Landed in Cairns

We went out on a boat trip to the Whitsunday's last Tuesday and had a snorkel around part of the Barrier Reef. I'll try not to bore you with superlatives but it was absolutely fantastic, we even managed to swim next to a large turtle around the coral (this was after Rachael got the grip of snorkelling and stopped announcing to me every few minutes that she couldn't breathe was going to die!).

We've clocked up over 2000 kilometers on the car and finally made it to Cairns. First of all I'll fill you in on what all British really love to talk about : the weather is definitely improving and while not blazing sunshine, any activity more strenuous than lifting a pot of beer can induce a sheen of sweat. The City centre is pretty compact and seems to operate 24 hours a day. We're planning on going to a Blues Bar tonight which also stages Cane Toad racing.

Spent today wandering around the Atherton Tablelands walking around lakes and through rain forests. Apparently it is teeming with life but all we saw was a load of wild turkeys and some saw-shelled turtles which interestingly can breathe through their bottom's when under water. Could be a good skill to add to my already brilliant procto-speech!

Believe it or not I've also lost my pale, drug addict, only eats vegetables, palour and replaced it with a healthy looking shade of whitey-brown. Don't get me wrong, I'm still pale for the locality but people no longer stop me in the street to ask if I'm ill or not. I forgot to bring the camera with me to the internet cafe but will try and post some pics later in the week to prove this!

I can here the pub calling me so I'll leave it there.