Arrived in Oz on Saturday. The 34 degree temp and humidity hit us like a sledgehammer the minute we stepped off the plane in Cairns. We stayed at a dodgy hostel the first two nights. Our room was like a prison cell - not that either of us would know what they look like - and hope not to find out! On the first day we walked down to the beach front only to confirm what we had already heard, that going into the sea up here could result in instant death, by a number of means. To name but a few, box jellyfish, esturine crocodiles (salties), sharks and numerous fish and shells (anything in the sea pretty much). So we've come at the best time of year!! The headlines in the papers on the day of arrival we're of a shark attack and a young girl being stung by a jellyfish - both died! So we opted for the open air pool in Cairns instead, which still proved problematic as Zak lost our room key in the pool doing somersaults! We spent much of the second day researching vans, diving trips and sweating profusely. We've opted to hire a van (which we've named Wendy) which we'll have for the next 10 weeks until we get to Melbourne. On Monday we left Cairns heading North up the Captain Cook Highway. We stopped off at a croc farm on the way up to Port Douglas, and learned some very interesting things. The largest saltwater croc ever seen was shot in 1956 by a lady whose name escapes us and measured 8.6m. This is freakishly large we were told and an average male grows to about 5m and has a biting pressure of 3 tonnes per sq inch! The sound of that jaw crashing together was a noise we will never forget. We then headed to Port Douglas, which was a lovely little beachfront town, which obviously attracts quite a bit of money, where we stayed for the night. The following morniing we headed off for a swim in a nearby creek! We're not joking either - the water there is too cold for crocs to survive so we were safe from them at least! This was in Mossman Gorge, part of Daintree National Park. We did a 2.5k bush walk through the jungle where we saw some amazing trees, the biggest and weirdest either one of us has ever seen. As one of the locals up here said, "everything up here is on steroids!' We finished with a much deserved swim in the gorge and had fun sliding down the rapids. Then we drove up to Cape Tribulation (where Captain Cook ran aground) to camp in the van for the night. The beaches here are beautiful (just like the pic) and you feel like you are on a deserted island not the 5th biggest country in the world!! As we write this we are in a small wooden cafe in the rainforest and are about to set off back to Cairns. Mel is suffering with more mossie bites (think we will get some photos this time to show you). Take care everyone. Us xxx