Natural Wonders of the World 'n Hitchin a Ride

Made it to Cairns, in Queensland, Australia, destination mecca for those looking to explore the Great Barrier Reef. Which I did up close and personal - scuba diving! Left from Port Douglas on a scuba-outfitted two-hulled cruiser, and went about 1 hour off the coast, to Opal Reef on the outer reef. Looking at the map, the depth went from 30 meters to 1300 meters within to rings on the depth lines! The dropoff to the deep Pacific Ocean. The coral we explored was simply mesmerizing, it's hard to do it justice with words and without photos. Most fantastic was the way it was stacked on top of each other, billowing with different types of coral and the plants that live on it, with canyons and crevices created between formations. The colors of the fish were innumerable. Stop and look long enough, and there was movement and life everywhere. We found Nemo, in his habitat (the frilly-tentacled anemone? as in the film) - he's smaller than he appears on the screen. We were told that Disney neglected accuracy when they didn't indicate that the male of the species will change sex and become the mother in the event that the original mother dies. Australians seem keen to mention mating and gender habits of all their animal species - for example, the cassowary (flightless bird) male is resposible for incubating the eggs (not eating for the 2 month process); the stress of mating kills the male of the quoll? species (something related to the tasmanian devil or tree kangaroo or some other Aussie-only animal. That info was learned at a crocodile (and other animals) farm I visited today, where they lament the fact that, since 6 meter+ crocs were killed off in large numbers up to 1974, their genes may be lost forever. However, since it takes 50 years or more to reach that length, there's still hope for crocs to grow giant again.
First successful hitch hiking in Australia yesterday. Only had about 20km to get to a gorge with a swimming hole, wasn't interested in the $20 bus ride (if it was even offered that day), so hit the road with my thumb out. First 20 minutes or more, 50+ cars passed. Then, one pulled over a couple hundred meters ahead (a van with a family, I think), however, another (young guy my age) pulled over closer to me. That got me a couple kilometers to the Cook Highway junction, at which point, I got picked up quickly, and taken to the turnoff for Mossman Gorge. Halfway down the road, I offered to take a photo for two tourists posing (solo) next to their rental car. They said they'd seen me in the morning (but didn't stop), and then offered to bring me the rest of the way, though they'd just come from there. So, that was nice. The river was refreshing, by the "hippie hole" was unoccupied.
Camped out at a backpackers/RV (vans for the most part) park in Pt. Douglas. Only got a few mozzie bites around my ankles (any word you can shorten and, ideally, rhyme with Ozzie is preferred vernacular). Another ride that would have taken me further up the coast fell through, so I went to the croc farm instead. More on that later. Cheers.