Well we have reached the end of the Greyhound Bus line. We arrived in Cairns at 1pm on Thursday lunchtime. It feels strange that we now only have 11 days left in Australia. Thursday - Neeley was picked up at the bus station by her free accommodation ("Captain Cooks Hostel") and Annie and I made our way through town to "Caravella's". It is on the Esplanade, a very nice location. The rooms are nice and spacious, with a good sized shared bathroom. The kitchen is one of the better ones that I have seen, with the hostel also having a pool and travel desk! It is $19 a night, with a free meal. After we settled in we decided to go and have a wander around town to get our bearings and also to see if we could find any cheaper hostels. The centre of Cairns is easy to get around with all streets seeming to lead to "Lake Street" where there is a pedestrian area - all the shops and bars are close by. We met up with Neeley at 6pm and went for our free dinner at "The Woolshed" - most hostels here in Cairns offer free evening meals (YAY!). With the free dinner you can upgrade your meal for $4 - $6 and get a better portion size and salad - this is what I did as the free portions were small and were pasta+a sauce with beef (Eww). After the meal Neeley and I headed to her hostel bar to play free pool and have a $6 jug of beer and Annie went to meet Anna (her mate from "Magnums") in town to party! Friday - Annie and I are staying a second night at "Caravella's" before we move tomorrow. We met up with Neeley at 12.30pm for a bite to eat on 'Lake Street'. Then we all decided to have a walk down to the esplanade, by the beach area. There is a man-made public lagoon as you are not able to swim in the sea due to crocodiles and stingers! The area has recently had a facelift with decking providing a very nice walkway down to the other end of 'Cairns' esplanade. They have also built in "exercise stations" as a lot of people do their morning run down in this area. When we first reached the beach front the tide was out, this left behind the mudflats where we could see mangroves and also pelicans resting! By the time that we had walked to the other end and back the sea had come in and the area looked a whole lot nicer! I then had a wander around the night market which is near our accommodation, it was full really of all the traditional trashy tourist stuff, although I did find some nice Asian stores. Then I went to the "Woolshed" to meet Annie for our free dinner, it was really nice and filling tonight!! Then in the evening I stayed in and watched TV, I was feeling a bit tired and rundown, and Annie and Neeley went out into town. Saturday - Today we moved from "Caravella's" on the esplanade to "Coronas" on 'Grafton Street'. We moved because a $15 a night room became available. It is very basic; tiny 4 bed dorms, small kitchen and 2 bathrooms per corridor, but cheap! The good thing is that it's still right in the centre of town and near all the action. I wandered around and did some shopping today and then met Annie and Neeley for lunch. Then we met Liv and Hannah (from our Whitsundays trip) in the afternoon at "PJ O'Brians" to watch a "Lions tour" match. Then we went to the "Woolshed" for a free meal before I headed off to the cinema to watch "Star Wars III" - surprisingly good! Sunday - Finally our first nice hot and sunny day, it is 28C (OZ winter!). We all decided to go to the "Flecker Botanic Gardens" and "Centenary Lakes". The mini-bus dropped us off and we walked around the gardens first. It was beautiful and quiet; with rainforest plants, an orchid house and an Aboriginal plant use garden. Next we crossed over the road to the boardwalk which lead to the "Centenary Lakes". The boardwalk lead us through more rainforest, swapland, plams and paper trees. You then reached the lakes, one saltwater, one freshwater. We walked around both of them, a really great walk and what a relaxing day. A man and his wife offered us a lift back to town as we could not find the bus stop, I still cant get used to how nice everyone is to you here! Then we all went back to Neeleys hostel and had a free meal and watched some DVDs in the bar. We all split up tomorrow, with Neeley and Annie off to 'Cape Tribulation' and I go to 'Port Douglas'.