Very soggy, it rained all day. Fireworks were postponed until Sunday night. We stayed home and made home-made ice cream on the deck . Overall,it was still a good day.

Very, very busy.

Along with the usual peak time of year for us (working in tourism), we also had a US carrier (USS Essex) in port. The guys & gals were on their way home, but had a stopover of about 10 days in Cairns, AU.

I've gotta say that they were 4000+ of the best behaved bunch of folks!

All of them were looking for something to do during their time here. Many of them wanted to do what we call 'extreme' activities, like skydiving or white-water rafting etc. Unfortunately, due to the associated liabilities and direct orders from superiors they were not allowed to.

We still found plenty for them to do ...and they departed on high-tide today rested and very happy. They now have a trip of about 2 weeks, heading for home.

The local city council also put on a fireworks show just for them on the night of the 4th, which I thought was a very nice gesture.

4000+ military folks cheering makes quite a noise!

Since I have become the lucky fellow to have on call duty this weekend, I didn't get to see any fireworks and attended only one Cook Out. Oh well...