Back “home” in Cairns to the van today. Left Fitzroy Island at the right time as the rain came down early this morning and has been basically raining on and off all day. About a bit of a sleep I, we finally managed to have a hot breakie this morning and then it was a bit of relaxation waiting for the ferry trip back to Cairns. Fortunately we were travelling with the waves on the return journey and the trip was quite comfortable for all.

I mentioned home above and it was funny but that’s what it felt like when we got back to the park. I suppose after living in the van for 9 months it is home. A bit of shopping in preparation for our departure tomorrow was the extant of our activities this afternoon but we did have some rain showers and hopefully the result of the showers (see the photo below) brings us good luck in our future travels.

We have enjoyed our time here in Cairns. The main thing that has stood out is the lack of people about. We got off the ferry at lunch time and there was basically no one at the restaurants on the wharf. FNQ is not under COVID lockdown and whilst the van parks are reasonably busy, the rest of the tourist and hospitality industries are certainly in a bad way. All the large yachts used for dive and snorkel tours were tied up and look like they have not been out for months and this is their busy season. Unfortunately the immediate future for a lot of businesses is looking rather dim.

So long Cairns, hope we get to return some other time in more prosperous circumstances.