The Quirke Boys gather in Cairns for a few beers.

During my stay in Cairns I had the chance to catch up with a few of the locals, thanks again everyone for your hospitality and reminding me why we are so looking forward to returning to Cairns. I managed to squeeze in a little house maintenance with Chris, such a nice landlord hey Chris? The place had changed so much and thanks to the time difference and my body clock waking me up at 0430 every morning I got to see a lot of the Esplanade as I was staying at Northern Heritage (Navy accom) close to the inlet.

Some things never change and that ain't a bad thing when it comes to a beer and BBQ in the shed with the Street and Wedge clans!

The moons also aligned and all the brothers and Dad came up to Cairns for a couple of nights! What a catch up - Chris put on a big BBQ the first night and we sat around chatting on the deck until the early hours. Bodies strewn everywhere inside the house poor Cory (Chris's dog) had no idea when he woke in the morning.

The next morning the boys wanted to see the esplanade. Well we made one lap then it was into town for an early lunch (OK, beer) but this is where Helen joined us.

We stopped on our way home and picked up my Tongan brother who joined us for a seafood lunch at home.

Poor Semisi got caught up in it all and lunch turned into dinner and beers at the Pier Tavern. It was a great night, I'm sure no one else in the pub had a clue with such a strange mix of blokes together (and Hel's for a while).

Being responsible fathers what else do you do on the way home? Stop for some O&X's of course before hitting the Casino for our last night together. The boys all flew out the next morning with Semisi and I returning to work.

Thanks Mrs Quirke's for letting all us boys play together, what a great idea.

Can't wait till the next meeting!