Sign, sign.....

The first photo is a favourite. There's a lovely national park, free admission, and the sign warns of unexploded ammunition in the area. The crest signs are found on top of some of the hills just in case you didn't notice you'd gone up a hill I guess. Kangaroo - lots of them, fortunately only one chose to hop across the road; tree kangaroos and cassawaries were shy, didn't see a single one of them. The roadtrain signs were found on the worst roads I've ever seen. Note the one showing the road - in the distance you can see the road narrowing and narrow it was so the sign with the car on a slant is quite accurate. You don't argue with a roadtrain coming your way.

And that brings the adventure to a close. Fond farewell to Chris who was a wonderful guide and host, joining me in so many activities that he really didn't want to do. A great sport, and a pretty good cook too.

everywhere a sign......

I'm guessing Electric ants are like fire ants, Trading sign = store hours, the legs are pedestrian crossing signs,and the last photo is a drive through liquor store, they call them bottle shops.

Beach signs

Nothing better than a friendly beach sign telling you of all the dangers lurking in the water and out of the water. Note their 911 number is 000; there are sharks, crocodiles and stingers; there's info on how to protect yourself from the sun and lots of "not allowed" things like naked flames. I assume if you dress your flame it would be allowed. Had a blonde moment when I first saw the S with a diagonal line through it (small white sign) - thought it meant it cost money to park here - for the rest of the "blondes" out there it means No Standing.

Just a wee bit o Trivia

Shopping trolleys = shopping carts
Stuff up = f*** up
Arvos = afternoons
Feeling crook = feeling sick                     suss out = figure it out
Rice bubbles = Rice krispies                    heaps and heaps = lots
Cyclones = hurricanes                              sanga = sandwich
strides = trousers                                       smoko = morning coffee/tea break

- Have to vote or get fined
- Left a popsicle stick on the coffee table - soon overrun by ants, millions of tiny ants.
- Left open lifesavers in beach bag at scuba class – millions of ants soon in my bag.
- Every time I got on a bus the driver was a different nationality
- Eggs in stores just on the shelves not in fridge
- Electrical outlets have on/off switches so you have to remember to flip the switch
- Water drains anti clock? Jury is still out on this – I’ve seen it go both ways.
- Drive on left side of road but no left turn on red
- Cairns Water Skiing park – you get pulled on a cable not a boat – very ingenious
- Bull bars on cars to prevent kangaroo collision damage, so why aren’t they kangaroo bars?
- 2 button toilets – a little water or a lot of water
- Australian bills look like Monoply money. Coins are 50, 20, 10, 5, no pennies any more
- Big hummingbirds but aren’t really hummingbirds just act like them
- fruit bats hang from the trees in downtown Cairns and make a heck of a racket, even during the day. Can have a wing span of up to a metre and are called flying foxes.

Prices: small bottle of Lipton ice tea 2.50; 1 Donut 1.50 or 2.50 if it has icing; Gas $1.33/litre
Coffee usually $3.50 – nothing resembling Timmies; Macdonald’s prices are close to ours

River Rat

Due to recent torrential rain and local flooding, not to mention the rivers rising at least 12 - 14 feet, all white water rafting had been put on hold for the last few weeks. I thought I'd lost the chance to prove that I could conquer the mighty Barron River in Cairns. Think again! Just 2 days before I head for home "Foaming Fury" decided to take the plunge. Needless to say I couldn't resist the challenge and Chris tried to but I dragged him along. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I booked a morning run where the brochure assured that the rapids were classed as 3. Wasn't until we were on the bus that the guide casually mentioned that due to the heavy rains some rapids had been upgraded to class 4 and yesterday rafts were overturning regularly. This caused the adrenalin to pump a wee bit harder and I started to question whether I would be boarding the plane home in 48 hours and Chris was questioning our sanity. Too late to back out - pays your money, takes your chances.

