Southwest plane late but only 30 minutes. Everything goes easy in LAX - load luggage in cart and pleasant walk to Tom Bradley terminal. Qantas takes luggage and I go explore LAX for the next 4-1/2 hours. Qantas is insistent on size of carry on because "plane is full" (ha!) - we all have to measure our carry on to make sure doesn't weigh more than 11 pounds and doesn't measure more than 39" total - people are not happy especially when the Atilla the Hun agent makes people check pieces that are 2" too long and especially when we get on and see there is extra space in the luggage area above the seats. I lucked out and moved (very quickly) so got a seat with two empty seats between the Australian Xerox salesman and me. Mr. Xerox wanted the whole 4 seats but tough luck (I wouldn't have minded the whole 4 either).

Sound system didn't work so their "Movie Marathon" wasn't appreciated by us economy passengers. Movies didn't look great to me anyway so I didn't care. Food mediocre and wine lousy (fly Air New Zealand if want better stuff) but frozen strawberry yogurt bar at 4:00 in the morning almost made up for it. Breakfast an omelet.

May 7: Arrive on time (after 14 hours) at 6 in the morning. Luggage next to the last off the plane (PANIC!) - but since took so long, no line at customs or at passport control. Pushed luggage cart through a maze of corridors (but exercise felt good) to get to the "Domestic Transfer Qantas" area - then luggage put on another belt and take a 5 minute bus ride to the Qantas domestic airport and another 2 hour wait. Thoroughly sick of airplane but only 3 more hours to Cairns. Flight adequate (even the second omelet for the day).

Cairns - seems hot and muggy after 28 hours of air-conditioning. Jack there and looking skinny and slightly tan. Rest of day - am sure I did something because Jack said I couldn't sleep but 24 hours later and I can't remember what I did. Guess what I had for dinner - Omelet. Told you brain wasn't working!! Staying at the Hides - hasn't changed but guess since opened in 1885 shouldn't be too surprised hasn't changed in 3 years.

May 8 - Monday. Hides' breakfast - coffee, Sultana (sort of muessli), toast and coffee - on the huge veranda - overhead fans, rattan furniture, and birds in the trees at veranda level. Jack working most of day grading student work and swearing at his students .... the computer ... the printer ... the cyber cafe .... good thing nothing yelled back - we would have been kicked out for noise. I just tried to stay inconspicuous so I didn't get sworn at too. Did some exploring and tried to figure out what we going to do until we leave for Darwin on the 19th. Cloudy and drizzle in the morning but clears up. According to the locals, humidity is low but according to us New Mexicans, humidity is HIGH. We are both going through t-shirts and deodorant at a remarkable rate!!

Cairns hasn't changed much in the last three years - clean and friendly - 110,000 people - mostly two story buildings - not glitzy and not resort like - caters more to backpackers than high rollers. Obviously low season although still plenty of back packers. Dinner of grilled Barramundi, salad and french fries (much better than another omelet) - A$16 per person which makes it pretty cheap with A$1 = US$.60. Jack back to work and I stayed up all the way to 8:30. Managed to sleep through much of the night.

Australians don't have pennies - so a line on the cash register slip is titled "Rounding" - clever way of handling a problem.

May 9 & 10 - Jack working and spending time at cyber cafe but grades get done . Since gave one F, glad we are in Australia so don't have to listen to the student. I am still exploring - found the library - great place for waiting for husbands. Made reservations for four nights up at the Daintree starting Thursday - "wet tropics" - World Heritage rainforest - two days at Crocodylus right in the middle of the rainforest and two days at Jungle Lodge which is in the forest but closer to the beach. Both are hostels but they let old people stay anyway.

May 11-12 - up at 6:00 to get Jungle tour bus to Daintree Rainforest. Meet nice couple from England and another from Ann Arbor (just graduated from U Mich with MBA - off to Seattle with Amazon.Com soon as this trip completed). Arrive Jungle Lodge about noon. This time staying in a tent with only the two of us - John and shower in a building near by but have a double bed, lights, chairs on the front porch and tea making facilities. Last time was in a dorm with 40 others. Feels very decadent. A$64/night.

Walked about 2 km to Cape Tribulation Beach - gorgeous!! Saw a Lace Monitor.

White sand and good surf. Sulfur Crested Cockatoos and Sacred Kingfishers in the trees. Beach comes right up to rainforest and reef is just off the shore. No swimming however because the box jellyfish ("stingers") still in the water - is late for them but has been unusually warm and rainy this year (and we can confirm that) so they stayed longer than the normal period in the ocean. Bottle of vinegar at all the entrances to the beach to use to neutralize the stinger burn - vinegar is dyed blue - guess until they started to do that, people would use the vinegar for their fish and chips and there wouldn't be any for the stingers - personally don't see why it makes much difference if you use blue or clear vinegar on your fish and chips but I guess it works. Stingers are much worse than Portuguese Man of War and no one swims during stinger season unless they swim in an area with the stinger nets out - they have stinger suits which life guards use. Anyway we walk along the beach - oops! Have to cross a creek (shallow at low tide but we happen to be high tide) to get back to Jungle Lodge - have on shorts and figure can't be too deep - slightly concerned about the sign saying "Caution - Esturian (i.e., Saltwater) Crocodile area" which is right across the creek but since there aren't many alternatives to crossing the creek, we go anyway - half way across, water is knee high - little further and it is waist high for me. Only when we get across do we think of the stingers which travel up the creeks at the end of the season. Not smart!! But we made it.

