Day 1- After a short flight from alice springs, we landed in cairns around 8pm. Twas a nice comfortable flight...I don't remember anything of it. We got a free transfer to the hostel ( we like free) When we arrived we realised we were probably one of the only people in our hostel, apparently its quiet because tourists think that the cyclone ruined everything when in fact everything was unaffected in Cairns anway. Score for us, a hostel to ourselves. Despite this everyone was crammed into one room! We instantly liked the idea of dorm life as were invited out for dinner by Cameron our roomy who was on his way out to a date with a swiss girl but said we could crash and join for our free meal at the Woolshed restaurant. Scott was delighted when we got there to see spag bol was on the menu...hahaha...but thankfully he avoided it and chose another free meal- it saved him from looking like a spag bol! We left soon after the meal as we didn't want to cramp his style! Bed time! Well after we met our 4th roomy liam who was a tour guide from Scotland! He likes haggis and hasn't left Scotland at all. Next morning we woke up happy knowing we were going to see the sea. We missed the coast in central australia. Scott and I both had the top bunk beds which proved a struggle for laura to get in and out of the bloodyt hing. When I woke up I went and stuck my face infront of Scotts to wake him up which gave him a fright hahahaha. On our way to Cairns town we stopped to see Jessie the reception girly to sort out what we should do whilst in Cairns. (really not alot unless you want to pay ,lots and travel) so we got the lowdown on carins and booked a trip to the great barrier reef, and whilst we were there an underwater camera too- cooooool! We then went to explore the town and find food as scott was ravilous! On the way there whilst crossing the busiest street in town, Laura's bag well and truly broke whilch to scotts despair put food on hold whilst we went in search of a new bloody bag! I like bags but they are not so cheap here. On our way to then try and find lunch we then stopped via the bank where you had to get a ticket like you do at the deli counter to see a member of staff. Scott thought it was a stupid idea. Didn't realise you had to pay $7 when getting money from your travellers cheques. The cheeky gits, that $7 could get you a lunch or a corona if your scott. Moving on...when we eventually found a non pricey restaurant scott and I had chinese as we'd been craving one since Hong Kong. Apart from the rubbery tasteless prawn crackers, it wasn't a bad meal for $12. We then sat in lagoon and watched a strange man do press ups on the side of the water before jumping in and starting to do handstands which got us wet...the weird git! You cannot swim in the sea in Cairns as it is crocodile, jellyfish and shark season so the lagoon was a safe option! At least then your not all sandy but you are still by the sea! Ice cream time, this is starting to become a regular occurence so I think we will soon be on rations as A) we cannot really afford one and B) I don't want to become a sumo wrestler. We then walked along the seafront (nowhere near the sea incase we got eaten alive!) we did however see millions of crabs as the tide had gone out (scott said it looked like Rye harbpour with the tide out...silly arse!) Scotts highlight of the trip so far came when we stumbled accross an outdoor gym. His eyes lit up and he ran off to play! There was a pull up bar, a dip bar, a sit up bench and a rotation seat so he tried out all of them whilst I have to photograph this momentous moment. (and stood watching scratching my head wondering what the excitement was about) After dragging scott off the do da's we headed back to the hostel but on the way came accross a kids wet play area which again scott got excited about and ran off to play. He looked so cool...NOT! He was about 4 times the age of everyone else in there. So when we finally got back on track we then came accross a local lady who gave us the do's and don'ts of what to see in Cairns. She told us not to bother seeing Port Douglas as its boring so we thought it best not to tell her that we were booking a trip there as part of our cape tribulation tour on thursday. She continued to tell us the don'ts for Cairns and we should leave here asap and go see melbourne. Before we edged off slowly she wanted us to try the local delicacy of green ants which to our horror she started to look for saying that if you bit off their bum they tasted like sweet and sour. Unfortunatly she didn't manage to find any, so we made a hasty get away back to the hostel. We got back to Njoy and had a nice chatting session with Jessie. At 4.45 we decided we were going to book the Cape Tribulation tripe, so we powerwalked to the bus station incase the office shut at 5pm. We arrived at 4.59pm sweating like anything, only to find that the bloody place had bloody shut. Scott had cut his toe on a twig after powerwalking accross the grass. Swearing the entire way back we then came accross another place that booked the same greyhound trip, so we booked it through them. We then skipped back merrily, showered and went for dinner with Liam our Scottish friend. We decided to upgrade our dinner however as the thought of anything spag bol like put us off dinenr altogether! So for Scott- chicken burritos and Laura's third time lucky nachos which they hadn't run out of this time! Wahoo! Back home and bed as we had our super cool tri[ the next day- via the garage to get breakfast. Day 2- We got up at the crack of dawn and had our breakfast from the garage, a lovely fruit yoghurt and two chocolate croissants which wern't going to keep going til lunch. We got picked up from outside the hostel and taken to the reef terminal, I was already worrying we were going to miss the boat but Scott reassured her that an hour would be long enough to queue 10meters. Well normally it would be but the lady on our counter was asking everyones life stories whilst they paid so it took ageeees. And the cheeky woman didn't give it back...and I guess I was worrying about missing the boat that I didn't notice either. Thankfully the lady decided to give it back before we set sail. On board we were given forms to fill out about our health etc so we could dive. So as a just in case I mentioned I had sports enhanced asthma...I wish I hadn't. A million questions of how, when, when I last used my inhaler, and how they thought I wouldn't survive underwater etc. So they called a doctor...after all that they decided I was allowed to dive...I had been a little put off it I must admit after that lecture. 