Day 1: the Shacks- a magnificent flight over Mt Coot-tha and then over to the coast. From there we flew costal to Hollins Bay to stay with out dear friends Jane and Simon. Mum, Dad beau and I went for a sunlit strole on the beach and Dad tried his hand at oyster shucking. At dinner time we chowed down on crumbed oysters and fresh salad.

Day 2: After a cosy nights sleep with all of us in one bedroom (Dad ended up in the kitchen) we woke to the glorious smell of bacon and eggs. (Mmmm!) at nine we hopped in the plane and took off for Ayr for a re fule then continued on to Cairns.

Day 3: after the best sleep I had had for at least two nights at Dads friends house Terry and Mark in Palm Cove, Cairns, we decided to to take a risk with the weather and took the sky rail through the rainforest canopy and up to Kuranda Village and did some touristy things. Before we took the train back down the mountain we had lunch at a little cafe run by a family of local aboriginals. Then after a surprisingly good lunch and icecream, we went to the butterfly santurary to take a look. After all our touring (we decided it was best not to come back down the mountain with a croc claw back scratcher) we jumped on the train and took in the lovely scenery of the Barron Gouge and the Bridesvale Falls and came back to Palm Cove, fell into bed and conked out.

dDay 4: we were hoping to get out of Cairns at 7:30 but the weather had other ideas. We were 'stuck' in Cairns for three hours more than we intended, it worked out well though because i got to talk to my friend and we still made it to Cooktown with enough time to see Endeavour River were Captain Cook stayed for a pit stop and to patch up his ship and we saw a wonderful view of the town from Grassy Hill Lookout ( big thanks to Jeff for taking us around in his truck!). From Cooktown we flew over the outer Great Barrier Reef and although we saw NO WILD LIFE WHATSOEVER! We did get a fantastic view of all the different shades of viberent blue water and coral. After a two hour flight up to Bamaga via the tip of Cape York in life vests because most of the time we were 50 nortical miles out to sea, we finally landed.