Chinese New Year - Dragons, Snakes and Firecrackers

A bit late, but better late than never :-)

We joined what seemed like half of Cairns in the first ever Cairns Chinese New Year Festival! They blocked off a whole street that used to be called Cairns' Chinatown...strangely enough there arent any Chinese restaurants there anymore??

It was a stinking hot day with limited shade options so we didnt manage to stay for all the festivities that were organised for the day but what we saw was fun, if not a little chaotic. We left just before the sun set which was when the bulk of the crowd was expected! Yikes!

I think that it turned out a lot bigger and busier than the organisers had planned for, the seating and space was not adequate for the people that came. We couldnt get close enough to many of the stalls to see what they were selling/exhibiting and they ran out of water/drinks at several places! Just a little too cramped and crazy, but its the first year and Im sure they have learnt alot and will be excited about how big next year will be. Note to self, if we are here next year, bring a hat, chair and water...

We walked into town from our place, and were very hot and sticky by the time we got there, but our timing was perfect to see the main parade and stage show (I couldnt see the stage show, but George who is much taller than me could see some of it)

The only shade left was behind this plant...hahah...nah I was hiding :-)

The Dragon Parade....

 

After the parade we got a drink and tried to check out the market stalls, we only managed to get close to one and got our Chinese Horoscopes for the year of our birth; George being an Ox and me a cheeky Monkey! Our horoscopes predict "Travel" and "Power/Organisation"... So that sounds good! (we didnt know at this point that we were about to say yes to staying in Cairns till October- so I guess we will have to make do with small trips and organising finances!)
George and I decided after a few hours, that we had had enough standing in the sun not being able to see anything and headed home...
That night I watched the New Year Fireworks from our balcony with a glass of wine...great start to a new year!

Happy Year of the Snake everyone!