Sapphire Ridge Palm Cove

... got there after about an hour and we had a free trial dive for 20 minutes. I managed to get water in me though and came up, then it happened again silly me so i went down again and they had gone without me, so guess i missed out, but not really, as snorkelling was amazing there, as its so shallow u can swim right upto the reef and see everything. clown fish (nemo!!!), zebra fish, turtles, and even some scarey looking alligator fish that resemble barracuda ...

... the forest and with a hammock for the brave .... No TV, No Internet Connection, No Cell Phone access... <br><br><br><br>We did however have our trusty Laptops and bought some old and not so old movies to watch while in bed ... Films such as "Bridge over the river Kwai" a real classic :O) <br><br><br><br>When in the bathroom I came across a large moth ....wingspan about the ...

... and champagne. Which one again a little bit was gone and we kept drinking. Only this time it's 8am and your feeling free quite early. <br><br>Met up with the rest of the group and continued to Simpsons Gap. Got to see a rock wallaby- which is only the second time Shaz has seen it in the 5 years she's worked for Contiki. It was really windy and cool down there, but once you got up into the sun again it was hot. Strange. From there it ...

... other traffic being on the roads, plus to make the long journeys more efficient. As we drew closer to Katherine the scenery became greener and the road sides were filled with giant termite mounds. Lunch time the day after we left Alice we arrived in Katherine after about a 17 hour journey!<br> It was out of season in Katherine due to it being the rainy season. The main reason for stopping here is the Katherine Gorge, as the town has nothing else to offer a tourist. On the ...

... Elle McPherson, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman Most optimistic traveller: Raj in Brisbane. He travelled from Hertforshire to find the girl he'd met in London and propose. When I left, he'd found her but hadn't proposed yet, just told her that he loves her. He also hopes to carve out a music career here. Good luck Raj! Best sunset: The rainy sunset in Byron Bay Best Stars: Fraser Island Best Chocolate they don't ...

... worth it for the view from the top. There are also monkeys playing around all over the steps and leaping between surrounding trees which was amazing to see as I've never seen monkeys in the wild before! They supposedly steal things from tourists but I while I was there I only saw them eating things they had taken from the trees. Later on we went to visit Penny's parents on the east side of Kuala Lumpur, which is ...

... On return to Cairns it seemed that Hamish was going to pass us by and that diving on the reef could be back on. Saturday was fine enough for a game of golf at a very difficult course called Paradise Palms , Geoff played with two guys who worked in the gold mines of Papua New Guinea,fascinating stuff.( I did not play, but even driving the buggy was a fun way to see the course) Finished just in time before the rains ...

... to Cairns. We had great views of the Great Barrier Reef on the flight but they didnt come out too well on the photos. After landing at Cairns we transferred to Silky Oaks on the edge of the Daintree Rainforest just outside Mossman, about 1 1/2 hours drive from Cairns. This was our most exclusive hotel and it was rather nice, we stayed in a treehouse with a hammock out front and a huge bathroom with a spa bath. The hotel itself is on the Mossman river and there are a ...

We took the bus up to Palm Cove and spent the day on the beach. We had to swim in this little squared off/netted area "between the red and yellow flags" because of the jellyfish! It was so nice though to be on the beautiful beach ...

... Well we kitted up and then the guy driving the boat told us where we were going to dive. That was it, all ready! Martina jumps in first, then it is my turn! ****! Here goes! Splash! I am diving! Chris is in next. We swim on the surface around to the front of the boat, grab on to the anchor line and start our decent. We dive down to 18.5 meters, everything I learnt has come back to me! We get to the coral - it is amazing, so colourful. There are hundreds of ...