Advertisement
Published: November 29th 2006
Edit Blog Post
G'danga,
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 surrounded by the rainforest. We arrived at Cairns railway station where you board the Scenic Railway which takes about 1 hour to climb up to Karundra and on the way you pass through the rainforest and waterfalls.
Once in Karundra we had the day to wander around and I managed to find Australias Venomous Zoo! Becks loved this as spiders and creepy crawlies are amongst her favourite things (not). She managed to turn her back on pretty much everything that they showed us and was less impressed when we were told what effects each ones venom would take if bitten. We then wandered around the village and the markets before a quick stroll by the river on our way to the Sky rail. It took over an hour and you
go over the rainforest all the way back down to the outskirts of Cairns, stopping every now and again so you could get out and walk around parts of the rainforest.
On Monday we started heading further up and went to Port Douglas, a small town between Cairns and Cape Tribulation. When we got there there was a massive film crew waiting, although it turned out that they were there infact not for me but because Kate Hudson and Matthew McCona-something were in town making a film. 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. Nowhere near as good as Australia Zoo and Wes wasn't there either, but it was ok I guess.
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. Until you put your foot in it and realise how cold it is, so then you just sit on
a big rock and appreciate how pretty the gorge is. When Becks finally finished her swim and got we went for a wander around the rainforest in an attempt to find snakes and large spiders, of which there were none!
When we got to Port Douglas there was a massive film crew waiting, although it turned out that they were there because Kate Hudson and Matthew McCona-something were in town making a film and not because they had heard that I was due to be arriving that day! That night we went out for a nice dinner and Becks got hammered (thinking she may have an alcohol problem)
On the Tuesday we headed up to Cape Tribulation and went on a boat trip on the Daintree River to look for Crocs, we didn't see any but the guide did show us a Weaver Ants nest, which you will agree is every bit exciting as seeing a large croc! 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 two meet. Once we arrived we booked onto a night walk. Which Becks agreed to on the premise that I would go Jungle Surfing with her the following day. 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. They then handed us massive torches and we all followed the guide on foot and spent 2 hours trailing along spotting anything we could, with the guide explaining what we were seeing (Or making it up when he didn't know). We saw loads of things which such as frogs, fireflys, bandicotts (small mamma,l a cross between a wallaby and a rabbit), large shrimp eating crickets in the river and a snake. The funniest part for me, not Becks who nearly broke my hand by squeezing so hardwas the huge Huntsman spider which was eating another spider. Once it was over we went back to the campsite and one of the guys who had been on the walk with us 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 when you went close it moved like lightning.
When we returned to the camper van I learnt that you should not park it so that it touches a tree, as there were approximatley 5 million large ants all over the windscreen. They were attracted to all the dead insects on the windscreen however there was also various places they could get in so much to Becks protestations I had to go out and try to clean them off, the result being me actually having ants of the biting variety in my pants!!
The next day it was time for Becks to get her own back on me as I had to go Jungle Surfing as promised the night before. 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. Suprisingly with my fear of heights, I loved it and it was Becks who was the wimp and would not let go of the rope at the end when
you were supposed to swing upside down!
That night fed up with the heat, we ditched the van and slept in a hut with a fan. 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. I 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 geeks (note to anyone who goes here, forget the binoculars, you cant see anything with them and you look a twat) We went for another boat tour on the river and this time we saw a crocodile which was between 5-5.5 metres climb out of the river to sun himself on the river bank. This was quite lucky as this time of year they rarely leave the water as it is warm enough in it for them to not have to leave (If they get too cold they cannot digest food). The night before some Belgian guy decided he wanted a picture of a Croc so, he stood at the waters edge
hitting a stick on the surface to get ones attention. Luckily for the Belgian his technique of crocodile attraction paid dividends as one promtly attatcked him. Unfortunately for the crocodile (And the rest of humanity) the Belgians friend dragged him to safety before he could be consumed, leaving this idiot free to wander the earth and the croc still a bit peckish.
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. Before we could do our dive we had to pass some simple tests like swapping mouth pieces under water and filling our masks with water and emptying them. The hardest bit is trying to remember that you cant breath under water without the mouthpiece! The coral and fish life here were fantastic and we saw a massive fish (Potato cod I think). 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 with a really good guide who wrote down everything so we knew what we were looking at.
Saturday we headed back to Cairns and dropped the camper van off which was sad as it had been our home for 5 weeks and it was very easy being able to keep everything in there and have transport all the time. Anyway stayed in a hostel that night and are flying to Perth the next day!!
Thats all from me for now, hope all is well at home and will write again soon, feel free to write back!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.074s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 58; dbt: 0.0461s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
kayhan
non-member comment
watts new friend
have you heard of wattsys new friend mr H.Hoover you need to come back and sort him out him and his hair are both out of control. mossam gorge looks very nice