Cairns

Well bloggers, we have made it to Queensland. The sunshine state. North Queensland to be precise, smack in the middle of the tropics, so lots of palm trees and rainforests, 'muggy' weather and LOTS of rain. Compared to a sun-parched WA, Cairns is a very wet place.

Still, we've managed to dodge the spots enough to do a couple of quality trips. First up was the beautiful Cape Tribulation. This is a tiny little village in the middle of the rainforest, and the only way to get to it is a ferry crossing over the croc-infested Daintree River. Our cheery bus driver, Brad, showed as all sorts of interesting stuff during the day and seemed to be some kind of expert on plant n' animals and stuff. Our guide on the boat trip we did down the Daintree river, Rik, told us plenty of tales of how the crocs (or 'salties' as they're know round here) have bitten lumps out of people over the years. All very scary stuff.

Here's Cape Trib (and it's rainforests) anyways:

Next day we got a boat trip out to Green Island, part of the Great Barrier Reef National Park, and very lovely it is too. I did a load of snorkelling (I even swam with 3 sea turtles, very exciting) while Clare went on a semi-submersible boat that allowed her to see the reef without getting wet. Here's a pic of the place:

Next stop is Mission Beach. Cool sounding name, I like it.

-Si