Last night we drove into this place which is known for its platypuses. Yup … found them (and some turtles) while doing a rain forest river walk. Woohoo.

Just chilling at a beach. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Today we went out to see the Hardy Reef and the Whitsunday Islands (named by Captain Cook during Easter time – see the link) with a tour operator called FantaSea.� First we got bused from Airlie Beach to Shute Harbour.� � � The islands reminded me of northern Ontario landscape.� When I looked up at the hills on the islands I saw forests that looked like they were made up of deciduous trees and some pines, with rocks closer to shore.� The difference here is that occasionally there are palms and some islands hold beautiful beaches of fine white sands.

The cruise boat took us to a platform AHH reef called Reefworld that floats in the ocean right by Hardy Reef. We got our gear ready for snorkeling and put on body suits for the water was rather on the cold side.� Maybe for whales it is warmer, they migrate to have their young this time of year and we actually spotted some as they were swimming farther out by the boat.� Back to the reef…it was magnificent.� I got so occupied looking at the various crevices, corals and fish I did not notice how cold I got, being in the water for about an hour.� I came out with blue lips and my body was shacking for a while after.� Then again, when will I come back to the reef?� � A reef of many reefs that stretches 2500km (you can see it from space!).� The corals have colours of blue, yellow, purple, white, the fish are also very colourful and have many patterns on their bodies. � This tour also included: lunch, complimentary tea and cakes. There was also a ride in a semi-submerged submarine and a viewing window where a 3 meter groper swam about.� For the price we paid (which seemed pricy at first), it was all worth it for this whole day excursion.

We arrived in Charters Towers in the morning and stopped over for breakfast with Ewa’s acquaintances (Aneta & Luke), and then did some more driving to Airlie Beach where we would see the reef the next day.

We drove from 60km west of the Queensland (QLD) state border to around 100km before Charters Towers - 1000km or so in total. Along the way we seen lots of road trains, termite mounds, ate ice cream, and went to sleep in the car at a rest area as we were too tired to setup the tent.

We drove from 100km south of Mataranka to 60km west of the Queensland (QLD) state border - 800km or so. Along the way we stopped for free coffee, seen grassland fires, seen wondering cattle, waved to passing drivers outback style, and made camp for the night at a rest area.

Free Camping: View Map (rest area: running water, toilets, shelter, tables)

We left Kakadu and drove a bit to Katherine Gorge where we rented a double kayak. It took us a while to get better paddling coordination, but eventually we figured it out. Afterwards we kept an eye out for fresh water crocs (theoretically harmless unless provoked) and plunged in to the gorge for a quick dip. Woohoo.

Last night we drove closer to Cooinda in Kakadu, where we booked an early morning Yellow Water boat cruise and setup camp. Today we woke up super early and where in the boat by 6:45am – a great experience. The bird and croc watching tour lasted two hours, with very friendly and informative guides – highly recommended.

Today: hiking through the park; sweating; drinking lots of water; watching aboriginal rock art; enjoying the wetlands and billabongs; taking pictures (too many?) of the rich wild life.

Kakadu today has really drawn a line of contrast with the red center outback we were stuck in a week ago. Whereas a week ago the ground was red, dry, and with very little and limited visible life, today on the other hand we’re seeing lots of greenery, water and tons of moving things all over the place.

Today we made it to Kakadu National Park – a huge area in the tropical top end of Australia filled with tons of wildlife such as beautiful wetland birds, annoying humid loving mosquitoes, some crocodiles, a number of sporadic natural forest fires, and a spider the size of a fist sitting on a nearby toilet door (we decided to stay clear and pee in the grass that night).

We setup our tent in a park camping spot that had very limited amenities – some grass, some sandy spots, a parking lot, the toilet with that huge spider, a river filled with crocs 100 meters away and … actually that’s it. On these rewarding grounds there was one more couple sleeping in a van that night. As an aside, this couple was a cool Czech duo we would coincidentally bump into over and over the next few days – a quite funny experience. Anyhow, I have to admit that fearless Ewa slept like a solid slab of concrete this night. I on the other hand would have an irrational fear haunting me. Seeing an overabundance of crocodile warning signs during the day, and the 100 meter proximity of our tent to a river, I imagined that one of those oversized reptiles would crawl over when we were sleeping and taste our delicious meat. Of course that was very irrational as crocs don’t come out of the river to hunt in the dry grass. Nevertheless I woke up around 20 times that night with every crack of a nearby twig or a fallen leaf, and a dosage of adrenaline to keep my heart pounding. Soon enough, the sun rose and all was well again.