Sailing the Whitsundays

A lots been happening since my last post - I've joined a small group heading south - Claire, Holly, Gerard me and our driver/guide/everything else John in the trusty minibus Trevor.

After starting off from Cairns via the skyrail we headed for mission beach, and me and Clair headed off for a spot of white water rafting on the mighty Tully river, Gerald and John went for a hike and Holly just chilled out with a certain young H Potter. We then headed further south to Airlgh Beach, stopping a while by the side of the road after spotting a cassowary. The rest of tyhe day was spent looking out for cane trains and Wicked Campers, both of which were successfully spotted.

Today was spent onboard the Maxi Ragamuffin, sailing off to Blue coral bay for a spot of snorkeling, before sailing for home.

A big bit of coral

worldtour_1355.JPG, originally uploaded by mark benger.

Well I coulden't come all this way and not see the Great Barrier reef, so heres a a picture of a few fish - hard to spot, not :)

I tried to get some pictures of the reef, but its hard using a camara with no viewfinder and a short battery life - those I got are in the usual place.

I went snorkalling, not scuba - I don't like getting too deep, so the pictures are all from just below the surface, and using natural light, so not as colourfull as the professional shots you see in all the books.

More pictures up

worldtour_1726.JPG, originally uploaded by mark benger.

I'm putting up a few more pics on flickr, covering the trip from Cooktown back to Port Douglass via the Undara lava tubes

More kitesurfing

I had another go at kitesurfing today - and actually managed to get up onto the bord, for all of 4m

Off roading to the waterfalls

Yes I managed to dodge all the crocs in the NT, so I'm now dodging crocs and cane toads in Queensland.

I decided to change my itenery, since I'm fed up with honeymoon hotels, and rented a small 4x4 and headed north from Cairns to Cooktown via Cape Tribulation - and there's very little tarmac from Cape Trib to Cooktown, just a dirt track through the rainforest, just my idea of fun. On the way back I took the inland route, and climbed down some lava tubes, before ending up here in Port Doglass.

Note to self - Trailfinders do very good hotels for couples and familys, next time go backpackers.

PS some photos now up on Flickr

Jumping Crocs

worldtour_1423.JPG, originally uploaded by mark benger.

Got out of Darwin for the day today to visit Litchfield National Park, for a look at termite mounds, waterfalls and a dip in some croc free pools, followed by a cruise on the Adelaide river (which gets no nearer than 3000km from the city of the same name) to see some big crocs get teased out of the water - at least they got fed for their efforts.

Remind me never to get too near the river in the NT

Desert to tropics

worldtour_1333.JPG, originally uploaded by mark benger.

Another two days of luxury train travel, from the desert heat of Alice Springs to the tropical heat of Darwin, stopping to take in the spectacle of Kimberly gorge from the air mid way.

PS if your reading this, please leave a comment, just so that I know I'm not being ignored.