Quality Hotel Pacific International Cairns

... a nice feeling of knowing a little bit more of where were heading....enabled us to chill by the pool and the lagoon for the rest of the time there which was good (and before you ask my tan is coming on nicely....I am now a darker shade of crimson - I'm slowly getting to my aim of a slight hint of a tan after 5 months away - I'm confident!)....we also met a good bunch of fellow travellers in the Cairns (during the goldfish racing at the Woolshed ...

... is so cheap here; only AU$8 for a thin crust meat fest! That would be what, £18 in the UK? Crazy! We decided not to go to Kangaroo Island as the 30 minute ferry is ridiculously expensive (and some of you know how much I hate ferry companies ripping you off!) and we were going to see plenty of wildlife elsewhere in Australia and we could spend the money on something more fun (if Ivo agrees).

Alice Springs & Uluru

We left early on Saturday morning for ...

... pools and lakes. The water was absolutely freezing... it took us quite a while to get in the water, but when we did it was beautiful. There was a rock slide we could slide down in to the water ...it was so much fun!!!!!

Today 31/8/09 We have been to the Great Barrier Reef (the largest living organism in the world and the largest living thing you can see from space). It was ...

... River to Adels Grove, Lawn Hill

Another big driving day, 380 kms on a rough, dirt road to Lawn Hill National Park. The day was not without it’s excitement as we had our second experience of getting lost in the outback. We had to go through a whole series of farm gates which were helpfully labeled with our direction – except the vital last one which had no instructions... so we didn’t go through it and veered off to the right. BIG MISTAKE ...

... afterwards started feeling another fish might have been eating the bait, but eventually they found out that it just their rods got tangled. On the way back to return the boat we hit the sand and probably broke the shaft. Some time ago Michal expressed his wish to hire a paddle boat and I wished to spend a sunset on the water, thus suddenly both wishes became true. We tried to paddle, but were making only a little progress. For hours we had been looking for ...

... problem) and was all-enthusiastic when she came back from it. In the meantime I went snorkeling for the first time in my life and had the feeling that I was dreaming. In the afternoon we went snorkeling together and took the underwater camera with us (see photos). What a great day! The next 2 days we hired a car and drove up to Cape Tribulation, where rainforest meets the ocean. We stopped for a crocodile cruise on the way, this part of Australia is known for its crocodile ...

... front. The rest we can play by ear and just stop off at a hostel that looks nice on the way to each place we wanna see. I wouldn't mind getting to Fraiser Island as it's meant to be beautiful. We've also talked about both wanting to go white water rafting so if we can fit that in somewhere then that should be good. I want to try and cram in as many experiences as possible from "my book" so I can cross a load off when I get home. It's been a while ...

... of a couple of beaks despite the flooded river. Dinner was at the Italian Swiss run restaurant with décor straight out of the Alps and replete with cow bells. Luckily he did not yodel that night and the food and beer (not Australian -thank goodness) was superb. We left at 4am to drive the steep road with 254 turns back down to the coast and cairns in time for our diving.