Latitude 16 Beaches Port Douglas

... were treated to a wide range of tropical fruits grown locally in the Daintree region and some locally grown tea.

Our next stop was Cape Tribulation. The last time I was here, it was cloudy and rainy. So, I was really looking forward to seeing it this time. The view is absolutely breathtaking. The water seemed so blue, just like in the postcard photos. Cape Tribulation is special because it is the point where two world ...

... are big emu-like birds with blue necks and heads, the key species in this area. They eat numerous rainforest fruit and deposit the seeds in their droppings, hence extending the range of the plants. Sadly their numbers seem to have dropped to something like 1500, which is endangering the existence of the plants as well as the birds. Hence, although we have seen plenty of signs warning us not to run over the cassowaries, we have not actually seen the cassowaries themselves ...

... be nice in good weather.

So we decided to continue to on to Atherton. Interesting decision. The GPS told us the quickest road wasnt the way we had come but to head North a little more and cut through to Atherton. The biggest and windiest hill we have conquered yet. Leaves the hill in Canberra for dead. The Kombi did not enjoy the journey (and neither did John - there were a couple of expletives ...

... pretty good but there was a really low tide which limited a couple of things but made it easier in others. Denzel had a bit of a sleep which was good - made the day manageable. A stop in at HJ's made the ater night easier for all. Got a few photos but more will come when we develop the underwater one that Jeremy took. Until then - seeya. PS For those that care - I'm much better thanks.

... seeing one. I'm sure I'll have more random pictures before we come home. Kids last day of school will be 7/10 and then we'll come back probably a week or so after that. Jim may stay longer due to additional work maybe being sold here--still iffy. Until next time, Barb, Jim, Max and Sam P.S. To my facebook friends, a lot of these pictures are the same ones that I posted on FB, but there are a few new ones.

... woods down to the ocean....all culminating in a huge waterfall. Niau Falls as it's called, is named after the french couple that originally owned the land and is still privately owned to this day. like i said before, it was an awesome day. not only had i basically had a private tour, but because i was seeing more than just your pretty tourist beaches and postcard-lined shops. i was seeing the real Australia, through the eyes of the true owners.

Did we tell you guys that we arrived in the middle of a Cat 3 cyclone (Hurricane for those of you in the US)? Oh, and by the way, we have adopted the term cyclone. Just like "holiday" instead of vacation, "sweet as" instead of awesome, "mate" instead of friend. So it's been a wee rainy in these parts. Hard to entertain yourself when you are in a tropical beach paradise, and it's raining. But, alas, this tropical paradise has a rainforest just on the other side ...

... Num, it was packed and a live band was playing. I called Richard and Lili and they came to meet me up at the hostel with some friends. We all checked out a bit of Chinese New Year before their friends departed and we took the train down to South Bank for Australia Day celebarations. We walked around South Bank for a bit and past the inland swimming lagoon (which totally spanks the Cairns lagoon for size), it was pretty busy with people ...

... do in pairs again and this time Tom goes first and I follow half way over this zip line the instructor pauses you over the rainforest so that you can get the full benefit of how high you are. The fourth one is hard basically its an angled drop to the next platform and the instructor wants you to slide of the platform put your hands out and don't hold on to anything and just let the zip line take you, think I manage to let go for 2seconds and Tommy does it all the way. Then there's the ...

... just watching them hopping around and eating. Because it was dark, and we have a **** camera, the photo's haven't come out to well, but they're not bad. So, at least we've seen some Rooo-ney's in the wild. We also saw some strange birds that look like veloceraptors!! They even move like the one's on Jurassic Park and they stare at you the same. They are about a foot tall and are probably harmless, but they are still best avoided in my eyes!!