Laura with the birds

The Tropics

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January 19th 2006
It was good to be back on a plane again, Alice Springs to Cairns in 1 hour 50 mins... phew. You really don't realise just how big Australia is until you've travelled it by road for a while. We were enjoying every minute of this particular plane journey. As it was a clear day you could see most of the land we were covering, 99% of it desert, but as we came into Queensland towards the coast it start ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns

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Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name... ... read more