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Right, O.K. looks like STA have been busy updating their systems and the result this new futuristic look, well kinda. Maybe now we are gonna have to collect some videos and post for ya, oh the possibilites!
O.K. so we have been in Cairns almost a week and now and man is this place hot. Completely different to the outback. Even though the outback was hotter, this place has incredible humidity and so we are sweating our butts off. Although the fact that in every dircetion you look there is a swiming pool which helps to soften the blow. When we first arrived in Cairns we continued our express trip around Oz by booking up a couple of things straight away, I really don't think we have stopped for breath since we left Sydney as we have done so much. First thing on the list was a scuba trip over the Great Barrier Reef. Now with our financial restraints we were considering maybe giving this a miss but we managed to get a pretty good deal and thought you only live once eh (dunno how many times we can keep telling ourselves that). The day we went out was pretty cloudy and so the coral was not at its best which was a little disapointing but this was all made up by the fact we swam with out first purple, sorry Linz, turtle! Man this was so cool it was unbelievable!!!! We went down on two dives and it was the first one where we bumped into this massive shelled dude. Our dive guide had told us before that if you fed the turtles this red seaweed that it kinda mellows them out and is kinda like marajuana to them!! So when we bumped into this fella we grabbed hands full of the stuff and fed him under the water. The turtle was loving it and was following us around eating out of hands. He so wasn't bothered by us being around him and we were able to rub his shell and Linz even managed to get a hug when he literally swam up into her arms and looked her in the face. After missing out in Thailand and Malaysia this was totally worth the wait and one of the best things we have done (again I keep saying that). As for the rest of the reef some of the coral was amazing and although the colours were not as bright as they could have been due to crappy weather, we totally apprecaite what a great place this was. Other things we saw when under were white tipped sharks, mantarays, eels and at one point we even put her hands in side giants clams, which was pretty minging I can tell ya. We bought an under water camera so there are some pictures of Mr and Mrs Grant Custoe exploring the deepths on the photo pages.
The following day we headed off on a tour up to Cape Tribulation, this was a two day thing with an over night stop at the Cape. The trip up to the Cape was pretty cool in itself as it was kinda like the journey on the Great Ocean Road as the road snaked in and out of moutains and along stunning coast line. On our way up we stopped off at the Daintree River where we took a crocodile tour. However due to the time of year (too hot) and the rain season, the crocs were either directly under the water or quite a way inland and so we only managed to see one little fella. Our guide at no consolation kept explaing that if we came a few months later we would have seen at least five 6 meter crocs, hmmm thanks mate! The place we stayed in was right in the rainforest and also directly on the beach so as you can imagine pretty nice. Having arrived we thought a good way to explore the area was if we hired bikes so off we set. We first stumbled upon this Bat Sanctuary place where they looked after injured fruit bats. They currently had two guys staying there, a female which had been there for about 15 years and a new baby recruit which had injured himself only a few months ago. These little fellas were pretty cute and when we left I literally had to drag Linz out and also stop her from emptying her bank account in the voluntary donation box, damn it Linz were on a budget here! After consulting the map we decided to head to this water hole about 4k's away, which considering we had bikes we thought we only take us a short while, we were totally wrong! The road to the water hole was over about 3 moutains and considering our general lack of fitness was absolute torture. The short of it was we evetually arrived after about an hour soaking wet and boiling to the core! Even with the threat of maybe a few croc's hanging about in the water we stripped off and got straight in. Now considering we were in the middle of no where we though why not go ahead and bath in our birthday suits. Just as we were about to get one with nature this 40 year old dutch guy wandered around the corner, phew lucky escape we though, although knowing the dutch i'm sure he wouldn't have minded and would have joined in, "for sure". We spent the evening and the next morning just lazing by the pool and on the beach, getting burnt in the process. One highlight was when one of the local Cassowary birds wandered by our resort. Now I had never really heard of these before but apparently they are the 3rd biggest bird in the world and are currently endagered, so to see one up close was pretty special. On the return leg back to Cairns we stopped off at another water hole in Mossman Gorge for a swim and then it was back. We loved Cape Trib and our currently in the process of seeing if we can get some work up there, I gotta call the guy in a minute so fingers crossed eh!
We have now been back in Carins for the last few days and have just taken it easy as felt like our trip was turning into a blur and we needed just a couple of days to chill and apprecaiate what we have been doing. Plus the fact Cairns has numerous bars and an amazing man made swimming lagoon right on the front, eased us into making this decision. We are now currently looking for work as funds are getting low and hopefully the next update will be of us working, funny when your hoping to work eh, but all these things cost money.
Hope your all well at home
Grant
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