Lazily get up to make our way into the centre

The heat is intense from the get go but we wonder along the seaside boardwalk – lots of little snippets of info about the area and resident wildlife

In 1876, miners needed to be close to the diggings at Hodgkinson Goldfields so formed a port here

An example bird that lives here is the Eastern Curlew and they are the largest migratory shorebirds in the world; 75% of their population occupies their winter in Australia after breeding in Siberia

Hot and bothered, we make our way around the Esplanade Lagoon – a saltwater swimming hole for the public

Aqua Lagoon Cairns is where we’re heading for some brunch

We share a beef teriyaki wrap and a ham & cheese toastie with an iced latte each

A hefty rainfall hits and we take cover before crossing into the urban area and get intrigued by the Travello travel shop with some tour info about activities in the local area

We take the information and head on to the shopping centre to grab some goggles each and back to the lagoon for a dip

Paddle and play for an hour before getting showered and re-dressed – unless you’re Dave and just stay in your wet shorts for the rest of the day ???? – to see the start of the Lantern Festival

This festival is held by the local Chinese association to celebrate lunar new year

Time for some food: we look at the night markets as they have a food court out front – everything is a little overpriced so we look elsewhere

Rattle n Hum Cairns has us for a Hawaiian and a fire breather pizza

We pop back to the travel shop and book a couple trips, pop to Woolies for some supplies before making our way to the front of the Esplanade

The Lantern Festival is coming to an end and they do a firework display

Time for a drink so we go back to Rattle n Hum Cairns as they had a pool table

Couple games before some live music starts

A drink or two more and we walk back to our Air BnB for some sleep