Hiking with the snakes.

We stayed at a dumpy little hostel in cairns our first night. Since we were delayed 5 hours and ate and drank at the airport in Brisbane, we were just ready for bed.

We open our door , and found two twin beds, and the smell of wet dogs. Good to be home.
I have to say, I was so disappointed in the hostel, but after falling a sleep at midnight and not waking up till 9am, this little place with a little engine who could air conditioner and its pitch black no window room, gave me the best sleep i have had since the wedding.
We woke up and got our free coffee and white bread toast. We decided to head to port douglas.

We choose a nicer place in the lonely planet and decided to splurge a little. We choose the Pink flamingo . Laurie was sold at outdoor shower and the jungle in the background. It just happened to be the gay friendliest accommodation in Oz. We got a mini tour of the pool, game room with ping pong, and our villa with outdoor bath and shower, and lauries favorite pink bar with a disco ball and cher playing on a little stereo.
We decided to live it up and the pink flamingo through in a bottle of champagne for us. We lit some candles and started drinking , bathing, laying around in the hammock, and watching all the birds and bats flying above.
Day two we drove to mossman gorge and took a swim in a beautiful creek with boulders and rushing water. Laurie made friends with a tour guide , who showed her how to scale rocks and jump into the rapids. I was chased around by a black fish who tried to eat my pinky toes.
Refreshed we hiked home to outdoor showers and more hammock swinging. It was carnival that night so we headed out on the town. THe streets were packed, and we had a nice seafood dinner. THe energy was electric. We were having a blast.

Next day i handed over the planning reigns to laurie, and she decided hiking was the call of the day. First hike, up a creek bed to a waterfall and swimming hole. Well we had trouble finding the start of the trail. I parked on someones front lawn. they looked gone. We hiked down a dirt road and found the creek. There were no trail makers, so we just winged it. we started first trying to make our way around the side of the creek. 30 minutes of climbing through vines and jungle, thinking about snakes every step. Laurie opted for just hiking through the knee high water. I was more a land man. We would shout to each other when we got out view. About two hours in I decided one more bend in the river and if we did not see a water fall we were going back. My shoe had a come apart and the sole of my shoe was flapping around. Thank you 200 dollar lowe hiking boots from a16, bought 4 years ago and used twice.
Well no waterfall so we turned around. Laurie was afraid of snakes so she just hung out in the river. I liked land with my broken shoe, so i hugged the side. FInially i found an abandon road and decided it was better than going through the bush. We ended up in some tall grass. I was being attacked by mosquitos. Laurie had a cut on her arm that had swollen up. we made it back to the car and decided to try the other hike.
WE could not find the other hike so we asked at the croc farm. Laurie made friends with this lovely lady who scolded us for not wearing long pants and not carrying a snake kit and an ace bandage if were were to hurt ourselves. SHe smoothered on some random ointment on lauries arm. Laurie came back to the car and relayed the news on to me. that the hike was close by, but we had to go through two football fields of over grown snake grass , with two of the deadliest snakes in australia in the area. We decided to go check out the beach, with the no swimming signs , due to salt water crocs. Home we went, back to outdoor baths and candles.