Goodbye Camper Van

---

G'day all

Well we had a good last week in Queensland although it keeps getting hotter and hotter and very humid so makes you very sluggish.

Arrived in Cairns last Friday and spent a couple of days here just looking around and then on the Sunday we booked a day trip to a town called Karundra. It's a small little town about 15 minutes north of Cairns and is beautiful as surrounded by the rainforest. We arrived at Cairns railway station where you board a Scenic Railway which takes about 1 hour to climb up to Karundra and on the way you pass the rainforest and waterfalls and is one of the most spectacular rail journeys and it was certainly pretty amazing. Once in Karundra we had the day to wander around and Rob managed to find Australias Venomous Zoo! This was nice as I love spiders and creepy crawlies - Not. However we went in although I think I was the most unimpressed visitor they had ever had and stood a few feet back when they showed us the lovely spiders and snakes and told us how we could die from them which was just what I wanted to know. Rob enjoyed it though and decided that when we got to Cape Tribulation he would like to try and find some of them so by this stage as you can imagine I was soooo happy. Anyway the return journey involved going on a skyrail. It took over an hour and you go over the rainforest all the way back down to the outskirts of Cairns, again it was pretty impressive although not so for Rob with his fear of heights but hey serves him right for making me look at spiders. On Monday we started heading further up and went to Port Douglas, a very beautiful town between Cairns and Cape Tribulation. On the way we stopped at a crocodile place and got to go out on a boat where they fed the crocs from the side of the boat and they lunged out of the water to get the food. They had some massive crocodiles there and it's hard to get over the size of them and think that there are loads like this swimming free all up this coast. In the afternoon we went to Mossman Gorge which is obviously a Gorge! You walk down to the Gorge and can swim in the water which was just what was needed given the heat. Very pretty again and the water was freezing so me being the hero went in for a swim while Rob stood up to his ankles refusing to go any further as too cold. After the swim we went for a wander around the rainforest there which as always takes twice as long as what they advise as we have to stop every 2 minutes for Rob to search for some insect or animal or snake so was pretty knackered when we got back so headed to Port Dougles where we stayed the night. It had been on the news that day that Goldie Hawn, Kirk Douglas, Kate Hudson and other famous people where there filming a movie and we saw all the trailers and stuff but unfortunately no glimpses of anyone famous, however we had a nice evening with a great meal and managed to get completely hammered. Thought I was dying the next day when woke up in the camper van boiling hot and totally dehydrated so now have to remember it is not good to drink too much whilst staying in the van as far too hot up here and not a good experience. On the Tuesday we headed up to Cape Tribulation and went on a boat trip on the Daintree River which was good but unfortunately no sightings of any crocodiles. To get to Cape Tribulation you have to get on a little car ferry over the Daintree River which was fun and then the road hugs the coast so very windy although fantastic views of the rainforest and the beach and it's amazing how the 2 meet and we got some good photos. Once we arrived we booked onto a night walk which I was not sure I wanted to do, however agreed with Rob that if I did this then he would come jungle surfing with me the next day (I will explain later). So we were picked up by a guide and there were about 10 of us in all and we were taken by van deep into the rainforest and it was pitch, pitch black - very scary. They then handed us massive torches and we all followed the guide on foot and spent 2 hours trailing along spotting anything we could. I did actually enjoy it and we saw loads of things which did'nt scare me such as frogs, fireflys, bandicotts (small mammel a cross between a wallaby and a rabbit), shrimp in the river and a snake. The worst part though was when we saw a huge Huntsman spider which I was expecting but god their massive and I stayed well away. Once it was over we went back to the campsite and one of the guys who had been on the walk with us and seen Robs interest in spiders took us to see a Golden Orb spider which was hanging from one of the rafters at the campsite. The photo will be attached as can not explain it but it was the size of both my hands and if I ever find one in a room or one comes near me then I think I would die from heart failure. Thinking the evening could not freak me out anymore we went back to the camper to find that where Rob had parked directly under a tree with the branches leaning on the roof (no I still have not forgiven him) we had about 5 million huge biting ants all over the bloody van. They were attracted to all the dead insects on the windscreen however there was also various places they could get in so did not sleep well that night as had visions of waking up with my limbs being eaten away by the ants. Luckily they stayed outside so I survived. Cape Trib was not impressing me as too many creepy crawlies and was spending my time here in constant fear. Anyway got my own back the next day as we went jungle surfing! Basically you go to the top of the rainforest and get harnessed up and go along a zip wire from one canopy high in the trees to another for about 2 hours and it was brilliant fun. Rob with his fear of heights was not keen but I had lost all sympathy for him by this stage and told him to get on with it. On the last one we hung upside down whilst whizzing along which even I did find quite scary but loved it and felt alot better after. Spent the second night in Cape Trib in a hut with the camper van parked alongside as needed to know that I was free from all insects and needed a fan as too hot. Bit of a cop out but who cares I slept well. On the Thursday we went to a skywalk which was a walk on a boarded track around the rainforest with a handset giving a commentary on what you were seeing. Rob decided we also needed binoculars so we could see everything, so what with the handset hung round our necks, plus the binoculars and the guide book we looked like real wildlife dorks, however this was more llike it for me as much safer. We went for another boat tour on the river and this time we saw a crocdile which was about 4 meters and sunnying himself on the bank. It makes you realise that you have to be very careful up in this area and not go anywhere near the water as we had also heard that day that a tourist had been attaked by a croc the night before in Cape Trib! It was his own fault though as had seen it and instead of walking away he apparently started tapping the water with a stick to coax it closer so he could take a photo. Luckily no major damage and the croc just nibbled him a bit to warn him away. We went back to Port Douglas that night and decided that we would book another trip out onto the reef for Friday as our last chance. So on Friday we went out on a boat to the outer reef and signed up for another dive which was excellent and even better than the first. The corals and fish life here were fantastic and when I went out for a snorkel I saw a reef shark (harmless) which was quite impressive. This boat took us to 3 different locations so we did a 2nd dive at the last place and were under for about 40 minutes and got to see loads as had a really good guide and he was writing down what each thing was. We are back in Cairns now (Saturday) and dropped the camper van off this morining which was sad as had been our home for 5 weeks and very easy being able to keep everything in their and have transport all the time. Anyway staying in a hostel tonight and flying to Perth tomorrow evening where we shall be there for a couple of weeks as going to Monkey Mia and Shark Bay.

Thats all from me for now, hope all is well at home and will write again soon.

---