Tropical North Queensland

One of the things we noticed when we first came to Cairns, was how similar the terrain and climate is to Port Moresby. It makes sense when you consider how close they are to one another. Southern Australia has 4 distinct seasons, but this area only has a wet and dry season, just like Papua New Guinea and just like PNG the El Nino effect has had an impact on the weather this year. Talking to the locals, we've discovered that at this time of year, we should be seeing a lot more rain than we are. We did get a taste of the wet season this past weekend though. Lori came up Thursday evening and we had plans to go up the coast to Port Douglas, but we ended up spending most of our time indoors, catching up on our Netflix watching, because of the rain.

It was a nice change though. After months and months of the exact same weather every day, we welcomed the rain. Plus it gave us the perfect excuse to lounge around and watch TV for a couple of days.

Another indication that we are living in a tropical climate is the wildlife we see. Every evening around sunset, I can sit on the balcony and watch the parrots come home to roost for the night in the nearby palm trees.

There are a few different types (I have no idea what their names are) but the most popular ones are green and red. There are so many, that the noise can be deafening. Just as they are settling in for the night, the bats are waking up and taking to the sky. To me, these bats are enormous and they may even be known as flying foxes, I'm not sure. It's hard to get a picture of them flying at night, but I was out for a walk one day and I saw these guys sleeping. Kinda creepy, but very cool at the same time.

There are times when I'll be in a restaurant or a grocery store and it feels like I'm back home in Canada, but then I walk outside and feel the tropical heat and see parrots and giant bats flying around and it's obvious that I'm not.

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