Australia pt. 3 - Northern Queensland

After dropping the hire car off we took a bus trip 4 hours north to Townsville. We spent a couple of days here lazing about in the sun and walking up the 290m Castle Hill before spending 3 days on Magnetic Island, cycling, koala spotting, bush walking and kayaking. Kasia will be fit enough for an ironman by the time this trip is over :D

We then collected another hire car and have been in Mission Beach, just south of Cairns for the last couple of days.

Yesterday we went white water rafting on the Tully River which was fantastic though a bit hairy in places. The river is fed from a hydroelectric plants dam high above the Tully Gorge and with all the rain they've been having recently, the flood gates have been opened. This meant that there was plenty of water, plenty of boats going upside down and plenty of soakings. :) The most suprising part was how much Kasia enjoyed it. I was expecting a kicking at the end for talking her into it!

Today has been spent bushwalking in rainforest (yet again), looking for the elusive Cassowary (a 2m tall flightless bird capable of killing a man with its massive claws if it's pissed off enough). Unfortunately the nearest we got was a pile of fresh Cassowary poo and the glimpse of a crocadile tail as it scuttled off into the bushes. I'm sure we'll have more joy at the wildlife park we're going to tomorrow. :)

We're off to Cairns this weekend, hopefully for another visit to the Great Barrier Reef, before flying 6hrs over to Perth in Western Australia. The rain season has begun up here so it should be a but less wet down there. We've also planned the rest of our stay in Australia... After 3 weeks in a campervan around WA we fly over to Adelaide, drive the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne, then pop over to Tasmania where we'll be over xmas. It's then a matter of a few days back in Sydney for New Years Eve before we head over to New Zealand at the beginning of January. Should be a good trip :)

Hope everyone of you are doing well and the european winter isn't too harsh yet ;)

All the best.