July 26, continued No big happening at dinner, but Giuseppe did take our picture. July 27 PARADISE REGAINED -- Milton knew of what he wrote We're in Paradise again - weather, accommodations, and area. It started before we left Green Island, it was sunny and bright, but the forecast wasn't great. As we were leaving anyway, we didn't care much. We went with the flow. Ice cream cones at 9 AM on the catamaran? Why the heck not?? Checked into the Sheraton Mirage just before lunch. Frank and I have been here twice before and love it. The Resort is built around a series of inter-connected salt-water lagoons (most rooms overlooks them) and fresh-water pools. There are golf courses, a marina, a shopping complex, a chapel for weddings, several restaurants, and on and on. It is ... read more

Hello again Started off the day with a glass bottom boat ride. Riley took the pictures. We saw turtles, "Nemo", and other interesting fish, but neither the boat nor the fish would stay still long enough for a picture. We did manage to get a couple though. The remora is a sucker fish, usually found attached to the bottom of a shark. But, it was perfectly willing to attach itself to the bottom of our boat, and right in Riley's window! The giant clam was about 2 - 2.5 feet across with a siphon about the size of a tennis ball. The mantle is brilliantly colored but between the cloudy day, glass bottom and stuff in the water, the pictures don't do it justice. They grow to be many times this size! After the glass bottom ... read more

So, I'm up at 5 am, checking email, trying to figure out how Obama is managing without me. About 6:15, I decide to open our balcony doors (sun is not up yet, but it is getting light), and I'm greeted by hundreds of rainbow lorikeets trying to organize their day. Mobs of them flying here and there from the trees outside our room. And, they don't fly quietly. Shrieking would not do them justice. Decided I had to wake Dante, who came out on the balcony to declare 'They're crazy!", and went back to bed. Still no pictures for you, though. Cairns is nestled between the ocean and the McAllister Mountains of the Great Dividing Range which runs north to south. Our plan today was to ride the skyrail up the mountain to Kuranda, a rainforest ... read more

Let's start with how to pronounce Cairns. It's CANS. Just CANS. When we checked into our hotel today, I realized I had taken only one photo. It wasn't that there wasn't anything to take pictures of, just that today was more of yesterday, without the fires. We also had about 29 km of a winding, two lane, mountain road, where the speed limit was 40 km/hour -- that about 25 mph. I had hold of the Jesus bar and wasn't thinking about photos. We did see one new creature today, an echidna - a marsupial anteater or in Australia, termites. A first for us. Saw another feral pig, but you're going to have to take our word for that, too. We finally arrived at our hotel around 3:30 and it is just as we hoped. The ... read more

July 19 Borroloola NT What a totally awesome and expected day we've had. We had two ways to get to our destination - Borroloola. A 650km (~400 mile), sealed road most of the way, the Carpentaria Hwy or 770km (!480 mile) most unsealed track, the Savannah Way. As this was likely to be our last trip up north, we chose the Savannah Way. American camping has come to Australia. In addition to the many campers and travel trailers, today we saw a motorhome towing a car. What will they think of next. For the first couple of hours we saw mobs of kangaroos and the usual birds. Then we saw a feral water buffalo who took no time getting out of our way. No photo of him. The reason they stay alive is because if they ... read more