Tuesday started at 4am for Drew! He heard something outside our tent/cabin, it was big, and definitely had 4 legs! It was a big feral sow, munching away on pretty much anything it wanted. Drew says she was large pig sized, and very hairy! Of course, he dídn't wake me up, so I have no independent confirmation of the alleged sow sighting... but he was pretty excited! I woke up just in time to hear it leaving.

At 5:50, we had a knocking at our tent for our 6am kyak trip to Shipwreck Bay. I think there were 5 kyaks in total, and we were to paddle to a point, round it, and land at the second beach. no problem, except Drew and I are extremely uncoordinated when it comes to paddling. Drew blames me, then he blames the kyak. I think he's a canoe boy myself. Breakfast was nummy fruit and bread, we walked around for awhile, and Drew displayed his very handy ability to open a coconut! We could have gone snorkeling, but the tide was coming in, and visibility probably wasn't good, and it wasn't really warm... although I did manage to get a mild burn on my legs. Coming back, Drew was definitely an unhappy camper... he swears we were taking on water inside the kyak. Back to Crocodyllus for a shower and checkout, and we were on our way... north again! We wanted to see the Bat House!

The Bat House is a small little building packed with more information than you'd ever need to know on bats! It's a rehab/research place for bats. We saw only one bat... but it was a biggie! It was named Oldboy, and he was malnourished when he was held in captivity, and his tendons never formed properly, and he can't fly. He's a friendly little guy! The research guy could handle him just fine, and Oldboy really enjoyed a scratch under the chin. Oldboy is a spectacled flying fox, just like the big bats that we saw the other night. He's about a foot and a half long, and BEAUTIFUL! Eyes like a little puppy dog. The research guy told us everthing we ever wanted to know about flying foxes, including that the researchers now think they are not bats at all, but PRIMATES! Which would make it the only native primate on the Australian continent. He said the females have one baby at a time, and take care of it till it's about 6 months old. Then he went on to describe the physiology, and why they are more closely related to lemurs than a normal bat. Fascinating stuff!

But, just like at home, we had a ferry to catch. We basically drove straight to Port Douglas, and here we are. After a little nap, we walked the town of Port Douglas, and I bought some more charms for my bracelet. It took us about an hour of window shopping to make it through the whole place. This is definitely a ritzy place! The real estate windows are unbelievable... $5m for a nice little place on the hill. Hmmm.... I'll pass, thanks very much. Crocodyllus is much more our style!

We had supper here at the Port o Call, and I've just noticed that it's raining... quite alot! I would have liked to see this up north, I bet the floodways will be working tonight! It smells nice, though!

And that's it from Port Douglas. Tomorrow is a beach day... if it stops raining! We have to have the rental car back at the airport around 2pm for our 4pm flight to Brisbane.

Cheers!
Marie