I sailed from Brisbane to Cairns in June 2022, with the intention of going house hunting, when I got there.
After not having a land home for 8 years, I was feeling I needed one. But I am years away from selling Logic. So, I needed to find a house close to a marina, where I can keep Logic, when not cruising.
After sailing up the Queensland coast 4 time (and down 3 times), Cairns has stood out. It has a lovely holiday feel to it, from all the tourists visiting (more on that later).
After arriving I picked up a mooring in Trinity Inlet, 3 miles up from Cairns central.
Cairns is a very picturesque place, surrounded by rainforest cover mountains.
Spectacular sunsets
the decision to move here was getting easier and easier.
I flew down to Brisbane to drive back in my car. A distance of 1,700 kilometers.
Then it was time to start real estate shopping.
With a break for 2 weeks while I healed after a plastic surgeon removing a SCC (squama cell carcinoma) that had got into my ear cartilage
(I spent my life putting sunscreen on my face and forgetting to do my ears (please learn from my mistake)).
3 months after arriving in Cairns, and 30 open houses, in the same way that I fell in love with Logic, from the first time I saw her, my perfect house presented. 
It is only on a small, 400 sq meter block, 2.3kms from the center of town, but surrounded by tall rainforest tree. One feels like you are in a rainforest.
Backing onto a tidal creek with a bikeway that runs into town 
I had to have this place, so very quickly a contract was signed
There are 2 standalone buildings. Brand new with a 6-year builder’s guarantee.
a one bedroom one, that will be my “Batchelor Pad” 
and a 3-bedroom building, to house the people, housesitting when I’m away
now to turn the empty spaces into my home 
There is no surplus space.
I wanted a sofa bed for guests to sleep on. So, it was my first purchase, too then do the rest of the interior designing around.
PED (my Precious Eldest Daughter) had been storing the stuff I’d not given away, when I ran away to sea, 8 years previously.
She and Jackson collected it all together, in their garage in Brisbane.
for the removalist to transport to Cairns
It felt like the best Christmas of my life, unpacking all the things that had sentimental value to me, from my presailing days 
I had an emotionally uplifting time, filling my new home with all the memories of my old life 
My “Batchelor Pad” is very compact, no internal dining table, just one on the verandah
It was perfect for this time in my life,
except it lacked a storage shed, so I asked to builder to build me one, underneath
now that I had a place to store stuff, I could give Logic a big declutter 
she is now floating at least 20mm higher out of the water
My house, apart from being 10mins from a domestic/international airport, it is 5 -10mins from all the shopping I need to do, Bunnings, Good Guys, Anaconda, A Mart, Eureka, Harvey Norman, Whitworths etc, with minimal to no traffic and no hills, so all the streets are on an easy to navigate grid.
With all the moving in and establishing done, I moved Logic into the Marina 
which is only 3kms from home 
Cairns is very definitely a tourist destination city.
The walk from the marina is cloistered by fig trees
going past the swimming pool, that is in all the tourist brochures
getting to the esplanade 
within 5-10mins walk of the marina, there would be 200 restaurants.
Korean BBQ
greek
a craft brewery, 5mins walk from the marina 
there is a fishing co-op close by, selling delectable wild caught prawns for $21 a kilo
from Friday to Sunday, Rusty’s Market is full of Farmer’s Market produce (without the big city Farmer’s Market premium prices) 
the ideal place to do a shop before going cruising 
I’m now fully established in Cairns, with a sofa bed for guests 
and Logic 3kms away, with her 3 bedroom and 2 bathrooms
Cairns is warm. The sun was directly overhead in mid-November, on its way south to the Tropic of Capricorn for the summer equinox. Back overhead in February.
Next up on my job list, is a couple of blog posts covering Barry and my sail up the Lizard Island and back.