Saturday 16 May, 10:40 am local time. At "The Lakes" hotel internet lounge in Cairns where the air con is on full blast so we've sneakily turned it off!

It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to the great and wonderful Land of Oz. We've seen a fair share of the East coast (drove from Sydney, in the South, up to Cairns in the North), but could've easily spent our 3 months here exploring this enormous and diverse country. Here's our last update from Down Under... tear...

12-16 May

We've really enjoyed Cairns (after 3 weeks we finally learned that you DON'T pronounce the "r" in Cairns; it's simply "Cans"), and the highlight (for me, anyway!) was finally seeing and feeding a KANGAROO! They're such friendly little guys! We arrived nice and early at the Cairns Tropical Zoo, which is an "open concept" zoo (you're WITH the animals as opposed to simply observing them), for their 9 am feeding and had the privilege of being up close and personal with dozens of Roos! The Roo keeper told us that the Kangaroo (as well as the Emu) were chosen to be on the Australian Coat of Arms because they're both native Aussie animals, but more importantly, they're both animals that can't physically run/move backwards, symbolising that Australia is a country that only moves forward. Don't you love them just a little bit more after knowing that?! At the Zoo we also saw Red Pandas (they got slightly shafted when the black and white pandas were discovered because they were known as the lesser panda for a long time), Ring-tailed Lemurs (featured in the movie "Madagascar), Koalas (who sleep an average of 19-20 hours per day, and have a brain the size of a pea!), snakes (including the MOST venomous in the world), Kookaburra's (which are birds of prey... we saw them bash a mouse to death against a rock... not pretty... and then laugh/cackle like an evil witch!). All in all, we had a blast at the Zoo ;-)

We also spent a day in Kuranda, which is a village just 25 minutes North of Cairns. Prior to the foundation of Kuranda in 1876, this pristine rainforest location was inhabited by the Djabugay Aboriginal people who survived for many generations hunting in the rainforest and eating its everlasting supply of fruits and plants. This peaceful existence all changed when... you guessed it... the "foreign people" (as the brochure refers to the European settlers) arrived and started logging the land for its valuable timbers. Today the town is overtaken by hippies who sell their arts & crafts (if you're looking for a didgeridoo, Kuranda is the place!), and fresh home-grown produce (we had the BEST fruit sorbet ever made right in front of us). After strolling through the markets we did the Jungle and River walks, climbed our way to Barron Falls, and saw the old train station (which was really beautiful and well maintained). Later that afternoon we drove up to Port Douglas, which is an hour North of Kuranda, and arrived just as the shops were closing (not sure that was a coincidence?!), then had dinner at The Raw Prawn restaurant along the Esplanade in Cairns.

Yesterday (15th of May) we spent the day aboard the SilverSonic cruise ship who kindly took us out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a really early morning as we had to catch the boat from Port Douglas, but well worth it. The entire reef is beautiful, but the more untouched parts are located on the Outer Reef i.e. furthest away from the shore and careless tourists. We were fortunate enough to visit the Agincourt Reef, which is at the very outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Here, special reefs known as "ribbons" are found, and are supposed to be the most pristine eco-systems in the reef's environment. We snorkelled at 3 different locations, and each time, the marine life and coral got more beautiful and more colourful. We rented an underwater camera so hopefully we got some decent shots, however, the water was quite rough so it wouldn't be a surprise if most of them are just big blurs! There were thousands of schools of fish, clown fish hiding/nesting in anemone, colourful parrot fish, barracudas, all kinds of coral, sea cucumbers, a small-medium-ish sized shark (although two girls in the group claimed to see another shark the size of a small boat!!), giant clams (that seemed big enough to swallow a small animal!)... And loads of other creatures we couldn't identify, but were stunning nonetheless.

After three weeks we've come to the (VERY obvious) conclusion that Australia is INCREDIBLE! If you haven't been yet, we recommend adding it to your "Bucket List."

We're now heading off to Hong Kong so we'd better wrap up and get our butts to the airport!

Heaps of hugs from us to you!

Jennifer & Daniel xo