Cairns is an odd place, a purpose built tourist city that has very little to offer inside the city itself, instead its a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest - all well and good but it was a bit wet for day trips! We did manage a couple of dry days but that was after we'd paid to bring our flight to Melbourne forward so we couldnt afford trips :-p typical! Anyway, an extra 5 days down south in the big city with the sunshine would be worth it! We ...

Well, there isn't really a lot to say about Townsville; the fact that they simply put a 'vil(l)e' after 'town' pretty much sums it up! This place is on a parr with Mackay on the 'we shouldn't have really bothered list! But nevermind, you live and learn! The highlight of our stay here included watching the oscars, eating free meals of meat-by products and burnt cheese at the local Irish pub and leaving! Oh, and the fact that it has forced me to embrace eighteenth ...

First thing first, we really didnt know what to expect before we arrived in Airlie Beach, mainly because the Aussies in Mackay painted a picture of a downright seedy, drug addled and booze obsessed place. On reflection its obvious they were just bitter about a lively, visitor friendly place taking the shine off their town. Our weather good fortune continued as we had 4 gloriously sunny days to enjoy. We stayed at Backpackers by the Bay which was a great hostel a...

Imagine a place where buses only run three times a day, where the only attraction is a school artwork gallery, where the only restaurant is a Mcdonalds. Imagine hell. Imagine Mackay. Yes, we've actually found a place thats worse than Telford, and we spent two long nights there! Magazine articles & guide books billed it as as an up and coming tourist friendly town that had a lot to offer. Magazine articles and guide books lied! We wanted to leave after two h...