Back to Cairns

Following my previous article/video I made, here we are now in beautiful Far North Queensland, Cairns, and more precisely Trinity Beach.

I explained why we wanted to go back to Cairns. Even though we used to enjoy the Sunshine Coast very much for the last 5 years, we have made very good friends while running our restaurant but financially it made more sense to go back and live in our unit until we are ready for our next step, living and working from our boat.

Before leaving the Sunshine Coast, Fred decided to pass his second level of his sailing courses, the Day Skipper practical course on the boat. 5 days of sailing, passage planning, navigation planning, organising the boat, preparing the crew, learning to be in charge on the boat.

Fred’s week on the boat coincided with our move to Cairns, so we arranged to have our furnitures picked up by removalists prior him going on the boat and William and I stayed at friends house for the week.

We used removalists for most of our furniture, but both cars and some items had to be driven up. A 3-day trip with a 5-month-old baby in 2 separate cars required some good preparation for a comfortable journey.

First, let’s equip the car for baby needs:

– Baby seat reinforced with cushioning. Nothing more annoying then having a head tilting to one side when you want to sleep. I bought some mini roll pillows he was able to put his head down. I have to say he was most of the time more playing with it, therefore not used for the purpose intended, but know that you can find them at “Cheap Auto” for really cheap.

– I also bought socks to put on both back car windows, to avoid any sun to come in. It was bright enough during the day but covered really well any sun exposure. Let’s not forget the very very warm time of year we decided to make this journey.

– I had a mirror placed in front of him so I could see him at all time, and the funny part is that HE was the one watching me at all time. I think he liked to be able to see mummy, it was reassuring.

– Right next to the mirror, I had a fan going. It wasn’t strong, just enough to make the air move around better towards him so he could enjoy the A/C better. I bought that at BCF store, be aware though the style of batteries can be expensive, so don’t let the fan running for nothing, like I did.

– Changing station for on the go. I had a box arranged with all the necessaries for changing William efficiently. Nappies, baby wipes, powder, cream, hand sanitizer, change of cloth, mat and a bin with bin liner for dirty nappies. The bin became handy for everything else that needed to be disposed of like sandwich wrappings. And the back seat became the place I changed him, so nothing too crowded on the back seat.

– I do my own purees and bottle feed formula, so you can imagine the importance of storage and having clean water when arranging his bottles on the go. We bought a 2L hot water container for the boiled water to stay hot and kept cooled boiled water in a separate water container stored in the Esky. When needed, I was mixing both waters in William’s bottle until I found the right temperature. The water used was those 5L mineral water in carton you find in the supermarket. The bottles were sterilized in Microwave sterilizer and made sure we were always staying in places with a microwave and left the bottles sterilized in the sterilizer during the journey and taking the bottles out one at a time, keeping the sterilizer always well closed. It’s not perfect, but worked and William did not get sick. Purees were made prior leaving and I decided to make only fruit compote so he could eat them cold, kept in the Esky. It was refreshing and he enjoyed having something else to eat then his bottle.

– When staying overnight, we decided to have his own bed to make it more familiar and get him to settle quicker. It was still a cot style, small enough to fit in the back of Fred’s ute.

– Essential Oils on the go. I have used, Balance blend throughout the day to help him stay grounded. Massaged him a few times during the day at the bottom of his feet. When he wasn’t digesting a feed well, I have a Digestive blend I use on his tummy by massaging clockwise until it settles. And at night time I use the Lavender oil on his head and feet, again I massage and make him smell on my hands, to calm him down, ready for a good night sleep. Oils need to be diluted in fractionated coconut oil, especially on baby skin. I have roll-on bottles of 5ml, I put only 1 drop of oil in it, the rest is coconut oil.

Mum and Dad needs:

Now that baby is ready and comfortable, it’s important for us, mum and dad, to also be prepared for this journey.

– Communication is key when you have a baby. We needed to be able to communicate between cars with ease and used Walky-Talkies. I had mine hooked on my shirt on my chest, easy access to press when needed to get through to Fred in the other car. When William was giving first signs of discomfort, we communicated best places to stop,depending on the time of day and where we were in our journey. I was always able to push for another 20 minutes to half hour before William was unsettled, that gave me time to find a place to stop safely and comfortably.

– 2 Eskies, 1 in each car. We bought a bag of ice every day to fill them both up and it lasted all day. 2 refillable water bottles each, I had some energy drinks, easy grab snacks, fruits, sandwiches I made everyday, salad in container that only needed some all ready made dressing and shake in the container, some reusable cutleries. Good thing with the 2L hot water container is that William was not going through all the water, so I drank some instant coffee with that water too.

– Essential Oils on the go. I have used for myself my home made cooling spray (Witch Hazel, Peppermint mixed in water and in a spray bottle) I was spraying that on my face, neck and chest throughout the day when I felt hot. Fred used the peppermint diluted in fractionated coconut oil and rubbed it at the back of his neck, cooling sensation instantly. We also used TerraArmour blend which I layered directly on my feet, ankles, legs and arms as an outdoor blend against mosies.

– Stopping overnight in comfortable motels. No needto spend huge amounts in hotel rooms, motels you find on the side of the road in bigger cities were absolutely fine. I always made sure we had a pool, so I could refresh little William and have some play time and all I needed was a microwave in the room, a bed with clean linens and towels and a shower. In the evening we ate what we had left from the day and me made a stop at the supermarket to make the sandwiches ready for the next day. In the morning we stopped for fuel and ice for our 2 eskies at the petrol station.

First motel was a BIG 4, first time around, always to check it out as I heard it was very kid friendly and yes it is, plenty of games and playground, water park to occupy the kiddies. However, it was advertised in Rockhampton, but nooo… it was at least 40 km out, closer to Yeppon and even then when they say it is in Yeppon, their was at least another 8 to 10 km to the actual site. So careful with that one, we lost a good 1 hour and a half of driving just to get to that place.

The second was a small motel just at the entrance of Bowen called THE PEARLY SHELL MOTEL, very cute little place and clean. Supermarket near by and just off the main road, so perfect for a quick early lift off the next day.

– I prepared one bag with all the clothes we need for the trip. Best is to fit it all in the one bag, because you already have so much to bring inside the room (2 eskies, sterilizer, hot water bottle, Mineral water carton, swimming needs, baby toys… and we actually carried his cot too) you do not want to add too many travel bags on top of everything you already carry to your room. So we kept it down to one bag with all our clothes.

– Unwinding drink. Whatever you fancy, don’t forget to stop by the bottle shop and get your fancy drink to unwind after a long day of driving… One night it was beer and the other it was wine and we indulged in a BBQ on the last night by the pool.

Arrived in Cairns during traffic time… I did not remember Cairns being so busy. It took us so much time to drive through Cairns to make it to Trinity Beach. Definitely we’ll have to avoid certain roads during peak hours.

Finally their and back to a life I almost forgot. But somehow it feels like it never changed, just one add-on, little baby William in our life, and he will have to adapt to a very different climat.

Back to Cairns

Published by Mel & Fred

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Published by Mel & Fred

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