The Big Mango, Uncle Fraser arrives and Piper turns 4!

The count down and build up to Piper’s birthday has been incessant for the past few weeks with the boys eyeing virtually anything girly in a store and contemplating purchasing it for her birthday – nice brotherly love but a bit overboard! The day was finally upon us and Piper woke with a gleam in her eye, knowing her special day had arrived. As we crowded around her on mom and dad’s bed, she opened her presents and cards and was content that she’d received everything she’d hoped – it was all very fulfilling and gleeful. With the niceties out of the way, we got down to business and packed up shop to head to Airlie Beach and the imminent arrival of Uncle Fraser who was catching up with us after a few pit stops from London.
We’ve made a pact to stop at every ‘Big Thing’ that we encounter on our route around this big island and we were almost caught off guard when the Big Mango announced itself. It essentially looks like a massive mango-coloured egg which sits adjacent a tourist information centre on the side of the highway. There weren’t a tremendous amount of Mango Orchards visible from the highway – more sugar cane than anything else so we would have expected to see a giant cane moreso than a mango. It apparently is representative of a specific variety that grows in the area (Bowen Mango’s?) and we sampled some sorbet made from its fruit at the tourist info centre to calm our curiosity and growing hunger pangs. Airlie Beach eventually came up on the radar and we eventually found our caravan park which sat a good 5 kms from the central business district. Aidan and Cole put together a platter of cheese, veg and cold meats for a mid-afternoon snack and by the time it was all cleaned up, it was time to collect Uncle Fraser from the ferry terminal. Piper’s birthday and Uncle Fraser’s arrival had Aidan and Cole teetering with excitement – they knew he always came laden with gifts and this time was no exception. His bags gradually emptied and through the onslaught of show and tell we eventually pulled the crew into town for a birthday dinner at a local restaurant. Piper had requested sushi but the Sushi place looked a bit unceremonial and weak on ambiance so we found a nice sit down place where Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban and a few other celebs had been to in the past and signed some plates that they’d plastered on the wall. Despite a rather sexist, demeaning poster in the men’s toilet depicting a scantly clad woman and qualities thereof which would deem her ‘perfect’, the establishment had a lot going for it with well cooked tasty meals and delicious desserts. As I read the poster to Aidan on one of many bathroom visits with child, a fellow patron added that perfection would entail that she clean fish and fill the fuel tank of the boat motor as well – I couldn’t relate and it made me feel like we’d regressed somehow into primitive cave speak and I left rather shocked and unimpressed. Here in the country of a ‘fair go’ and ‘true blue’ and women are readily and without much thought, diminished to an objectified slave – and this in a well established classy place – unbelievable! I have sense of humour – but it just wasn’t funny.
Piper’s evening wasn’t ruined though and in her new birthday dress she enjoyed her spaghetti and meatballs without an ounce of spillage. Her evening was capped off with a serenade of ‘Happy Birthday’ complete with a slice of caramel mud chocolate cake, a single candle and one big smile! She’s a special little one!