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.