Uncle Brian's Tour

The Friday before leaving Cairns, Kate and I went on the Uncle Brian's Tour of the Atherton Tablelands and surrounding area. It was a fantastic tour and the best I have been on so far. Anybody going to Cairns has to do it!! We got picked up in the morning by our guide Cousin Kai and the bus called Gus. Our first stop was a rainforest walk to Devils Pool and the Boulders Gorge. It was really interesting as we were told lots of facts about the rainforest.

We then went to Josephine Falls where we got to go for a swim and slide down some rocks. The only problem with this was that the rocks left our white bikinis in a bit of a mess!!! We then played a few games on the way to lunch and stopped for lunch at a tea shop which had amazing views.

After lunch we headed to what was my favourite stop of the day, Milla Milla Falls. This was a lovely waterfall which had a shampoo advert and Peter Andre's 'Mysterious Girl' filmed there. We went for a swim in the falls and I went behind the waterfall, it was a great experience.

We also got the chance to do some Gus Surfing which is trying to stand up in the isle as we drive round some sharp corners. We visited some other places to but Milla Milla was my favourite.

Photos will be posted once I reach Melbourne next week as the CD isn't working here.

Take care
xxxx

Up-date

Hi,

Just to say that I have arrived safely in Adelaide. Will post all my travel details at some point in the future but don't have the time at the moment.

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday emails and messages. They were greatly appreciated.

Happy Birthday to Murray on the 23rd, Charlotte on the 24th and Laura on the 25th. Gutted I'm not there to enjoy all your birthdays. I'll have a drink for you over here.

Anyway, now that you all know I am safe and well I am away to enjoy the World Fireman and Police Games here - men in uniform!!! ;) don't worry girls I will try and get photos for you, hehe.

Ok, take care and speak to you all soon.

Missing you
xxxx

I found Nemo and met Wally!!

Today I visited the Barrier Reef with Helen. We were both booked in for 1 introductory dive and I enjoyed it so much that I ended up doing 2!! However my 2nd dive I had to cut short as once we went from 9m down to 11m I had problems equalising and my right ear got quite sore - it is now 8.45pm and I am still slightly deaf in my right ear. Fingers crossed I will be ok tomorrow!! Unfortunately Helen wasn't feeling to well and so she went snorkeling instead.


I hired a digital camera from one of the local shops although I don't think i focused some of them correctly but here are some of them for you to enjoy. I did not zoom into any of these shots - this is how close we actually got. We could have gone closer but I was being a bit careful I think.


I managed to find nemo (although very small in this photo!):
Since checking my photos I have now realised I found nemo twice. The 1st photo above, I took of the lovely purple, I didn't realise nemo was inside it until I checked my photos after my guide telling me I had taken a photo of him! Oops!!


This is Wally, a huge friendly fish that loves to pose. Apparently if you don't pay attention to him then he will come up to you and push you until you do notice him. He was the one fish were were allowed to touch:
And a shark!:
Here are some random photos from the rest of the day:

Port Douglas

We had quite a quiet time at Port Douglas. We stayed at the Parrot Fish Lodge and spent the evening in the bar and restaurant there. On Monday we went for a walk up to a lookout overlooking 4mile beach. We also visited the harbour and spent some time by the pool there with Hannah, Claire and Helen. On our way back to Cairns we stopped at the Rex lookout.

The Cape Tribulation trip was great fun and we were very lucky with the weather. We had 3 days of lovely sunshine which is the best weather they have had there for weeks. Cape Tribulation only gets about 50days of sunshine a year!!

Once back in Cairns we had a relaxing day on Tuesday by the pool and had a wander around some of the shops. In the evening we experienced a night out in The Woolshed, the bar where all the backpackers hang out. It was a fun night although the next morning did not feel so good!!

Unfortunately Richard left on Wednesday to go back down to Brisbane, it was great to catch up with him. In the evening a few of us had a BBQ down by the Lagoon which was good fun.

Cairns and Cape Tribulation

Hi,

Well while sunbathing by the pool and the lagoon last week I eventually decided my plans for the rest of my travels. Will post these in a separate post later!!

Last week I spent a lot of time sunbathing and made a number of trips to the night markets. Even considered buying a didgeridoo to send home but thankfully came to my senses - where on earth would I store it!?!

On Friday night I met Richard (we did Business together at uni) off the bus and introduced him to the lovely Gilligan's hostel. We then headed to the Night Markets and had a Chinese meal there.

On Saturday we went on a trip up to Cape Tribulation, the rainforest north of Cairns. We stopped at numerous places on the way and unfortunately I cannot remember the names of them all!! Our first stop was for a morning swim in Mossman Gorge:

It was lovely and refreshing. We were able to let the current float us down the river for a bit as well.

Our next stop was at the sanctuary where we saw crocodiles, pythons and Cassowary birds.

After crossing the Daintree River on the ferry, the Alexander Range Lookout was the next place to stretch our legs. From here we could see the mouth of the Dantree River:

Throughout the rainforest there are signs warning drivers about Cassowary birds and also speed bumps. However the sign in the photo below has been modified by someone:

Our final stop before being dropped off at our accommodation for the night was a boardwalk around the rainforest. Here we saw a number of different vegetation. The strangest one was a tree which had started to grow half way up another tree and therefore it's roots had been wrapped around the tree from which it had grown on. That tree then died and has left the following root structure: Richard and I stayed at PK's Jungle Village for the night. During the afternoon we played volleyball in the pool with a number of others who we met in the bar later that evening for some games of cards.

On Sunday we walked up to a lookout to see Daintree Beach I think it was.It was such a hot walk up there that we decided the next best place to go was for a swim in a fresh water waterhole, so we headed to Mason's Swimhole. It was lovely and refreshing.

We then got picked up by our tour guide again and went on a cruise of along the Daintree River looking for crocodiles. We were really lucky and saw a little 1 yr old croc and also one about 2-3 years old. Try and spot one amongst these logs:

We also saw a frog which had decided to make the boat it's new home!

We also stopped at the Daintree Ice-Cream shop for an ice-cream before being dropped off at Port Douglas.