March 16th (Wednesday) - Today: Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, Port Douglas & Cape Tribulation

March 16th (Wednesday)

We arrived in Cairns through torrential rains at times not only was there no visibility but the rain was coming in through my door - I went through many towels trying to save me and the inside of the car:

Of course we had to detour and take a picture of the "big mango":

This is the view of the water from my window - the highways were flooding and I was panicked.  When we left the last town all the signs were green that meant all the highways were open.  In the midst of our tour towards Cairns the highway got closed down and we just missed the roadblock:

Trying to get some pictures of the damage from the floods and cyclones in Innisfail - it was unbelievable:

You can't really tell but this was a banana field that was completely destroyed:

March 17th (Thursday) & March 18th (Friday)

We have been spending lots of time around Cairns at the local lagoon.  It is really shallow and warm (deepest it gets is to your shoulders).  If we aren't at the lagoon we are then hitting up the local shops - trying to relax and enjoy our last few days.

March 19th (Saturday)

Brent was gone on a diving tour for the last 3 days.  Josh and I booked a snorkelling 1-day adventure to the Great Barrier Reef.  It was a great time and we met a couple from Grand Prairie who we ended up spending the day with.  In the evening we went on an Ultimate Party pub crawl - it was tons of fun and Brent has lots of great pictures from it (try posting some later): 

Sexy suits to protect us from the jellyfish (in our first dive spot I seen 3 while I was getting off the boat):

March 21st (Monday)

Brent's last night in Cairns - had to go out for an excellent mud crab meal (Josh got steak ;)

Josh and I headed up to Port Douglas (spent a few days there) and then took the ferry over to Cape Tribulation (where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier reef):

Crocodile Tour:  Can you see the crocodiles?

Josh at our Cape Tribulation beach hut:

The beach at Cape Tribulation that you aren't allowed to swim in because of the large number of jellyfish:

Scenery from our beach hut to the ferry:

Crocodile Adventure #2 (we seen a couple birds and that was about it):

Sea Temple Hotel in Port Douglas (cheaper than most standard hotels back home):

What to do at night when your room opens up onto the pool - of course go for a midnight swim:

The lagoon going around the hotel that connects with the pool - grab and drink and go for a float:

March 24th (Thursday)

We were very happy to have finally sold our car last night (today is Friday) at 9:00.  Today we are going to hit the lagoon, do some shopping and celebrate that the car is gone.

We have had an amazing time and met lots of wonderful people.  We are extremely grateful for the Randall's and the McNeil's for their friendship and kindness during our trip.  We hope that we can return this one day when hopefully someone will come to Canada.  It was a fantastic 4 months and truly was a trip of a lifetime!

This is our last blog entry - we are going to enjoy the sunshine for our last few days and will be flying home on Monday.  We arrive at the Regina airport at 9:45pm.  We are extremely excited to get back home to see our friends and family and to get back to our normal routines.

March 8th (Tuesday) - March 15th (Tuesday) : Fraser Island (World Heritage Listed) & Whitsundays

March 8th (Tuesday) - Hervey Bay

The Fraser Island tour came out to a great start - we met with our group (2 girls from Winnipeg & 2 girls from France).  We went and bought our groceries and got prepared for the next 3 days.  .

March 9th (Wednesday) - Ferry to Fraser Island

Brent was the one to head us out on our adventure to the ferry - he came screeching around the round-a-bout at top speed and we almost lost all of our cameras out the window ;)  We made it safely to the ferry and were on our way. 

Once we reached the island we toured some of the natural rainwater lakes and made it to our base camp.  We were fortunate that we had tents, kitchen and bathroom facilities.  Lots of the other tours had to use a shovel when they needed to use the washroom.  The main concern we had was the amount of dingoes not only on the island but in the camp (we were warned they are very agressive if you are caught alone - a few years ago a boy and his family were having lunch and the boy went a couple feet away from his parents and was taken).  At night there would be a handful surrounding the camp - we definately went in groups to the bathroom. 

March 10th (Thursday) 

The weather throughout our journey was off and on.  We had a great time though - with Brent yelling out occasionally "IT"S A PARTY, EVERYONE"S INVITED, BRING YOUR KID'S".  We have been out of Canada to long to have seen this commercial and everyone else thought we were crazy (On our way to Airlie Beach to catch our next tour it all came out - Josh, "Brent why were you saying it was a party the whole time - yah we were having a good time but did you have to yell it out constantly".  Then Brent realized that no one has seen the newest A&W commercial.  Thank goodness everyone is travelling up the coast and we have kept in touch and could explain his behaviour :)

We had tons of fun with the other groups (6-8 people per vehicle and 4 vehicles).  Josh got tired of me being the back seat driver ;) and pulled over on the beach for me to take over (reminder: manual transmissions)  Thankfully my driving lessons with Georgie and at the farm payed off.  It was smooth driving and all the girls were supportive.  Of course Brent was constantly asking for me to stop because he needed to go to the bathroom, drink, etc ;) I didn't stall, made it over rocks without popping any tires and through raging rivers without getting swept away - I think I'm ready to upgrade to a grain truck when I get home ;)

Rainforest Walk:

On our walk down to one of the lakes:

S.S. Maheno Shipwreck:

Our crew:

Our Yute:

Blowholes:

March 11th (Friday)

Finally we had a nice hot sunny day.  We visited Lake Mc Kenzie before heading back to the ferry.

Once we returned to Harvey Bay we headed out on the road to drive as far as we could towards Airlie Beach (10 hours).  

March 12th (Saturday)

We made it to Airlie Beach in the evening - just in time for our next tour to the Whitsundays early the next morning.

March 13th (Sunday) - March 15th (Tuesday): Sailing on the Whitsundays

The weather was terrible on the Whitsundays.  It was cold and rainy for the majority of the trip.  It was so rainy that we only went snorkelling twice (Brent never even went diving once) because it  made the water soo cloudy. 

We at least made the best of it and huddled in our bright orange rainsuits drinking beer and goon (5L of wine you can buy in boxes for $10).  I was well prepared after getting so seasick in Punta Cana that I was popping motion sickness pills before we even left land.  Josh and I were the only two people out of 20 who did not get sick through the journey.  Some people were so bad that they had to sleep on the deck. 

One of the two nights we took the dingy to Hook Island (a resort and bar) and visited with some of the other groups and played games.  It was a lot of fun until it came to taking the last group (us) back to the boat.  It started to downpour and the dingy was overloaded (9 of us when there should be 6) so we kept flooding the boat.  We survived and celebrated by singing and visiting on board.   

After we left port Josh was put in charge of steering the boat (Pete the captain in the background).  

Unrolling the sail:

Brent in his stinger suit - you had to wear a stinger suit whenever going into the water because the jellyfish are so bad:

Hook Island bar:

Josh and Brent decided to brave the waves - they were completely soaked by the end with all the waves coming over:

Whitsunday Beach lookout:

 Beautiful sunset:

Stina and I getting ready to jump in:

Our roomy accommodations:

March 18th^th (Friday)

We arrived in Cairns on the 16^th (Wednesday) minus the flooded roads (next blog ;) and Brent went on a 3 day diving trip and will be back tomorrow.  We are going snorkelling tomorrow and we all have a few more adventures planned (this will be our next blog).  We have spent the last few days closing down our bank accounts and trying to sell the car since our time is coming to an end.  We are going to miss our adventure in the land down under but are excited to come back home.