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Date: 12/28/2008
In a taxi in Cairns (David cannot believe his great luck to get to ride around in cars again!)
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Date: 12/29/2008
About to get on the Kuranda Scenic Railway to ride through the Kuranda tropical rainforest
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Date: 12/29/2008
Some ticketed passengers we saw on the train already
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Date: 12/29/2008
Ready to go!
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Date: 12/29/2008
The train went through many tunnels and around many bends, so you could get some great shots of the end of the train following behind you.
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
Waterfall
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Date: 12/29/2008
Pretty neat view!
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
Barron Gorge and Falls, a stop along the railway
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
We stopped at a Venom Zoo while in Kuranda.
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Date: 12/29/2008
Um...snakeskin anyone?
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Date: 12/29/2008
Holding a python together!
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Date: 12/29/2008
Getting to feel a real snake squirm around
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Date: 12/29/2008
"Here, take it back, please!" :)
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Date: 12/29/2008
The beginning of many koala sightings
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Date: 12/29/2008
Getting to cuddle a koala!
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
They wouldn't let us bring him back to Kwaj....better to stick with the hermit crabs, I guess!
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Date: 12/29/2008
You know you are somewhere different when a sign says: "Wallaby food!" We were just glad they were tame, walking around freely, and that we weren't what the sign meant! :)
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Date: 12/29/2008
Can you see the joey in the momma's pouch?
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Date: 12/29/2008
See the joey's legs hanging out....
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Date: 12/29/2008
We learned a lot about crocodiles! Apparently salt-water crocs are larger than fresh-water crocs.
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Date: 12/29/2008
Yup, right next to it! She was pretty happy about that.
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Date: 12/29/2008
Now we are on the SkyRail going back across the Kuranda Rainforest toward Cairns again.
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Date: 12/29/2008
The kids loved the SkyRail, and it was a much cooler temperature than the train ride up the mountain.
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Date: 12/29/2008
The gorge as seen from the SkyRail
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Date: 12/29/2008
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Date: 12/29/2008
A brief walk through the rainforest, where the SkyRail temporarily lets you get off for a few minutes
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Date: 12/29/2008
Bedtime in our apartment in Cairns
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Date: 12/29/2008
Another view of our Cairns apartment
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Date: 12/29/2008
Breakfast
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Date: 12/30/2008
What a great Aussie driver Mark turned out to be!
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Date: 12/30/2008
Look at that man driving on the wrong side of the car!
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Date: 12/30/2008
Papa Bruce Hartley, are your Australian? We went to your crocodile park.
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Date: 12/30/2008
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Date: 12/30/2008
Petting a baby croc....Caroline will try anything!
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Date: 12/30/2008
Getting ready for the croc show
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Date: 12/30/2008
Christopher petting a blue-tongued lizard (Christopher is in the blue shirt)
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Date: 12/30/2008
Caroline's turn
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Date: 12/30/2008
Here we go for the show....we caught the croc in "attack mode" on video but not the still camera.
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Date: 12/30/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
Getting ready to board our vessel to the Great Barrier Reef
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Date: 12/31/2008
Our first stop on the Reef was Green Island, where you could stop and be refreshed with snacks, a quick swim in the pool, and a peek at an underwater observatory, where Nemo is known to hang out.
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Date: 12/31/2008
The beach at Green Island
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Date: 12/31/2008
Looking for Nemo!
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Date: 12/31/2008
More Nemo sightings!
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Date: 12/31/2008
Mark is actually taking this photo with his underwater camera as he scuba dives right by the underwater observatory where the kids and I are looking for Nemo. See us through the glass behind the other scuba diver?
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Date: 12/31/2008
These next several pictures are Mark's vantage point while scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef.
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Date: 12/31/2008
Pucker up!
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
A variety of coral life
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
Various fish darting in the anemone. Can you see Nemo, the clownfish in there? :)
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
There's Mark!
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Date: 12/31/2008
Another shot of the fancy scuba diver!
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Date: 12/31/2008
Mark in the GBR!
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
Um....time to get out of the water, maybe?
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Date: 12/31/2008
We are all getting ready to swim and snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef!
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
A little cage where kids were safe from big aquatic life and able to stand safely until they had the courage to swim. We were operating our dives and snorkelling from a pontoon in the middle of the GBR, where we were able to stay for 3 hours before the 90-minute return trip to the harbor.
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
Mommy is ready to snorkel!
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Date: 12/31/2008
David wants to get in on the fun!
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Date: 12/31/2008
Here I go!
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Date: 12/31/2008
Okay, Nemo, where are you?
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Date: 12/31/2008
View of us in the water looking out at the open ocean
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Date: 12/31/2008
Still can't find him!
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Date: 12/31/2008
Caroline's turn!
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
Brave girl, ear plugs and headband and all (to protect her left ear with the tube in it)!
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Date: 12/31/2008
David wants to swim with Nemo too!
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Date: 12/31/2008
"I'm ready!"
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Date: 12/31/2008
Snorkelling Caroline
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Date: 12/31/2008
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Date: 12/31/2008
That is actually a shot of Caroline from below (Mark took it) as she snorkels on the surface water.
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Date: 12/31/2008
Christopher wanted to get in on the action as well, with just a mask.
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Date: 12/31/2008
Christopher under water
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Date: 12/31/2008
More of Christopher in the GBR
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Date: 12/31/2008
Boating away from the pontoon, which you see in the distance
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Date: 01/01/2009
Another lazy morning
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Date: 01/01/2009
We found a fun playground down on the Esplanade in Cairns on our last day. It stretches for over a block and features some fun water sprinklers.
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Date: 01/01/2009
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Date: 01/01/2009
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Date: 01/01/2009
Swimming in the Esplanade Lagoon, which is set up to look like a beach but spreads out into a huge, block-long swimming pool
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Date: 01/01/2009
The Esplanade Lagoon...you can see the famous metal fish sprinklers in the distance and in some more pictures ahead
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Date: 01/01/2009
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Date: 01/01/2009
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Date: 01/01/2009
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Date: 01/01/2009
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Date: 01/01/2009
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Date: 01/01/2009
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Date: 01/02/2009
In the Cairns airport, awaiting our departure to Sydney. We discovered that Burger King has a different name in the Land Down Under but serves the same food, more or less.
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Date: 01/10/2009
This was actually taken at our last apartment on the way back through Cairns briefly on the way back to Kwaj (after our time in Sydney). You can see how very tropical Cairns is by the amazing foliage.
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Date: 01/10/2009
See the bird (from the deck of our apartment)!
