Last full day in Australia so took a trip down to Litchfield National Park a hundred KM south of Darwin. We stopped on the way down at the Adelaide River to see the famous jumping Crocodiles. And jump they certainly do. The trip is amazing. You take to the water in a small 40 seat boat and set off down the Adelaide river. It all seems so peaceful, just the place for a swim, until you notice a dark shape heading towards the boat like an exocets. It all gets very surreal then as the boat driver dangles a pork chop on a fishing line over the side of the boat and suddenly this monster is alongside the boat snapping and leaping until it can twist its jaws around the meat. It's like going through a theme park and difficult comprehend that the enormous reptile alongside the boat is not some anamotronic put there to please the crowds, but a killing machine looking for food. We saw two massive males, both over 5 meters long, and several smaller females. Very exciting. In the afternoon we visited some waterholes where you could actually swim, they were high enough in the hills that they were croc safe.

Took a trip down to Kakadu National Park, some 300km south east of Darwin. It's a big place roughly the same size as Slovenia. and stuffed full a birds and animals. Being the wet season there is a bit more water around than in the dry season, something bright home when the guide on the boat trip pointed out we were sailing round the dry season Car Park, and indeed we were as yoiu could see the One Way signs just peeking up from the nine feet of water now over the tarmac. The park has a number of ancient Aboriginal paintings of various gods and spirits, etched onto the cliffs, some of which are up tp 40,000 years old. It is also home to 80% of the Crocodiles in the Northern Territory, which is an awful lot of Crocodiles. However most of them were hiding so we only saw one female, protecting a nest.

Took the two hour flight across the top of Australia to my last stop before home, Darwin capital of the Northern Territory., a place nearer to Singapore than it is to Sydney. It's getting towards the end of the wet season up here so there was sunshine when I arrived at a balmy 30 degrees. But I have never known a place where the weather can change so suddenly. One minute bright Sunshine and literally the next torrential rain. Not even time to get your umbrella out, not that it would do much good with the force of the rain. And then ten minutes later Sunshine again.

Darwin itself is positioned on a promontory surrounded by water. It's a very young city, founded in the life of my Great Grandfather, settlers arrived in 1862. The city had been flattened twice, once in 1942 by the Japanese Air force and once in 1974 by Cyclone Tracy which destroyed 75% of the city. So there are a lot of memorials and plaques around commemorating those two events.

Popped over the mountain to the Tourist heavy town of Kuranda in the hills above Cairns. To get there I traveled on the Skytrain, on of the longest Gondola rides in the world, which takes you high into the hills, stopping at a magnificent broadwalk at the peak. Totally missed seeing the large python sitting on top of a bush until a ranger pointed it out. It had a rather large bulge in the middle, indicating some poor rodent had recently been consumed.

Managed to make it to Cairna, dispite the best efforts of the weather to prevent me. The poor Cassoway Coast has certainly been suffering over the last month. First Cyclone Yasi blew houses apart and blocked all the drains with debris, and now record rains have flooded the town along the coast. There has been over half a meter of rain over the past few days and the Bruce Highway is still cut off and likely to remain so for a few days. So I had to take a detour via the Kennedy Highway. Being Australia the alternative route was not an easy option as it added 300Km and three hours to the drive from Townsville, making 7 hours in total. I was a bit worried about what state the road would be in but on the whole it was amazingly good and it ploughed through mile after mile of outback. At one point my Sat Nav said “turn left in 365Km”. There were a few dodgy moments when it went down to single track. Fine most of the time until you got a three section Road Train tearing towards you and you have to shuffle over to the side as far as you could get to avoid being mown down. Went through the monsoon trough that is causing all the trouble about half way and it certainly was raining. Now safely in Cairns and the end of my road journey. The promenade has signs telling you not to go in the water because of the Jelly Fish and the Crocodiles that inhabit this coast. So I went for a swim. But only in the artificial Saltwater lagoon nestled on the Sea front with glorious views over the Coral Sea.

