Hi all! Went into Cairns yesterday for a look around - the weather here at the minute is VERY wet which is a bit of a shame but we are hurrying along the coast to find the sunshine! Cairns not much to write home about, we had exhausted the place in 2 hrs....swam etc then headed to MIssion beach today - still raining! torrentially! we aren't going to be able to make it to dunk island unfortunately but are gearing up to go further south tmw!

We've had a great few days in and around the Port Douglas area. On our first full day we visited beautiful Mossman gorge slightly north of the campsite we are staying in. We did some walks through the rainforest and met our first aborigine! There was a massive waterfall and rapids flowing through the middle of the gorge which was amazing. Afterwards we hit the beach in Port Douglas - as it is stinger season we can only swim in designated zones with stinger ne...

Arrived in Cairns 5 am this morning, gave ourselves a little too much time to collect the campervan and hung around the depot until it opened at 8! Got the campervan sorted (although really its more like a bus!) and chris tried to get the hang of driving the monster - apparently it is surprisingly easy, i'm sure it will be strange after the mini!! Had an explore of Port Douglas - small beachside community - the drive here was amazing, rainforest right up to t...

Back in Tokyo for our last night in Japan. Successfully negotiated the hikari bullet train again and got back to tokyo around 3. Got a fantastic view of mount Fuji from the train cos it was such a clear day. We have had such good luck with the weather here!!! checked in to rather nice hotel for a spot of luxury for the night! Headed out to ginza to visit chanel again - picked up my sunnys this time :) Walked past the Deutsche Bank building on the way so had ...

got up early yesterday and headed to northern kyoto to see the ancient temples and shrines. most notable of these was the golden temple - absolutely amazing. also saw the 5 storey pagoda which was pretty cool. after this walked to nijo castle only to get there as the lady closed the gate at 4 for closing at 5 (having just let people in about 15 seconds earlier!). so with a changed plan we headed to the main night time/ shopping area and found ourselves in a karao...