When I received the esteemed honour of becoming a Board Member for Queensland (i.e. I was the only one not at the meeting so got dobbed in), I decided it was my duty to explore the territory I was to represent. Thanks to a slightly crazy Aussie boyfriend and a little bit of time off work, I set off on a journey of exploration and discovery of the Sunny State. With the southern Kiwi lass in tow (that's me), the Aussie boy departed Brisbane and headed for Cape Tribulation in a seven-day whirlwind tour - you do the math!
We set off on a Sunday evening a mere few hours after my return from the Mother-land (NZ), and ended up spending the first night in the car as we ran out of petrol - good start! The following day we visited the Capricorn Caves where I exercised my vocal cords in the amazing 'Cathedral', (with better acoustics than the Sydney Opera House), while standing on 100+ metre thick compacted Bat dung. That night we camped under a mango tree at Airlie Beach - bad decision. We were kept awake all night by mangoes dive-bombing our tent. The following night was spent in beautiful, 'touristie' Cairns. The next day we took a Gondola ride over a rainforest, which was a beautiful but slightly stressful experience due to my boyfriend's fear of heights. New Year's Eve was spent in a cabin in the rainforest, right on the beach at Cape Tribulation - it would have been very romantic if we'd managed to stay awake. We were so overjoyed at having a bed with a proper mattress (not an inflatable one that kept deflating - what's that about?), that we were out for the count until morning. New Years Day was spent at a wonderful swimming hole and exploring a castle and it's amazing grounds, created by a crazy but incredibly visionary Spanish man.
We had another two nights at Airlie Beach and took a day trip out to Hamilton Island where I sipped mocktails and had a close encounter, of the pant-wetting kind, with a stingray. The last two nights were spent at Mission Beach and Yeppon, then home to Brisbane, to air-conditioned comfort, electricity and platform shoes.
I'm sure you are wondering whether or not I dropped in to visit all the Respiratory Scientists who do such a fantastic job of providing Queensland with a top-notch lung function testing service. Well, no, I didn't. My excuse? I had a massive pimple the size of a mouthpiece on my chin (I have photographic evidence) and I didn't want to taint the Society's image. However, I wish all the Queensland Scientists, and the Scientists across Australia and New Zealand for that matter, a very, very happy and sputum-free New Year (dreams are free)!
All the best, and see you all in Sydney.
Debbie
