Jun 16 - of crocs

Started the day with mossman gorge - a jolly old aboriginal guy performed a welcome smoke ceremony and showed us the tribal ways.

Onward through a scenic gorge walkway - beautiful cascading waterfalls and lush greenery. A couple of brave souls even took a dip in the water.

Onward to Daintree rainforest - an interesting display of plant and animal life all struggling to survive , reach the sunlight , mate - through all means available. Leaves growing half bitten looking leaves to deter insects, plants growing thin tendrils with thorns to attach on to bigger trees to reach the sunlight, the king fern - biggest fern worldwide , leaves with hooks at their tips , trees branching at only the top.

Moving on to cape tribulations and Alexandra lookout - points where mt cook had a troubled time making towards across the Great Barrier Reef.

The crocodile cruise across the Daintree river lived up to expectations - caught sight of a lovely crocodile tailing us through most of the trip. Another croc was seen sunning himself on the river banks. A third was feeding on a rotten wild pig carcass by trying to bite it into pieces.

Culminated the day by signing up for skydiving... 

June 15 - of the Great Barrier Reef

It was one of those tropical days - it rains for a bit and then the sun comes out. Was a thrilling boat ride out to the reef. The sun decided to stay out for a bit - we got into our wetsuits and jumped right in. There was this awesome guide called ken ( a Korean girl) who took us around and pointed the various fish. Nemo, Wally, wobbegong, unicorn fish and tons more colorful fish - all not carrying a whit about us folks in the water with our cameras. 

Had an awesome cold lunch ( a pleasant change from the lousy meals in the past). Followed by another snorkeling trip at a point further down the reef. 

Beautiful day - beautiful world below the water. Peaceful , serene and stunning. 

June 14 - of pondering on a travel day

Jun 11-13 - of the pleasure of sailing and the wrath of weather gods

Some impressions
- a more pleasant crowd compared to Fraser
- better food, it's important :)
- almost snorkelled
- a lot of sitting around watching the waves toss the boat around
- rain and wind slashing away unrelentlessly
- sleeping under the stars but there was a tarp in the way to lee is dry of course. Not to mention the clouds
- great music - lots to catch up on
- lots of Germans everywhere
- lovely beach - had a quiet spot on the rocky side of the beach all to myself. Still couldn't help keep looking over my shoulder
- day trip would've been fine
- was fine mostly but for some nausea inside the cabin occasionally
- got a new bikini finally
- updated my blog
- airlie beach - just another beach town

June 8-10 - of camping in the biggest sand island in the world

A few impressions:
- dingos looked cute but they say don't go by the looks
- 4wd driving on sand and rough terrain sounded good until they mentioned manual gears uh oh
- vegetarian meals comprise of frozen burgers for all 6 meals
- wading through the tea tree oil creek was cool
- always one female who has all boys around her little finger
- lake mcknenzie was beautiful but was too cold for me to go in
- champagne pools were bubbly and frothy as expected. A rocky enclosure being pounded by waves at high tide to create the 'champagne' feel
- camping turned out to be not so fun thanks to the bush rats who chewed off our clothing
- was envious and not of youth at the same time
- met a 29 yr old who was terrified she was missing out on youth, some perspective
- was a bit longer than it needed to be - and expensive for the  quality of service.
- still restless