So we headed up further North after a brief two night stop over at the lovely Mission Beach to top up the tan and catch some rays we headed for Cairns, we planned to return to Mission Beach on the way home to search for Cassowaries (big birds that live around rain forest areas).

We arrived in Cairns on a Sunday afternoon and headed straight down to the main town to check it out.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and the whole of the town were sunbathing and lounging around next to the lagoon which is in the middle on the City Centre. There was a band playing some mellow, funky tunes and as we sat outside eating our lunch we took it all in and immediately liked the place. Cairns' is a friendly cosmopolitan City where you just feel the need to slow down and go with the flow. We decided to stay for a few days and explore the area. In Cairns itself me mainly walked around the CBD and went to the Night Markets for a look at the local delights - well most of it was actually made by Asians, but we didn't complain when eating a Chinese from one of the stalls - yummy!

We visited the Flying Doctors Museum of Queensland and although it was the cheapest attraction we have paid to get into, it was by far the best and most entertaining. The staff were lovely and funny and had us laughing away and it was really interesting to learn how the Flying Doctors came about and is run. There was even an old plane for you to go and have a look around. All very interesting and to see what an amazing job they do for Australia. The two lovely ladies did however suggest a lovely drive to go and see Cairns damn 'it's lovely they said, it'll be just like home' so off we drove to explore the damn, well 'oh my god' the drive there was just so scary all winding roads and no barriers off the edge of a mountain, we did make it and it was pretty, but never again, not in 'The Beast' anyway.

Along with this we have taken a walk around the Botanical Gardens, but nearly got eaten alive by fly's and been to the Tjapukai Cultural Park to learn a bit more about the Aboriginals and their culture. We were shown what foods they use for medicine and how to throw a boomerang and a spear - you know just incase Matt got hungry. This also kicked off a desire in Matt to learn how to play the Didgeridoo, so began the search for the Dig'.

We took a day trip to Kuranda, which is a village west of Cairns in the rainforest. It was a pretty place, although we think maybe has lost something as tourism has hit so hard. We did find one shop which had been re-leased by local aboriginals who were trying to sell their own hand made products like didgeridoos. They were nice people and we spent along time chatting to them about life in Kuranda and what they were trying to do with the shop. Matt had been looking for a didgeridoo since our trip to Tjapukai Cultural Park, and decided he wanted to buy one from here to start his musical career.

Oh yeah when we were here we also took a walk around the rainforest to have a look about and see Barron Gorge, and we saw a Red Back Spider run across in front of us. It was SCARY, and we spent the next 10 mins deciding whether we had really seen it or not and feeling itchy. It was confirmed by the staff at the Flying Doctors that there is nothing else with a Red Back - so arrrgghh! We also saw a massive spider and wasp having a fight (just ignore this KT's mum don't let it put you off) which was really amazing as they are so huge. Still no major wildlife though just scary bugs. But honestly Kuranda was a very pretty place and on the way back to Cairns we stopped off to see the views of Barron Falls a huge waterfall.

After a fun few days in around Cairns we headed off to Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation. The drive between the two was the nicest part of the road journey we had, had so far and had some stunning views of the Coastline.

Port Douglas is fantastic, loads of boutiques, nice places to eat and a nice laid back feel with friendly pubs and bars, but not been hit by the plastic tourism yet. We arrived on a boiling day and headed straight for the famous Four Mile Beach, well this is where the excitement got to Katie a bit. Matt went off for a Kayak in the sea and she settled down with her book, the hours passed and seemed like minutes and before she knew it Matt had returned, and as she rolled over something felt a bit sore. It was her first lesson about Australian sun and how strong it gets. She didn't sit down properly for 3 days! But we did not let it stop us and now with the Factor 30 safely in the Beach Bag we spent the next day driving around to explore.

Our first stop was Mossman Gorge, which was pretty and had some lovely swimming holes - although as the water was so crystal clear and cold, swimming didn't take place this time. From there we drove to Daintree to catch the river ferry (a bit like Reedham but bigger and a wider river) over to the Cape Tribulation area. We drove as far as we could to Endeavour Beach before the roads became unsealed and too dangerous for 'The Beast".

It was beautiful here and the sand was really pretty - see photos. We also stopped at Cape Kimberly, Cow Bay and Thornton Beach and whilst driving around saw a Big Goanna run across the road (ugly things look up on the net if you want to see one). It's really beautiful around Cape Tribulation and the views of the rain forest meeting with the beach were stunning.

So as we had reached the furthest point North we were going to go we decided that we would start heading back South stopping off at some of your favorite places and to do the things we missed because of the weather. So come back for Week 3 soon!!

Love Mr & Mrs Smith

xxx