Day 18 Cairns 10.6.18

Slept in this morning as we sat up late watching the swans win 😍. Misty rain early on then it cleared to a beautiful day.

Left Mena Creek a bit before 9

South Johnstone sugar mill

Banana and sugar crops everywhere

We arrived at the Mamu skywalk just as it opened. Spectacular views of the rainforest, mountains and river. We spent a couple of hours there enjoying the tranquility of nature.

Art work at the entrance

a cyclone upended this tree

 A beautiful butterfly landed near my feet.

I finally caught up to some of the others. I got left behind as I was in 'a world of my own' wandering through the forest 😍

I'm getting better at doing the selfie thing

Mark admiring the views

It's not often you see the tops of very tall trees

Feeling on top of the world, again.

Looking down at Mark from the top of the 37m observation tower.

Coffee wasn't available so we opted for an ice-cream. We received a bookmark as we left.

We stopped at Gordonvale to explore. Lots to see, all within easy walking distance.

Settlers museum was not open on a Sunday.

Bomb shelter converted to a mini museum

Monument to the early settlers

Toads were first introduced to Qld in Gordonvale

mosaic tiles tell the story of the introduction of toads 

The 'pyramid'. There is an annual race up and down this mountain.

Gordonvale's original water tower

all that is left of the original tower

Sugar mill

Sekh temple on the way out of town.

Finally made it to Cairns after a couple of near misses in the car. People not concentrating on what they were doing and after pulling over to the left in front of us then decided they would do a U turn just as we were about to pass them! Skill full driving by Mark saved us from a not very pleasant ending.

After joining the others for dinner outside Greg & Wendy's van we went off to the outdoor movie provided by the van park. Movie showing was Planet 51, an animation that was really quite funny and we surprisingly enjoyed it.

• Today we drove 143kms = total 1899kms.