Day 132 Wednesday 20th January 2010

Johno says

It was quite an emotional ten hour journey up to Cairns as we didn't really get much sleep on this Greyhound bus but we arrived early in the morning and walked up to our hostel. Our hostel was called Gilligan's and was quite possibly the largest hostel that I have ever seen with 500 beds, the place was huge - it had a kitchen area on each floor, and the dorms all had their own showers and toilets which made a nice change for us. Check in wasn't until 2pm so we had a fair wait until we could get into a bed so we made our way to the TV lounge and fell asleep in there for a couple of hours. Cairns was absolutely roasting but it didn't stop us from sleeping as we were so tired. The room was really nice with plenty of space and comfortable beds. There were two guys from Germany also staying in there so we made plans to all head for our free meal downstairs in the bar. After a fair few beers in happy hour with the Germans, our Irish friends from Fraser also turned up to encourage some further drinking into the early hours. It was nice as this would be the last time we would see them as they were on tours as from tomorrow.

Day 133 Thursday 21st January 2010

Stacey says

Waking up at midday, Steve and Matthias (German dorm buddy) were feeling a little worse for wear! It was pretty cloudy out today, so we decided to just take a stroll around the town and see some more of Cairns, there isn't a whole lot here, it is a little more city like with shopping malls and centres, but also a lot of bars and restaurants to choose from in the evening. Was a pretty eventful day, I made a call home and we then went to get our free meal downstairs again, and we all just rested in the room talking away until around 10 before getting of to sleep in our comfortable beds!

Day 134 Friday 22nd January 2010

Johno says

Abo's everywhere! Yes, there was nothing else to do today but walk around town and spot Abo's, there seems to be a lot here. There is a cyclone on the way so unfortunately our Great barrier reef diving trip was cancelled this morning, which I believe is fate as a friend we met in Fraser was bitten by a 2 metre long Tiger shark, and another friend had suffered a jellyfish sting in the last few days. It was a shame though as we woke up at 6am ready to dive dammit. However it was good day to get a few things done for the weeks ahead. The evening was spent with our new dorm friends watching Love Actually in our room, unfortunately I didn't have any option as the room was full of girls.

Day 135 Saturday 23rd January 2010
Stacey says
After yesterdays disappointment, I was looking forward to my horse riding trip this afternoon. I was heading to Karunda Rainforest National Park, near Port Douglas. I was greeted by Matt who would be the guide, and met my group, who were 3 Aborigine guys, all knew exactly what to do on a horse having grown up on their own ranch. I then met Roddy, my horse for the next 2 hours, apparently a 'plodder' - nicely suited for a beginner like me J As we all set off, Matt then told us about Pumba the Pig, he got lost from his family by following the pet dog home one day back to the stables, and decided to stay since, inviting himself along on a 2 hour round trip on all the riding tours each day. So we had a pig following our 5 horses for the ride!! As cute as he was, the blasted pig kept dicing in and out of my horses feet, rolling over on his back in the mud every time my horse was going downhill in puddles and lakes, I didn't want him pissing Roddy off, or making him slip!! The scenery was stunning walking through, we went over all kinds of terrains, through lakes deep enough to get my feet wet, through a cattle field, where Pumba actually decided to stay and play with the cattle in the field. He'd got a bit annoyed once we'd started to have a trot and couldn't keep up, grunting away behind us! Then Matt trying to keep the experienced riders interested decided we'd try a canter, I said I'd never done it but id give it a go, before I knew it I was bouncing all over the place, with my horse speeding up past the first horse, foot came out of the stirrup, what a mess, but amazingly he responded to Matt shouting at him and we were back in a walk straight away for me to steady myself back on the seat. So we didn't attempt that again today!! Returning back to Gilligans for 6pm, we decided to have some dinner at a pub and had a few drinks and off to bed in time for midnight.