Sydney to Cairnes October 21

Okay, then, up at 4:30 A.M. for a 7:15 A.M. departure to Cairnes. Good news, no international terminal aka Dante's Inferno. Bad news, our flight of 3 hours can be characterized by the word "wailing" as in crying child who's parents, quite dear, were beside themselves trying to deal. They were from San Francisco and GOD ONLY KNOWS what possessed them to travel with a toddler. Time spent walking, waiting, searching - the usual - then off to the city to book our Great Barrier Reef tour and to shop, dealing with the minor challenge of the day. The handle broke off Ron's suitcase, locking in the extended position. Major challenge of the day: Ron driving an unfamiliar car in an unfamiliar locale on the wrongside of the road which contained endless roundabouts with me, the reluctant navigator. P.S. He wanted me to share in the experience which all started well but took a turn, literally, when I failed to yield properly. I never drempt that person would be going in the same direction as was I. Total elapsed time with me at the wheel = 3 minutes. After our shopping, we got down to our lovely drive to Daintree National Park, stopping at Port Arthur (the site of my brief turn at the wheel) to take some lovely photos of the Coral Sea and then to Mossman where we sought directions to our lodge adjacent to the park. We determined that the route included, was was not limited to, a ferry ride across the Daintree River. I tried to get a few photos, but there was no going down to the water's edge. Think crocodiles. A beautiful day going into what may be the oldest rainforest in the world. Hana-like. More stopping for directions mostly to reassure ouselves because, as I pointed out to Ron, we were pretty much far flung into the middle of who knew where. An unexpected gravel road to our lodge where we found our laid back host who showed us, upon check in, a fabulous swimming hole with resident turtle and a pathway down to what he described as the cleanest water anywhere. We explored a bit and then to dinner (fine dining with disappointing food) where our server turned us on to a little known swimming hole near Mossman which we planned to explore en route back to Caines.