Fish are Friends not Food

July 26th

This 'Finding Nemo' sentiment seems lost on most Australians who having got down green and ecological on the Barrier Reef today, snorkelling up close to the entire cast of Finding Nemo, were not averse to devouring with gusto fishy friends and relations over lunch.

Today has been brilliant (if mind crunchingly expensive). We took a fast boat about 50km offshore to a pontoon moored on Agincourt Reef on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Good snorkelling, lots of pretty fish, informative and a friendly crew - we're all knackered here having exercised flipper muscles none of us knew we had.

We have some fairly hilarious video of the three of us in black lycra one piece 'stinger suits' including close fitting hoods. The effect should be sleek Ninja, but in reality the result looked more like a re-enactment of the Three Bears by tadpoles.

Yesterday was all very ecological too, we visted the Daintree Rainforest a few miles north of here and took a 4km walk through the forest - giant hardwoods, ferns and creepers straight out of Tarzan, The place is supposed to be teeming with life - we did see some brightly coloured butterflies the size of bats - a very friendly wild jungle turkey and a small rat-like rodent - but most of the creatures are either shy or nocturnal.

Later we drove further on through the forest, over a ferry (the Daintree river is full of crocs) to a remote beach called Cow Bay - an empty tropical cove at the end of a track through the forest.

Tomorrow we're just going to spend a day in Port Douglas - partly because it's a lovely, quite posh tropical resort - all lo-rise colonial style buildings developed since the 1980's - though the roots of the port go back to a goldrush in the 1880's. It is very lovely here - a manicured tropical paradise with all mod cons. We've been travelling and going flat out for almost two weeks - we just need to chill for a day - and do boring necessities like laundry.

Then it's off camping in the outback in the Undara Volcanic Park - bushwalking and giant bats....hmmm

love from the upside down three. xxx