Sorry for the time since our last update however been very busy !

So after Airlie Beach we headed for Magnetic Island for some much needed realaxing however our hostel was not that great except for the bar which was quite cheap however we made the most of it and got an early night as we were sure the next night would ba a late one as it was Australia Day (A day all ozzies have a barbie and get drunk I think).

Next day the weather was not that bright but very hot and we decided to go to Horseshoe bay so we hopped on the bus for a tour of the island and had walk up the beach and some tracks nearby and headed to the pub for pizza and a couple of drinks. The nightime was pretty lively as expected with our bus being the craziest group there and some funny games being played for example Thong throwing (flip flop throwing to us) and lots of beer and bad wine.

After Magnetic we headed up the coast to cairns stopping at a Croc farm on the way which was great fun. We got to hold baby crocs, a snake (we wimped out of this one) and hear stories from the keepers about all their crocs who have mainly been rescued from areas as they posed a danger to humans. Their Biggest is 'George' at six metres long is the largest in captivity in Australia.

At Cairns we checked into our Hostel and headed to woolshed with our Bus to say goodbyes as this was our last stop on the Oz Experience and we had made many friends along the route. We got a massive meal for about 4 pounds with lots of beer/cocktails free so we certainly had a good last night even though we headed in early as had to pick up our car early in the morning to head to Cape Tribulation.

We woke to amazing day and very hot with lots of talk of Cyclone Ellie hitting Cairns so were glad to be leaving. Got our car and started the drive and soon realised Australia is huge luckily we had a top of the range Mondeo Zetec to drive in style up the coast which was great compared to the bus. We headed straight for Cape Trib with a stop at Mosman Gorge for a tour with an Aboriginee guide called ' Harold' who showed us through the rainforest. He told us how to use the plants and what we could eat and watch out for which was good as there is a nettle that never stops stinging so I was glad he was there.

At Cape Trib we booked into Crocadylas which has to be the coolest hostel ever as it is sited in the middle of the rainforest. The rooms are canvas and wood on stilts which was very comfortable but noisy because of the rain and the bug Chorus but a really amazing experience.

Next day we headed to Port Douglas, this is a really classy beach town and our Hostel was really nice compared to others down the coast so we had a couple of nights in luxury. We decided to do another dive trip here as they take you to a different part of the Great Barrier Reef and everyone said it was a must do. The trip was excellent and very professional with really patient instructors and we got to see more Turtles really bright reefs, Massive cods and sharks too so we are truly hooked on diving.

We then headed past Cairns to Atherton Tablelands and enjoyed the real Wet Tropics for a couple days as this area does not have huge amounts of tourists so we got to see true ozzie pubs along with Waterfalls and Fig trees and lots of rain.

After this it was back to Cairns to pick up our flight to Red Centre.

Missing you all Love Alex and Lorna