What's even more strange about this is that Margaret, Steve, Alf and Di all came along with us. If that isn't friendship, I don't know what is. We met in the lobby at 10:00 AM (so it was not an early start today) and then up to the second floor access to the parkade. We hopped in our two cars (Steve and Margaret came with us), I set Google Maps for Edmonton, and we began the epic 20 minute drive.
The night before, I had been thinking about the times that I had lost Alf in traffic, as he has always started out following me to where ever we are going. I decided that when I got close to the light I would be careful and not scoot through a yellow and leave him at the lights. So this time, guess what happened. The first set of lights we got to, I started to go through and it turned yellow. My brain said to me, "You said you were going to stop and not go through", so my leg gently stepped on the brake. Then the other portion of my brain said, "You can't stop here, you are part way through the intersection". I was a little torn on this for sure - and poor Alf/Di were caught behind me. partially through the intersection, on a now firmly red light. I just went the rest of the way through and they followed. Sigh. They are going to be glad to get rid of us. I hope there was no red-light camera there.
We arrived in Edmonton and I drove to the spot where Google Maps told me to go. I'm not sure how it picks a point when you just put in the name of a town. As we drove, we were looking for a place where we could take a photo. I had used ChatGPT to see if there was a sign, and it had clearly brought up some old information that indicated there was not one (more to come on that later). Laureen had found that the Library had the words "Edmonton Library" on it, so she had that ready to go if we didn't find anything. Sure enough, the place Google took us had no sign (and there was nothing at the outskirts of the place). So, we followed Laureen's directions to the Library, parked the car and got out to take our photo.
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| Laureen and I in Front of the Edmonton, QLD Library |
The others were lingering nearby in front of a real estate office that had a bunch of local listings in the window. I guess they liked Edmonton so much that they were considering relocating 😉. When we were done, we came over to have a look as well, just for fun. While surveying the items, one of the employee's for the Ray White office (actually it was Jodie) asked if we needed anything, and we struck up a conversation. We told her that we were from Edmonton, Alberta in CANADA and were just looking for an Edmonton sign to take a picture of, but we couldn't find one, so we used the Library which was just down the block. She told us that there WAS in fact, an Edmonton sign and all we had to do was walk around the corner to find it. So we did. And we found it. Thanks Jodie!
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| Laureen and I in Front of the Actual Edmonton, QLD Sign |
With our Edmonton mission completed, we decided to head over to the Cairns Central Shopping Center and spend some time walking around in the A/C. It was an excuse for the girls to wander in an out of the stores that they liked. Purchases were made by all of the gals. We also stopped at Muffin Break where we all had a lighter snack for part 1 of lunch. Yes, part 1. Since we have been with Margaret, we have been introduced to her Multi-part lunch approach. This is where we have some kind of lunch appetizer and then the real lunch follows. Usually the lunch that follows has been a Japanese Pancake 🥞. Today it was Muffins, and coffee and then back to the hotel to make cheese/ham bun melts in the oven in Steve and Margaret's apartment.
We brought the ham/cheese/buns/mustard/mayo/tomatoes because we had them left over from not having lunch in our room at all this week. This is because of the Margaret two-part-lunch thing we've been doing the whole time we have been in Cairns. What's nice about this is we were able to finish up all of our lunch provisions (shared with Steve, Margaret, Alf & Di) and then we left all the extra stuff in Steve and Margaret's fridge so they can get rid of it 😊. After the ham/cheese melts were all done, we sat around their table and chatted for a while. We talked about the Dream Pot, argued whether or not Bob Irwin (Steve Irwin's Father) was alive or dead, and something about Footie. I'm pretty sure that Margaret owes Alf an apology for thinking that the father of Jessica Fox (Australia Olympic Canoeist) was Aussi (he was actually from the UK). It was just after 3:00 PM when we all left Steve & Margaret's room to go do our own thing until supper, which was designated for 6:00 PM tonight. Meet in the lobby.
Laureen and I changed into our cozzi's and went out to the lagoon to go for a swim. I'm pretty sure the rest of them went for a nanny nap. That's what happens when you hang around with older folks. LOL. I'm going to be in trouble for that one - but I'm sure they will be on the road tomorrow before they read this so I should be OK. Steve and Margaret will be travelling with Alf and Di back to the Brisbane area where Alf and Di have recently moved. They will take their time and visit various places along the way. Once there I believe that Steve and Margaret will book a flight back to Sydney and then make their way home.
We hung around the lagoon for just about an hour, soaking in the water. The thermometer at the lagoon read just over 33 Degrees C and with the humidity being so high, because we are right on the ocean, it's constantly hot and muggy. The hour in the pool was as good as sitting around in the A/C. (You might be wondering why we just don’t go for a swim in the ocean. First, the beach in Cairns had a cyclone that washed out their beach some time ago. Second, it is not recommended to swim at most costal beaches due to crocs and stingers/jellyfish. One of the largest crocs, over 4 meters, was recently pulled out of the Cairns sewers and is now at Hartley’s Croc Farm.) Back up to the room, we both had a shower and got ready to go for our last dinner together. I pulled out my new aboriginally designed short sleeved polo shirt and Laureen wore a similarly coloured blue dress. Tonight choice was Dundee's, a seafood place right on the water.
We met in the lobby and it was Steve and Margaret that were the last ones to arrive. Right on time though - but still last. We walked over to the harbour and then down the boardwalk a little ways before finding the restaurant. We were seated at a table just inside the glass windows, so we could still see out towards the water if we had the desire to look. We ordered a couple of seafood towers, and Alf, who can’t eat those items, had a piece of Barramundi fish and chips. He also had the longest french fry which made up for the bit of a situation with him ordering a Bacardi and Coke (wanted a bottle or can of coke - not the fountain version) and it being lost in translation for our waiter who's first language was not English. In the end, it got sorted. We all ate our fill of the hot and cold selection of chilled mud crab,
yabbies, prawns, mussels, oysters, bug tails, barramundi strips, grilled scallops & hot crispy calamari accompanied by tropical fruit and their own house-made sauces. Of course, you need a shower after all of that shell cracking and oyster shucking. But it was good. We decided to go for a short walk and have dessert at Baskin and Robins instead of at the restaurant. I took our last group selfie out in front of the establishment right on the waterfront.
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| Dundee's |
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| The Guys Letting the Gals Pay for Dinner |
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| The Europe 2016 Crew's Last Dinner Together (this go around) |
The walk to the Baskin and Robbins, which was near the Night Market, was slower than normal. We were all thinking about the fact that this adventure, in it's current state, was about to come to an end. There has been talk of them coming to Canada for a visit, which we would be happy to host in the same manner as they had while in Australia. Not everyone is keen on making the trip though. Seems that Alf might need a bit of arm twisting. We'll remain hopeful that it will happen.
We all ordered our ice-cream flavour of choice, and sat outside to consume it. Steve & Margaret needed to head into the night market for a few last evening purchases, so Alf, Di, Laureen and I made our way back to the hotel. We said that we would be up for 8:00 AM tomorrow to say good bye as the elevator door closed on their floor. We have one extra day here as a result of a late flight change - so we'll see how we will spend our last full day in Australia tomorrow all on our own. It's been a ton of fun.
Curt and Laureen in Cairns, Australia
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