Our New Garden

 
Here we are finally settled into our new- to us -  home in the far North Queensland town of Cairns.
Its a beautiful city right up on the the top of the eastern coast of Australia.

Bit of a sea change from Victoria, and a radical climate change! Here we are living in the tropics, there are two seasons here Wet and dry, and at the moment its meant to be the wet season although this year has been pretty dry. Queensland is also prone to Cyclones which are kind of the Australian equivalent of Hurricanes, so we need to be prepared for them in the wet season.

We drove up here in my car via Cowra NSW, Goodiwindi Qld, Rockhampton Qld, and Airlie beach. We took our time and stopped overnight in those towns spending a weekend in Rockhampton for a bit of a breather. We left on 10/1 and arrived in Cairns on 15/1  which considering I was driving my i30 Hyundai wasnt bad timing, and my son did a great job of navigating.

3000km's we  drove in fact a bit more. Good experience but dont think I would want to make a habit of it! We live in an amazing country and its really interesting to drive through all those climate zones, from cool temperate Victoria through the arid back blocks of NSW and Qld, then into the tropics. You see how nature adjusts to cope with the climate. We were lucky not to encounter any bushfires as we drove, as the temperature outside soared to the high 40's. Thank goodness for aircon in the car!

It was a long drive but quite a great experience, and out of all those towns we stayed in the nicest motel was probably in Goondiwindi. Which is pretty much right on the NSW /Qld border but about a third of the way to SA. So it is in the outback.  But  lovely people and great accomodation.

So we arrived in Cairns safe and sound and picked up the keys to our new house and here we are. The garden is much smaller, and sadly I dont have any chooks but we brought the dog up and have a new kitten who is sleeping happily on a towel next to the computer here. His name is Felix and he is quite a little personality.

Our old cat Gina who is nearly 20 stayed in Melbourne at our old house along with the border collie, Bruce. We did bring our beautiful black cat Chibby up here but sadly she was diagnosed with cancer shortly after arriving and is no longer with us.We have planted a small tree in her honour.

We have been here just over a month and now I can start making it a home and planning the garden. Here are some pictures, oh and a pic of Felix and Sam!

Also for those interested recently I was honored to be  asked to contribute to a publication on keeping chickens put out by the publishers of Earth Garden. Its called Even More Chook Wisdom and is full of lots of tips and info about keeping chickens in your backyard. Its available online here from the Good life bookshop :http://www.goodlifebookclub.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1160