We spent a couple of weeks in Cairns getting ready for our upcoming trip to Indonesia. We needed to get the boat ready and provisioned, which means lots of cleaning and trips to the grocery store. There is a saying among cruisers that "people eat everywhere" so basically where ever you travel there will be something to eat, but I just like to make sure we have everything we need. Like a cubic foot of chocolate, because you just never know what will happen or where you will find yourself The one thing I do know is that we will have chocolate and there is a lot of comfort in that. Interspersed with all the work we did find time to have some fun. Cairns has a big backpacker community and there is a huge common lawn with free barbecues and a huge pool. It was a ready made party every night. On the weekends there is a live band playing in the park, what more could you ask for?

We went in one evening for a barbie with some friends and got back to the marina a bit late. Seems the gate to the dock where we had left our dinghies is locked at about 7;00pm. Oops. We were standing there contemplating our options when a little drunk guy rocks up and starts talking to us. He was seriously smaller than me, so drunk he was swaying like a weeble wobble and slurring his words beyond comprehension. We were going for avoidance but he was persistent and when he figured out that we were standing by a locked gate trying to get to our dinghies he hatched his own plan to climb over the fence and save us all. YIKES! This is not going to be pretty, he can barely stand and none of us wants to be responsible for this fool's death. It is a tall gate and a long fall onto some serious rocks. We were all telling him not to do it but in his oblivion he just wasn't hearing us He was up the gate like a monkey. He got to the top and there were a few precarious seconds of teetering back and forth and we thought he was a gonner. He did manage to hold on and jump to the other side to let us in. Jason gave him a hearty thanks mate and said he would buy him a beer but it looked like he'd already had a few too many and we were off and on our way home as quick as we could go.

We took a ride up the river to the Cairn's Cruising Squadron to do a little reconnaissance and have a beer. The rally is mustering at the club and we wanted to check it out. We also wanted to look for saltwater crocs in the river. We were unsuccessful on the croc hunt but the beers were cold and we did make happy hour. We were all having a pleasant enough time when a waitress came to ask if we would like to purchase tickets to win one of seven meat trays. The bar was not crowded and the odds looked good but everyone at our table declined. I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years so I knew that if I bought a ticket I would totally win. They were 2 for $5 so I got 2. Ten minutes later I won the first meat tray. I had been pretty cocky about the fact that I knew I would win. So Jason tells me to buy him a couple of tickets. He won the next meat tray. Will couldn't believe it and wanted a meat tray as well So I bought him some tickets. All three boats left with a meat tray. Now that is success.

The Wonderful Sail2Indonesia Rally had a few events to get the rally started and help the boats meet each other. The officials from Indonesia came and gave speeches and information about our destinations. It looks to be a good itinerary with lots of scheduled events. Not sure how much of it we will participate in as we are not the structured type. We are more the snorkel and hike type but we will at least try to do a couple of the events. The final event for the rally muster was a meet and greet cocktail party featuring a Jimmy Buffet cover band. The theme was "Parrot Head" which I guess everyone knows is wear a parrot on your head and a Hawaiian shirt. I did not know, but I guess they are popular parties. Zack was into the dress up thing and so were his buddies Luke and George. We got a cheap gold glitter hat at the store and spent some time trying to decorate it. It got a little out of control and Zack went to the party wearing a hat with a parrot, holding an American flag, sitting on a shark that was eating a kiwi bird. There are lots of New Zealanders and Australians in the rally so it sort of made sense. The kiwi bird for the New Zealanders. the shark for the Australians, the parrot for the parrot head party and it was the 4th of July so we needed the American flag. Boy did he catch some shit for that hat. Seems the New Zealanders weren't so impressed with their national bird being eaten by a shark. There is a lot of Aussie - Kiwi rivalry that goes on. Fortunately neither party is all that sensitive and we were assured there is no such thing as poor form or bad taste here. So all good and just a laugh. The party was cool and the Indonesian officials had put some money on a tab so the beers were free for a while! The band was not exactly rocking it but they were filming it for some reason and really putting on a show, which was weird as no one was dancing. The kids ran around and played some rugby. We called it an early night and headed back to the boat. It was a good 4th but it was a big surprise for us when the fireworks started going off right over the marina. It was really sweet of the Aussie's to have fireworks just for us. They do them every Saturday and the Fourth was on a Saturday but I'll go with they were a tribute to America! LOL

We got the provisioning done and some work on the boat. Zack made a few extra dollars taking grocery carts back to the store. Lots of cruisers left them on the side of the parking lot and he was there to grab them. He would push them back and claim the coin from the lock slot. He could not be convinced to push back carts with no coins as a community service. He was able to buy a nice opal still in the rock with some of his cash. It was $12 but the guy gave it to him for $8 as he was having a difficult time parting with his hard earned cash He collects gems and stones from our travels and he was able to get a few $2 lucky dips at the market. "Lucky Dip" is a NZ/Australian thing where you buy something that is wrapped and take your chances. Zack got lucky, there was lots in there for $2, it was a total bargain. He bought five of them. He ended up with some cool gems and a necklace and even a small piece of uncut sapphire. He was stoked.