Sorry for the radio silence. I’ve been spoiled by free cousin wi-fi in Sydney and Canberra, and the harsh reality of paying for it per minute in Cairns has led to some pre-written words here. So, look out for some photos of my Cairns highlights this weekend. I’m definitely looking forward to the reported near-ubiquity of free wi-fi in much of SE Asia… where I guess I’ll already be situated next week!
Cairns has been great. I’ve accomplished some serious highlights here! I’ve snorkeled and scuba-ed in the Great Barrier Reef, where I even got to pet some enormous friendly fish. I also got rained on in the Daintree rainforest and went crocodile-spotting on the river. I drank some rainforest tea and ate some rainforest-flavored ice creams. I’ve also had enormous bats swoop past my head, widely furling out their wings into the distinctive Batman/vampire symbol. When there are thousands passing over your head at night, as if on a night sky bat conveyor belt, it really does feel a little spooky. And today… today, I cuddled a koala!! Don’t I look happy? 🙂
travelersdish 
Head to Maccas for free wifi! You look very happy!
Thanks! I’m actually there now. Unfortunately, the connection is so slow, that it took me half an hour to upload the text for that post, and after an hour of waiting, it still hadn’t uploaded even one of those photos. So I gave up (not wanting to spend all my time in Cairns in a McDonalds) and I went and paid for some time, and had those photos uploaded in only 1 minute. But Macca’s is great for checking email. 🙂
Koala looks happy too xx
Well lack of free wi-fi is made up by amazing experiences! Great Barrier reef… koalas!! I cannot wait to see photos. I will be living vicariously through you. It all seems so fantastic .. and sounds as such too! I am curious to learn/hear about your experience with the koala as well…their nature..how it was.. friendly? Are you going to get a sister for Jim? 🙂
Awww- can’t you picture Jim posing with a cuddly koala? That would be perfect! The koalas at the place in Cairns were docile, slow, dopey, and adorable. (And slept for 16-20 hours a day.) But the zookeeper mentioned that they can be really vicious in the wild and not only bite, but can run really fast (over short distances) and can jump up to 4 meters.
🙂 Can you bring one home? 🙂