Blog

Okay so first real chance of writing a decent sized blog and it came on our 18 hour coach trip from airlie beach to noosa!!

Cairns
So let's start at the beginning, we arrived in cairns after what felt like an eternity to get to Australia and as a consequence both me and Lewis felt quite jet lagged! Luckily the accommodation was already booked and we had our own room so we could sleep as and when we wanted! On the first night we went for a look around cairns and had our first meal at outback jacks I think it was called! The city itself is like a giant grid full with crossroads and shops along every sidewalk. They have a night market most nights too in the middle of there grid which was quite nice to look round! On the second day (Saturday) we again felt the effects of heavy travelling so just found our feet and explored a little more! Found the local lagoon and another market! In the evening we decided to check out the nightlife and it didn't disappoint! We went to a bar called woolshed and it was pretty good! Nice and busy and it even showed the saints game all be it at 1 in the morning! The following day we went on our bungee jump, probably not the best idea when your hungover!! But we still did it and it was amazing! We did it with a really good company and got 2 dives from it too! We bought the DVD of the dive itself and the pictures to go with it! It felt like we didnt get the most out of cairns probably down to jetlag which was a little disappointing but it is what it is I guess!

Airlie Beach
We decided to skip mission beach as we heard their wasn't much to do there and the only reason we were going there anyway was for a skydive onto the beach. We have rescheduled the skydive for when we get to Byron Bay! So we took the 12 hour coach trip on the Monday and stayed at waterfront backpackers hostel where we got our first night accommodation for free as we booked a tour with them! Chris and Natalie gave us a number of a girl who worked there too (sarah) who took us out for a night out on the Monday too which was cool! At least she knew the nightlife so we went to good places! On the Tuesday we started our 3 day tour of the Great Barrier Reef on board the 'wings 3' catamaran! The tour started at midday on the Tuesday so by the time we got all the introductions and basic necessities sorted we were almost mid afternoon! In the afternoon we went for a snorkel and basic scuba training, saw lots of fish but nothing really to shout about as it was in a coved beach area! Back on the boat for the Tuesday evening we had dinner showered and then the daily slideshow of the days photos (not many on the first day). Second day we sailed up to the Great Barrier Reef and luckily got there in some rough weather conditions. Once we did get there though it was well worth the wait as once under the sea it was like a different world! The coral was beautiful and decorative whilst snorkelling and deeper down while scuba diving I got to see a reef shark and ray up close and personal! There were so many fish of different colours shapes and sizes and well worth the risk of getting there! On Thursday (the final day) we went to Whitehaven beach which I think is voted in the top 10 beaches in the world! We had to survive a wave which covered the whole boat and we just happened to be on the main deck at the front! it wiped lewis out and luckily everyone else was hanging on! We played numerous games and took lots of pictures throughout the day! Back on the boat we had our last meal and slideshow and a good laugh together before we got back to shore on the Friday morning to say our goodbyes! We met so many great people on the boat and so many different nationalities! On the Friday night we had our night out with wings 3 and it was good to get everyone together for a night out! Got lots of good photos too! The Saturday and Sunday we pretty much had a nice chilled weekend with Elise and Mallory who we met on the boat! We went for a couple of hikes through some rainforests which were good laughs! Saw some dodgy looking spiders and snakes and were constantly paranoid that we were being attacked by bugs! But some beautiful scenery! Saturday night the 4 of us went for a meal for the last time and said our goodbyes! On the Sunday me and Lewis went to the lagoon most of the day and caught some rays as it was the hottest day of the week before packing everything up and saying goodbye to one of the best weeks of our lives! Next stop is noosa where we are planning to do Australia zoo, the one Steve Irwin set up! Followed by another 3 day tour camping out and driving 4x4 trucks! Something a little different but still very excited! We're doing it with a company called dropbear adventures and it just so happened that the guys who run it were on our last tour of the Great Barrier Reef! So they gave us some good discounts and free accommodation! The bar has been set pretty high after this last week so lets hope it delivers!!

And that brings you up to date with where we are at the moment and I still have 4 hours left on this coach :(