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Tuesday 24th July
I fly to Cairns and Simon picks me up from the airport. We have a lazy lunch in Cairns and have fun choosing what we're going to do while we're here. Our accommodation turns out to be a huge two bedroom appartment and we each get our own bathroom - how swish!
Wednesday 25th July
We head out on a day trip to the Daintree which is an area of rainforest further north of Cairns. We pass through Port Douglas which we think looks lovely and we decide we'll come back for another look later on in the week. We head out on a river cruise where we see crocodiles and tree snakes in their natural habitat.
Then it's off to Daintree Village where we impulse buy a two handed timber saw which has been cleaned up and painted on in black & white. It's a good job we said we'd come back up this way as they have to specially pack it and it's not ready by the time the bus is ready to leave.
We have lunch and learn about the unusual fruits they grow here and the fields and fields of sugar cane. The scenery as we've driven up the coastline is gorgeous with a backdrop of rolling rainforest hills.
In the afternoon we watch a crocodile attack show where a keeper basically dangles a very small fish infront of a crocodile, then once the croc has eaten that he takes a bit of a fancy to the poor keeper! Apparently this guy doesn't usually do the show and the croc doesn't like him! I've never heard a sound like it when the crocodile snaps his jaw shut. It's like snapping your own teeth together but deeper and more hollow as he's got a much bigger mouth! Amazing raw power.
Wednesday 25th July - Gareth's birthday
I text Gareth as I called him yesterday and left a message to say Happy Birthday but it was the wrong day! DOH! That's what happens when you go on holiday - all sense of time goes.
Anyway, it's still cloudy so we take ourselves off to the zoo to hug a koala. It's so soft and fluffy - I want to take it home. Unfortunately due to timings we missed the snake holding session. Ah well - maybe next time. Simon attempts to feed the kangaroos but they are clearly far to well fed and most decline his offer. How rude!
We then head up to collect the timber saw artwork in Daintree Village and spend some time in Port Douglas which is just gorgeous. In the evening we eat kangaroo steaks which are yummy - please note these were not the same kangaroos that Simon was attempting to feed earlier on! That would just be wrong! Hee hee. Deja vu ensues with the deer petting and eating experience too in New Zealand.
Thursday 26th July
Still no sign of the sun so we book ourselves on another trip - so much for a restful holiday! ;-) We get the old train up into the Kuranda which is another section of rainforest. It's just stunning - I love it up here as we wind around the mountains climbing slowly up surrounded by the lush greenery.
We buy boomerangs for presents up in the Kuranda village from local aboriginal tribes, each of which have a dream story associated with them. Then we travel down by cable car over the tops of the rainforest - possibly the highlight of an already fabulous day.
Friday 27th July
How can you come to Cairns without experiencing the Great Barrier Reef? We hop on a boat and head out to Green Island where we snorkel at the reef for an hour. It's one of the most beautiful and romantic things I've ever done with Simon. He holds my hand as we splash along through the water. My attempts at taking photo's underwater are hilarious and Simon delights in making me laugh which fills my mask with water. We see a small shark and some really large fish under the boat. It's amazing.
We get dropped at Green Island which we decide is far less interesting than snorkelling so we head back out to the boat and go in again. You may call us typical Brits at this point as we dived back into the 21 degree water after declining wet suits! We swim around for the full time allowed as the Australians and the Dutch get back on the boat - just us and the Irish couple are merrily still swimming around at the end.
We head back inland watching the odd whale appear in the distance as the skipper steers the boat with his feet. Then it's back on the flight to Sydney where Simon leaves for the UK tomorrow. Boo hoo!
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