Okay, so the first thing we can say about Cairns and the tropical north is that it rains, a lot!!! We arrived in Oz on Monday night, after a changeover in Sydney, and immediately it started raining! The next day we woke up, and it rained! And the next day, and the next day! But this is quite normal! The humidity, especially after it rains is quite intense! To keep us amused for our first day we visited the Cairns biodome, which had interesting wildlife housed in it, including koalas and a crocodile. We had hoped to go out on a boat trip and see the Great Barrier Reef but we were warned there was a storm brewing and the seas were very choppy, so we decided not to do it,and booked a rainforest bush walk to Daintree Rainforest.

We had an early start, and after 2 hours arrived at the Daintree River for a cruise to spot some crocodiles. We saw 2, one lying on the bank of the river, another lying still in the water. Both were about 4 metres long, not the biggest crocs you can see, but definitely big enough! They didn't move towards us, or move at all, and they were hard to spot as well. The captain pointed out interesting bits of wildlife along the way as we were sailing along,and after an hour or so we were back on the bus to do a guided bush walk.

Our guide Andy was good at explaining what we were seeing in the rainforest and what kind of things the plants can be used for in medicine, and also how it can harm you. During our walk someone spotted a furry caterpillar and went to touch it, until Andy told them that its fur stings, and though normally not too harmful, if a sting occurs near the eye it can swell and cause blindness. The rule with nature here seems to be to leave things alone, and it will leave you alone!

We stopped to have a lovely steak bbq lunch, and also got the chance to hand fed some kangaroos and wallabies! They were very tame and friendly, and a lot bigger than I expected!! After lunch we headed north to Cape Tribulation and Emmagen Creek where we had planned to stop for a swim in the creek and have tea and fruit, until the heavens opened!! Out of nowhere the entire area was totally drenched,and on our way to the coast to see Cape Trib we stopped to help out a car that had got stuck in the creek. Not that the occupants of the truck cared much, they were sat on the bonnet drinking beer when we turned up!

After seeing the beach at Cape Tribulation we stopped in a drier place to have our tropical fruit and bush style tea and cake. Very tasty, just what we needed after a long day. After that we set off to go back to Cairns, feeling tired, but well informed about Daintree and the wildlife in it. After our time in Cairns it was time to move on, to Magnetic Island.