When leaving Alice Springs Leanna was randomly selected for a drug test and had her clothes, skin and belonging swabbed, a surprising nervous wait later she was free to go. Stepping off the airplane onto Cairns soil we could instantly feel a difference in heat, Alice had been very dry and dehydrating whereas Cairns is humid and sticky. We took our free transfer to our hostel and spent the evening exploring the town, We noticed how spread out everything is here, there is almost too much space for them to know what to do with! The roads and pavements are ginormous and even the gravestones are miles apart from each other! Businesses have strange working hours and close randomly mid-afternoon and restaurants are shut by 8pm! It is rare to see a car on the road after 8 and there a few people around. A very quiet and chilled out place overall.

We spent our first day exploring the city in daylight and were pleased to see alot more people around. We came across a traditional British sweet shop, with all the classics such as, bon bons, pear drops, parma violets, rhubarb and custard, penny sweets and pot nodles! We had great fun reminiscing over childhood treats. There is a lovely swimming area on the beach front called the Lagoon, it resembles a giant swimming pool and is a popular place to cool off. We decided to test the nightlife and went out with a girl we'd met that day called Laurie, and her friends - a Brazillian, and 2 Japs. Our first point of call after dinner was Gilligans where we met up with Nikki's friend James again, a few Northern guys from our hostel and some random old guy Tony who tagged along with us. After Gilly's we moved to PJ O Brians, where they had a 'Pole Idol' competition going on and although we weren't drunk enough to participate, we had great fun cheering on the contestants. We finished the night at The Woolshed before beginning our long walk home.

The next day we moved hostel and found a bargain place at $14 a night, including dinner! We must've had an eye for a bargain that day as Leanna stocked up on $3 tops from the shopping mall, thats roughly 1.25 pounds! We also booked a boat tour to the Great Barrier Reef, which we managed to get for half the price by pestering the travel agent for upgrades! A very satisfying day indeed. We popped out again that night for a quiet drink and got chatting to 2 Kiwis and an Essex boy, Reece, who were trying to persuade Leanna (who has a massive phobia of the ocean!) to go diving, but she still wasn't convinced. They finally gave up and we all went over to The Woolshed, where this time a wet t-shirt competition was soon to start, but before anyone could talk us into entering we made a swift exit.

Bright and early the next morning, we headed down to the pier to catch our rather posh boat. Throughout the day our photograph was taken by crew memberes (which we were able to buy) and extravegant food was provided. Leanna was pretty scared all morning as she had previously decided she would go snorkelling. We put our suits and gear on and was taken over to a small island for a quick briefing before swimming off on our own. As this was Nikki's 2nd snorkelling experience she had no trouble using the flippers and equipment, Leanna on the other hand could not get to grips with them and couldn't actually move anywhere! But with a Nikki holding her hand away we went. We drifted away with the current at one point, Nikki managed to swim back to saftey but Leanna was too far and had to be rescued by the lifeguard. Nikki came face to face with a jellyfish and swam for her life back to the shore. She couldn't see Leanna anywhere on the beach and thought she had gone back to the boat, she then spotted a purple figure splashing about in the middle of the sea and realised it was a very proud Leanna. It was back to the boat for a grand lunch buffet and then time for a tour on the semi-sub. We were able to see the beautiful corel reef and all the creatures around it and lucky enough to spot a sea turtle and some unusual looking fish. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience. Thinking a celebratory drink was in order to celebrate Leanna's achievement, we headed out again that night. We took advantage of the 2 for 1 drinks special and then the free champaigne for the ladies, served by a baby-faced Canadian Mike, but who had the body of a stud muff! We bumped into Dan and Harry (the Essex boys from Chiang Mai!) and caught up with them throughout the night. Two of their friends serrenaded us with their 'Band' songs and was telling us how one day they're going to make it in Hollywood! Tony was out again and insisted on buying us drinks, he bored us with stories of how he was chucked out the airport. We met some cute Mexicans who changed our names to Maria Sophia and Natalia (Leanna is actually considering permanantly changing her name to Maria Sophia!). The best surprise was when we were en route to the toilet and heard a familiar voice screaming our names, we turned to see Zak heading our way! After missing his flight to Alice Springs, he had arrived in Cairns from Bali that day, it was really good to catch up with him.

Our last day before moving on, we had a chilled out morning around the Lagoon and went to the cinema in the afternoon to watch Sweeny Todd, a brilliant film! An early night was in order to catch our bus down to Mission Beach the next day.