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GdAY fans!
Well surprise surprise, we have had another busy week! Hope you are all well and the rain isn't getting you down too much!
So we got to Cairns on Wednesday evening. Stayed at a hostel called calypso, was very tropical too. Had a BBQ buffet for $9 each, had speedy Internet, a double room and lots of info leaflets, what more could a Laura ask for!
Thursday we had to check out and into the YHA which we had already booked. Spent the day sunbathing by the lagoon in bright blue skies with temp up to 33 degrees. Unfortunately this was not the case when we left the hostel so had no swimmers, towel or suntan lotion. Therefore both got a little burnt, well i a little, Paul more so! He has the cheek to blame me, saying that i should have noticed more than him!! Cairns seems a fairly nice place, lagoon swimming pool is very nice which like Airlie beach substitutes the rubbish beach and sea. The main draw/only draw is the barrier reef and they do have lots of shops. Also they have lots of 18yr old aimed bars and clubs which are good if you're into that! So Thursday evening my friend Hilary flew in (my friend that i worked at Kings ITU with). She was to spend 6 of her 18 nights in Sydney in Cairns with us. So was very cool to see her and was very excited! That night we went to a the rhino bar with our free meal ticket, except i couldn't eat my slop and had to buy a meal! It was ladies night and the topless waiters were dishing out glasses of champagne, pity i don't like it. It was packed though and due to this were all hammered. Wasn't feeling the vibe though! Shared our 6 bedded dorm that night with 2 French weird older men. Hostel was nice though.
Friday morning Paul picked up our little car, a yellow Hyundai getz which we nicknamed the love bug. We drove to Cape Tribulation which is about 2.5 hours north of Cairns. This is the home of the oldest rainforest, the Daintree, we were told it is 150 million years old compared to The Amazon which is only 15million!? It is also where the rainforest meets the barrier reef. So stopped in Daintree village and went on an hours crocodile spying trip on the river with Lex the very Auzzie difficult to understand guide. He chucked bread into the water to show us the archer fish not telling us that there defense weapen is to suck water up and spit a jet pf water at their enemy. So they were quite good at it and got us by surprise, right in the face, funny and clever though!
So managed to see about 5 crocs, each sitting on the river bank as it is apparently too cold for them in the water, also saw some tree snakes. After our croc trip we headed north to Cape trib, also having to use a car ferry to cross the croc infested river. Got very excited as there were cassowary signs everywhere, these are said to be the most dangerous bird in the world and are a flightless bird that can grow as tall as a man, mainly black with red, purple and blue heads, didn't find any on our travels to PK'S hostel. When we got there we made ourselves lunch in the dirtiest most basic kitchen ever, was like camping in the jungle except our room had a roof of sorts! Got there and went jungle surfing, luckily the rain had stopped. Got taken up the mountain and put in these harnesses, we then swung along zip wires from tree to tree also upside down and was very fun. We then went for a walk along Myall beach, behind the hostel, looking for crabs!, sure it probably looks amazing in the sun! That night the jungle walk was booked up so just had dinner at the bar and was entertained by a giant moth, must have been about 60cm long!
