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As we arrive in Cairns we decide we need to look for work asap as we are running out of money. Greg gets offered a few dj shifts in a nightclub and I have an interview with the Hilton, but it is clear we are unsure whether Cairns is for us. The weather is gorgeous and sunny, but there is not a great deal to do in the city itself. We also felt that the road trip from Sydney was such an awesome experience, that when it came time to find work in Cairns, we had ran out of energy and motivation. We were running out of money and were not prepared to dip into our New Zealand and USA fund. The next thing we would have to consider was looking for a flat, and in turn having to place a deposit/bond. Once again, this could place us in major financial strife if our jobs were to fall through. With this in mind the decision was made to leave Australia in June, and have two weeks travelling in NZ & USA. This has been a big weight off our mind as we had been changing our minds constantly about what to
do. I think once we had finally made the decision to leave, we realized it was the correct thing to do and have no regrets.
With that taken care of, we still had some business to deal with in Northern Queensland. The first was to do a scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef. As you can judge by the pictures, this was a truly amazing experience. After being told by the pilot that our original trip wasn’t worth a monkeys, we decided to splash out a further $20 and do a 45 minute tour. We are glad we paid the extra as the views were unreal. We flew 500 feet over the reef at one point and could not believe we were staring at one of the most famous natural landmarks in the world.
The second thing on our itinerary was to do a crocodile sightseeing tour on the Daintree river, roughly 100 km north of Cairns. The Daintree is a long murky river complete with mangrove trees, snakes, and of course saltwater crocs. We board our vessel, and take to the river. Our tour guide is a proper Aussie, and looks like an extra from Crocodile
Dundee. He is very knowledgeable, and it is not long before we spot our first tree snake. As we sail onto the main body of the river, he spots a croc basking at the side of the river bed. He notifies us that he is the most dominant croc in these parts. The croc is 4.5 metres, with hardly any teeth, but is apparently feared by the rest of the crocs for his ferocious nature. As we meander along the river, we spot two more crocs and are regaled with tales of idiotic people deciding to take a dip in the same river, paying the ultimate price of losing their lives after coming into contact with a 4 metre saltwater croc. Most of the time we are advised alcohol is involved. The tour is excellent, and makes us what we are going to miss when we leave Australia. All that’s left to do is say goodbye to the car, and we are off to Sydney again.
The end
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