Outrigger On The Inlet Port Douglas

Today was brilliant - went on the Sky rail up to Karunda and back on the scenic railway. Didn't think I could do it with my fear of heights but the views were amazing and Graham didn't rock the boat too much to frighten me! Karunda itself was a bit disappointing as it was now very commercialised so we just wandered the endless shops and cafes trying not to eat too much as we'd had a ...

... but I will. They lost me while swimming, 20K offshore, for a while. Not to worry, I knew where I was. The neatest thing was to see a Maori Wrasse. It was big, nearly as big as Reid, cept built more like me (big head and solid girth). Not sure what a girth is, but if it was like me you know it is okay.

We also learned a few things from the scientists on board (and that makes mom happy). One thing we learned is that a Nemo boy fish turns himselves ...

... Ging aber noch alles gut und ich bin recht puenktlich in Coolangatta angekommen. Draussen wartete Logan mit einem Schild auf mich: Franzi, ich habe Sie vermisst. Mein Gott, wie niedlich. Er hat es online nachgeschaut und dort wurde ihm die foermliche Form vorgegeben. Dann waren wir erst mal schoen am Meer fruehstuecken und sind verschiedene Straende angefahren. Straende mit Wellen! Zurueck an der Goldie, zurueck zu hause. Ich war uebergluecklich. Eine schoene Reise ...

... beautiful pieces. The one that amazed me the most was a pair of hollowed bloodstone boots - looked so life like. I found a table i fell in love with but a mere $7000 was a bit out of my range - wouldn't of fit in the van either! We then headed though Mareeba before coming down the very steep and very windy road to Port DOuglas. It was a speed limit of 30km/h recommendation and even though I trust Jeremy's driving - was still pretty hair raising at ...

... you as if saying, "what are you looking at?" i got to hand feed more wallabies...different species this time, some so small!! oh my gosh, i wanted to take one home! the next stop on the tour was in Mossman at the Mossman Gorge, a popular freshwater swimming spot deep in the rainforest. i couldn't get over how thick and lush and GREEEEEEN everything was! our guide told us that we were actually visiting at a really good time; it was just at the ...

... one of the crocodiles, Big Alfred, who was the Head of the River in crocodile terms, had recently killed a cow while the poor animal was just drinking from the river and had tossed his carcus up in the air and down the river (very nice!!!) - Kuranda, a rain forest village. We travelled to the village Kuranda, by car, and then went on the train down through the Kuranda rainforest to Cairns. Kuranda was very touristy, but quaint. The ...

... minutes in the dark. Not more than five minutes after entering the cab, all hell broke loose. I saw monsoon downpour in India and Indonesia. Cyclone rains in a rainforest region can stand up to a monsoon any day of the week. To the soundtrack of massive rainfall, we relaxed with an episode of Lost, hoping for good weather when we would drive to the rainforest the next day. Daintree National Park: First Attempt and Hanging With Fat ...

Well we are back from trecking through the jungle in monsoon rains. Apparently perfect weather for seeing tree frogs! Well....I think it's all media hype. There were no tree frog to be found. We even went back to the boardwalk we did yesterday. After an hour of walking and looking we saw nothing. Ricardo found a peppermint bug and ...

... dirt and they basically become mulch. The hens lay their eggs inside (up to 20 eggs at a time). These hens mate for life, if one dies, the other abandons nest...but sometimes their kids will return to re-use the nest. We are warned along our drive that we can walk on the beautiful beaches along the rainforest, but cannot step into the water cuz the stingers (jellyfish) will get you - they come right up to shore in summer months looking for food...and ...

... last 'blogging' we've been to a western Australian barbecue - a farewell from Murray and Tina to Murray's golfing buddies complete with spa bath when it was really hot and log fire in the evening when it was cold!! That's Australia!! The golf chat amongst men is exactly the same as in Scotland We had a lovely Thai meal Sunday evening and then went off on Monday morning to spend a couple of days with Carol and Ian Blacklaw. Our first visit was to Government House as Ian used to ...