While in Cairns I had the opportunity to experience the Xtreme Illusions Show – Sam Powers and his assistant Holly with their classic yet spectacular illusions. Roses transforming into doves, women being sawn in half, and and men escaping from trunks. It was a great night, and the the couple were charming and entertaining. I loved it, even if both Adrian and John refused to accompany me.

Image from cairns.com.au

The next day we took a tour up into the world heritage listed Daintree rainforest and up to Cape Tribulation. Despite our clueless stoner tour guide, we saw some beautiful places. We saw a sleeping croc in the shade of the river bank, some large white-lipped tree frogs, walked through the mangroves, and along the beach where the trees meet the coral. We finished up the day with a walk above Mossman Gorge, and even saw a wild male and female cassowary, crossing the road as they walked through their rain forest.

There is a lot to do when near solidified lava. Near the hotel were fields of petroglyphs – images carved into the bare open fields of volcanic rock. It is impossible to date these images, or even know exactly what they symbolise. There were some words written in Roman script, although not in English, which are obviously after European colonisation, and the lava flow occurred around 300 years ago, so the images could not be earlier than that. We saw many concentric circles, which are speculated to be birth records of the Polynesian people. Adjacent to the petroglyph fields was a bright green golf corse and immaculate cream buildings, a disturbing contrast to the ancient black fields on which we were standing.

After spending an hour out in the blistering morning sun, we decided to take a short cut back to the restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately, I had left my iPhone back at the hotel, so we had no map. Some passers by gave us directions, and we set of, we later discovered, in entirely the wrong direction. We were now in the middle of the Hilton golf course residential villas complex, and yet the footpaths were entirely unshaded. Everyone else was travelling either in golf carts or in SUVs, as this was still the USA, after all. The path twisted and turned, and although we passed miles of sparkling time-share apartments, we could not find shade nor shelter for ourselves. After an hour of trudging under the blistering Hawaiian sun, we emerge back at the shops, and stepped into the bliss of air conditioning. I downed a great deal of water, and savoured the luxury of cool air, shade, and hydration.

That afternoon we ventured across the other side of the island to see Volcanoes National Park. We walked through an old lava tube, and emerged into the damp rich rainforest, filled with birds and towering trees. We spent sunset overlooking the caldera of the active volcano, and as it became dark, I could see the pale orange light illuminating the smoke from the vents, and listening to the restless magma rumble and grumble below the earth.