We met the China family as planned at Cairns airport where we picked up our eight seater beast of a hire car. Despite there only being five of us it turns out little Joya has more stuff than most would believe possible!

We drove up the coast to Cape Tribulation first as this was the furthest point on our journey in Australia. Here it was not only very hot but also extremely humid.

The China family were very organised and must take credit for all the planning. They had booked the most delightful villa in the heart of the Daintree Forest called Jarramali (www.jarramali.com.au). The views were stunning and well worth the jungle bugs that we were inundated with on our first night (we left the windows open a little too long!) By the second night we had learnt from our mistake and instead endured the heat of a sauna inside the cabin as we were too paranoid to open the windows!

The boys had there fill of being BBQ kings where they cooked everything from Kangaroo to breakie overlooking the beautiful forest. In between being mesmerised by the views we squeezed in a boat trip along Cooper Creek looking for Crocodiles. The good news was that we spotted not one but three (one adult and two small babies). The big Croc was resting on the bank, but when he heard Joya crying he soon had his mouth wide open!

Port Douglas was our second stop. It is a small seaside town with some boutique shops, restaurants and the sweetest little white church that you ever did see (St Mary’s).

Whilst the boys got up at the crack of dawn one day to go on a fishing trip us girls had a relaxing potter! The fishing trip was a clear success, with China catching a shark!

We also visited Mossman Gorge, which is part of the Daintree National Park. Carved by the Mossman River the gorge is a fresh water valley where the very cold clear water washes over ancient boulders. Once brave enough to venture in it was quite pleasant (Joya did not agree, after dipping one toe in she refused to go near it!) Despite the relatively strong currents the boys managed to make their way to the top in order to tumble down the natural rapids.

Our time with the China family was over far too quickly and before we knew it we were back were we started at Cairns airport ready to move onto New Zealand. Camper van adventures here we come!