We decided to head North to Cairns as opposed to risking it in the outback. The 5 hour drive was pretty cool, you could tell from the plants and humidity that you were moving into a tropical area. As we arrived in Cairns, the heavens opened (which we were assured was normal). We sought sanctuary in a pub for the night!

The following day, we headed out on a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a shame that we didn't make it on Whitsunday Magic, so we were pretty excited to be going at last. The first location we went to was pretty rough, but Graeme still managed to dive. Em attempted snorkelling, but was just getting washed around, so went back on board! The second location was a turtle breeding ground, and we got to see a few swimming around. To recover from the days excitement, we spent the night in the pub!

We got up early and headed for the Kuranda Scenic Railway. Luckily, the sun was beaming down, and therefore, no need for anoraks!! The trip up to the "Rainforest Village" was very beautiful, and the the stop at Baron Falls was pretty awesome. There was only 1 person who managed to get left behind at the Falls, luckily neither of us!!

Having reached Kuranda, we wandered around for an hour and decided to head back early. The return leg was by Sky-Rail, 7.5km's over the rainforest. You could see some of the weird an wonderful plants in the upper canopies and massive butterfiles.

We then headed for Ayr, the gateway to SS Yongala ship wreck (www.yongaladive.com.au/) so that Graeme could do a bit more diving. It was a sucess as he managed to see Sharks, Sea-Snakes, Turtles and a giant Sting-Ray.

Ayr itself was a funny place. We had dinner in a hotel which also had poker tables. Most of the locals were completely blotto. One lady was so drunk that she was gurning and had her beer taken away from her at her drunk husbands request......

After Graeme had finished his dive, we headed over to Charters Towers, an old Gold mining town in the late 1800's. The buildings were like those off a wild west movie. We stayed in the most amazing Victorian hotel, which had a Jacuzzi in the room! A luxury after some of the places we've stayed. That night we played Keno, a TV gaming channel which was a cross between roulette and lotto. It was good fun.

The next morning, we left early for Proserpine. The road from Charters Towers to Townsville was hair raising as there were Road Trains (3 trailer lorrys) roaring along it. We then stopped for lunch at the viewpoint in Bowen. The views of the Whitsunday's were stunning.

We then flew back to Sydney and had a night on the tiles in "the Rocks".

We're now in New Zealand having picked up our "Campervan". We don'tknow where we will be parking up tonight, but we will be heading down south tomorrow.