On our own

The event of Nina and Kristen flying out of Cairns marked the first real length of time that we would be on our own. Our next visit from family members was not scheduled until late November. It also marked the end of any real house redecorating too, as Alan was about to start filming, and I had two kids running around ready to get their hands into the paint tins!

We took a trip to Cape Tribulation for the day (a 2.5 hour drive from Kuranda). The whole way there, Tayen kept asking all about cassowaries, and how many we would see, and where to look for them, and what they eat - the questions were endless, and we had to keep reiterating that it would be very special if we saw a cassowary, but we probably wouldn't see one.

We had to eat our words. Walking along the rainforest boardwalk with Alan and Tayen in the lead, and me trailing behind with Saige in the pusher, we were told by some fellow walkers that there were two cassowaries just ahead. Sure enough, there was a male cassoway with his chick (the chick would have reached up to my hips!) They were both meandering around, walking either side of the board walk and crossing over from time to time. It was magical, and only got a little tense after around 10 minutes when we started walking again. Earlier when I had been quite close to the chick, I could hear it making little noises that sounded similar to a horse whinnying in the distance. When I moved the pusher forward, the back wheel started squeaking, sounding very similar to the chick. The male cassowary took a bit of interest in me and the pusher, and I had to slowly lift the back wheels of the pusher while we walked away.

Being in a 3 bedroom house, we are fortunate to have the master bedroom, with the girls sharing another bedroom, and a spare bedroom/playroom. As most of the time we won't have people staying with us, the playroom dominated and became disorganised very quickly. I had to find a way to get rid of the mess and make it easy for Tayen and Saige to help pack up their toys when they had finished. I regretted not shopping at IKEA for storage solutions before leaving Victoria, since the nearest IKEA to Kuranda is in Brisbane, 2 days travel away! So after countless internet searches for ideas and visiting many stores, I finally found some cubed shelves to do the trick. I also needed to go to Bunnings to get some storage boxes to fit nicely into the shelves. Tayen and Saige love our local Bunnings, as it has little trollies that they can push around. Bunnings also provides ample opportunities for some impromtu dancing in the aisles!

We've aslo been out to Malanda, which is around 1.5 hours south west of Kuranda. We went on a rainforest walk where a scrub turkey followed us the entire way (about 1 km walk). Tayen had brought her toy mobile phone whith her on the walk, and it was funny to see her taking photos of the turkey with her phone - how quickly they pick up the technology, even though for her it's just pretend!



Alan showing the girls a Prickly Forest Skink

We've been doing lots of activities with Tayen and Saige. We've joined the local playgroup, enrolled Tayen into Kindergarten for next year (a year earlier than she would be going in Victoria - she's growing up too fast for me!) and attending orientation sessions, started swimming lessons and have been going to story time at the library every week, followed by craft time. Both the girls have adapted really well to life at the Forest House, though are missing family and friends back in Vic - Tayen keeps asking when Caitlin and Annie will arrive, "They're taking such a long time!" she says.



Tayen and Saige enjoying morning tea at Playgroup

 Ok, enough of the large posts! It's taken me 2 hours to do this one with all the video uploads, so stay tuned for some short, sharp, undaunting entries!