We arrived at cairns at 9 in the morning and the weather was gorgeous, we instantly knew we were gonna love it here! The first hostel we stayed in wasnt much to write home about but we met some great people there. We booked a trip to the village of kuranda which was great, we took a train ride on the kuranda scenic railway in a very authentic lookin train which took about an hour and 15 mins stopping along the way to view the barron falls on the great barron river and stoney creek. When we arrived we took a walk around the village which was lovely, very small but full of shops selling crafts, art and food. We went to the kuranda koala gardens where i got to hold a koala (it was amazing!!) i didnt want to give her back she was soo cute, apparently all koalas do is eat and sleep which sounds alot like me!! Feeding the kangaroos and wallabies was fun too. We just had enough time to sit down by the river and watch the river boats before we had to head back home. We got a cable car ride back to cairns from karanda 7.5 km long, went very high over the rain forrest and had great views over the whole of cairns and the tropical areas around it!

We ended up moving hostels on day 3 as we were too far from the action, so we managed to find one cheap enough right opposite the lagoon on the esplanade! this hostel is a lot better and were right in the centre of everything. We only have to pop over the road and we can sunbathe at the lagoon which is an open air public swimming pool right on the sea front.

Yesterday morning we were down at the harbour bright and early for our great barrier reef cruise, unfortunatly the weather was a little over cast and a slight wind was picking up 15-20 knott. bout a 1.6m swell and ol' salty sea dog daryl got a little bit sick.... 4 ginger tablets and 2 sea sickness tablets later he was on the back of the boat looking green and making full use of the complentary sea sick bags. i was fine and loving the bumpy ride but i have to admit it was very choppy and there were about 8 poor people chuckin up!! we got to the first reef about 11am i was a little nervous about getting in as the last dive i did i ended up slipping on the edge of the boat and falling in (not very lady like at all) we prepared for our first dive donned our suits and gear and jumped in. It was a little choppy on the surface of the water but as soon as we went under the visibility was fine. We saw lots of marine life but no turtles or massive fish which was a bit dissapointing =( We can now add the great barrier reef to our dive log which is great! There was free snorkelling all day if you wanted to, a big buffet lunch and free tea and coffee all day. We chose to spend the afternoon on the front of the boat chillin the sun, it was like being in paradise, apart from the wind, we could have done without that lol!!

We get our "wicked camper van" on saturday morning and we cant wait to get on the road. Its very basic but it has everything we need. I think livin in the van will be great as it means we can go where we like when we like and no more searching around for cheap accommodation!! Maybe the novelty will wear off after a few days i dont know so watch this space.

Check out the new photos. Love to all x x x