14th August

We all continued with the never ending job of trying to rid our cars and campers of the red dust that we had collected along the way. The afternoon was spent relaxing, swimming and sunning ourselves on the beautiful beach (again!!)


15th August

Today was the day of our next adventure and we were all a bit excited and couldn't wait for the afternoon. We spent the morning on the beach, had a quick lunch and headed of to Lake Placid for our White Water Rafting experience.

Our guide was a lovely Kiwi guy. He gave us a quick run down on what was expected of us and we were off. We paddled down the Baron River for a little bit until we came to the first bit of rapids. Some of us were a bit nervous but there was only one way down the river and that was forward.

One of the first things he told us was that holding on was optional!! Joe tested this rule and fell backwards into the water not long after we had started. We were all in hysterics but could see he was okay and I had to hoik him back into the raft.

We continued on down the river through a series of rapids (13 in total). It was sooo much fun and we have never laughed so much. We were able to get out and float down the river a couple of times where it was calm. It was an AWESOME adventure and one of the highlights of our trip.


16th August

We got up at 5am and headed off to Cairns where Marcus, Col, Wendy & Joe were heading off on the long awaited fishing charter. We stopped to get Macmuffins for breaky on the way and fed the incredibly hungry parking metres near the Marina and boarded the charter boat at 6.30am. 9 on board plus the Skipper and decky.

After the safety drill we headed out of the marina and headed north to the reefs. The smoker's were instructed to use the rear of the boat. There were 3 of them on board and we were ****** off about this because the back of the boat is always the best spot to fish. It was to be a 2 hour run out to the fishing spots. We got to know the others on board and chatted on our way out.

We were lucky enough to spot a Whale and its calf in front of the boat. We stopped and gazed in amazement at these majestic mammals. We continued onto the reef, all excited as to what would follow.

Around 8.30am we pulled up to our first fishing spot. Everyone opted to fish with rods except Wendy who grabbed a handline. The competition for the biggest fish started in earnest. We had all put $10 in the day before and we were all pumped to get the trophy. Joe was off to a good start catching the first fish, not a record breaker and only big enough to put back in as bait. The fishing was slow so we upped anchor and moved to another spot.

The new spot was ok as there was a few Coral Trout now being caught. Joe and Marcus caught a couple of nice trout and they were neck and neck for the trophy. Next thing Marcus hooks a monster and the tackle failed and Moby was lost. Joe also got his live bait bitten of by another Moby. Colin was working hard but was only bringing in little fish to chop up for berley. After another couple of moves Wendy, who was persisting with the hand line, pulled up a trophy wining Trout. She was ecstatic about her catch and the got the decky to take photos with her prize.

After eating our self serve salad roll lunch we continued fishing and trying new spots. We continued to catch an array of reef fish. A lot were small and were used as bait but there was also a few pan sized fish kept.

Around 2pm the fishing came to an end and we headed back to Cairns. The boys sat up on the flybridge and chatted with the skipper over a couple of beers.

Landing on the pier we were given our fish cleaned and cooled. At home we then filleted the fish ready for a big feed for dinner.

Our dinner was as awesome as it gets. Fresh Coral trout. There was also plenty left over for the next couple of days.

Ang & Jenny saw them off bright and early, made a cuppa and headed back to our beds for a read. After doing the domestic duties we headed down to Smithfield for some retail therapy and lunch. We had a great morning browsing all the shops and were more than happy with our purchases.

We drove to Yorkeys k*** and went to the boat club at the marina and had a couple of drinks on the verandah. It was very nice there. We headed back to Ellis Beach and spent the rest of the day on the beach.

The fishermen (and woman) got back to camp around 5.30pm. They had a successful day and brought back quite a few fish of different varieties.