The return journey begins...

Not much to report from Cooktown. We stayed for a night at Little Annan river but could not tempt any fish from the waters. So south we went, stopping at the "Mighty" Palmer River roadhouse for a toasted sanga and a beer. We settled for the evening a half hour from Mossman in a little bird watching sanctuary by the side of the road. When we woke the next morning, the temperature was a very chilly 8 degrees. Aren't we supposed to be in the tropics? It was freezing, we're not sure how we're going to cope with southern temperatures again! From Mossman we headed into Cooyah Beach hoping to find some tarpon at the mouth of the Mossman River. We saw one or two decent fish but all we came up with were a little moses perch and a flounder! We headed back into Mossman for a couple of supplies and headed to a picnic area to do a bit of research. Here we bumped into one of the local personalities. A charming aboriginal chap who called himself "Stan the Man". Stan appeared to have reached a state of inebriation hard core alcoholics could only dream of. Most of his rambling was somewhat incoherent but through his remaining cracked and discoloured teeth we were able to decipher a few words including often repeated declarations of love for us both! Plus he thought Bronson was "queer" because he didn't have any children. We hastily bid farewell to Stan and his overpowering aroma (we agreed he may well not have heard of a little invention called "soap"), and made our way into Port Douglas. We booked a couple of nights accommodation at a backpackers resort called Dougies. Not a bad spot, alot cheaper than a caravan park and with better facilities. Yesterday we took a cruise out to the Barrier Reef and did some snorkeling. It was absolutely fantastic and we had hoped to post some beautiful photos had our water proof camera not shit itself. Apparently it isn't as waterproof as the manufacturers claim them to be. It would seem it's a common problem made worse by the fact ours is 18 months old and no longer covered by warranty. Not happy Jan. Now we have no camera. So now we're sitting out front of the bar at Dougies, about to head into town to check out the markets. then we might head down the road abit and see if we can find some more fish! Be good peoples!