It’s been three months since my last blog (wow, sounds like a confession!).  I’m not exactly sure why I stopped blogging, I just couldn’t seem to find the energy to write.  Also, I lost sight of what I was really blogging about.  Was it simply a travel blog?  That’s not what I intended when I started, yet I think that’s what some people thought it was meant to be.  It was perhaps confusing, then, when I wrote about my relationship with Marco, or my desire to recapture my independence.  I’ve decided that this blog is about many things and the most important thing for me, is to write for myself. I am, and always have been, a ‘people pleaser’ I think.  We can live our lives seeking approval from others or we can strive to be honest and true to ourselves – if I’m lucky, I may please a few people along the way, including myself. My plan is to blog every couple of weeks about whatever seems relevant in the moment!

I’m now back in Sydney for my second visit.  This visit was easier than the first in some ways as I knew what to expect, where to find things, and we had some exciting travel plans.  It has been different, though – it’s winter here and I arrived with a serious case of influenza, which I quickly shared with my partner in crime.  With the exception of a couple short outings, we spend the first four days in bed (no, not the honeymoon kind) – high fevers, aching joints, sore throats, hacking coughs…confined to the 350 square foot apartment with no heat.  At 6C in the night, we were armed with hot water bottles, medicine and extra blankets.  It was a true endurance test!!  The first two days, I was the sicker, so Marco was the caregiver.  The second two days, Marco was sicker, so I became the caregiver.  Then we were just fed up and neither of us really felt up to doing much care-giving. 

So, while I did say I am not just writing a travel blog, sometimes it will seem like one, at least when I’m visiting.

We did manage a train into the Blue Mountains, to a small town called Leura – two hours sleeping on the train there,  a quick hop out for lunch, then two hours sleeping on the way home.  This was all because Marco had heard there was SNOW there.  Well, yes, I suppose there was, the day before.  When we arrived, there was a dusting along the train tracks.  Nothing more.  We tried to laugh, but it just made us cough.

Finally, we were feeling a bit better and it was time for my dream trip.  I’ve been excited about this mini-vacation for months.  We were flying to Cairns (3 1/2 hrs from Sydney), then taking a shuttle to a place called Oak Beach, near Port Douglas (1 hr from Cairns), where we would spend four heavenly days at the Thala Beach Nature Reserve, traveling to the Great Barrier Reef and to the Daintree Rainforest during the day.  While we still weren’t pictures of health, we were thrilled to be going.  This trip had taken some planning and I was worried right until our plane landed, that something would happen and we wouldn’t get there.  That’s not really like me, but I haven’t been this excited about something for as long as I can remember.  The place is spectacular – honestly, I can’t say enough about it.  The staff were outstanding, the facility itself was remarkable.  I don’t have enough adjectives to describe it adequately.  Here are some photos that might give you a sense of the sheer beauty of the place. There are individual cabins, nestled in the rainforest and it is so, so quiet.

While it was a privilege to visit the Great Barrier Reef, our second trip to the Daintree Rainforest, far exceeded our expectations.  The Daintree Rainforest is the oldest continuous rainforest in the world and a world heritage site.  It is it’s own habitat, not related to other rainforests in existence.  There are plants and wildlife that will not be seen anywhere else in the world.  There are a few hundred people who try to live around the area of Cape Tribulation, however, there are always lots for sale – the dream of living deep into the rainforest is not an easy one.  Power must be generated through one’s own ingenuity – water or wind, often not successful.  It’s almost impossible to get clothes dry after washing them, things are always damp – continuous problems with mold, spiders, snakes – they said that every third home has a python in it somewhere.  Not for the faint-hearted and definitely not for me.  Beauty, though…of that there is an abundance.  We saw crocodiles and snakes as we floated down the Daintree River.  We learned that crocodiles only eat stupid people, a sort of natural selection.  In fact, two weeks before we went, there was a terrible tragedy involving two women – after too much drinking in celebration of one woman’s triumphant fight against cancer, and after many warnings, the women ran into the ocean (near the Daintree delta) at night in an area that is notorious for crocodiles.  One of the women lasted a few seconds before being taken by a crocodile, the other is still in hospital suffering from shock.  The saddest part is that they then shoot the crocodile if they can find it, in it’s own habitat.

During our stay at the nature reserve, we encountered wallabies, birds, lizards and spiders.  We were first greeted by a huge lizard (by my standards) who waddled down along the path to our cabin – I tried to pass him, but he wasn’t impressed and hissed at me with his incredibly long tongue.  Later that evening, we saw two spiders, one was the golden orb spider who had chowed down a tiny bird that had been caught in his web.  A short while later, I was sitting on a wicker couch and after I got up, Marco started to laugh and called me back.  A fat furry spider was climbing out from under my cushion, exactly where I’d been sitting!  It turns out it was likely an Australian tarantula who lives at the base of a tree by the restaurant. While they do bite and can make you sick, their bites aren’t fatal.

We said goodbye to the beautiful Thala Beach, and to our new friend ‘Apple’, a wallaby that hangs out sometimes in the lobby of the hotel.  Apple was apparently attacked by a snake, and has since become a friend of the hotel staff – she pops by for sweet potatoes and some attention most days.

Well, that’s all for now.  I have some time left here before I head back to Canada – I bought some watercolours and brushes.  I’m trying my hand at some Australian birds.  Maybe I’ll have something to show you in my next blog.