Turnbull's Gap Year: 26th of August to the 27th

26^th of August

Left cairns we are booked in for a cruise out to an island tomorrow and are going to camp closer to the departure terminal. We head down to Deeral and find our meeting point for tomorrow and then try to find the closest camp site this turned out to be about 15km south and was a free camp put in by the local council at Babinda. What a great camp site we had a spot next to some covered tables and with flushing toilets and hot showers for $2 a place I could stay for a while if I was retired. The kids and I tried not doing too much and played lego and then I did some reading while they coloured in.

27^th of August

Up nice and early and up to Deeral I have the van still hooked up and leave the van attached at the ferry pick up point. The cruise started out with a 30 minute cruise down the river with some morning tea provided followed by 30minutes in the ocean to get to the island. The Island we picked was Franklin Island as told to us by the Information centre. The island is a national park and the company we went with had exclusive rights to use the island from the national parks. There was only 76 people on the cruise making a very small gathering with a high number of staff to passenger ratio. Upon arrival at the island the crew had to take all the food and people a shore by tinny as this is a completely natural island with no buildings and just a tarp set up for lunch. We enjoyed a guided walk around the island with the other guess, while the kids were put in the kids club (they were the only 2). Jason was in charge of having a relaxing morning playing with our kids. The kids loved it they went on a treasure hunt and enjoyed swimming with out there parents nagging them. Jason a father of 2 and 1 on the way was happy to have kids club today as there were only 2 kids and he remarked how great our kids were. While the kids were in kids club I went for a snorkel out to see some coral and marine life which was great. We enjoyed a nice buffet lunch with prawns and salads with enough food for me to go back more than once. After lunch the kids and the wife went on the scuba sub which is a weird boat where the people can go inside and feel like there in a sub marine they saw a few turtles and other marine life. On their return the kids were excited and Megan swum on the shore line while Jess and I went for a quick snorkel. The day ended all too quick with us all having to get back on the main boat at about 3pm to head in to line up with the tides so we can get in the mouth of the river. Upon getting to the mouth of the river and out of the rougher seas afternoon tea was served with some tea and fruit cake enjoyed by all. Near the end of the cruise one of the crew spotted a nice looking 4metre croc on the banks with the boat stopping to allow photos before moving another 10metre upstream to its mooring. We got off the boat at about 4pm and still had to find a place to stay we planned on free camping again and after driving around a bit too much trying to find better settled on one just north of Innisfail. This camp ground is just off the main road and even still provided decent toilets, town water and a park for the kids to play while we set up. I set up our ensuite tent to wash our salt water off before putting the kids to bed while Mum and I chatted with the back packers outside.

on the way out