Sunshine Tower Hotel Cairns

... the shopping mall. So we can at least say we experienced the first rain here in Cairns for 6 months instead of all that boring hot sunshine and blue skies we've been getting used to of late. Claire was telling us about the bush fires that they have been getting and how this will obviously help stop them and freshen all the plants up. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon running around a big mall with the kids in little race car trolleys each ...

... we saw Tara walking outside of the English language school, what a coincidence! My dad and I got some amazing food at a restaurant called the Banana Leaf, the curry was delicious! We walked around all the little stores and coffee shops and food places that smelled amazing. You honestly could spend weeks just getting lunch, an afternoon tea, and dinner at a different place every day. At around 5pm, we met Tara as she got off work and Cam picked us up in Cairns ...

... sea cucumbers, maiori wrasse, flowery cod, clown fish (Nemo!), gorgeous coral, and much more! Definitely the best visibility on a dive that we've experienced! Unfortunately I don't have a camera that can go down past 10m, so we don't have any diving pics.

Our second stop was at Michaelmas Cay, which is a sandy island on the GBR that is inhabited by many protected bird species. There is some great snorkeling there, and not wanting ...

... thursday we headed out on the 'Waterfall Tour' of the Atherton Tablelands. We left at 7:30am and didn't get back until 7pm. We saw loads of cool stuff on this; rainforests, Babinda Boulders, Lake Eachem, fresh water lakes, fresh water turtles. We also visited the Milaa Milaa falls which is where pretty much every shampoo in the history of man has been filmed and also where the music video for Petre Andre's 'Mysterious Girl' was filmed. Unfortunately I do no have a penis ...

... it. We didnt hear too much of the commentary as 6 kids (my brother has 4 and my 2) all squealed with glee seeing the sucker fish, angel fish, 'nemo' , 'dora' and even turtles! Kim said on the way back that it was her 'bestest' birthday ever and even gave Gus and I huge hugs as thankyou. Headed back to base and got ready to pack down ready ...

... excuse to go out!! On Monday I went on a reef trip, had such a great day!! The boat left at 8am and we had a whole day of sunbathing, snorkelling, lots of food and drinks, talks and scuba diving!!!! The boat we had booked onto wasn't actually running...so we got a free upgrade!!! woohoo!!! The boat was so lovely, quite a difference from the Whitsundays experience!!! Having not done any diving i decided to try an 'Intro Scuba ...

... 8217;s pristine tropical rainforests. You glide just metres above the rainforest canopy before descending through the canopy layers and deep into the heart of the forest at Skyrail’s two rainforest mid-stations for the ultimate tropical rainforest experience. A Skyrail Experience will take approximately 1½ hours one way. On approach to Barron Falls ...

... a foot tall. After a couple of days we went on a boat trip to the Great Barrier reef, due to some complications the company we booked with had to upgrade us to there more expensive vessel, where we got a fantastic meal, live music, complimentary wine and suba dived for free. We were told that we could not tell any other passengers how much we paid around 100 dollars as the other passengers paid the correct amount around 300 dollars. The snorkeling was ...

... to Gilligans Quiz night (3rd place!) and then to the Woolshed, yet again. Awake way to late for a trip the following morning that was way too early. I booked a trip to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulations. The bus picked me up at 7 am. either way, the day was nice and the rainforest was really cool. Ive become really fascinated with trees and leaves. During our trip we also stopped at a wildlife sanctuary where I got to pet a kangaroo! i also ate ...

... currently occurring), deadly box jellyfish swim near the coast and make swimming in the ocean impossible along the shore. At the lagoon, I located Courtney, who had been sitting out there for over an hour with no sunscreen on. I advised her that this was foolish since the sun is so strong here, but she commented that it was cloudy and that she wouldn't burn very quickly. Famous last words. She and I stayed there a bit, and ...