WTFCAIRNS?

I'm very bad at taking holidays. I only just figured this out this year. My ex-wife used to organise holidays all the time and I didn't cope very well with that but at least we went. Neither Scrabblette nor I organise holidays, so last year I spent most of December lazing around at home (writing blog posts and playing games, it seemed). Anyway, Scrabblette and I had a vague plan this year to go to OMGESSEN! but I eventually figured out I'd spent too many days going to game cons around Australia and didn't have enough days leave available to make a trip to Germany worthwhile. Although I'd like to go to the Spiel Fair I'd LOVE to go touring around Germany and France, and it just wasn't going to work this time.

We considered some other possible holidays, such as HOLYCOWINDIA! (not enough days leave still) and travelling from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs and Uluru on the Ghan (maybe not good value for money, and aimed at couples, not couples with a kid). In the end though, we settled on a trip to Cairns on the tilt train. It's a 24 hour train trip, which IS a long time, but it's pretty good for Queensland Rail. A train that goes almost as fast as a car is considered pretty amazing technology around here.

Cairns is a nice place - it has beaches and rainforest and mountains and so on. However I've been there a few times and it's not so exciting for me. However Scrabblette hasn't been there and it's one of those places that people come to Australia to see, so we have to go there eventually. So we're leaving today, and getting back on the 29th, hence cramming a quite long holiday into a space it barely fits in.

Of course we have quite a few games packed. As my opponents will probably be just the kid and Scrabblette I had to choose games they would actually play with me, so we have Scrabblette's favourites and a couple the kid added. One day I'll find someone who likes Key Harvest and Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation, and I'll sneak off to somewhere secluded with them... even if they're a big fat sweaty ugly guy. But anyway, we have Alexandros and Attika and Buyword and Mystery Rummy: Rue Morgue and I snuck in the E&T Card Game just in case...

BTW, don't get any ideas about sneaking round and stealing my Mask series or anything from my house... Miss Jane will be caretaking for us, and my vicious guard dog will still be home. In all likelihood I will be blogging while on holidays, but I don't know whether it will be about holiday stuff or games played!