Cairns, Australia

Well it has been a very long day.....or was it 2 days? It took us 12 hours to get from LA to Auckland. That's in economy class. :):) We were on a 747 ... man that's a big plane. I really wanted to go upstairs to see how the other half were living (or sleeping I should say) but I settled in to my middle seat and tried to be comfortable. We did sleep off and on.
We had talked about it and decided we would probably lose weight on this trip as we would be running into new foods and might not eat as much but let me tell you Air New Zealand fed us every two hours it seemed like. We landed in Auckland very early in the morning and changed planes to come to Cairns, which was another 5 + hours in the air. They fed us again....twice!

Cairns is a tourist town and I guess because of the reef. It is tropical just as reported by Jan and Patrick. The weather today was 26 C when we landed. Tonight we are in our room with the windows open and no air on. As soon as the sun went down it got cool.

We are staying at Tree Top Lodge and it is basic but nice. The room is large and because they cater to missionaries and their families it is a suite with one queen, set of bunk beds, a single bed and a pull out couch. Also a coffee pot, fridge and toaster. We can go to a larger kitchen and cook if we want....don't think so this trip. English muffins with coffee in the room will do. We really did not even try to 'do' anything today...we will play tourist the next few days. Right now we are just trying to stay awake to get our bodies on this time difference. By the way we are 14 hours ahead of Atlanta time.

I'll try to write again tomorrow..........hope all is well with all of you.
Jim and Mary