AIFS Ecotourism June-July 2009

The course, by Dr. Heather Zeppel, at JCU. This years course was REAL EASY (easier than when Damon did it!) And everyone passed!

Weekends were generally free...

Part of the tour included going out on a two day reef trip, where some of the gang SCUBA-dived, and most went snorkelling with Jane.

The last weekend saw the final chance for the constantly talked about skydive, but unfortunately it was canned by bad weather, so many on the group decided to go bungy jumping and minjin swinging instead.

Then, after the gruelling rigours of the course, it was time for the holiday part of the course...

We were picked up in Cairn at the lazy time of 10am (minus one 'scuba diver'.)

We drove straight out to the outback, and stayed at the great value Chillagoe Eco Lodge. Free tea and coffee! And dogs storm and sunny, both of which were thrown into the rooms the girls that slept in...

That night we enjoyed a campfire under the stars... There was also some 'chubby wubby' action: (This strange American custom involves stuffing as many objects as one can into your own mouth, and after each object is put you have to try and say 'chubby wubby' in a still recognizeable voice. In this case, the objects were marshmallows.)

The next day was an entire day in the bush. We drove out to Donna Cave, where 'ranger BOB' took us through big caverns, and tight squeezes.

During the last tour, Bob had suggested we try out the self-guided caves. We returned to the Eco Lodge, and after another great dinner we headed out that night to do a bit of 'night caving'...

On the way we stopped to chase the local kangaroos. At night they bounced all around the outback town of Chillagoe. (They are called 'Agile wallabies'). We didn't catch one.

At the caves, we saw a 'Frogmouth', (a nocturnal bird). Damon (our 'guide') hadn't actually been in this cave before, (although he didn't tell us this until we got in there..)

So we scrambled down the almost vertical shaft in the dark! At the top was a 'snake' which gave everyone a bit of a fright.

The next day, Wednesday morning, we left at the outrageous time of 9am, and then after a long dusty day of driving we arrived at the Cape Tribulation Beach House, an oasis in the rainforest.

The afternoon was spent lying on the tropical beach.