we checked out some of the rainforest walks along the route back toward the Daintree, and then spent the afternoon in Mossman Gorge on the way back to Cairns. We also experienced an exciting few mintues on the road behind a car that was being driven by either Stevie Wonder or an absolutely ruined Aussie. [Note: probably shouldn't drive wasted along a narrow two-lane road that winds along a coastal cliff.] All in all, a fantastic part of Australia, if not the world. Heaps of green, sugarcane, and signs warning of crocodiles. Some photos can be found here.

Oh, and we came across an advertisement for a beautician that was offering various waxing services including "brazilian bikini" and "brazilian w/ picture". The former seemed straightforward enough, but we puzzled long and hard over the meaning of the latter. If anyone can help us out, let me know. . .