Our travels
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AUSTRALIA 
With the beautifull painted Boeing 747-300 we flew
from Auckland to Cairns. The plane is an aboriginal
drawing of the 'Nalanjii Dreaming'. Nalanjii means place. And it is about their place: Australia. The blue of the air and the reef,
the yellow of the sun and the green of the rainforests, everything has a meaning. We flew over the Great Barrier Reef. It looked so great that we booked a boattrip immediately after we arrived in Cairns. We booked a catamaran trip to the reef. You can dive or snorkel on this trip. After a great day on the reef we are going to try the 4x4. From Cairns we drove along the coast to the north to end up in Cooktown. The first part is a tarroad but soon it changes into a dirtroad. Now and then we have to cross a river or stream. That means through the water because there is no bridge. The Ford Explorer attacks all problems and we find Cooktown easily. 
Since Captain Cook stranded here with the Endavour (10-08-1770) nothing happened. Cooktown is a sleepy town and we decide to leave the next morning. We head south and a bit more inland. Red dust roads bring us to the Undara Lava Tubes. Long ago a vulcano erupted in this area. The lava streamed into a riverbed. The bottom and top of the lava cooled down, by water or air, and inside the hot lava kept flowing. That way a sort of tunnel was created. At several places the top has collapsed and one can see or even enter into the tunnel. 
 The surroundings are kept natural. To make no damage to the area there are no buildings or hotels for the tourists. There are a few trains put in the labndscape. Tourists can sleep and eat there. In the morning there is a bush-breakfast. With 'billy-tea' and bread toasted over a campfire. 
 What an experience. 
The australian bush at its best. We would stay here forever, but there is a lot more to see. We drive in the direction of the coast again. We want to go whalewatching. The whales stay here during the winterperiod. We book a boattrip to Hamilton Island with a few hours whalewatching. We do see some, but none is close enough to get a good picture. Hamilton Island is specially made for tourists, at least it seems that way. While we are eating and drinking something in the harbour, the birds are coming to pick up the leftovers and more...   Time to go back to Cairns. Along the coast to the north we stop a few times to see the reef. Now and then it is so close to the coast you can walk to it at low tide. This can be done at Kurimine Beach. It is very nice to see the colorfull coral and fish while standing in the water in shorts. When we arrived in Cairns we have one day left before we have to fly back home. We booked a daytrip to Kuranda. First took the  train to Kuranda, and then back by cablecar. The train
takes a great route through the mountains and the rainforest. 
With the cablecar we move through the canape of the rainforest back to the coast. A few times there is a stop where you can leave the
cablecar and see an exhibition. The cablecar ends at the infocentre of the Tjapukai. An Aboriginal tribe that lived in this neighbourhood. You can find out everything about their heritage. There are very interesting multimedia exhibitions. But the boomerang and didgeridoo demonstrations are good too. 
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