We left Auckland and once on the plane there was an announcement saying we would have to briefly land in Brisbane. It had something to do with fuel and the Army. The cabin was noisy and it was hard to hear. That was a bit worrying! Both landings were VERY bumpy. We think it was the runway. It took ages to get through Customs as we had the stupid tent with us. It'd been pouring down when we left and so we couldn't get it dry. Customs were worried it was river water and at 3am we were in Customs having our Tent washed and cleaned! They were very friendly but gave it back to us soaking wet, unwrapped and in two large black sacks. Great!

Our Hostel in Cairns was really nice. We got our Tent dried really quickly as it was so hot. The new Car (another Nissan Pulsar) is plush. It's much more new, automatic and has Cruise Control. We chilled in Cairns, at the open sea water pool and looked around the Markets and Shops for 2 days.

We then drove up the amazing Bruce Highway to Port Douglas. What a great place! We camped in the garden of a really nice Hostel and ended up staying 4 days. We didn't realise when we first arrived but it rains and I mean pours down around 16:00 every day until late at night. The first day we visited the Rainforest Habitat Sanctuary and saw loads of animals. They are free to roam and all mix together (except those naughty croc's). As it was so hot humid we had left the main doors of the tent open to air so all the mesh was exposed. Thankfully we hadn't put our sleeping stuff in yet as when we came back there was about an inch of water through the whole tent. After scooping it out with a mug, using every towel we had it was still drenched. We kept at it for ages and then prayed for sun. It was damp when we went to bed but not to bad!

We went to Four Mile Beach and went swimming lots as it was just too hot to just sit there. We also spent an amazing day on a boat which took us out to the Outer Great Barrier Reef to the Tongue Reef. On board was a Marine Biologist called 'Fluffy'. We went snorkelling in three different spots and had about 90mins in the water each time. Photo's of that are to come later as they were taken by the company who is going to send them to us. We saw two turtles, a Hawks-Bill and a little Green Turtle. There were Sharks and so many fish, including Nemo. Probably our favourite thing we've done yet!

After Port Douglas we drove West into the Rainforest to Kuranda. We saw the Barron Falls which were incredible loud and impressive. We spent the night a campsite where they operate a night-time tour of the local forest with Dr Dave! It only cost 10 pounds each and Matt got to see all the Creepy Crawlies he desired! We visited a cool lake called Eacham Lake and went swimming. The weather changed and became very wet so we decided to drive on down the coast to Mission Beach.

Mission Beach is a small little town but quite nice. We got stuck here this morning as the local roads were beginning to flood. You've never seen rain like it! Guess this is definitely Monsoon Season! The weather looks pretty rubbish for the next few days. When we can we're going to drive down to Airlie Beach and wait for it to improve. From there we hope to go and sail the Whitsundays!

Love

Jo and Matt