Day 18: Cairns

After four days in Port Douglas it is time to fly back to our friend's home in Buderim, about an hours drive North of Brisbane.

Before we went back to the airport in Cairns we had time to visit the Esplanade area of Cairns.  We found a really nice shop selling gelati, ice-cream to you and me. I had raspberry and white chocolate, oh yes!

Fortunately Mrs B didn't get any photographs of me eating my ice-cream but let me tell you it was scrummy.  :-)

When we were flying back we manged to spot some of the Great Barrier Reef through the window.  The colour of the sea was just amazing.  I'm sure Mrs Brooks and Mrs Kelly would be able to tell me the exact shade!

Day 17: Port Douglas

After the excitement of seeing salt water crocodiles yesterday we decided to have a leisurely day exploring Port Douglas.  First of all we climbed up to the look-out point that looks out over the beach.  The monument in front of me has the mileage to lots of different cities around the world.

London is just over 15,000 km from Port Douglas.

The beach looked so inviting from the View Point that we decided to walk along it.  The beach was lined with Palm trees which gave the beach a very different look and feel from the beaches we visit in Great Britain.

If you look very closely at the photograph what can you spot that we have to buy in a shop?

Day 16: Daintree

I've been on yet another boat trip on a river but this afternoon I saw several crocodiles...gulp!

Here in Australia crocodiles live in rivers and the sea.  The one in my photograph is called Lizzie and she is a salt water croc.  I'm glad she was sleepy when we sailed past because salt water crocodiles are, apparently, quite ferocious. Luckily for us Lizzie was in a good mood!

Day 15: Sky Rail

I have just been on an amazing journey over the top of a rainforest to the Noth of Cairns and then travelled back through it on a the Kuranda Railway which gives some jaw-dropping views of the valley that we travelled over earlier this morning.

The Sky Rail is a cable car railway that takes you above the tree canopy of the rainforest.  It is in three sections that takes you high above and over the top of the rain forest.  The ride takes almost 90 minutes from the bottom of the mountain to the village of Kuranda at the top.

Once at the top we had some lunch and then took the train back through the valley and the rainforest. The ride was great and we saw lots of spectacular views including this one of a beautiful waterfall.

Day 14: Brisbane to Port Douglas

This is the third section of our holiday. We are flying from Brisbane to Cairns and then driving from Cairns to Port Douglas.  When you look at the map it is amazing to see how much of Australia we have visited.

I'm writing the first part of this post as we are flying on a Jetstar A320 plane. 

We hired a car a drove with with our friends to Potg Douglas where we are staying in an apartment for a few days.

I'm sure the best part of our adventure will be just as exciting as the last 14 days.

Day 21: Off Roading

Wow, what a way to finish a fabulous holiday! Today I've been off-roading in a 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser in a special 500 acre off roading site deep in a forest.

Mrs B and her friend went out to meet some other girl friends for lunch whilst I went off-roading. I've taken lots of videos which I will upload when I get home in about 24 hours time. I've never been off-roading before...it was exhilarating. Some of the hills that we drove up and down were so steep I thought the car was going to topple over.  On one of the hill climbs one of the front wheels comes off the ground. Great fun.  :-)

If you ever get the chance to have a go...grab the opportunity with both hands, you will not regret it. 

Day 19: Maloolaba

Only two more days before we have to start our long trip back to Drakes Broughton.

The sun was shining so we decided to visit Maloolaba. We decided to walk along the beach up to the marina. I didn't realise how far it was, but fortunately I tracked how far we walked with my phone, 4.5 miles!  We decided that because we had walked so far we deserved a gelati.  I had a Mars Bar flavoured one this time.

Some of the houses, and boats that border the marina are huge.  Much bigger than our houses in Worcester.

We then walked to the other end of the beach and found a sheltered, sunny spot to eat our lunch looking out between two trees at the Pacific Ocean. Bliss. :-)