We are back in Cairns for possibly the last time, having spent the last couple of days in Cape Tribulation.

After collecting Bruce from the garage (yes, he needed fixing already!) we loaded him up with our worldly possessions for the next year and headed north for some sun, sand and sea. Our tank made the journey fairly successfully whist we got our heads around the gas to petrol change over's and were soon back on the ferry across the Daintree. When we arrived at the campsite we managed to set up our tent in the shade of the trees this time, while Lynn and Leslie made their way over the road to their safari tent. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as nice as the one that we had been staying in at the pub, but at least there was a welcoming committee for them in the shape of a cockroach that fell from the ceiling. That night we discovered the perils of cooking fish on the gas stove grill without wrapping it in foil (the pictures claim it's ok. Lies. All lies!!) before heading to our beds.

The next day Lynn and Leslie discovered just why we had suggested coming here, as they awoke before us and found the beach just on the other side of the trees. After an hour of walking up and down and being amazed at what they saw, we all got back in the car and headed for the Daintree River Train to go spot some crocs. The weather took a turn for the worst, but luckily we only had drizzle to deal with rather than the usual monsoon conditions that occur up this far when it rains, and we managed to see a few crocs on the banks of the river, as well as a couple of snakes and some more boring animals such as birds and frogs!

The trip lasted for a couple of hours and then it was back to the campsite to freshen up and head out for dinner. There was a fantastic little restaurant a couple of km's along the road and we had a really nice meal out on the decking whilst wondering what was going to fall on us from the trees above.

When we left the campsite the following day, we stopped at the discovery centre on the way and spent a few hours strolling around the elevated walkways (we've done a lot of strolling but it's just too damn hot to go any quicker!!) and went up to the top of the central platform, which is basically a four storey high, open-top, wooden staircase. By the time we got to the top we were all knackered from the heat and the steps and the swaying in the wind didn't help our stability either, but luckily somebody had thought about this and there were some seats on the top level. The same person had obviously not thought about it for very long however as the seats were metal, and having been in the exposed sunlight all morning we decided to cook a full breakfast on them rather than sit down!!

Once we had managed to pull Leslie's fingers out of the handrails that they had become imbedded in, we headed back down the lookout post, out of the centre and back to the car for the drive back to Cairns.

On the way back we stopped off at Mossman Gorge to cool down and despite our concerns about the sub zero water temperatures, we were soon splashing around and being carried off by the currents once again.

We are now back in Cairns for the night and after a bloody long walk into town and a lovely Mexican dinner, we have just a few hours sleep before we move on tomorrow and start to travel South for the first time since we landed in Australia just over a month ago.