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Tom C-B's Travels 2006
Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhhh!!! My last entry in Oz - what a momentous occasion. I shall try to make it a gem for you, so here goes...
WEDNESDAY
We woke early today as we had to check out and be ready for our pick up by 7:40am, but we were superbly organized and ran a smooth operation right up to breakfast time. With free breakfast taken care of, we waited for our minibus that was to take us on our day trip up to Cape Tribulation.
We departed the hostel on time and were at the Daintree River before 10 o'clock. There we had free tea, coffee and biscuits, and then embarked on our 'croc cruise' along the river. We were lucky enough to spot three crocs in their wild habitat, and our boat driver kept us otherwise entertained with a grizzly story about an unfortunate bull mastiff that fell (no pun intended!) foul of one of the crocs! With our appetites for croc-hunting satisfied, we were dropped off on the other side of the river and got back on the bus to drive to Cape Tribulation.
There we dropped off the people who were staying overnight, and got our lunch, which was included in the price of the trip. After lunch we headed back via a bush walk, swimming in the freezing pristine waters of Mossman Gorge, and Port Douglas. We arrived back at our hostel to collect our bags, and then got the bus into central Cairns to go to our new hostel. We checked in, pretty exhausted by this time, but were spurred on by free dinner at the Irish pub round the corner from our hostel. After dinner, Kim went to bed as she was feeling under the weather, and I went to Gilligan's with Will and Catherine to watch the State of Origin game. Just before 10pm I ran round the corner to the Woolshed before they started charging $5 for entry. Met up with Paul, Danny, Marie and Matt there for a few social ones, then swiftly headed for bed before I fell asleep standing up!
THURSDAY
(the internet café is closing so I'll fill this in tomorrow during our 5 hour wait at Sydney Airport!)
Back again... no chance to fill it in at Sydney Airport as the internet was $8.50 an hour and I bought a good new book, so here I am with my maiden update from Thailand.
Anyway, on thursday, we had planned to go and see Kuranda, a small village on the outskirts of Cairns which apparently had very quaint little markets and a nice walk to the Barron Falls. We hopped on a bus at about 10am and found ourselves sitting in front of Will and Catherine, so decided to stick together for the rest of the day.
We got there and strolled around the various markets sampling honey, exfoliating our hands, and souvenir shopping until lunchtime, when we went over to the green to watch the festival that was taking place. It was in celebration of the Aboriginal culture, so there were tribal dances and traditional food stalls galore. We indulged in the traditional cuisine before trekking off to the Barron Falls, about a 3.5km walk away. We found that flip flops weren't exactly the ideal walking shoe, but eventually we got there for some photo opportunities and a bit of a rest. We then headed back towards Kuranda and waited for a bus back to Cairns, watching the festival slowly draw to a close and the village of Kuranda quietly emptying of people.
When we got back to Cairns Kim and I started to pack our bags in preparation of tomorrow's early departure, and, with that done, went out for our free dinner at PJ O'Brien's. After dinner Kim went souvenir shopping and I went to meet up with Paul, Danny, Matt and Marie at the cinema. We watched Superman Returns, which was decent enough, and then said our goodbyes before I returned to the hostel. Kim was just adding the final touches to her packing as I walked into our room, and it was not long afterwards before we were both tucked up for 4 hours of sleep!
FRIDAY
Started at 3:30am and we were out of our hostel by 4:15, and in a cab to the airport by 4:25! We checked in our luggage and sat in the pokey departures lounge at Cairns Airport.
Caught our flight to Sydney, and sat out the 6 hours before our flight to Bangkok. Flight to bangkok all went swimmingly, and we pitched up at our pre-booked accomodation, the Sawasdee Banglumpoo Inn, at about midnight. A quick shower later and we were in bed eager for the new adventure to begin.
SATURDAY (today)
Woke up in time for the free breakfast, and quickly jumped on the cheap internet to give you guys a heads up! Off now to explore Khaosan road and other stuff so chat to y'all later...
Ciao ciao
xxx
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