The sun came out today so celebrated by taking to the water and cruising around the Whit Sunday Islands. The boat was an Ocean Raft, which promised all kinds of thrills and spille, and it didn't disappoint, with 2m seas to contend with. You could say I got a bit wet. The trip was worth it through for the stunning scenery and pristine white beaches. Even went for a bit of snorkeling looking very smart in my stinger suit, something you have to wear in case any box jellyfish come floating by. Floods bad again north of here which may disrupt my journey to Cairns. The main road is closed at present under 45cm of Water.

Rapidly moving up the coast towards Cairns, much like the rain storm I seem to be caught up in. Queensland has had a bit of a Summer, with floods at Christmas, Cyclone Yasi last month and now more flooding in the tropical North. I had a small taste of it today with lashing rain driving into your body. Grief knows what it would be like up here in a Cyclone. It hasn’t all been wet, Dropped into Bunderburg yesterday, home of aviator, Bert Hinkler. They are very proud of him in the town with a whole museum dedicated to the man who flew from the UK to Australia in small byplane in the 1920’s. When he returned to his home town, he landed in the main park in Bunderburg and taxied up the street to his parents house. Not that’s how to make a return home. The park has many mementoes including his old house, shipped brick by brick from Southampton. Not many detached properties from suburban Southampton end up in the Queensland Rainforest. In the museum there is also a sliver of wood from one of his first planes in a glass case. A piece of wood that has an amazing history as besides being part of one of the first machines to fly, it was also due to go into space as part of the ill fated Challenger Space Shuttle mission in 1986. After the shuttle exploded, debris was found all along the Florida coast, including the container containing the piece of the plane, completely unscathed.

Yesterday stayed in Rockhampton, which is bang on the tropic of Capricorn, so am now officially in the tropics.

Very wet as I headed onwards and upwards moving up the coast of Queensland. Called in at one of Australia's most visited attractions, the wonderful Australia Zoo, formally the home of Steve Irwin. As you can guess the place is choc-a-blok with Crocs, most of them captured in North Queensland from areas where they were proving a danger to humans. It's not good just relocating the Crocs as apparently they home. The place is full of all kinds of fauna from around the world all in very animal friendly enclosures. The show is stunning. Like the Lion King with real animals. How on earth do they train a Crane to fly in across the park, land in the stadium, strut around and eat a few fish and then walk off to around of applause. Popped into the animal Hospital as well. Quite bizarre seeing a Koala snuggled up in a sleeping bag, a Wombat with a plaster cast and a fruit bat being given oxygen.

From beautiful Byron Bay moved on up towards the Gold Coast. Took a final trip up to the lighthouse and the cliffs at what is the most easterly point on the Australia mainland. It really is a magical place and from the cliffs you can look down on pods of Dolphins playing in the water below, and Stingrays flapping by. The Gold Coast is a bit of a contrast. It is like someone has taken an avenue in New York and plonked it down on the edge of the Ocean. It is quite a surprise to see the skyscrapers in the distance as you head towards Suffers Paradise. Today arrived at Brisbane, yet another city founded as a punishment settlement for repeat offenders. The city centre is held in a loop formed by the Brisbane River, the same river which brought such terrible flooding into the heart to the state capital just one month ago. The devastation was quite appalling, with the destruction still much in evidence along the waterfront. But the city is fighting back with teams of contractors digging through the mud and reconstructing the buildings. I can tell I am sub-tropical now as I have a lizard on my veranda and there are some massive fruit bats flying about.

Headed north again this time towards the beautiful Port Macquarie nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Hastings River. Another beautiful stretch of coastline in the way up. Went for a walk along the cliffs and met a rather large Lace Monitor coming in the other direction. Now Lace Monitors are not poisonous, but have rather unhygienic eating habits due to the way they feed, which is usually by sticking their head up a dead Kangaroo's bottom and eating the insides, so a bite gets very infected. Needless to say I gave it a wide berth. Today ventured even further north taking in the Waterfall Way. I saw one, which is hardly a "Way", but it was a nice one. Also passed through the town of MaClean, which thinks it is in Scotland. It has an annual highland games and pictures of Nessie in all the shop windows. The image is slightly spoiled by the 35 degree heat. If they wanted reality they could at least have simulated driving rain and a howling gale. Arrived in Byron Bay this evening and climbed up to the lighthouse just in time for a fantastic sunset. Was a bit freaky coming down the the dark.