Daintree Rainforest

For those of you that have been checking for updates, we do apologize. The first part of our Australian journey took us north to the Daintree rainforest and completely out of internet range, but we're back! The best part is that we are now armed with a Telstra Wireless Broadband device so keeping in touch will be a breeze (it sounds too good to be true, even to us!)

So, let's backtrack. It has not been hard for either of us to adjust to our new vagabond lifestyle. After picking up our Apollo campa van we spent the first few days shopping to fill in gaps in the supplies. Craig is learning that Lynda does not really like grocery shopping. It is a chore that is meant to be accomplished as quickly as possible even if the store is air conditioned. "Yes, there is a lot to choose from dear, but just look at the choices and pick what you feel like eating." Craig has done a bang up job of organizing our belongings. Thanks to the produce department at Woolworths, we have free organizers and very little rattling behind us when we are driving.
Craig has adjusted to driving on the "wrong" side of the road while Lynda has not. Sitting on the "wrong" side of the vehicle combined with gusting wind creates the illusion that we are drifting into the oncoming lane. On one particular occasion Craig lost ten years off his life as Lynda shouted "move over, move over, move over." After a moment of panic, he realized he was doing everything correctly and it was just his passenger panicking again.

What is there not to like about Australia?

...The beaches at Cairns, Yorkey's Knob, Port Douglas, Wonga Beach, and Cape Tribulation. The water is as warm as bath water. You know it is warm when Lynda is in the water first.
...The weather. Apparently, they are having an unusually warm spring with temperatures between 25-30 degrees Celcius. We are loving it now, but that could mean extremely hot temperatures when summer comes.
...The food. We are eating and drinking our way through the country. Exotic fruit at the Cape Tribulation Exotic fruit farm, cheese at the Mungali Creek Biodynamic Dairy farm, coffee at Maloberti's NQ Gold coffee plantation. Everywhere you go there are food tours: bananas, mangoes, limes, macadamia nuts etc.
...The people. Aussies are so friendly and welcoming. We have met some wonderful people in just a short period of time. Some of them are intrigued by our accents while others are fishmen. Craig is drawn to them like a magnet. Just last night at Lake Tinaroo we met a family from Townsville at the campsite. Within 30 minutes, the husband had invited Craig to go fishing with him when we go there next week. That Craig, he's a fast worker. (Never mind Lynda, the teachers still outnumber the electricians by about ten to one.)

For those of you who want to know about the wildlife, we haven't had any close encounters yet. Unless, of course, you count the baby stick bug that found its way into Lynda's shirt on day two. (Yes, she screamed and people looked at her.) On our 7 km hike through the rainforest to the top of Mount Sorrow in Cape Tribulation, we had the distinct feeling that we were being watched (snakes, spiders, lizards, cassowaries?) but we were too absorbed with the 680 metre ascent and descent to care. It isn't called Mt. Sorrow for no reason.

We are heading to Townsville to see Lynda's cousins tomorrow. We are going to do a much better job of keeping on top of this blog. We promise!

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