2 hours sailing later and we arrived at the reef. Me and Scott were in the second group to dive so whilst group 1 was in the water we got kitted up in our sexy diving gear. Thankfully me and Scott didn't need weights to tie around our body to sink us as we are both apparently skinny! Once kitted up, we had to jump overboard. I couldn't even stand up with my oxygen tank on as it was bloody heavy and its been a while since I've done weightlifting! haha! Once jumping off the plank we entered the shark infested water (apparently they are friendly sharks) but they still look like scary sharks though! Exercise 1- Stick head underwater and breathe...this proved problematic alone for me as breathing through your mouth only is hard...so I started to panick...in Laura style...great! Thankfully our lovely instructor bec was awesome and really helped me (not breathe but calmed me down all the same!) Scott insisted all day that I had a lady crush- just because we got on well mean old man (and I wasn't wearing my lesbian green hat either!) Bec then took me and Scott diving hand in hand and I'm telling you, I didn't let go of her hand the entire 20minute dive. Can't remember too much of the dive as I was concentrating on breathing and staying alive. Hoever Scott tells me it was awesome and happy snapped alot (200+ photos) We saw lots of Nemo's, Dorey's and a baby Nemo tooo! Cool huh! The other group saw a turtle too which we didn't see dammit! We did however get to see spaghetti coral which was nice and soft to touch. Then came the best bit of the day for Scott (apart from the reef of course) the buffet lunch! We took full advantage of this as we didn't know when we would be able to eat again, which was of great concern for Scott. The afternoon was free to do what we wanted, either visit the nearby island or continue snorkelling. Everyone disappeared to the island and me and Scott stayed with the crew to snorkel on the reef. (you might aswell take advantage) So off me and Scott went! Whilst Laura was loving snorkel life, Scott was busy swallowing half of the sea. He claims it was the faulty snorkell but I don't think he was a natural like me...haha. On the way to getting back on the boat, we had to snorkell through the sharks and the big fish who were surrounding the boat in the hope of getting fed! Pretty scary to swim past and thankfully we didn't get eaten. The boat trip back to Cairns was not as quiet as on the way...northerner meg...the entire way back just kept talking and thinking aloud saying about a million times how she wants to see a dolphin etc...we were going nuts and wished we'd bought ear plugs with us! Thankfully we did see some dophins so that shut her up for a minute...only a minute though. Wine and cheese made my eyes light up...and then Scotts also when he found out he could exchange his wine for a beer! Much needed after the mexican girls (nearly as annoying as meg) on the boat back kept taking photos of themselves at different angles so scott asked the crew if he could throw them overboard! haha! Back at the hostel, we then freshened up and went for dinner and met new dorm mate Adam who managed to get the last flight out of Christchurch befre the earthquake. His mate wasn't so lucky and got stranded there, so we looked after Adam for the night.Day 3- Yet another early start, croissants again and we got on the bus to Cape Trib with our crazy budhist bus lady, who told us when it rained lots crocodiles end up on roundabouts-do they not understand give way to the right?! First stop was a stop for refreshments. Laura needed caffine so had a flat white coffee abd Scott had a Daintree tea as we were int he Daintree rainforest- his comment of it was "it tasted like norma tea- could have come from PG tips or tetley". haha! First proper stop on the way to Cape Tribulation was a boatride down the Daintree river vis another refrreshments stop- this time free so Scott took extra biscuits incase it was a while til lunch. Because it was warm we were told that the chances of seeing crocodiles were slim, however our guide had crocodile spotting eyes, it wasn't long until he spotted a baby one sleeping on a low branch - we could only just see it so wanted to find a closer one so we couldl really say we'd seen a crocodile. On the way back in the bushes we saw a 2m crocodile which was lying in shallow water amongst the reeds. Again hard to see but at least we can say we've seen a huge croc sunbathing! When we got to the main part of the rainforest our hippy guide taght us all there was to know about rainforest trees (zzzzz) and how when there was going to be a storm, a certain type of tree's leaves all came together to protect itself. Ants also know when theres going to be a storm because they all face north...then get mightily confused when the storms destroyed their home apparently! The whole nature talk went on a bit and I went into daydream...oops! So don't ask us what else we learnt because