So onto the last stretch of the road trip....

Leaving the Whitsundays behind us, we stopped at Mission Beach for 3 nights, staying at Scotty's Beach House. The whole area is devoted to the Cassowary (giant ostrich sized birds with blue heads) as this is the only place in Australia you can see them -they're quite rare. As we drove into Mission Beach, we jammily saw one just by the roadside, with a chick that was absolutely massive! We drove on.

I think we'd imagined a few days relaxing on the beach, doing very little, but not so. We mainly used it as a base to explore the Atherton Tablelands (vast rainforested area at altitude) which was beautiful. Saw a few waterfalls and some villages in the land that time forgot, as well as spending 2 hours patiently waiting to 'almost certainly' see a platypus - and seeing only a lousy swimming rat. As you can't swim in the sea because of stingers, and you can't swim in the creeks because of crocs, we cooled off at a swimming hole at Babinda Boulders and the rather large and murky Lake Eacham, as it was mostly 34 degrees C. We also ended up meeting the last remaining Aboriginee of the Yidinji tribe (Ann Wonga) whose people rightfully own the Wooroonooran National Park we were visiting - she helps out in the visitor centre at Babinda, so catch her if you can!

At Yungaburra, we had lunch in the village local (and felt decidedly unlocal) before going to see the giant Curtain Fig tree that people from miles around come to see. It was a tree until it got strangled by a sneaky fig who's now killed off the original tree. Pretty impressive to see and very very old. We took the Peterson Creek walk, which is where you'll definitely see that elusive platypus. Or not. And the promised tree kangaroos didn't make an appearance either. At least Rob could rely on seeing a giant toad, as whenever he goes to use an outdoor toilet, one seems to suddenly appear as he opens the door and heads straight on in before him.

Our final day in Mission Beach we spent aboard the Calypso 2 dive boat on a trip to the Outer Great Barrier Reef. It was a really good day and we saw loads! Unfortunately couldn't take any underwater pictures, but you can google Clown Fish, Blue Starfish and Oriental Sweetlips if you want to see what we saw. It was just like the pictures. Amazing.

After 2645 km of highway and probably another 1000 in detours and exploration, we finally arrived in Cairns! It was a fantastic road trip and definitely the best way to see the East Coast. Spent our only full day there relaxing, swimming in the lagoon, reading by the water, watching lots of birds and eating well. Not bad. Felt sad to give our car (Bruce) back but we're both excited to be off to Melbourne, having heard so much about it and having friends await.