Trials and (Cape) Tribulations

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After a cruise along the Daintree River, during which we saw a baby crocodile and loads of snakes we arrived at Cape Tribulation Beach House where nowhere was safe. We were at a remarkable meeting of two World Heritage sites, the oldest rainforest in the world and the Great Barrier Reef but this did not change the fact that everything there could potentially kill us. Our lodgings happened to encroach on the territory of "the World's Most Dangerous Bird" (Guiness Book of Records 2006) the Cassowary (they like to disembowel you with their claws), and we bumped into it almost immediately. Despite being highly endangered and protected, these are evil, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Going to the loo became too perilous to attempt alone (or altogether in Rosie's case!). When we told our German dorm-mate that we had seen the bird, she immediately rushed off to find it, the language barrier seemingly having prevented the true threat the bird posed being understood. We joked that we had sent her off to her death and we almost proven correct..... Nature-loving Verena skipped her way down to the beach and, when confronted by the Cassowary, she proceeded to photograph it as it circled her and only became concerned when it flashed its killer claw in her face, jumped on top of her and kicked her. scheizer. Luckily the only real casualty was her camera and she returned to the dorm to tell the tale.
The next day we went on a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef. A great idea in theory, and in practice in Becky's case but, as she indulgeed in some diving and turtle-spotting, Rosie added her own special touches to the reef, being violently seasick at least every 15 minutes. Luckily this forced the hydro/fish/shark/bird/spider/everything-phobic Rosie to face her fears and go snorkelling as the sea was the only vomit-free zone. Sick aside, it was amazingly beautiful on the reef and we saw loads of fish, turtles, coral, etc.
That night, as Rosie was contemplating her imminent death at the hands of the Cassowary (affectionately known as Elvis - check out its quiff/horn in the pictures) we had a few surprise visitors in the form of Becky and Mike (who saved Rosie from yet another Backgammon defeat- thanks guys!). They reassured us that we would soon get used to everything being able to kill us in Australia before heading off into the darkness in their van - hope you guys are having fun wherever you are now! In spite of their reassurance, Becky awoke the next morning with a strange mark on her back - surely a deadly sting/bite/disease?! After being unofficially diagnosed by the on-site chef with RINGWORM, Becky forced the man driving us home to stop at a pharmacy. When the air-tight bandage to prevent infection spreading was removed the deadly marking had got somewhat smaller/invisible and the confused pharmacist said it was most likely a mosquito bite. After much mockery from the bus driver and others on the bus, we arrived back in the relative safety of Cairns, both alive and well. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

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