Yesterday was probably our earliest start of the trip so far, we were up at 3.45am for a 4.20am pick up to travel inland for a hot air balloon ride over the Atherton Tablelands and the rainforest. We arrived at the 'launch site' after about a 45 minute journey and we were airbourne by 6.00am. It was such an amazing experience, so smooth and tranquil and really comfortable although none of us were graceful getting into the basket! After 30 minutes of photo taking, sightseeing and kangaroo spotting we landed (bumpy but not as scary as expected) so some passengers could get off and others on and then we took off again over a small town and vines and spotted more wild kangaroos hopping through the trees before landing again. This time we approached the ground faster and it was more bumpy - we nearly tipped over, and found ourselves even wanting the basket to tip cos it was so fun! After we had safely 'disembarked' we helped the crew 'roll up' the balloon like a big sleeping bag and us girls (including Jayne and Amanda, a lady off Jaynes Tour) were chosen to help fit it back in its bag. We then had to climb on top of the bag a jump like kangaroos to ensure we could close the bag up. Unfortunately Sarah fell straight off but she wasn't fazed and got straight back up again. After we were all packed away and had a group photo we headed to the restaurant. We enjoyed cooked breakfast (although not on a par with a proper full english!), fruit and a gorgeous apple crumble, washed down with some champagne. We were back in the bus and heading back to Cairns by 9.30am and when we arrived back tat the apartment we all felt we had been up a full day and headed to bed for a couple of hours!

We awoke around midday and took our time getting ready before heading into Cairns and wandering the streets and shops. We called for a drink in an Irish bar then hit the night markets, after making a few purchases we enjoyed a chinese buffet for tea then headed back just before 7.00pm to enjoy having the time and space to chill out and re-pack our, now clean, clothes. We headed to bed, again exhausted, around 10.30pm.

This morning we got a slight lie-in - we were up at 6.15am! We got ready and said another, this time final, goodbye to Jayne and took a taxi to our hostel (yep back in the slums after 2 nights of luxury!) to drop our bags off before heading to the reef fleet quay for our boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef.

Disappointingly it was raining and very dull but the crew were optimistic it would be better at Michealmas Cay, where we were heading. We enjoyed coffee and biscuits whilst everyone got on board and set sail around 8.30am.

We watched a slide show and listened to a marine biologist talk about the reef and we arrived at the cay around 10.45am and, amazingly the sun was out! We sunbathed on deck for a while in awe of the tiny island and the amount of birds on it (around 5000!) then at 11.30 we boarded a semi-submersable boat (a cross between a submarine and a glass bottom boat) and were taken on an informative tour of the reef, we even saw a lonely sea turtle and massive giant clams. Unfortunately the choppy water made Sarah a bit seasick but luckily she recovered in time for a gorgeous buffet lunch of breaded fish, prawns, chicken wings, salad and fruit. Although we were stuffed we headed on the 'beach buggy' water taxi over to the beach to embark on some snorkeling over the shallow reef, we saw some gorgeous coloured fish and even some translucent ones very close to shore who were not afraid to approach us! We caught the last 'beach buggy' back to our boat and warmed up with some more coffee and biscuits. We set off back to Cairns at 3.00pm and en-route (in the rain) we enjoyed some live music and a glass of sparkling wine. We arrived back at the marina at 5.00pm and walked in the pouring rain back to hostel for a rest before heading to the Woolshed for another complimentary meal then hitting the sack.