The start of a new week and a change of pace and routine as I start my three weeks of housesitting the menagerie. I had been given a list of the dog’s names (Nahli, Mojo, Upolu, Dusty) with their feeding routine. Feed the fish (two tanks of tropical fish) every morning and the cat, Mushu, twice a day feeds but being a cat at first was wary of strangers so I hardly saw her. Praise the Lord she is able to get in and out independently and fed mostly when I was out. Halfway through the second week she had gotten used to me and then surprised me one night by jumping on my bed! No way, no animals permitted in my room due to allergies!
It seems many of the houses around here are not locked. I’d been locking the front screen door when I went out and letting myself in the backdoor which I left unlocked, as I don’t have a house key. The only way to the backdoor is past the four dogs which I doubt very much people would venture to do as they can be very noisy if they don’t know you. I’m so pleased they are stay outdoor dogs as I’m not fond on animals in the house. This is mainly due to allergies to most animal dander including feathers as well as blood sucking biting insects including fleas! I’m still recovering from the most recent welts; this time I think it’s from midges from a picnic with Jen in the park! Grrrrr!
I’ve had a few hiccups since moving in with the menagerie. The first was a tepid shower. I’m use to very hot showers, which also help neutralise the insect bites. I lowered the shower head and used full pressure which seemed to help. The rest of the house has hot water so I’m not sure why the shower hasn’t. I asked Natasha if there was a thermostat but there wasn’t. The second thing I messaged Natasha about was the reticulation (or irrigation as it is called here). There was a timer coming on twice during the night right under my window. Once at 3:30am and then again at 5:30 EVERY night! The first two nights I woke but went back to sleep after the 3:30am one but one night I couldn’t get back to sleep and when I eventually did the 5:30am round woke me. Praise the Lord, Natasha, who is often out of range due to her work, was in range to call me back and suggested I turn the tap off as it should only come on once a day at 3:30pm. The other timers were set up for different areas, including to fill up the dog’s water bowls, which I thought was a great idea and included the hanging baskets. They were fine, but after several days of torrential downpour I turned them off too.
The third query I had was regarding Netflix, which I was told was set up and ready for use. I was able to get the TV operating but not the Netflix. This time Natasha needed to call Pete who was also in and out of mobile range so promised to call me back once she had contacted him.
Now that both my sisters were away I had lots of time to catch up with other things. I went on line to pay bills, caught up to date with my blog writings and called Roger the Couchsurfer who had offered me accommodation in the rainforest. Before coming over, Kat had originally asked if I would housesit her place when she was working FIFO (Fly In Fly Out) but somehow there was a miscommunication about how long I wanted to stay so she had offered it to someone else, Jen’s friend, Linda. This meant I’d have to find alternate accommodation while I was in Cairns. Roger had accepted my request to stay awhile at his rainforest home, in the meantime however, Kat’s friend Natasha was looking for someone to look after her pets for three weeks, which suited me perfectly. God has a way of working things out for the better when we trust His leading and provision.
I contacted Roger to explain the latest arrangement and was asked if I wanted to catch up for a coffee as he was coming into town. He suggested we meet at Holloway’s Beach, which is also Kat’s favourite place for a coffee when taking her dog Poppy for a walk. Holloway’s Beach is only 15mins away and quite a straight forward route which suited me. Unfortunately neither of us knew that the coffee shop (only one there) was closed on a Monday so we drove all the way back to just down the road from where I’m staying. Roger was driving a VW Beetle convertible with the canopy down. He looks like he is still living his hippy days and is quite a character. We had a fair bit in common, coming from a similar background and era and were able to chat about many things. Before leaving, Roger offered to show me around Kuranda later in the week, which I accepted.
En route home, I called in to see if Duncan needed a hand with anything, mentioning that I wanted to plant the things we had bought from Bunnings but needed to return to my housesit to get changed into my shorts. I returned to plant three varieties of portulaca, including a variegated leaf, Vietnamese mint and three different coloured miniature begonias around the pool area. I’m hoping they will survive, as Lizzie (Duncan’s daughter) mentioned she would like some flowers in the garden, which was mainly shrubby green vegetation. Kat also has quite a few herbs, fruit bearing trees and a small vegie garden. By 3pm I was heading back to cook my dinner, exercise the dogs by throwing the ball, feed the animals before take some time to just relax. The following week we had periodic showers or rain which watered all the plants in beautifully.