we don't know! At lunch time we were dropped off to our hostels which was in the middle of the forest which had little huts for rooms. We then walked into Cape Tribulation village (if you can even call it that) which had the grand total of 3 shops...a supermarket, a chemist, and a cafe! Well at least we were sorted for lunch! Food prices here were huger than normal so we had to settle for a toastie which was filling for Laura...not so much Scott. So he scrounged around at Maria's (czech girl in our hostel room) leftover chips to fill him up! Whilst we had lunch the first of many rainforest downpours occurred! Thankfully whilst we were undercover. We then went and explored what else the village had to offer! (not alot) we walked down towards the beach which your not allowoed to swim in like everywhere in Queensland because of the crocs and jellyfish...but apparently it was a picture postcard location. We then saw a metre long huuuge lizard which was fine to look at until it started walking towards us with its snake like tongue...not so cool. Now not going to lie, it did scare me a little! We then followed the footpath towards the other beach...it got a little spooky as we were walking in the rainforest to it and the path was really deserted. A load of bushes had fallen on the path which meant we had to go off piste to get on the beach...and having seen a HUGE spider in a web outside where we had lunch I was walking with caution...scott walked in front with an umbrella up for protection! There were loads of animal footprints on the beach and the sky went really dark, which creeped one of teh girls out alot (not me) thinking we were gonna get eaten alive by crocodiles so we headed back at a pace for an ice cream and a sit down at the hostel! (we haven't had one fo those in a while) We then sat in the pool for a couple of hours and got wrinkly skin. You could tell the pool was extra warm when it downpoured for an hour. So we were in a pool in the middle of the rainforest, and it was pouring with rain...twas surreal. I was so thankful for a warm shower when we got out. It was the first proper warm shower since we left Perth! On the way out there was a tiny lizard sitting on the loo seat. I felt rude disturbing him so tipped my hat (my green lesbian hat which is actually scotts normal hat) and said sorry mr lizard and shut the door behind him. Don't know why he would be sitting there of all places...so we waited a couple of moments for him to finish then started operation rescue lizard...we put him in the bin...and then put him outside in the rain!For dinner we went back to where we had lunch about a 10min walk down the road which was fine in daylight but when we came back around 8pm in the dark...we had a spot of bother as there was no light- pitch black, and we were surrounded by rainforest and deep puddles...and we had no idea how to get back...oh goody! Thankfully we had two German guys who we'd met in the pool earlier and Maria to walk us home) So we began our journey back...did I mention it was still pouring with rain and we kept treading in those deep man hole puddles. So a pidgeon step at a time! The German guys thought it would be funny to make howling noises and make us jump. I personally did not find that funny at all! We got back and Maria had fallen asleep by 9pm...shortly followed by Scott so I thought I may aswell have an early night too. Well it was still pouring outside so I had a long night ahead of me as it was rather loud in our room...I was also a little scared by being surrounded by bugs in the forest!
Day 4- So it rained all night long and showed no sign of stopping. There was so much water everywhere that we couldn't be bothered to trek it to the other hostel cafe for breakfast and all our hostel had was ice cream. Our diet is sure going well. So me and Scott shared an ice cream. So we savoured the mouthfuls especially as at our hoste; we had no internet, no tv, broken pool table and broken football table. So it really was hurrendously boring when it pours outside and theres nothing to do apart from read a celebrity magazine. We headed out to the cafe for lunch though as Scott couldn't face ebing rationed to only ice cream...Laura didn't mind though. At 1.15pm we got picked up horrah, and we began our journey back to Cairns, firstly stopping at the Daintree ice cream place...yes we were going to have another ice cream! But this time it was home made so it was healthy...? Me being adventurous chose mint choc chip then complained about it tasting like a mint leaf andnot realy mint ice cream at which point Scott laughed at me...don't know why.On the way to Mossman Gorge the rain was still hurrendous, made more so by the fact I had left my rain mack at the hostel...retard. In the dry Mossman Gorge would have been a perfect place to swim in, but because of all the rain the river was too dangerous to go in so we just stood and looked and took photos from the side...in the rain! Thankfully Laura had stolen the umbrella from the tour guide which kept her dry...well I say dry, Scott decided to hold it which meant my back and side got rather soggy. After taking lots of scenic photos it was back on the bus and on the ferry accross the daintree river. A stop of at Port Douglas...with a stroll to the sea front...and 30seconds into it we stood in another huge puddle which just tipped us over the soggy edge. So we went and bought ourselves chocolate milkshakes. We want ozzie weather not english weather! Half an hour later we were picked up and taken back to Cairns. Jessie had been doing her homework for us and found us the cheapest deals for the trips. Dinner with Adam and Jon (who had just arrived from Christchurch...he was pretty shaken up) An 11 hour bus ride to Airlie beach the next morning to look forward to.