Rhonda Bracey: At Random

My American friend and colleague, Dave, was on the same flights as us from LA to Sydney to Cairns, and is spending a week with us in Palm Cove before we all head to Cairns for the next conference. Palm Cove is about 25kms north of Cairns and we're staying in a holiday villa right on the esplanade, overlooking the beach through the large melaleucas and palm trees.

FNQ (Far North Queensland) has had a LOT of rain in the 5 weeks since Cyclone Larry went through, according to the locals, and today (Monday) was one of the first fine days they had. Of course, you get rain in a tropical rainforest… that's to be expected (as is the humidity), but I hope we get some more fine days so Dave can enjoy this little part of the world in the sunshine.

So far we haven't made any plans for the week – we'll do that tomorrow. Today was all about arriving in Cairns from the US, getting the shuttle to Palm Cove, checking in, unpacking, renting a car to get us around, and doing some grocery shopping before the shops closed because tomorrow (Tuesday) is Anzac Day and almost everything will be closed, either for the whole day or until at least noon. And going for a dip in the pool and watching the fruit bats in the palm trees and flying overhead!

As the day drew to a close and we sat out facing the ocean with a red wine for me and beers for the guys, we wondered what the rich people were doing!