First Family Holiday

Apologies to regular readers for the distinct lack of blogging action.
We've just returned from our first holiday with child - 5 days in Port Douglas.
After a nightmare trying to organise the bloody thing with a travel agent (it's a long story that basically ends in "we had a crap travel agent, we'll never use one again"), we set off on a Jetstar flight to Cairns on June 24.
The flight up was a bit of a mission. Ari is at that age where he can move around and doesn't want to sit still, but isn't old enough to settle in and watch a video. So we had to entertain him on our laps for three hours - not a fun task, by any stretch (the trip home was a million times better, thanks to the empty seat next to us).
The last 15 minutes of the flight were really tough - Ari was tired and cranky and would not keep still - he tried to kick his way out of his little seat belt. The people around us must have HATED us.
Rather frazzled, we set off in our little Hyundai Getz hire car for the hour-long drive to Port Douglas. Arriving at our hotel, we discovered our room wasn't cleaned yet (it was 3pm!), but decided to smile through our frustration and head for the beach.
Ari's first moments on the beach were a thing to behold. He dashed straight for the water in his clothes and Rob and I shed a little tear. He LOVED the water, the sand, the people, everything.
We immediately crowned him King of the Beach. Over the next 5 days he made royal visits to his patch of Four Mile Beach. He waved and smiled at everyone, making new friends every day. One lady even wanted her picture taken with him!
During our time in Port Douglas we swam at the beach, played at a lovely playground overlooking the ocean, visited Mossman Gorge in the Daintree and had a morning at the Rainforest Habitat nature park.
This included a Breakfast With The Birds - a kind of paradise for Ari. What could be better than food and lots and lots of "oi ois" (as he calls birds, dogs, or any other creature). He also patted kangaroos and saw crocodiles and koalas.
The trip was hard work (not really restful, or a holiday for that matter), but it was lots of fun and Ari had so many wonderful new experiences.