It’s a long two-day drive from Alice Springs to Cairns, so we spent the night in Mount Isa, then hit the road at dawn.

Andy is always on high alert at dawn and dusk, since that’s when the roos are likely to be on the road. I was just enjoying the glorious morning light until it was bright enough for me to get a decent photo of termite mounds. These in the distance were seen while speeding along the day before …

Zoom in (or wait for the next shot), but I love this blue and green. I couldn’t get closer, because you do NOT walk through tall grass in Australia–too many dangerous critters. We were waiting to see some close to the road. And voilà!

Some are enormous, way bigger than these, and some are even dressed in t-shirts or other garb. I guess you find your fun where you can.

Our route took us along part of the Dinosaur Triangle, so we took a break at Kronosaurus Korner in Richmond. Brittany was enthralled and paid the hefty entrance fee for the museum. I peeked through the glass door, shopped for gift t-shirts, then headed outside to the restrooms, labeled “preHIStoric” and “preHERStoric” with a T-rex on a sign that read, “COULDN’T WASH HANDS … NOW EXTINCT.”

After Richmond, we could have gone to Townsville, then north up the coast, but opted instead for the green, hilly, twisty route through Atherton. Gorgeous.

For the last bit before Cairns, we were in jungle and stop-and-go traffic. Storms had washed out half the road at places, so we had to alternate with westbound traffic. Finally we were clear but behind a SUPER-slow, crazy-cautious driver who would not pull over even when he had the opportunity. GHAAAAA! It was already dark by the time we made it into Cairns.

We found our lodging, barely cleared the max-height bar in the underground garage, and lugged our gear upstairs to a spacious apartment with a broad, ocean-view deck. Then next door for fish tacos and a stroll around town. AHHHHH!

We woke to this …

Perfect setting for my last stop with Brittany and Andy.

Praying for all of us: patience when things don’t go our way, and many, many glowing dawns and sparkling evenings. More AHHHH than GHAAAA.

Grace and peace to you, as always.