Hi all.

After my action day of sky diving yesterday I wasn't sure if white water rafting today would be as much fun.

I set off at 8.00 for the Tully River which has 45 rapids and some of which go up to a grade 5, that's the highest and most fierce of all the rapids - yikes!

Got kitted out in a rather fetching red helmet, black thermal vest (it was optional but it was bloomin cold!) a yellow life vest and some shoes. All set and ready to go, I started to feel more nervous of this than the sky dive!

The rapids were awesome. I was clinging on for dear life most of the time but was loving it all the same. Our guide in the raft was Callum, he was a bit of a joker and had us believing all sorts of stuff like taking us under a waterfall because it originates from some thermal pools so the water will be super warm. I was looking forward to a nice hot patch of water seeing as my goosebumps now had goosebumps! Too bad he was lying and the waterfall of course was freezing! It took my breath away.

Stopped for lunch. Had a bbq by the river. Got my burger and headed for a rock in the sun - lovely. I started to wonder if they could leave me here and come back for me at the end of the day!

Back in the rafts and this time Callum meant business. He had us doing wheelies down some rapids which had a few of us flying out of the raft. He also tricked us at another rapid into flipping over. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. We were heading towards a rapid and he told us to lean the wrong way so we all flew out. I got headbutted by the raft and then ended up stuck underneath it. The current was starting to pull me under so after thinking "s***, what do I do?" I started to think calmly and just swam out under the water. The cold water didn't help matters either. The current is so strong and the water so cold - a bit of a shock to the system!

Still, at least I lived through it and it made me more confident for the rest of the day.

Got back to the hostel around 6.30pm and felt shattered. My arms and belly are aching. My arms from paddling through the choppy waters and my belly from laughing so much! It was a great day out and I'm so glad I've done it.

Got a new roomie in my dorm. He's a little Taiwanese chap called Charlie (bet that's not his real name!) He's really sweet and calls me Dulie and asked whether I had a s*** on my bed. He really meant sheet - he he, I love foreigners and the way they pronounce english words!

I treated myself to a Thai dinner this evening and now I'm heading to bed (it's around 10.30pm) I'm going to try and get up around 6.00 tomorrow to see the sunrise. I haven't seen a sunrise since I've been in Oz so I'm looking forward to it.

I'm then off to meet some family tomorrow. It's my dad's cousin and his wife who have lived here for around 30 years. They live about 1hr 30mins from Cairns. I haven't seen them in 20 years so it will be interesting to catch up. I was only 8 when I last saw them - Do you think they'll recognise me?!

That's all for now folks. Catch up with you in a few days.

Love, Julie xxx