Thursday and Friday - Ayer's Rock to the Daintree Rain Forest

hello from the middle of the rain forest! it is certainly a big change here from the middle of australia and ayer's rock! I am looking out the window into the jungle as I type this (from the one working computer at this lodge which has dial up internet access - I had no recollection of how slow this method is!! Also, unfortunately, no pictures until we get to our next destination)
Our time at Ayer's Rock finished up nicely - we had a great time hiking/walking around The Olgas which were beautiful and totally different than the rock itself. Afterwards, we packed up, had lunch, and left for the airport where we flew to Cairns. When we landed, Craig said, "this looks like Hawaii" - and that's probably the closest description of the landscape and greenery to anywhere we have been.
The lodge is about 1 1/4 hours from Cairns and feels like it is in the middle of nowhere! Our room is called a 'River House' - like a tree house but looks out of the river. very fun! We had dinner at the hotel last night. Today we headed out around 8:30 for a full day tour of the rain forest. It was raining most of the morning but we had a wonderful time - hiked around in the forest, drove up the coast, Craig swam in a little natural pool, we took a cruise down the river (where we saw 3 crocodiles and a python). We didn't see a ton of wildlife otherwise - one biggish lizard and some birds. It was a really fun time.
Now we are back at the lodge and heading to one of the nearby towns for dinner. We're pretty tired so tomorrow will mostly be resting around the lodge (I think - Craig picked up a bunch of brochures from the front so there may be more activities coming our way).
We will post again soon and are taking lots of pictures that we will put up when we get to a place with faster internet service.