I had time to post more pictures so here goes View from our room Cairns. Spoon bill on Espanade and boat we went to Great Barrier Reef on

areb we having a good time ? You bet we are. Here is our hone

view from the airplane

fruit bats or flying foxes

Sept. 27 Thursday Cairns-Breakfast again at 6:30. A bus picks us up again and we head north for the Kuranda scenic railway. We start by exploring their museum before boarding for a leisurely ride that snakes through the rainforest via the magnificent vista of the Barron River Gorge. We go through 15 hand hewn tunnels. We are treated with macadamia nuts and unlimited champagne and orange juice on our way. We can look out and see the coastal plains and sugar plantations stretching to the sea in the distance. We stop and get out to take pictures of the beautiful Barron falls. They tumble 240 meters (787feet) to the valley floor. We proceed up to tropical town of Kuranda famous for it’s markets. We both buy Aussie hats. A TIP-if you go sit on theright side facing front for good pictures Check out www.ksr.com.au and www.kuranda.org We meet at 12 for the tour. The skyrail rainforest cableway ride is a 90 minute sensational ride in gondolas that carry 6 people. We get a birds eye view across the rainforest’s lush canopy of the Barron Gorge National Park. Traveling at treetop level we get totally immersed in our surroundings. Our senses tingle as we become one . There are 2 stops where we get out and experience the forest floor from the safety and comfort of boardwalks. A wild turkey escorts us down the pathway to view the falls from the opposite side of the train. At the red peak station a ranger explains the fascinating eco-system. We see basket ferns in the large superb strangling fig tree, stag horn ferns and other epiphytes. A very large old majestic Kaui pine and vine clad rainforest with fern covered forest floor are sights to be seen. The canopy is the natural rooftop of the rainforest. It protects the forest from rain wind and sun. It acts as a blanket trapping humidity and as a solar panel harnessing the sun’s energy for growth. This experience was made available without destroying the forest in an amazing engineering triumph no rainforest was damaged as all construction was delivered by helicopter. It was exhilarating to be able to float along virgin rainforest www.skyrail.com.au Next we visit Tjapukai Aboriginal culture park. We start with a buffet lunch (lamb is on the menu) yum. A magical mystical world dedicated to preserving and presenting authentic Aboriginal culture. We watch them dance, build a fire the old fashion way and play the haunting sound of the musical instrument the didgeridoo. We watch as well as try to throw the boomerang and a spear. www.tjapukai.com.au

Sept 25 Tuesday. Yes we lost a day. G’day from the land downunder. We arrive in the early morning .We have a short layover until our connecting flight to Cairns Australia. It is now 17 hours out of LA .Although we are still under the spell of a tethering jet lag we couldn’t help but be jolted awake at the lovely sight that was stretching from our plane window out to the picturesque horizon. We arrive in Cairns too early to get into our hotel rooms so they take us on tour north of Cairns in 2 large air-conditioned buses. We needed 2 because of all the luggage. The temperature is 30’ or 87’. Our driver said tourism is overtaking sugarcane. We view Palm Cove and its beautiful beaches. Machans beach with many new resorts going up and many others. At 2pm we claim our hotel room overlooking the ocean in the Tradewinds Esplanade. I walk the town and find fruit bats or flying foxes. There was about 50 of them hanging from a tree. I find spoonbills and pelicans on Esplanade lagoon. It has a great seawall walkway. We watch the boats return from the Great Barrier Reef right from our hotel room. 6:30 we get a deluxe BBQ buffet dinner. Tonight we are asleep before our sheets cover our shoulders.

Sunday LA-We have a huge complimentary breakfast (bacon omelet) hash browns, toast. At 9am we have our first briefing and question and answer period. We have 48 people and 22 rigs as 4 woman are traveling together. Reading our trip log our shortest travel day is only 86 miles in Au. and the longest is 275. In NZ –shortest is 22mi and longest is 215miles a day . So it looks pretty relaxed. We fly to Auckland first and have a 2and half hour layoff before going to Cairns .A day is taken away from us when we cross the international date line. A 17 hour trip. We leave Sept 23 and arrive Sept 25. a 24 hour loss of existence across the Pacific. We take a short walk to try to burn off some of the excellent breakfast as we do not have to be at the airport until 3pm. I go down to post the blog in the lobby.