So the Australian adventure is just about over. We are now sat in Sydney airport waiting for our flight to Bangkok.

Since arriving in cairns on Wednesday we spent a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the glorious sunshine. Sat by the pool and lagoon in 30 degree heat but fortunately, since it is currently their dry season, very little humidity.

Once we were able to check in on Wednesday afternoon, we did a mammoth wash, anything that had been on the boat was covered in salt water so needed a good clean and with the sunshine things dried pretty quickly. We did venture out on Wednesday night, firstly to the night market where we indulged ourselves with a chinese body massage, lovely! Then we went to a couple of bars before enjoying happy hour at Gilligans but after a bit of people watching we called it a night. It felt a bit like a student union night out some how...

Thursday was much of the same, enjoying the sunshine and the actually quite decent pool at the hostel. We did a bit of shopping and then had to get the now clean (and somehow fluffier/larger) clothes back into our bags! We headed down to the Marina for dinner, a very different feel to Cairns along the esplanade and seafront than in town. And then an earlier night due to the early pick up the next day.

Friday morning we set off to Cape Tribulation. First stop was at the habitat centre in Port Douglas. We saw lots more native Australian animals including more koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, snakes, crocodiles and loads of different birds. We even got to see a tree kangaroo. We went around with one of the rangers at feeding time through the rainforest aviary which was great to learn more about the different birds we were seeing.

The next step en route was at the mouth of the Daintree river. Here, we were taken on a river cruise in search of crocs! We only saw one, a medium sized female who was skulking about under a tree branch. We got some good photos of her looking like a log, before we got too close with the boat (for her and us!) and she suddenly snapped and moved away. It was just incredible to see how fast she could move and clear that you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

After the river cruise, we had a picnic lunch and then carried on our journey north. We took the ferry across the Daintree river and eventually stopped off at Walu Wugirriga, a lookout over the Daintree and area and where I took the picture for this blog. You can see the river snake all the way out to the sea and the reef, then all the rainforest surrounding it and the mountains in the background. Just beautiful.

We continued our journey and finally arrived at Cape Tribulation itself. We headed down to the beach and enjoyed a walk along the sea before heading back into the 'town' and our accommodation. We were staying at an Eco lodge set in the forest with basic but sufficient facilities.

The town itself is pretty small, it has a few accommodation places and restaurants attached, one pub and a shop and that is about it. We headed to the pub for dinner and then decided to watch the film showing at the 'cinema', (tv room above one of the restaurants). Was a good chick flick (something borrowed) and afterwards we headed back to the pub for a quick drink before bed. I guess when there is only one pub in a town it means everyone ends up there and we randomly ended up at an impromptu beach party - hilarious!!

Saturday morning we got up to go horse riding! We were so excited! The stables were just down the road from our accommodation so we got picked out and were soon meeting the horses. Mine was called Topaz and Nicci's was called Midnight. We headed out of the stables and on a track that took us through the rainforest. It was just amazing scenery and to be seeing it on horseback was awesome!

We made our way down to the beach and then it was time for a gallop! It was just fantastic and the weather was great too. We headed back along the water's edge and back into the rainforest, crossing over some streams and stopped at the watering hole for a drink and cool down. We had a few more canters and plenty of time to enjoy the stunning scenery around us. Such a wonderful morning.

The afternoon we just spent enjoying where we were. It felt like a totally different world, in this bubble away from city life of Cairns etc. Our bus picked us up just after 4pm to head south and we were dropped off in Port Douglas.

Port Douglas is a small Coastal town about an hour north of Cairns. It is similar to the Coastal towns in Cornwall in a way with the posh surfer shops and beautiful waterfront properties, not to mention the boats!

We settled into our next accommodation, another Eco lodge before wandering into town to explore. We stumbled upon an interesting daily event at one of the bars...Cane toad racing! This involved six, randomly picked volunteers, (of course I was picked!!) each becoming the temporary handler of a cane toad. The toads are placed in the centre of a table and the handler has to encourage their toad to the edge of the table, catch it and place it in the bucket first to win. Unfortunately, my toad, Jerry Springer, only came in 4th but it was good fun. Having had a long day and feeling quite tired from horse riding we then headed home for an early night.

Sunday in Port Douglas is Market day so we headed back into town to the Sunday markets. There are an extensive number of stalls there, ranging from food and drinks stalls, local art, tie dye clothing, tarot readers, jewellery and many different hand made products. We wandered around these and then the local shops for the morning before heading back to catch our bus to Cairns.

Back at Cairns last night, we had the enviable task of having to repack and make our bags aeroplane friendly again. It seems ages since we were on one. Due to the ungodly hour our flight left this morning we had an early dinner and bed for our last night in Australia.

We arrived in Sydney airport at just before 9 this morning (leaving Cairns at 5.45!!). Since our connecting flight isn't until 4.55pm we decided to head back into Sydney for one last time! We arrived at circular quay and walked back around to Mrs MacQuarie's chair for one last photo shot and then sat in the botanical gardens reading, far better then sitting in the airport for the day! We even managed to meet up with Jo for lunch, what a lovely bonus. We are now just waiting for our flight to be called to start our next chapter. What a fantastic few weeks, but now I can't wait to start the Asian experience!