Saturday 20th January – The journey back south to Cairns

Another wet start to the day, but we’re getting used to it now!  The weather had brought other animals looking for shelter, like this massive moth.   

Sadly, these elegant moths only live for a matter of days

There were three of them in the laundry this morning.  

There we were, coated in mosquito repellent this time, eating breakfast and just telling one of the other campers about our cassowary spot the day before, when a juvenile cassowary casually wandered across the campsite (right). I can tolerate a few million bugs if it means being surrounded by this type of wildlife! Another positive sign that the cassowary numbers may be increasing.  

Before we left Lync Haven we got introduced to some of the more exotic orphans they have taken on, like this crocodile and a couple of dingoes which are being prepared for release to try and bolster their numbers.

Pet dog?  No, a wild dingo waiting for release

How's this for a comparison between a crocodile (above) and alligator (below)

Then we headed south again, across the river and via Port Douglas where we stopped briefly for some views and a coffee:

View from Flagstaff Hill, Port Douglas

Port Douglas marina

We arrived in a dreary and wet Cairns with predictions of thunderstorms tomorrow when we were meant to be going on a dive trip.  We stopped in at the dive centre on the way into town to check if the trip was still on but were reassured we would be heading out to the reef come rain or shine in the morning.  We went and checked into our last Aussie campsite where we would be spending our final three 3 nights here.

The evening was rainy again which makes life a little harder when you’re living in a car!  So we went and camped out with all of the other soggy travellers in the camp kitchen, where electrical sockets were in high demand, and caught up with some correspondence.