Praise the Lord, I also have the use of Kat’s car for a while; I’m hoping to make good use of it to visit places out of town. Tuesday I decided I’d go to the nearby Crystal Cascades, only about half an hour out of Cairns. It was an easy drive and a not too windy road. There was quite a large parking area which seemed to be filling up; even as I arrived, three other vehicles pulled in. It was a steep walk up a cement pathway, stopping along the way to read the signage which explained the fora and flora and mythical stories from the First Nations People of this area. I saw a large golden globe spider and a turtle sunning itself on a rock and plenty of fish. When I reached the top there were lots of people taking advantage of the deep swimming pool. I hadn’t put my bathers on under my clothes this time, so had to wait till I had returned to the parking area, where there were change rooms. I then found a small track formed from runoff water, close to the parking area which led to the stream, where I could take a quick dip. It was so refreshing.
En route back into town I stopped off at Bunnings to get a few things for Duncan, dropping them off before heading home to exercise and feed the dogs. Natasha rang to say Pete suggested I turn the TV off at the wall to see if that would correct the problem with Netflix. Praise the Lord, it did. I was then able to access entertainment to my liking, as I’m not keen on watching what live TV has to offer. At home I record all the programs I want to watch so I can watch what I want when I want and if it’s a commercial channel I can fast-forward through the advertisements.
I’ve been sleeping extremely well since turning off the watering system under my window. The weather had turned cooler with an occasional shower. The young girl next door came around again for a chat while I was exercising the dogs out the back. She asked if I had seen their fire which they had put on because it was so cold. I had to laugh, no I hadn’t. I doubt if she really knew what cold was!
Wednesday I arranged to meet Roger at Kuranda, where he showed me around. We went on a 3km Jungle Walk through the rainforest to the river. From here we drove to the Barron Falls lookout walk which is a spectacular suspended boardwalk, taking you through the forest, beside the Falls Railway Station which is still operational and part of the infamous Kuranda scenic railway. There were many viewing platforms along the way, looking across to the falls in the distance. On reaching the railway station Roger took me along the tracks to a lookout only know by the locals, where there is a large rocky seat called King O’Malley’s throne. I had to laugh, as many years ago an Irish friend at church thought I was Irish too and called me Sally O’Malley, so of course I had to have a photo sitting on the throne.
Returning to Kuranda, we picked up Rogers ute before heading to his place, where he showed me around. It was tucked away in the rainforest with the basic commodities; a one roomed abode with outdoor kitchen, shower and bath and a compost toilet out in the open that overlooked the river. He had also constructed a tree house where guests could stay which was a one room platform in the treetops with a roof, walls and large windows all made from wooden beams. It had been an interesting day with lots of walking and a very winding road both there and back down to the coast. I’m getting to know my way around this northern part of Cairns quite well now.
That night the rain really started. Despite not sleeping well, it took me over three hours to get to sleep and even then I tossed and turned all night, giving up at 5:30am, waiting for dawn so I could go jogging. It began to sprinkle then came down in typical tropical style drenching me. I stopped off at Duncan’s for my exercises and a swim, complimenting Duncan on the progress he had made to the path he was constructing from leftover bricks and pavers from around the home. He was extending the area beside the carport to make access easier to the house, especially as both he and Kat needed to drag in suitcases on a regular basis with their FIFO work.
It continued raining all week, making it difficult to explore or go jogging. I made it out a few times between showers; the rest of the time I made use of the Wi-Fi with both Netflix and catch up TV to watch the ABC series, the Derrell’s, as well as some true life stories on Netflix, which I enjoyed.
Saturday I pushed myself to get out to do some shopping at Rusty’s Markets. I needed fruit and veg for the week as well as some Thai treats. I also bought a Thai curry, which came in handy as Jen returned on Sunday and came over for an early dinner. I’m so pleased she also eats early; it’s been so much easier for me to keep to my two meals a day regime. She joined me on several afternoons for a meal and a Netflix movie. It’s been so lovely having her around, even if it’s only been for a short time. The selection of fruits and veg in Cairns is similar to an Asian market with soursop, custard apples, pawpaw, pomelos both red and white, pink grapefruit, bananas of various varieties including the red ones; there’s even a fellow selling green coconuts, cutting them open and fashioning a spoon to eat the pulp. There are so many Asians selling their home grown produce as well as food stalls with Thai, Vietnamese and other treats.
At church on Sunday, I had a lovely time meeting and getting to know more people. They had a fun day for the kids, with activities including face painting, jumping castle and sausage sizzle.
During the week I didn’t do much, although I did try to find the $2.00 per kilo banana stall which was beside the road heading north. The problem was there are two roads heading north and I wasn’t sure which one I’d seen it on. Unfortunately my first hunch, the western road, was wrong, taking me to the shopping centre at Freshwater where I took advantage of my mistake and went shopping. I refuse to buy bananas here in the supermarket as they are $4.99 per kilo! I’ve been told two reason for their exorbitant prices here in Cairns. Firstly that Innisfail, where most of the bananas come from, had a mini cyclone a few months back destroying crops. Then someone else told me that bananas here go to Brisbane first before being shipped back to sell! The bananas both in the market and here beside the road are seconds, which means they are a little large or misshaped but are otherwise perfectly good bananas. When I arrived, the market bananas were $1.99, now they are $2.50, but the ones beside the road north have remained at $2.00, so worth the stop if I’m heading north.
