Crocodile shoo!

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Greetings,

It's been a lazy few weeks. But we needed it after New Zealand. We arrived in Sydney to spend 10 days with Esther (Laura's sister) and her boyfriend Chris. It was very good of them to put up with us (especially my feet), and it also helped with the finances. We didn't do a massive amount of touristy things - as we're back there for around 3/4 weeks in December. We did however see the Opera House in all its glory, plus the harbour bridge in the background. We also went to the Australia vs South Africa test match, which the Aussie won 20-18. Was a great night. Apart from a few great nights at The Fitz (the local pub), it was recharge the batteries time.

From Sydney we flew up to Cairns. It was nice but rather commercial and full of restaurants. There we did a few walks and splashed about in the pool. One night we went to a cane toad racing place - we actually won a race, got a trophy, and a free water skiing session. The guy hosting it was hilarious, and dressed like Steve Irwin. He was the most "un-pc" Queenslander out there - kept offending every nationality with racial slurs and the like (obviously mentioned sheep when he found out where I was from) It was mostly taken in good humour though.

We hired a car from Cairns for 3 days. Our first stop was Port Douglas (after stopping at a nice beach called Yorkey's Knob). Port Douglas is a beautiful little place, but it's a little upmarket for our budget, so we could only afford to stay 1 night. In the morning we visited their local wildlife sanctuary - was good fun having our picture taken with crocodiles and koalas. It was then on to Cape Tribulation, and checking out the beautiful Mossman Gorge on the way. In Cape Trib - we stayed at a "jungle village" hostel. It was quite impressive, set in rainforest - so we made the most of it and went on a night trek (Laura was in her prime, the guide even describing her as "very enthusiastic"). In Cape Trib we also saw 2 Cassowaries just mucking about by the roadside. They're extremely rare (only 1600 left) so just glad we didnt squash one with the car. My highlight was the crocodile boat trip along the Daintree river. We saw 6 crocs - 5 females ( 4.5 metres long) and 1 huge male (5.5 metres long). I was surprised to learn that in the last 5 months 3 people have been eaten by crocs on the river - the youngest an 8 year old girl who wandered too close to the edge, and the oldest was the local shop owner who wandered down to the river after drinking too much of the local grog. Scary stuff, but pretty exciting to be so close to animals that almost resemble dinosaurs. Glad they don't have crocs in the River Towy. Tommy Dodds would be deserted.

We used our free water skiing voucher on the way back to Cairns. This was about 10 days ago and my arms still ache. It was great fun though - instead of being pulled around by a boat, its a cable pulley system.

After another stopover in Cairns - we started our Greyhound bus travel. First stop was Mission beach. It was lovely and quiet - probably because there was a cyclone that whacked it in March. It devastated all the homes and wiped out all crops. Still very tranquil just sitting on the beach and by the pool though.

We're now in Magnetic Island (Out in the Ocean - 8km from Townsville). It's probably the prettiest Island I've been on, though Barry Island comes a close second. There are around 10 bays that are world heritage listed because they are so beautiful and have such a varied marine life. We are staying at "Horseshoe Bay" right on the beachfront. We plan to travel around the island in the next week or so, and if it really takes our fancy we might even stay longer to find work. We walked to a lovely beach today (although it was a nudist beach), and on the way encountered a snake on the path (luckily Laura was ahead of me and spotted it, I would no doubt have trodden on it). As there are "death adders" on the island, we didn't want to take a chance and just stood there for a few minutes shouting "shoo" in a rather British manner. We eventually plucked up the courage to walk round it, but we have photo evidence and will ask a local if it could have hospitalised us!

Also been fishing, and caught a catfish, a dogfish, loads of brim and a large reef fish that we cooked and ate yesterday.

That's us up to date. Still have no firm itinerary, though next stop is Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands. Fingers crossed I'll get that beer tasting job I always wanted but will let you know.

As always, photos here (soon to be updated):

www.flickr.com/photos/richandlaura

www.flickr.com/photos/lauraandrich

and our email:

[e-mail]

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