A New Adventure....

Hey there....

Well here is our very first post on our new blog "Capturing Cairns"..... As you may know in the past weeks, we have packed up all of our earthly belongings, and moved to Cairns in Far North Queensland!!! Our intent with this blog is to be able to keep in touch with family and friends so that you can enjoy the journey with us, along with keeping in touch and seeing what we are up to over here in beautiful Cairns.

With God's perfect timing we received a cash offer on our property on the last day of the school year! What a relief to know that it was now sold and we could make preparations to move to Cairns in time for the kids to start the new school year. Once again we were reminded that the Lord does richly care for His people, and we only need to rely on Him, rather than our own strength. It was quite the learning journey for Rod and myself, but one we praise God for.

It was all so very busy with our move, packing up the whole house and property, Christmas and New Years, along with some other events like Engagement parties, International visitors, Farewell parties and the like. I think we had something on everyday and every night for 3 whole weeks!!! So yes busy indeed :) But once again our efforts were blessed, as everything went so very smoothly. We had the car on a truck and heading for Cairns within a week so that it would be there when we arrived, and that it did! We got to see our "Boof" (that is our car's name) at the airport when we landed which was lovely! Next we worked on packing all those boxes and belongings into our Sea Container which was to travel by rail to Cairns.

Here is the Sea container parked in our driveway.....

So that was a lot of excitement getting the sea container loaded, but loaded we had it, right to the end! We are very much looking forward to having our container of belongings arrive in Cairns, so that we can feel a little more at home!

Once the house was spotless, the container packed and picked up, it was time for our last farewells. We had our dear neighbour Sonny MacDonald to farewell which was so very hard. He even shed tears so we know he will miss us also. Knowing that he soon is to be 81, and not knowing if we will see him again, sure was a sad thought. He is such a gentleman, and we will miss his big waves over the back paddock!!! Not only was it hard to say goodbye to the neighbour, it sure was hard saying goodbye to family and close friends.

After a quick meal at Sizzlers with Rod's folks and Dineke, we had to race home to have our bird "George" picked up by his courier! Yup George was getting first class passage to Cairns in a big crate! His ticket cost 3 times the amount of one of ours!!! Lol! but at least he arrived safe and sound, and none the wiser either. He really didn't want to get into that crate, but he was all chirpy and chatty when we picked him up the following morning, so he seemed to have survived his 2 flights from Perth to Sydney and then Sydney to Cairns! He is safely enjoying the rainforrest at Matt and Claire's place for now till we move to proper residence.

After the bird farewell it was onto Mark and Sharon's farewell's! Saying goodbye to our dear friends and near neighbours was really hard not only for us but also for them too! Since we live so close we have often had lots of contact and the kids have grown up together as well! Seeing as Mark is also Rod's best friend it really was an emotional goodbye. We do hope that they get to come and visit one day!

Next we were picked up by my brother Bryn and his fiance Kate (who I am missing so dearly!) to be taken to the airport! It was really surreal driving out of our Bedfordale property for one last time! Of course saying goodbye to everyone else was ooooohhhhh so hard, and it was a rather emotional time at the airport. Elijah and Mali really had a hard time as well, and the time went so fast! We were the last ones to board the plane, as we just had to squeeze in extra hugs from everyone!

Once we boarded that plane though, we had this feeling of relief, and thought, " OH we made it!" All that packing, cleaning, and what not was now behind us, and we were now beginning our new lives in Cairns. We had a safe flight, and whilst the kids were a bit emotional and it was a horrible flight through the night it was great to be met by familiar faces at the airport.

The very first day and following was quite overwhelming for Rod and myself. I don't think that we had realized how big this move would be for all of us. Certainly something that is challenging, exciting, and nerve wracking too!

Finding a residence has been quite difficult, and a challenge. We first thought we would easily find a property to buy that would be suitable, however it was difficult to find a property that ticked all the boxes for a larger family.

We have decided to rent for a while to give ourselves some time to make the right decision! WOW, renting is a whole other world too! Having never rented before we are new to the whole putting in applications etc...... They are definitely a bit of work to put together, they need sooooo much information! We missed out on a few great properties, but have have secured a lovely newish home in the suburb of Redlynch. The only problem was that we can't move in until the 15th of February.

Whilst we have been staying at a place called Tree Tops lodge in Stratford for the first two or so weeks in a little cottage. It is set right up in the side of a mountainside and had some beautiful views! Here is the front of the cottage:

The front of the cottage...

And this is a picture of what we see outside of Rod and my bedroom window:

As you can see it is really green and lush. It is currently the wet season here, and well we were given a warm welcome to the Tropics 4 days after we arrived with a Cyclone! It ended up not being too much of a big deal, however it was pretty wet and rainy for several days. I am sure we will get used to them in time as they are a regular occurrence during the wet season. Since then it has been reasonably dry and sunny, and of course humid too! My hair is doing the whole curly frizz thing, and my beloved hair straighter is on furlow till i head back to Perth for a visit I think!!! :) When we went to drive to the Lagoon on Saturday we were most surprised to see several roads flooded in the city. At one intersection the water was right up to the cars front bumper. I managed to snag a couple of photos as we drove through the intersection:

View through the front window of the car....

A car driving through the water at the intersection...

Elijah, Mali and Janaya standing at the Lagoon, in the storm watching the ocean blow up over the boardwalk...

Then of course the children have started school here too. The week before last they went off to Freshwater Christian College for their first day. Poor Mali was in tears the first two days, as starting year 1 was a bit overwhelming for him, but he has since fitted in really well . He managed to find some friends as have the other children which we are truly thankful for. Janaya also started her first week of Kindergarten! It is hard to believe that my youngest child is now in school. I haven't had a day to myself yet, as Rod is still not working, but I am sure it will be really strange when I am home alone!!

Here are some photos of the kids in their new school uniforms:

All together....

Tiarne Yr 5....

Elijah Yr 4...

Malakai Year 1...

Janaya - Kindergarten...

After not having much success with finding a residence this past week we put an offer in on a block of land in Brinsmead which is walking distance to the school, and it was accepted! Saturday we went in to sign all the paper work ...... we are now owners of a block. I can imagine that at times we will be wondering why we are building, but at the same time it can be exciting too! Hopefully the Lord blesses our plans, and we can be in a new home by the end of the year. I will most definitely take photos for you as the block has the most amazing views, and I can't wait to share them with you.

There of course is many other things that have happened over the past 2.5 weeks, but I feel like you will be bored if I keep going on and on. So I will say goodbye for now, and hope to post again really soon. Once I am in the swing of it, and remembering to take the camera with me when we go out etc...

We of course love to hear from you, so if you want to say hi, feel free to leave a comment!

Missing you all back in Perth, and hey our new rental has a great guest room.....*hint, hint!* (please send applications prior to arrival....haha LOL!)

Take care!

Love Keesh, Rod and co...