So we have started our adventure down the East Coast of Australia and so far we have made it down as far as the Whitsunday islands.

We started off in Cairns, arriving from Ayers Rock it was surprising to see the fast amount of green that Cairns has to offer. Being a tropical resort, there was rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef to explore.

For the first couple of days we spent our time trying to organise the rest of our trip down the East Coast. However, after doing this we started to explore our surroundings. Initially we were not very impressed with Cairns, it seemed like Blackpool but in Australia (lots of tacky shops).

Our first day trip was a day out on the Great Barrier Reef. We did a scuba dive here and we got to see lots of tropical fish and coral reef. Sarah was especially chuffed at seeing a family of Nemo's.

From Cairns we took an 11 hour coach trip down to Airlie Beach. Again Airlie Beach was very green and very touristy. Still we made the most of the few days we had here and spent our time lounging about and around the lagoon. Sarah got sunburnt.

We also went on a racing yacht around The Whitsunday Islands. When we first saw our boat we were thinking what we had let ourselves into. Still there was a really good crowd on the boat and it was possibly one of the best things we have done so far. A really good trip! We went snorkelling and to one of the top 10 beacehes in the world. It did rain a little bit and we had to sleep in a wet bed :-(

Hope alls good at home.

Gareth & Sarah x x x