What a trip we have had, from the very cold southeast coast (if you call rainy 24C cold, we found it warm, but the locals were complaining) to the humidity of the northeast. The hot dry area in the centre, and finally the warm Indian ocean in the west. We have many great memories of meeting great friends, interesting travellers, and seeing many wonderful sights. From the wild animals to the wild jungles, we got a really good taste of it all. I remember swatting flies for hours as we circled the rock, and Penny remembers the 40C heat in the [View Full Entry]

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When we first arrived in Monkey Mia, it was a very cool airport we landed in. It reminded us of the Costa Rica cornfield we fence climbed. No climbing fences here, but it was a far cry from the security lock down you get in Smithers. When we left to go to Perth, the lady asked if we had any sharp objects in our bags. We said no, so on we went. No bag search, no body cavity search, just on the plane you get. Don't tell anyone this, but we even brought on water from outside the airport area...shhhhh!!! And [View Full Entry]

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We are writing this in Perth, we had a little trouble with a crazy space bar on the only kiosk that was available in Monkey Mia. So, from memory....we woke up on the 2nd, nice and early and went for a walk down the beach. First sign things were going to be good were the dorsal fins floating near the jetty. A group of people had begun to gather around the shore already. When we arrived at the shore, the dolphins were swimming around, a couple a calves playing with each other. A ranger came down, gave a speech about NOOO!!!!! [View Full Entry]

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We had a full day in Perth on Thursday and we decided to go a bit on the wild side and do nothing! We found King's Park, a park with a very long history in these parts, and took a nap. It was hot...it was sunny...it seemed like the right thing to do. They have a very cool bus system in the central part of the city, it's free for certain routes. So after our nap we had a mini tour ride, then found a movie and looked back on time well spent. This morning was a little different. It was [View Full Entry]

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Seems 4:30am is early no matter what country you are in. We promised our new friend that we would give him a ride to see Olga (the "name" for the other pile of rocks here, more affectionately known as Kata Tjuta, but at 4:30am, not much affection floats around). So, it is pitch black when we get outside...and 25. The great thing about the dark, NO FLIES!!! And...a very killer view of the sky, best one we have seen in Australia so far, as there is very little light pollution and cloud in the desert. We drive out to the desert [View Full Entry]

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The day started out wet, then things got real hot. Rain, rain, rain, so it was time to move on out of Cairns and off to the center of the continent. We did a quick booking for some R&R on the west coast, then made a dash for the airport. We made it through security and had enough time to find some rice and wait for the call. Something so exciting hearing your name called in an airport. Who really knows you there, and why do they want you??? First thought is always flight cancelled, then other things pop in the [View Full Entry]

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Did the sleep in thing today, then got on the road, all 4 of us. We were going to check out the Tablelands in the Atherton area and do a waterfall tour. There are about 10 or 12 falls in different locations so it was going to be an interesting tour. The first set of falls was Barron Falls just outside of Kuranda town. They were easy to find, but you had to see them at a distance. A nice jungle walk is in the area as well. There is a tourist train and cable car system that goes by these [View Full Entry]

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The sun was hot, the sky was blue. Our vessel "Ocean Quest" left the pier at 9am to take us to the Great Barrier Reef for a day of snorkeling. The journey started out fine, but after the 90 minute open water voyage, the Reef was "swell"!! We were suited up with our snorkeling gear and splashed into the water! The ocean was super warm and our wetsuits even warmer! The water was very choppy and the swells were very large. The poor boy didn't fair too well. After about 40 minutes in the water, we headed back to the boat [View Full Entry]

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Very loud rain in these parts, and very heavy. We woke up a few times before it was actually time to get moving. We got a freebee breakfast at the resort, so we hung around for some fruit and buns, then headed off down the road and did the tourist thing, turning off at any little interesting sight. Penny saw a big bug at one of the stops (it was as big as her thumb and bit her) so that was the last time we got out of the car. We made it to Sacha's fathers place, but the rain was [View Full Entry]

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Our first hot night sans a/c (forgot to turn it on) and we survived. Was nice to have a night similar to summer nights at home. We sat around in the morning figuring about where we should go, then decided on going up to the Daintree rainforest and spend the night at one of the many eco resorts up there. We got on the road and took about 2 hours to get up in the area. It was a very nice, hot, amazingly dry, sunny day...so the drive was wicked. We made our first stop at the mossman gorge where people [View Full Entry]

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