We were blessed to spend a holiday in Cairns, Australia earlier this month. Some friends lent us their camping equipment so we camped out here at Crystal Cascades Holiday Park---"where the rainforest meets the park", they say! It was a beautiful spot.
We could not believe it but the temperatures were quite cool at night--went down to 12C, which really shouldn't feel cold for Canadians but obviously we've acclimatized to Lae! We had to wear layers and snuggle up under the covers. Still, Caleb would wake up in the middle of the night with his little hands and nose freezing cold!
Here's Jonathan in front of our camper trailer one morning.
Can you tell she loves her daddy?
Even though it was cool at night, we still had warm, sunny days
to enjoy the "Lagoon" in downtown Cairns.
(Yes, the shirt is true---Caleb loves his daddy too!)
Brother and Sister enjoying Trinity Beach.
Australian beaches are so beautiful!
Although we didn't swim for fear of crocs and jellyfish!
Of course, we hung out at Muddy's Playground.
Jono loved climbing to the top of the spider web.
And climbing trees!
We enjoyed many nice walks at different parks--
something we can't do here in Lae.
This little waterway amused Caleb for a long time!
We also enjoyed great fellowship with the Reformed church group in Cairns, and were blessed in many different ways by them having us over, lending us warm clothes, etc. Jonathan and Karlyn also loved going over to Shakira and Aliesha Byl's house to play whenever they could!
All in all, we were really thankful to be able to holiday in Cairns. We came back feeling refreshed and ready to take up our tasks again. Praise be to God.
And next week we're looking forward to finally welcoming our new co-workers, Tim and Francine, and Avigail Sikkema to Lae next week! They will be here for 2 weeks and then will travel 5 hours up the coast for their 14-week language and cultural training. It will be great to see them again and we're sure they will be glad to finally get to PNG.