Saturday we were meant to be going on a dive trip to the barrier reef but we were woken at 0630 by torrential rain, trip was cancelled however due to wind - not impressed! So we checked out of there and drove south, can't drive north as the road ends! Went to Cape Trib beach and to the point where the rainforest meets the reef. Were also looking out for the 'large' cassowary that a sign warned us about. Apparently he lives there and if you see him you shouldn't run but walk backwards shouting and clapping hands, didn't see him though! We then did a forest boardwalk before driving to Cow bay beach and on the way we saw.....a CASSORWARY! We were driving along a country lane and he was walking along the road, was obviously a bit freaked out by the bright yellow car and made a dash for the forest! Followed him in the car for ages trying to get a photo of him, was a bit too scared to get out of the car! We then lay on Cow bay beach and soaked up a rare appearance of the sun before driving to Port Douglas. Port is said to be a seaside hangout of the rich (and backpackers!) It was a nice little place with a street full of shops and restaurants and a 4 mile beach at the end, reminded us of Noosa. We had lunch at the iron bar in lovely sun before hitting the beach, unfortunately as we lay on the beach the sun went. Had come to expect nothing less of the tropics! Stayed at a hostel called Dougies, another cool hostel. Shared our room with a Melbourne/Chinese bloke called John who gladly told us he was a lawyer and thought he was a bit too good for the hostel game! However a 20 something who wears checked, towlin, buttoned up grandad pj's is not too cool in my book, funny though! We did however invite him to Cane toad racing which he declined! Cane toads were introduced to Queensland in 1935 to wipe out the troublesome sugercane beetle, this unfortunately didn't work and they bred prolifically. They now kill lots of native wildlife including crocodiles as when eaten are poisonous, therefore they are now used as golf balls or in pub races, although the humane way to kill them is to put them in the freezer. So back to the ironbar we went, the host was very funny and 5 people got picked out at random to race a toad. They had to pick it up and kiss it first before putting it into the starting bucket. It was hilarious, also due to the fact that each jockey had to blow party poppers in an effort to make their toad jump faster. The winner was the first to jump off the table and then be picked up and put into the winning pen by the jockey, great entertainment! Had dinner after that where us 3 scrooges shared a pizza which was actually very big and nice!
Sunday we went to the local market, it was absolutely huge and good fun. Then had lunch at the Castle hotel which was very nice. It had again rained in the morning but was just grey for the rest of the day. We then drove to Mossman gorge which is part of the Daintree national park. Was drizzling but did a lovely walk around the river and through the forest. Also saw our friendly lawyer friend John who was most surprised to see us! We then went for a very unsuccessful drive looking for roos which only resulted in Hilary becoming car sick! That night had fish and chips and I had PMT so wasn't much fun!
Monday drove to the port for our 0830 sailing out to the reef on our big boat Silversonic. We chose this boat as its meant to have technology to minimise the choppiness and eventual sea sickness! When we got on the boat we were advised travel sickness meds! It was so choppy that Hilary missed the first chance at diving the nausea was too bad to fill out the paperwork. Went to 3 dive sites, was worried about my ears as had trouble in Thailand but had dosed up on decongestants. Also woke with a very sore swollen throat but my ears worked well thankfully! Saw a stingray and nemo o9n the first dive, then the second saw more nemos and a turtle and then the 3rd more nemos! Our underwater camera didn't work which was very annoying especially since our Whitsunday's underwater photos of the turtle and batfish hadn't come out either! We were much better off diving than snorkelling as it was so choppy on the surface. Was very proud of Hilary as she had said she wasn't going to dive but did so on the 2nd dive site and saw the turtle and nemo and loved it. Neither of them did the 3rd dive site and instead went on a snorkel tour. They both said that that the swim back against the current nearly killed them, especially as swimming isn't Paul's forte! The journey back to land was even choppier but Hilary gave me lots of entertainment at her expense! The dive people were standing round with gloves on and sick bags just waiting!
We left the dive boat and drove back to Cairns passing a big field of roos that we stopped to see.
In Cairns we stayed back at Calypso and had the $9 buffet, I however had coco pops partly as I didn't like the buffet but mostly my throat was killing me and I couldn't swallow. Thought I was going to get the killer tonsillitis but over next couple of days got better. Tuesday we went and lay by the lagoon for the day and managed to get a few hours of sun eventually. That night I wanted to go to the casino but the others wanted a night in! Wednesday got the courtesy bus to the airport, our flight was at 1030 and Hilary's at 1100 so was handy. We changed in Brisbane which made the flight longer. Could see the barrier reef from the plane which was cool.
So now back in Sydney, flying out on Wednesday so will update you then. Have got our flights and itinerary sorted but haven't decided if I am going to let you all know!
So hope you are all well, pity about the you're poor weather but my tan is already fading too!
LOVE AND MISS YOU LOADS LAURA AND PAULXXXXXXXXX
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