Reefside Villas & The Lagoon

February 26:

We awaken to ANOTHER rainy day….this is starting to get old. Paulie and Blair go off to get us coffee since it is impossible to actually turn around in our small cabin. We decide to take our fate into our own hands and utilize the $10 worth of internet we have purchased so we can investigate our options for places to stay.  I locate a nice 3 Bedroom apartment just up the road for less than what we are paying for our cabin….so, Paulie, Blair and I hit the road early to go check it out and make sure there is an available unit for us.  Indeed, we find the Place (Reefside Villas) and we secure a place for the next several nights, but check-in is only at 2:00.  We race back to the cabin to wake the kids, get packed eat breakfast and hopefully do a little school work all in the space of the next hour-Whew!!!  Somehow we manage and drive off in the rain into town, find a parking space and generally stare at each other in the car as we all try to mentally prepare for how to spend the next four hours on a rainy day.  The kids don’t have any trouble jetting in and out of shops along the main drag; I find a beading store and am engaged for a while; Blair seeks out some information on how he can get from where we are to Cairns; Paulie ambles along and finally gets himself an ice cream cone.  That kills about 45 minutes and then we discover the Lagoon – a swimming pool with a partial covering and a small strip of sand ring around the fringes.  Despite the fact that it is raining…..we all get into our bathing suits and jump in.  If we are going to be wet, we reckon, we might as well be really wet.  We enjoy our swim for a while and then decide to seek out a place for lunch.  Blair has eyeballed a place offering $10 steak meals and we all recall with a grumble of our tummies how great our steak dinner was in Sydney.  We are off.  We settle into a small tavern and are pleased to be in a dry spot.  We order and are shortly presented with a great meal that hits the spot. Afterwards, we are off to check-into our new digs.  We are pleased with our find!  The driveway into our accommodation is reminiscent of a small Italian village, winding up some very steep hills in the rain and trying to wedge our car into an extremely small covered parking area.  We get unpacked and adjusted to the realization that we can cook and sleep in different rooms.  Annie is now in need of some retail therapy, so she, Blair and I return to town to look at a few items as well as book and swing by a grocery store on the way home.  We prepare a lovely dinner and enjoy some television before calling it a day.