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Banana Land!
So, we've done a fair amount since we last updated!
We spent 4 weeks working on a banana farm in Innisfail which was a lot longer than expected, especially after the 1st few days when we thought we'd only last a week. Innisfail was a fairly uninspiring place, filled with working backpackers and crocodiles in the river. Luckily we got to work in the packing shed and managed to avoid paddock work which seemed impossible due to torrential downpours (1st two weeks) and severe humidity and blazing sunshine (2nd two weeks). It was still physically hard work and also mentally tiring (only 9 hours to go...) but we survived and managed to make up for the work misery at the weekends with punch parties (kids swimming pool, lots of vodka) and in the local, very dodgy club. The olnly major upset was when I fainted at work and ended up with a very battered and cut face!
When we'd finally finished with the bananas (I still hate them) we headed straight back to Airlie Beach for a 2nd attempt at a Whitsunday trip. This time the weather was perfect and we spent a day sailing round the islands on a very choppy sea in a rather small boat! Craig got a bit seasick but recovered enough for our 1st attempt at snorkelling. I found it quite difficult at first as I'm not really at home in deep water but once I'd got the hang of it it was fantastic. Craig was really good and saw more coral and fish than me but what I did see was beautiful. We then sailed round to the amazing Whitehaven Beach for a BBQ, sunbathing and lots of splashing around in the clear, warm sea. We practically had the beach to ourselves: pure bliss. The highlight of the day was when a turtle swam by our boat and popped his head up to say hello.
Into the Tropics
The dry tropics of Townsville was our next stop and we spent a few days having BBQs by the beach, walking a lot and trying not to pass out from the heat. Not many people seem to stop in Townville, it's more of a passing through place for Magnetic Island, and we did find it a little bland compared to other towns. One evening we did a walk to the top of a big hill which overlooks the town and Magnetic Island. We found it really funny that half the town seemed to be exercising by walking up it, all in their swanky training gear and timing themselves, while we did it in flip fliops and beach wear and sttill made it to the top before most of them!
The boat trip to Magnetic Island was rough to say the least - think very old rollercoaster at Blackpool. The island was lovely, great scenery and a top beach where we stayed (in log cabin dorms) at Horseshoes Bay. As well as relaxing on the beach we did the Forts walk which took us up to an old WWII gun and observation place and had gorgeous views of the rainforest and beaches below. We also saw our first wild koala having a snack up a eucalyptus tree.
After a few days chilling out and trying not to get sunburnt or stung by deadly jellyfish, we took a bus to Mission Beach where we stayed in a gorgeous homely hostel and spent our time either dripping in sweat or dripping from the bucket-like rain (well it is the wet season). The beach was beautiful but pretty useless (deadly jellyfish and crocs patrol the sea!).
Humid, Humid, Humid!
Through bad planning we found we had 8 days in Cairns, a long time in a city which is dedicated to tourism and not much else. However we did manage to find a great hostel which gave us free meal vouchers every night for a local pub (not bad food either) and also held regular free cheese and wine nights! We've not really spent much time in Cairns itself although we have wondered round the night markets a few times, visited the Botanic Gardens and had a day trip to Kuranda (village in the rainforest) and the massive Barron Falls; we've just found it a bit too touristy and backpacker orientated.
On our 2nd day we took a trip to the Great Barrier Reef where we snorkelled for hours and saw some incredible coral and fish. Unfortunately the coral had been damaged quite a bit and we didn't get to see any turtles or sharks, all an effect of the masses of people who visit everyday. We also got an intro dive included in the trip. I spent the entire day and night before terrified about doing it and only managed 5 minutes in the water before the fear overcame me and I got out - I'm definately more of a snorkeller! Craig got on really well and spent half an hour up to 10m under water playing with the fish.
Tsunami Alert!
Whilst in Cairns we also took a trip up to Cape Tribulation, where Captain Cook first landed. We had a fantastic trip full of activites with two excellent but extremely talkative guides. We began with a swim in Mossman Gorge then visited a wild sanctuary to see some crocs. We also stopped in Port Douglas (very swanky resort town), did a mangrove boardwalk in the Daintree Rainforest and had a croc spotting trip on the Daintree River. Funnily we only spotted a couple of small ones on the trip but when we crossed teh river on the car ferry we saw a massive 6 footer swimming around.
We stayed in Cape Tribulationf or a couple of nights which was stunning. The beach was perfect as was the weather. We did a walk to the summit of Mount Sorrow whcih saw us scrambling up and dpwn steep tree routes and sweating buckets in the intense humidity for nearly 9 hours, but the view and incredible rainforest was worth it!
On our final morning we were woken by a German girl yelling htat a Tsunami was coming and we had to evacuate! Thinking it was a late April Fool's we weren't too panicked until we went to reception where everyone was watching the news; an earthquake had struck the Soloman Islands and had created a Tsunami which could potentially hit the part of the coast where we were. The entire village was evacuated up a small hill where we waited, not really knowing what was happening, until we received the news that we were safe. We had a bit of a a fright that morning!
SE Asia
Today it is exactly 7 months since we left home and is also the last day of TWOT! We're going out tonight to celebrate with a free champagne night at one of the bars and a big steak! Tomorrow I fly to Singapore to meet Andy where we're going to spend 2 months travelling through Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, and will return on May 31st. Craig is flying to Sydney on Saturday where he's going to work for a while and decide what's next!
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