Ahhhh.... and we've arrived on the east coast of Australia, sun, sea, surf and sand here we come!! This was a place of activities en masse! The Queenstown of New Zealand with an Australian flavour! River rafting, hot air ballooning, snorkelling The Great Barrier Reef, bush walking, seeing a place where the rainforest meets the sea and riding the 'jungle surf'!

River Rafting on the Tully River - This was fantastic! This river went up to level 4 (level 6 is the highest you can do commercially, with 6 being the base of the Niagara Falls!). The river was very rocky, and so we had to be able to manouver our raft in the water. So much fun!! And we all managed to stay in, except when our guide individually threw us out! A top day out! We had a fab group, including as few who were 'off sick'!!

Hot Air Ballooning - This was also done through Raging Thunder, but a lot slower, too slow!! After the initial 'wow' of being up in a hot air balloon over the tablelands (at very early o'clock!!), and seeing the fruit plantations way down beneath us, i sadly felt I had seen it all. It was a half hour trip and we just seemed to see the same things over again. However, i am glad that i did it once in my life. We returned to a champagne breakfast which was good!

Fitzroy Island - A return transfer to the island was included in the price with the river rafting and hot air balloon ride. Another beautiful island, although not an ideal day for snorkelling as the sea weed hasd just released its sperm and so there was a mist over the water! No sea weed babies for me! I spent the day relaxing here, eating potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce (an Australian specialty!), with a gorgeous view!

Snorkelling - Succesfully this time! I apologise for the picture of me in the wetsuit, but it keeps me amused anyway! I got called a 'puntured tomato' by a friend who has left my Christmas card list as a result!!! The first suit i was given was worse, it had a hole in an 'inconvenient' place! Anyway, once the wetsuit drama had ended, i decided to give my snorkelling gear a test. Last time i tried snorkelling (with the manterays in Coral Bay), i had a horrible experience that left me gasping for air, literally, so this was my big brave experience! One of the guides took me under his wing, and helped me put my face in the water and get used to using the equipment. It seems like baby steps, especially when i can swim well, and am not afraid of the water! But it just seemed really unnatural to be breathing under water like this. Within seconds i got used to it, and i was now ready to take on The Great Barrier Reef! Feeling proud of myself, i went exploring from our pontoon. It was absolutely amazing! I saw the most amazing fish and coral. No picture can ever do it justice. We saw clown fish (Nemo!) and Dori too! I also got the chance to stroke 'Wally' a huge 'rubber-lipped' wrasse! I took loads of photos with my underwater camera, and as soon as i get them developed i will load them onto my site. There's only one downside to learning to snorkel in The Great Barrier Reef... nothing else can compare.

Glass Bottom Boat - Also on the snorkelling tour, we were able to take trips on the glass bottom boat, and go down into the semi submarine. Brave Snorkeller Rups decided to see what new things were out there... Unfortunately she felt so sea sick that she had to ride on top deck, in the company of others' pitiful looks. Great. Moral of the story: Learn from past experiences, chances are you'll get sea sick if you don't!!!

Tjapukai Cultural Centre - Dip and i decided to treat ourselves amd came here for evening entertainment of traditional Aboriginal dance and to gain first hand experience into ther culture. Dinner was an added bonus! The night started off really well, with a dance ritual which they involved all of us in. Later, we headed insde for dinner which was so good! However, it was accompanied with western -style dancing and singing. It just didn't seem to fit the occassion. The night ended with Dip and I waiting ages for a bus while it was getting dark. Half an hour later an our bus fnally arrived Good thing they saw us, otherwise apparently they usually zip straight past our stop!

Cape Tribulation - What an amazing place, and a population of only 40, two of whom i met on the coach ride up! One of the guys, not much older than me had moved there recently, into a house that was owned by an eccentric man who had single shoes hanging from his outside fence... and so now it has become a quirk of the small village, and even some tour buses drive past his house so people can click away! The other man i met ran the local fruit farm tours, which i really wanted to take (i love my food!) but was unable to make it. Instead however, i managed to do the informative 'jungle surf' ride. This is series of 5 zip wires through various levels of the rainforest. We did one in pairs, 3 alone and the last one upside down!!! Real Tarzan business!!! Cape Tribulation is also one of the few places in the world where the rainforest meets the sea, with only a few meters of beach when tide is out! It was amazing to see!