Up to and including Kakadu

Magnus and Dad in the river at Lawn Hill National Park where we saw our first crocodiles.

Willows face here sums up our amazement of the Undara Lava tubes, where we went on a tour to see the caves.

Willow and Seamus working up a sweat in the Innot hot springs.

The boys playing on the rocks of Mataranka.

All the boys have caught quite a few fish, but this nice big brim of Magnus's was the only one we took home, and he was delicious.

How crazy is this highway on the ocean?!


Magnus swimming in Cairns



Magnus and Seamus 'plotting' at Tully Gorge.

These free water playgrounds seem to be everywhere in Queensland. Here is Willow and Seamus waiting for the bucket to fill and tip, and Magnus, running from the tipping bucket. - Jon

At the top of the 'Bruce'

We made it to Cairns today, at the top of the Bruce highway, which I think is like some kind of funny monty python thing. This will be where we part from the sea and head inland for a while. We have driven through about a thousand kms of sugar cane. Danielle and I reckon that the only two jobs in Queensland were cutting cane and selling xxxx Gold. She reckons its everyones job to drink it though. We saw our first Cassowarie from a distance, and although we have seen lots of signs on the beaches warning against crocs, we haven't seen any yet. We did some swimming yesterday in Tully Gorge. But it was raining, so we left that area. Tully Gorge is Australias wettest are, getting almost three times Bellingens anual rainfall (four metres!!), so it is little wonder that we ran into a bit of wet. Hope you are all well, Jonathon.

We stayed in Airlie Beach for a few days, but it was more like a backpackers Mecca than a nice spot to relax. We drove north to Bowling Green National Park, just outside (20km South) of Townsville. There is a rather stunning river here, which is pictured, and I have never seen so many very large fish. There are also turtles here. There are of course, also bush turkeys and goannas. I have also included a couple of pictures of some more unusual birds. One was like a cross between a pigeon and a hawk, the other was a blue kookaburra, which is some kind of king fisher I guess. Mum or Tosh might know what they are.
We went today for an excursion into Townsville, and made the day very big and touristy by going to the Aquarium AND the Museum. It was a very long day, but we all had a great time.
Tomorrow we are heading North again, up to another beautiful gorge, about 200 kms away. Internet access in these national parks is a bit (or a lot) impossible, even with our wireless internet, but when we move into town next, I can add some more pictures.