Day 72 Mission Beach This morning we go on a search to see a cassowary, they are flightless birds (like emus) which can grow to over 6 feet tall. The endangered species live in the forest areas around Mission Beach so we went for a walk to Lacy Creek where they can be commonly seen. Once again we did not see any although we did see some large spiders and lots of mosquito's! Heading south we stop in Tully, this town is known as the wettest place in Australia and we agree, as we arrived in torrential rain and it lasted [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Cairns this morning we headed inland on the Gillies Highway, a very winedy mountain pass. We stopped to see the Cathedral fig tree, scientists believe this massive curtain fig tree is over 500 years old. Continuing south we arrived at a sleepy village called Millaa Millaa from here we followed a 16km waterfall circuit, stopping at 3 different locations. Each fall was unique and worth a visit, the swimming holes looked inviting but it was a bit too cloudy for swimming, we even had some rain showers today. We had a quick walk along the beach at Bingil Bay [View Full Entry]

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LAURA: Today was an early start as we were picked up at 7am to go on a tour with Reef Encounter. Cairns is the closest access point to the worlds largest marine park and one of the natural wonders of the world. It consists of over 6,600 different species of fish, coral and molluscs in the 344,000 square kilometres of reef. Today we will visit just 2 of the 3000 reefs! We boarded the large modern catamaran and took a seat in the air-conditioned lounge. Bacon butties were provided for breakfast along with a hot drink. The first crew member [View Full Entry]

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This morning we get up early so to miss the hot morning sun and rush to the train station to board the Kuranda Scenic Railway that is over 100 years old and goes through the rainforest up to Kuranda. It takes 1.45 hours to travel along this scenic route, through 15 tunnels and over some spectacular bridges high up on the mountain side. The train stopped at a lookout for Barron Gorge and Falls a huge waterfall that in the wet season roars down the mountain, but today was a small trickle. At about 10.15am we arrived back at Kuranda [View Full Entry]

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Day 68 Daintree From Mossman we travel through miles of sugar cane plantations to Daintree village where we board a Crocodile boat trip on the river. Over 200 salt water (man eating) crocs live in the river and the kiwi guide (Brian) knows where a dozen of them like to chill out. Unfortunately we did not see any much to the disappointment of us and Brian, probably due to the fisherman. Believe it or not crocodiles are scared of people and the cattle that live on the riverbanks, although they are opportunist eaters when in the water but not on land. [View Full Entry]

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Day 67 Queensland Today we picked up our next camper van, we have named him Charles! We will call this camper van home for the next 4 weeks so we are glad to see it is newer than Camilla (our previous camper). We call at the supermarket to stock up on supplies before heading north on the Captain Cook Highway, a very scenic drive along the coast. We stop at Ellis beach and toast some hot cross buns for lunch and then go in the sea for a swim. The coral sea here is the warmest we have ever been in [View Full Entry]

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After a good nights sleep (the room had much needed air conditioning) although a bit short , we woke up at 5am ready for watching sunrise. Again we take the Uluru Express bus to the car park to watch sunrise at 6.54 am. Along with about 200 other visitors we wait and get our positions ready for the sun to light up this famous rock. We were provided with a hot drink and biscuits while we waited and started taking pictures of the sunrise in front of Ayers Rock and the rock it self as the colour got more red [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was spent packing and getting organised to leave the home comforts of Aunty Rose and Tony's house so no blog was typed and no pictures taken! This morning we left the house at 8am and headed for Perth domestic airport to catch our flight to Ayers Rock. It was sad to say goodbye to Aunty Rose and Tony as they have looked after us so well and we didn't feel ready to leave as we were enjoying our stay so much. Our flight departed on time at 10.10am it was a small and quiet plane that took us north east [View Full Entry]

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Day 61 Fremantle boat show is on this weekend so we went for a wander round this morning and dreamt about owning one of the boats on display. We also spent some time shopping in the E sheds which is full of quaint market stalls in an old storage shed at the docks. In the afternoon Tony and Oliver went to Sorrentto beach while Laura went to the shops at Hillarys harbour. Unfortunately Oliver got injured by the body board as the ocean was a bit rough today. In the evening we watched the sunset over the ocean at the Wild [View Full Entry]

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26/3 Day 59 Augusta is a small town on the Blackwood river and this is where we head to this morning. Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is just out of the town and sits where the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean meet at the most south westerly point of Australia. The lighthouse was built out of local limestone and opened in 1896, although part of it was made and shipped from Birmingham. We had our picnic sat on the shores of the Blackwood river while dolphins swam past. A scenic drive through the forest took us north to Hamlin Bay. Unfortunately this beautiful [View Full Entry]

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