4 rafts, 6 tourists in each plus river guide. Got the best river guide - Luke (was cute too). The rafting was great, one raft tipped, pitching everyone into the raging river. We were following closely behind, rescued an oar which unfortunately didn't have a person attached to it. All's well that ends well and after a head count was taken, everyone was accounted for. 14 rapids, a raft full of water, a few close calls, a lot of "hold on, get downs!!" and a couple of near "man overboards" later we reached the sanctuary of Lake Placid (aptly named). My smart ass actions caused Luke to give me an absolute drenching - I was innocent, I tell you, innocent.

All in all a wonderful Easter Sunday morning, filled with heart stopping action aplenty. Much better than searching for Easter eggs. My 4th river run and certainly not my last.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

Much to my surprise, and maybe some of you as well, I am now a certified open water diver. The experience on the reef was great, despite the rough seas, a dream come true, a challenge completed. I got the best instructor (Dave) on the boat and a really great diving "buddy," Melissa from Denve. I got a really good cabin - top deck, with a view, albeit a choppy one, my room mate Judith was seasick most of the time poor thing. Food was good and plentiful, the crew professional and friendly too. The schedule was dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, sleep.

To all of you who encouraged me, I'd like to thank you for your vote of confidence, your words and thoughts were certainly most appreciated.

Goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

The cute little fellow is a 15' saltwater crocodile. The bird is a cassowary, 2nd largest bird in Australia, native to the tropical rainforest. These birds have a serious attitude problem and can kill you if provoked. The cutie in the 3rd picture is only 18 months old. It's a small zoo but has good demonstrations: birds, snakes, koalas, red pandas. Good way to spend a quiet afternoon. Tomorrow it's off to the reef for 3 days.

One of the 7 Wonders of the World - no it's not me

I cannot think of enough adjectives to explain how wonderful the Great Barrier Reef is. We took a trip (2 hours) out to the reef to get a taste of what will be waiting for me next week when I complete my dive certificate (cross your fingers). This has been the best snorkeling I have ever done. I can't list everything I saw. Highlights: giant clams, large parrotfish, many different varieties and colours of coral and the coral was alive! I'm sure some of you are wondering why a "Northerner" is wearing a wetsuit. The water was 28 C but they advised us to wear wetsuits in case of jellyfish. 

On the way back, Aussie fun. They drag a huge net behind the boat, gun the engine for a few minutes to see how many people or bikinis fall off. Was great fun.  They had a small boat to pick up stragglers.

Kuranda: The Village in the Rainforest

One of the most popular tours in Cairns is to visit Kuranda (www.kuranda.org/). You can get there by bus but the best way is to take the train up and the cable car down or vice versa. Was a rainy day but how fitting is that - to visit the rainforest in the rain. The train goes through 15 tunnels, has a lot of history. The skyrail skims over the top of the rainforest canopy and spans 7.5 kilometres. It takes about 45 minutes to complete a one way trip. There are 2 stops, one of them has a boardwalk so you can take in some of the rainforest close up and the other is at the Barron Waterfall. The tallest tree in the rainforest is the Kauri pine, up to 50 metres. Kuranda is a real tourist town, lots of shops. Bought an Aussie hat - dunkable, washable and "your best mate." Annabels pie shop sells the best meat pies in the world - the chicken one hit the spot.  I asked for cream in my coffee and got a blank look. Cream? in coffee? They brought out a 2 litre bottle of some kind of cream that I suppose they use in their baking and were quite surprised when I said pour it on in. Coffee is at least $3.75 a cup. When I tell people how cheap Tim Horton's is they're amazed and when I tell them it's a drive-through shop they're astounded. As surprised as I was when I saw a drive-through "bottle shop" (liquor store).

Barron Waterfall

Note: the train photo is mine, needless to say the cable car is not.

Diving Certification - Day 3

Normal people only take 2 days to do the classroom and pool but I'm "special" and took 3. I've finally got the mask clearing down to a science - removing my mask underwater, putting it back on and clearing the water out of it without choking. So now I'm committed (or should be committed to the nearest asylum) and will be on their boat for 3 days next week.

