We left Mission Beach and drove up to Cairns. I really liked Cairns. There was a good shopping mall, a nice big lagoon to sun ourselves by and some good bars. We spent a couple of days there before going up to Port Douglas where we booked to do our diving. We went out on aboat called Habba and were taken to the outer part of the Great Barrier Reef. It was less damaged out there than other parts of the reef and less divers visited the spot. The journey out was a bit rough. Our boat was going really fast and there were some huge waves. A lot of people were ill. In fact one poor guy who was on his honeymoon spent the whole time out the back of the boat being sick and looking very sorry for himself. The diving itself was great. The reef was really beautiful. and we got to see lots, including 4 sharks, 2 stingray and lots of Clownfish. Both me and Lauren managed three dives. It was a rather overcast day but it did not affect the diving. However, when we surfaced from our second dive it was pouring with rain! We were the only 3 left in the water! It was much warmer in the water than out of it. All in all it was a great day. I loved the diving, the staff were great, we had a good dive master and we were provided with a delicious buffet lunch... which we really made the most of!

From Port Douglas we went north and drove through the rainforest to Cape Tribulation. It was a unique experience driving through the rainforest and although there was not much to do up there I'm glad we went. It was really beautiful. We visited the discovery centre which gave us an audio tour of the rainforest canopy and all the wildlife. It was very informative and best of all we didn't have to pay. Thanks to a couple of our friends who had already been and passed ontheir passes to us we got in for free.

We drove back down to Cairns and spent another few days there. On our first night out we bumped into our Welsh friends once again. A couple of nights later my friend from uni was also in Cairns and it was her birthday so we met up for a night out. Once again we had a good time in Cairns.

From Cairns we had to make the long drive back down south so I could meet Andy in Brisbane. The first stretch we did Cairns to Airlie. We had a night out in Airlie where Lauren got chatted up by her fair share of old men, one being in their 70s and claiming to be the sexiest man in Australia!

We then drove Airlie to Rockhampton, then Rockhampton to Hervey Bay the following day. There was a lot of driving but we took it in turns to make sure we didn'y get too tired. We spent a couple of nights in Hervey Bay as it had been a washout with rain the first time we'd been. I was happy to see the sun shining as we arrived this time. We spent a day on the beach. After saying goodbye to our Welsh friends in Cairns I was surprised to find out they were parked in the same caravan park as us! I've given up saying goodbye now.

We made it back down to Noosa to Lauren's family. The next day I was to be taking the train to Brisbane where I was meeting Andy!

(Sorry for not updating in a while. Been really busy. I realise this is still way out of date so will try catch up soon with the latest!)