With my shopping completed, I headed back towards Cairns down the eastern road keeping my eyes open for the banana stall. Sure enough, there it was on the right hand side of the main road separated by 4 lanes of traffic and medium strip in the middle. Driving a little further I turned right at a set of lights doing a U turn after the railway tracks on the side road to wait for the light, which took ages to turn for me to re-enter the highway, this time heading north again The banana stall is unattended and works on an honour system. There is a set of scales and a locked money box which I’m told some people put washers into instead of coins. There weren’t many bananas left but enough for me to choose a few slightly green ones as well as some ripe ones.
That evening was Duncan’s last night before flying out to work. He invited Jen and me to join him and Lizzie for a BBQ dinner. It was a cool evening but lovely to all get together for dinner on their balcony. Duncan ran through a few things on pool and dog care. Jen had heard from Linda who was feeling better and looking for a flight out of Kununurra as all the flights out of Broome were booked well in advance. Later in the week she still hadn’t been able to book a flight.
Jen gave me her itinerary, because even though Linda wasn’t coming, she still wanted time to herself as she had had a busy time ahead of her organising the trip away when her friend Dave arrived and then their trip north to Darwin. We got together to share a meal most evenings, with me going over to help in the garden on a few occasions. We continued to weed out some of the vines, putting in more edible herbs and a punnet of impatients to add a bit of colour. Because the hens often have free reign of the garden, they have made a mess by digging up the soil which includes some of the plants, although the vegetable garden is fenced off to keep them out. I thought if we put a plastic barrier mesh on the ground, laid over the soil with the plants in the holes and chip wood on the top, this would hopefully deter the scratching. We had also used something similar tied to the pool fencing to help support the peas.
On several occasions on my return to the menagerie, I noticed Dusty the cattle dog, was in the front yard. Then one morning when I went for a jog and it started to pour with rain I came back around the block and found him wondering down the road! I had been warned he could escape. I think he thought I’d be gone for a while, so he took off to explore. He looked very guilty.
On another occasion the dogs were making a racket, so I looked out the front and saw someone in the yard. As I came down the back stairs to see what was happening, a little boy stood at the bottom of the stairs. I was a bit surprised when the young girl introduced herself as Nat’s daughter. She had come to get some fish food. That was fine but I would have liked to have been told of the visits beforehand. It was very unexpected and caught me a little off guard, especially as she became upset that I was using her son’s dish for cat food. Sorry, I was told to use any dish. She was also upset about something being torn up. Again, sorry, I hadn’t left it where the dogs could reach it, I had not seen it prior to it ending in tatters. As she left, I could see her calling her mum. The following day Natasha called to ask if all was ok. I mentioned the visit and she reassured me not to worry, it wasn’t my fault.
With the very wet weather and the reoccurrence of poor sleep I hadn’t been out jogging for four mornings, so decided I’d take something to help me sleep and reset my body clock. It did the trick. I so enjoy being up early for my runs. The cooler weather meant I even needed to wear a cardigan in the mornings. One Saturday I attended a stretch class in the city which was interesting. Lots of the exercises I do on my own were among them.
Two nights before moving back to Kat’s, Jen had booked a fishing trip for her and her friend Dave who was flying up that evening. They would be away for two nights so had asked me to look after Kat’s dog, Poppy. After collecting the dog, her bedding and food, I drove to her favourite beach for a run and while there called in to visit an old friend, Jean. We had a lovely catch up with Poppy at first a bit cautious till she settled down outside beside me. She is a very anxious dog with a lot of hang-ups due to being a rescue dog. If she is startled or sees a bicycle, she will just sit down and refuse to move.
The last two days house sitting for Natasha, I did a big clean up, with several trips back to Kat’s with all our stuff. With my time with the menagerie drawing to a close I took the dogs for their last ball game with Poppy running after the other dogs as she is not interested in chasing balls, their last meal served by me before packing Poppy into the back of Kat’s car and driving home.
Photos: 1. Kat’s garden plant 2. The dogs 3. Tropical fruits 4. Information plaque 5. Roger on the platform 6. King OMally’s throne 7. Rusty’s Market 8. One end of the two fish tanks 9. Dave & Jen’s catch
Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for my time with Jen before Dave arrived. Please pray for their travels that all will go well.
Praise the Lord for providing two house sits while I’m in Cairns.
Please continue to pray for my stay here. Praise the Lord for His leading and provision for my next step.
Please continue pray for Jen and Kat to come to know Christ’s love for them.
Pray for Kat working off Broome and for Jen as she and Dave prepare to journey north to Darwin.