On June 4 Bill and I flew to Cairns, Australia to meet up with our girls who were coming home for their summer break. We spent a wonderful week vacationing together before heading back to PNG. 
We started off at Mission Beach were we rented this lovely little cabin for 5 days. 
It has been six months since we last saw our girls and so we enjoyed just spending time together catching up more then anything else. 
Coconuts littered the beach so we decided to have a go at cracking some open.
Bill found the job exceedingly challenging with just a kitchen knife! 
The fibrous husk had to be removed before finally revealing the inner shell which then had to be cracked open. 
Hurrah! Success at last. (We threw the rest of the coconuts away. Too much hard work!)
I found two things unique to Mission beach that I have never encountered before. One was live sand dollars. I have often found dead white ones on the beach while shell hunting, but never have I seen a live one before. There were hundreds of them burrowed down under the sand leaving little round lumps as a clue where they were hiding. 
The second were these crazy little crabs that apparently eat something nutritious in the sand (don’t ask me what!) and then spit out the remainder of the sand as little balls. Even God’s creatures can be artists. These little crabs made gorgeous designs all over the beach. It was absolutely fascinating.
I bet you’ve never seen a sign like this in the states! Mission Beach is a sanctuary for the endangered Cassowary. 
We took a side trip to beautiful Murray falls.
Another great side trip was to Paronella Park built in the 1800’s by a wealthy Spaniard for his wife. 
This is in the rainforest and over time the buildings have been destroyed by floods and cyclones. It now resembles some kind of ancient ruins. It was actually very enchanting in its ruined state.
Part of his estate included this beautiful waterfall.
He planted over 7000 trees in his park! 
Paronella Park at night adds an entirely different dimension. 
The second half of our vacation was spent at Ellis Beach. 
Briana celebrated her 21st birthday on June 10. Unfortunately she was getting sick, so instead of giving her the traditional birthday cake we opted for passion fruit instead. (She absolutely adores passion fruit before you feel too sorry for her.) 
As part of Briana’s birthday celebration we took a sailboat trip out to the Low Isles. 
To Bill’s delight he got to sit up next to the skipper and help out on occasion. 
The girls and I just enjoyed the ride.
Low Isles is home to this lighthouse. It is a tiny little island. Just to give you perspective you can walk around the entire island in less then 10 minutes. 
The snorkeling was not as spectacular as you would find out on the outer Great Barrier Reef but it did have some very nice soft corals. However, what it did have going for it were the sea turtles that came to feed on the corals. They were huge and totally awesome. They are just so graceful and nothing can compare to swimming with a turtle. 
Okay, for all you snorkel savvy people out there, what do these signs mean? (Hint: From left to right- “Help! Help!” “I need some assistance.” “Shark!!!” “Are you OK?”)
Poor Betsy got caught by a dreaded salt-water crocodile.
Briana on the other hand was smart enough to read the “manual”.
Sabbath we visited the Cairns botanical gardens. They are fabulous. Besides having an abundance of exotic flowers, they seemed to specialize in “large”… 
Here you see Bill with a very large “pinecone”. 
The girls seeking cover under a leaf large enough to serve as an umbrella. 
Hiding behind a giant fern. 
Now this is what bamboo should look like! 
And so ended our vacation. It was a small taste of what heaven will be like; beautiful beyond description.