Given humidity, shorts and shirt never do dry. Back to our tent and tea. Dinner at the hostel is adequate (chicken stroganoff - different and obviously made to satisfy backpackers). People friendly - most from other countries although a few Australians. Number of back packers on a one year trip to various countries.

Next morning go on a 4-hour rainforest guided walk. This time learn about the "stinging plant" - heart shaped leaf with silicon type fibers on top and bottom and side - brush against the leaf and the silicon hairs stick into skin. Extremely painful - causes nausea and disorientation - and the pain is reactivated every time get the area moist or wet for the next 9 months - no antidote. A 'pioneer plant' which means that it is the first to grow after a cyclone or fire or wind storm - cyclone last year and a big cyclone two years ago so we have plenty of chance to get acquainted with the stinging plant. Unique experience to walk along a muddy track covered with vines and roots and go up hills and through streams with your arms crossed so that you don't inadvertently grab an inhospitable plant. Rainforest is beautiful - Alexander Palms, King Palms, strangler figs, huge mahogany trees with buttress roots running feet from the base of the tree.

Have a plant with vicious spikes on it they call the "Lawyer Cane" - guess nobody in any country likes lawyers. As far as I could tell all the nuts and berries from the tree are poisonous too but they are very brightly colored and HUGE. Couldn't swallow them anyway. Australia has a huge bird - Cassowary - about 5 feet tall - that eats the nuts and carries the nuts from place to place. Incidentally the Cassowary isn't poisonous but it doesn't like people and it has a 3-4" claw in its feet which it uses against its enemies (joggers are its enemies because the bird thinks the thud of feet means some other bird is invading its territory - we didn't jog or even walk loudly in the Cassowary area). Afternoon walked on the boardwalk through the Mangrove Swamp. Dinner was a pizza - good but again way too large for us. The main reception area

at Jungle Lodge has several "pet" spiders...Golden Orb spiders, about as big as your hand spread out.

May 14-15: Bus to Crocodylus - stopped at Daintree Ice Cream Factory - got a sample of four kinds of ice cream - only two I remember were the Macadamia and the mango. Good. Again have a tent to ourselves at Crocodylus - this time with a John and a shower inside. Tent on stilts. Tent has holes so glad the mosquitoes ("mossies") and other creatures not too prevalent. Front porch with chairs and a table. Very pleasant. A$55/night. Went to the nature center about 6 km down the road - learn more about stinging plants and various palms and hard woods. Just can't believe how dense the rainforest is. Can't see the sky when are on the paths. Can hear the rain but canopy so think don't feel much. Walk up about 5 flights on stairs to the viewing platform which is above the rainforest.

Dinner at Crocydylus is pork and vegetables - good - A$8/person with the homemade bread $.50 extra. Rained at night which is a fun but loud sound in the tent. The rain obviously causes the orange-footed scrub hen to mate or guard its territory or something but whatever the cause it made loud noises all night. When got up looked under our platform to see it there was a scrub mound under our floor - wasn't - guess they are just that loud. Got up at 6 for a sunset sea kayak trip around the shore - water a little rough so the launches were exciting. Thank heavens Jack knew what he was doing. Paddled an hour and then got to a beach for fresh fruit (pineapple was GREAT), coffee, and bread (with vegimite for the masochists). Interesting fellow kayakers - NYU law student, Syracuse student studying in Sydney for the semester, marine biologist from London who spends 5 days on a boat and two days on shore. Paddled about another hour and got back about noon. Suppose to snorkle but water too churned up to see. Lazy that afternoon. Next morning hiked to Cow Bay beach - humid but otherwise nice walk. Quiet and saw some birds (few of which we could identify).

Jack talked me into the Everything Burger for lunch - pineapple, hamburger, cheese, ham, egg, mushrooms, lettuce, carrots, beet, cucumber, and bun - A$5. Bus ride back seemed too long but stopped at the Daintree River for a 45 minute cruise to look for saltwater crocodiles - found a couple - and some heron, egrets, and a kite. Tea and cookies and then on to Mossman Gorge - hike to suspension bridge and some people swam in the gorge. Back to Cairns around 7:00. Across to Woolworth's for evening food and cokes. Jack got a cold and not feeling 100% but hopefully will recover soon.