Rain, rain, rain! We went nearly 10 weeks without seeing any rain and now it has rained (or drizzled) for the past 24 hours! We discovered minor leaks in the tent, packed up in the rain and set up in the mud! I was looking forward to spending some time relaxing in the lush green rain-forests and walking along the beautiful Queensland beaches but now somehow the red dust is appearing attractive again!! We are on the homestretch now and everyone is dreaming of get...

The Lync-Haven campground is fabulous - we are staying here for 3 nights. The owner Scott keeps many animals. We watched him feed Doris, a 3m saltwater crocodile and the boys held his pet python. We all fed the wallabies and kangaroos, then went for a walk through the rainforest in search of a cassowary. Today we drove up to cape Tribulation and walked along Thornton Beach and Cape Tribulation Beach. The boys couldn't resist the water and ended up soaked playin...

Today we drove into the beautiful rainforests of North Queensland. We stopped at the Millstream Falls then at Mt. Hypipamee NP (photo). Here there is an amazing crater formed by gas explosion (not lava). It is a 60m diameter hole in the ground. Water is approximately 60m below the rim of the crater; and they say the hole goes at least another 120m down, turns a corner into the unknown. It was amazing to look at. We stopped for lunch at Atherton, then caught the...

Today we went for a tour of the Lava Tubes in the Undara Volcanic NP. The National Park is only accessible by guided tour due to the dangers of confined spaces and CO2 in the tubes. The lava tubes are interesting and it was worth the trip to see them; However the Undara resort which is just outside the NP is very commercial. The dusty, uneven, unpowered campsite was $38pn and the facilities are very old. They do not allow you to collect firewood although you can ...

We camped at Normanton last night in a great caravan park with a 25m pool and an artesian hot spa. The kids made friends with a family from Belgian who are traveling from Sydney to Darwin. Today we drove up to Karumba, to see the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Muttonhole wetlands and the Norman River are full of birdlife. We saw numerous brolgas, jabirus, pelicans and egrets, as well as eagles, hawks and smaller birds. I tried in vain to get a good photograph of a b...