We arrived in Cairns yesterday afternoon, our final stop in the Energy [R]evolution tour. After nearly 6 weeks at sea, it will be strange for us on the campaign team to soon be sleeping in beds that don’t rock!

The Port of Cairns is like a breath of fresh air, because unlike the other ports we’ve stopped in, it’s not industrial and therefore security is pretty relaxed. Our berth is close to the centre of town and we’re able to come and go as we please, which is a great novelty. Can’t really complain about the weather either, which is a far cry from winter in Sydney.

This Saturday we’ll have our regular open boat day, an opportunity for the residents of Cairns to come on board the Esperanza and learn about the campaign. Then on Sunday we’ll have the closing event for the Tour: a 3000-candle art installation on the beach near the Western Lagoon in Cairns city, forming the shape of a wind turbine. We’ve commissioned an artist, Jorge Pugol, who is renowned for similar candle artworks, to create the piece.

It will be open to the public all day for those who want to help setting up the candles, and from 5pm for others who want to light the candles or just come along to see the spectacle. We’re encouraging people to bring their own food for the public BBQs nearby too. It will be a fun and festive community gathering, and we should get some spectacular images from the air of the wind turbine lit up by candlelight, as a memorable mark of the end of a highly successful tour.