Remedial Scuba Class

Diving Certificate - Day 2

Well I'm still here, survived another day in the pool. They are determined to not refund my money so today they assigned a personal trainer. At 5:30 tomorrow I have to decide whether to complete the course here or put it off - have a year in which to do this. If anyone knows where I can finish this without having to go so deep - 18 metres!!!! please let me know.

Drowning in a Pool of Uncertainty

Diving Certificate Course - Day 1

8:30 a.m. check in - 17 nervous pupils from all corners of the world each with the hope of becoming a certified open water diver in 5 days time. Felt like being back in school but much more fun. Just want to mention that all the students are young enough to be my grandkids.
9:00 a.m. movie time followed by questions and more questions (100% correct in each of the 3 chapters we studied this morning). 4 hours later it was time for lunch for some of us - medicals for the others.
1:00 - 2:00 lunch - time to reflect - what the hell am I doing here???
2:00 Theory over, fun over, now to the practical. First up put all your gear together, knowing what to screw in where, what to tighten, what to turn on when; swim 200 metres, non stop, followed by 10 minutes of treading water. Damn near killed me.
3:00 - 5:30 Water fun - not. Clearing masks, learning signals, recovering and purging your regulator, breathing out of a regulator gone mad, taking off and putting on your mask under water, equalizing your ears, etc. If there was any opportunity of taking in water I took it, and was quite surprised to see that there was any water left in the pool when I got out.
5:30 - 6:00 Time to recap - do I go on with this self inflicted torture or pull the plug, take my money back and run? At this moment in time doing all these torturous things in the deep dark ocean is absolutely terrifying. One more day of classroom and pool antics and I'm sure my mind will be clearer, maybe.

Waterfalls

Ellinjaa

Millaa Millaa

Zillie

Millstream

Homeward bound via the scenic waterfall circuit on the Atherton Tablelands of Far Northern Queensland. Nature at its finest and would you believe none of these spectacular views cost one cent. Too bad we can't say the same in Ontario.

Kangaroos, kookaburras and tents

Undara experience is located in one of the many national parks of outback Queensland. Accomodations consist of a tented village, lodges and old railway cars transformed into deluxe suites. Kangaroos roamed freely and the occasional kookaburras were spotted as well as crows (who don't sound anything like ours), lorrikeets, and galahs. After campfire it was time for bed (why are those damn bathrooms always so far away?).

Like a Bat out of Hell

Wildlife at Sunset Tour is part of the Undara Experience. Low season for tourists meant passengers were few but entertaining. In particular 3 English policewomen and an Aussie driver/guide who insisted that his name Levi was just an alias.

As we drove from swampland through bushland while negotiating the most uneven road you would ever want to drive on the comments from our 3 English friends were getting dumber and dumber culminating in "what direction does the sun set here?"

First stop included sunset, champagne, OJ, fruit and cheese, followed by a very unique experience. We arrived at a lavatube just in time to watch 750,000 bats flying out in search of food. At the same time 5 or 6 venomous brown tree snakes were lurking in the trees for their evening meal. We were lucky enough to witness a brown snake catch a bat and digest it, thus leaving only 749,999 bats. Levi caught a Childrens Python (non-venomous) which we all took turns in handling except for the screaming Brits.

Driver, follow that kangaroo

275 kms southwest of Cairns lies Undara (outback Australia with a twist! http://undara.com.au/) and just getting there was half the fun. Winding roads (often disappearing into a single lane) fallen boulders, potholes, enormous termite mounds (right photo), not to mention a giant grey kangaroo that hopped across the road no less than 6 inches from the hood of the vehicle (honest - no exaggeration). What do you call something that's travelling towards you at a 100 km an hour, is as long as the Queen Mary, is as wide as a double garage and takes up the entire road? A roadtrain. Luckily the shoulders were conducive to last minute swerving and fast braking otherwise the roadkill, which is scattered everywhere would include us.