Checking out Sydney....

Yesterday we flew to Sydney and took the train into the city.

This morning we joined a free walking tour of the city getting a great overview of the sights and history.

This afternoon, Colin ran around the harbour while the kids and I went up Sydney tour. The views were spectacular and we got a rush from walking out on the glass observation deck!

Aussie Drifters...

We took a trip to Welch's Pyramid, a half hour South of Cairns (see mountain behind Kari).

Once there, we rode tubes throught the currents down the creek - enjoyed the patches of rapids and the lush environment. No snakes fortunately!

Near our motel we found a cool street...

Cairns has been beautiful and tough to leave. Love the climate, tropical trees and plants, and easygoing people. On to Sydney tomorrow.

2012 Olympics open...

We got up at 5:30am to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremonies which were fabulous.

After, we walked the 20 minute seawalk route to Cairns to check out the town, stopping to test out the exercise stations on the way.

Kari had her hair done...but not as crazy as the lady's who did it!

We enjoyed our day in the rainforest today. We started out by taking the skyrail from Cairns to Karunda. The ride was 7.5km long and spans the oldest rainforest in the world. Great views as we rode above the lush landscape.

We arrived in Karunda and enjoyed checking out the unique markets.

Colin tested the "hottest chili sauce in the world" while the boys cracked up at the kangaroo scrotum items for sale. We took the Karunda Scenic Railway back to Cairns - built in the late 1800s with interesting Aussie and WWII history. Very scenic!

Returning CamperMan to Cairns...

We have really enjoyed the experience of our campervan but 6 nights in the tight sleeping quarters was enough so we didn't mind saying goodbye to CamperMan. We had a great beach morning in Daintree before taking the scenic drive to Cairns.

We walked from our motel along the seawall to the lagoon pool where the kids had a dip near Cairns Square. Beautiful city - looking forward to a few days here.

Crocs!

We drove North from our campsite outside Cairns up to Daintree Village where we took the "Crocodile Express" and checked out the crocs on the Daintree river. Great tour with guide who has lived there for 70 years.

We took the ferry over Daintree river and drove another 35km of windy but scenic roads to arrive at Daintree National Park and our remote campground.

We drove to the next campground for dinner to enjoy oven fired pizza....with crocodile meat!!!!

On to Cairns

We stopped at a winery - Murdering Point Winery- en route to Cairns. It gets it's name from the cannibals who ate the shipwrecked British sailors nearby!

We then drove on to the town of Babinda to see the "Big Boulders". We hiked in to check them out and enjoyed a picnic and a refreshing swim.

Camping outside Cairns tonight - on to Daintree National Park tomorrow....serious croc country!

On to Townsville and South Mission beach

We then drove on to Townsville for a steep hike up Castlehill which had amazing views from the top!

We drove further North to Mission beach - our campsite was in an amazing location right on the beach and had a great pool and pickleball court. In the commonroom, we enjoyed watching the Australian version of "the Amazing Race" that was filmed in Vancouver!

Can't believe how well the kids are sleeping in our compact quarters!

Driving up the East Coast

We've been driving up the coast the past four days: from Rockhampton to Airlie Beach, then on to Ayr. Arlie Beach is a haven for backpackers and is the access point for the 72 Whitsunday islands - lots of snorkelling and scuba diving.

We took a speed boat 50 km out to a far reef to snorkel and enjoyed the rainbow coloured fish. We then went on to Whitehaven Beach which is rated in the top 10 beaches in the world. Amazing silica "sand".

We are enjoying our campervan. It's small but we've figured out how to eat, drive and amazingly...sleep in it!

Fun in Yeppoon

With the sun shining, we headed to the local beach for some great body surfing and shell collecting.

We then went to a go-cart track - fun but challenging to drive the wrong direction and to understand the instructions from the crusty worker with the thick accent.

Aboriginal Culture

At the Aboriginal Cultural Centre we enjoyed learning about the culture and the skills of the aboriginals of Australia. Highlights were learning to boomerang (it's all in the wrist apparently) and the dancers dancing to didgeridoo music.

Amazing Animal experiences!

Our visit to the local wildlife sanctuary today well exceeded any of our expectations. It was a huge thrill to meet, feed and even hold the rescued and orphaned animals.