The East Coast Finale!

Hello from a lovley and sunny Cairns!

Well this week hasnt been quite as i had originally planned, but nevertheless its been great. Im so pleased that we took the decision to fly, the road only opened yesterday and i cant imagine to begin the back log of people at both ends of the road who couldnt afford to fly. It is also a much needed relief here as well, although the rain hasnt been as bad as around the Townsville area there has been no way to get supplies to the supermarkets, so there has been no fresh food all week and the shelves are getting barer by the day. So im pleased to be fly to Darwin tonight, although im sure things will get back to normal here now the road is open.

Cairns is ok, its not the greatest place i have been so far but has actually been a good base for things to see and do and we have been staying in the most lovely hostel which always makes things a bit easier. http://www.dreamtimetravel.com.au/index.html

Although this one maybe too homely, if thats possible and some mornings i have woken and thought i was at home (the bed is that comfy!). The staff have been really friendly here and the whole place just has a very chilled vibe, with a great kitchen (such a rarity on the east coast) and a great lounge area and room. I like hostel life, although you never seem to get a good room and a good lounge, its always one or the other, but this place has both, bonus!

So putting aside a couple of days of r and r we went up to Cape Tribulation for the weekend (as you do!) and it was brilliant! The rainforest was full of life during this 'wet' season and we did some great walks. Cape Trib is home to the oldest rainforest in the world and is wher the Great Barrier Reef starts. Interesting fact, its called Cape Tribulation as good old Captain Cook came into trouble here, when his boat ran aground, so the bays along this coast are named, sorrow, doubtfull, tribulation...i think we get his thinking! I had my first 'accident' of the trip, i fell over crossing a creek, the road was flooded and we werent sure how to do it without getting wet. It turns out i needn't have worried, i got soaked as i slipped on some moss and gained some pretty impressive war wounds too, (like dad said...no need for a tattoo now ;-) ) but fear not im ok and at least there was no wildlife lurking....

We also went on a croccodile cruise along the Daintree River. Our first experience of crocs here and they are pretty massive and powerful animals. Unfortunatly our trip was overshadowed as on our way up crossing the river (just by ferry) a little boy had been taken by a croccodile just 30 minutes before we got there. Apparently this is a very uncommon experience, the little boys parents run one of the croccodile cruises and he was on the edge of the river (tide was really high that morning) with his brother and dog. sadly the dog went into the river and the little boy followed and into the mouth of the croc. It was pretty stomach churning, the helicopter was hovering as we got there and all the rescue workers. Sadly he hasnt been found. That made our cruise on Monday slightly upsetting, but the guide spoke a lot of sense, it was a tragic accident, but they are wild animals and the crocs dont diffientiate between kangaroos, frogs or humans.

Anyway, we still had a great trip and im really pleased that at least we got up there, it hardly rained and we got back to Cairns without any roads being closed due to flooding, bonus!

Yesterday we also went out for the day as it was Jen's birthday. We went to a small village set in the hills of the rainforest, 25km out of Cairns, called Kurunda. It was a really good afternoon out, it was a gloriously sunny day and very hot. We had a lovely lunch and just browsed the shops. Both Jen and I have been looking out for some idigineous art ever since we went to Uluru and hoped that over the next week at Darwin and for me in Broome we would find some really authentic and not just for the tourism market. We went into a really nice gallery at Kurunda yesterday, the paintings were very beautiful but very overpriced, you were looking at $800 plus. We just kept wondering and then came accross a local artist with a very small gallery. We got chatting to the guy, who was very passionate about the stories the paintings tell (i find that really interesting) and poor guy i think between us we ended up buying about half of his collection!!! They are beautiful and i am so pleased with the pieces i got. What was $500 down the road, i got for $0, which is just crazy. It has never been about the money, but it just shows what sort of cut these places. It was very special, we got them signed (and Jen got happy birthday on hers which is really cool!) and we now know that this old chap will benefit from his profits, which is great!

So it was such a great day, indigineous art in one hand and mango smoothie in the other, it was a moment when i thought life cant get much better than this! I was like the cat that had the cream! We then went out for dinner last night, which is just always such a treat and then went to a couple of bars although Cairns was very quite.

So today we are just getting a few odd jobs done and then we fly to Darwin this evening. After months together, Jen starts to make her journey home next Thursday. I will really miss her, i have never spent this amount of time with one single person and its been great. But its also really exciting as i then fly to Broome at the top of west coast where i am meeting up with a great uni friend, Kirsty and we are going down the west coast together, which im really excited about. This is where the real adventure starts, no one tends to travel the west and so its going to be great to do something a bit off the beaten track. It probably means there wont be as many blog updates, as i expect the internet to be expensive, but i will check in when i can.

So thats it really, I hope all is well with you and the weather (rain, snow, cold) is not causing too much chaos!

Have a good weekend, lots of love, E xxxxx