In the days leading up to Bernard Fanning’s Tea & Sympathy 20‑year anniversary show in Cairns, it felt like North Queensland itself was conspiring against us. A tropical low in the Coral Sea kept threatening to spin into something more sinister, and with every refreshed forecast came the creeping suspicion that our trip from Townsville might be washed out. The fear of flooded highways, either on the way up or, worse, on the way home, had us quietly preparing for disappointme
