Cairns

 Well we finally arrived in Cairns Friday 17th August and booked in at the Lake Placid Caravan Park which is a member of Top Tourist (that is after visiting the caravan repair people who took one look at the problem and said we can't fix it now but sometime next week we will let you know.Little did they know that it was going to rain on tues and weds.) The caravan park and facilities are well kept clean and tidy and are only 2 mins walk to the Lake, some tour companies do white water rafting down the Barron Gorge which is just a few minutes away and they end up in Lake Placid.We initially booked in here for 1 week but after finding out that the caravan cannot be repaired until Fri 24th we booked another week and then we decided to fly back to Brisbane  on 31st August for the weekend (we miss everyone) as there are three birthdays and fathers day in that weekend so we booked another week. Total 3 weeks in Cairns. We have put our annexe up for the first time since travelling and it makes a great difference, it's like having a separate loung room and we can watch the TV in there, and we will be able to zip it up enclosing everything when we jet back to Brisbane.

Entrance to caravan park

Just inside the park

Lake Placid

Lake Placid

 We have managed to visit the following places since arriving, as well as doing some serious relaxation and walking.

Barron Gorge

 The above two photos are of Barron Gorge where they start the white water rafting down to lake Placid, beautiful scenery.

Crystal Cascades

The above three photos are of Crystal Cascades another rainforest falls area not far from the Big 4 Cairns

Port Douglas

The view from Port Douglas Lookout on a very wet and windy day

 Mossman Gorge

We met a gentleman at Crystal Cascades who told us not to bother going to Mossman as it was no good and you couldn't see anything. don't know what he was looking for but we disregarded him and had a thoroughly enjoyable day there. You cannot drive up to the gorge anymore as the land and the rainforest have been given back to the aboriginal tribe that lives in that area and they are managing the forest very carefully. They have built an information centre which houses different tours you can go on in the rainforest or you can self guide yourselves. There are buses every 15 mins that take you to the Gorge to the start of the walks and bring you back.

Thought this beautiful tree root deserved a photo

Me on a swing bridge in the rainforest - very proud of myself

This picture a bit dark - realised that in a rainforest if you set your camera to night it is better

This was the next picture taken - a lot brighter and such a beautiful fig tree

This fungi had a red and orange and black sheen

Hartley's Crocodile Farm

Hartley's croc farm is between port douglas and cairns and well worth the entrance fee. There are two shows where rangers talk about snakes and crocs but the croc one has live bait ( the ranger) and they feed them chickens . We went on a lagoon cruise which is included in your entrance fee and lasts 45 minutes or longer if your guide is chatty like ours. The sides of the boat are filled in with thick plastic sheets and we needed them.The guide taunts the crocs so that they jump up out of the water and some bang on the side of the boat.

These are Salt Water Crocodiles at Hartley's

A Cassowary

They don't only have crocs at Hartleys  there is a family of Cassowarys and a snake and small animal section and kangaroos and a farm section