Back from Cairns, sunburned (but not as badly as I could be, mom) and mosquito-bitten. Had a great time. Also came to the following conclusions:

Training does pay off. I'd been going to the gym with a trainer before the trip, principly to make sure I didn't die on the sea kayaking trip, as i had no upper body strength. I now have a little upper body strength, and that's enough. Especially when I'm in the same kayak as the tour leader. I planned that one well.

I am capable of roughing it. We camped out on an island with no bathrooms, no showers, no nothing. We brought everything with us -- all our water, all our food, etc. -- and took everything back with us -- all our trash, all our shit (and I mean that literally) etc.

While I don't mind peeing in the ocean, I do have one requirement for future adventure trips: Air conditioning. Or at least a ceiling fan. Damn, it was hot. The mosquitos weren't great, either.

Mosquitos will bit you in some really unpleasant places, parts of your body that it is not acceptable to just start scratching in public. Oy.

So, yeah, I guess I'm at the point where I just like a little bit of comfort in my vacations. Maybe I'm a bourgeoise pig, maybe I'm not a true adventurer -- who cares. Air Conditioning is one of the greatest inventions of our time, and I plan on taking advantage of it in future trips. I'll leave the real roughing it to others.

Right, I'm off to my last day of exploring Sydney. I think I'm off to the zoo, as I still haven't seen a damn platypus. Sigh.