Cairns

Hey everyone,

I am finally up to date on my blog! It happened eventually!

I arrived in Cairns (after a very sleep deprived few flights courtesy of three screaming babies in the row in front of me on the flight from Singapore) to find all my padlocks removed from my rucksack which was very irritating ! Luckily nothing had been nicked - not having much luck on the padlock front!

Not really having made any plans for the Australia I decide to spend the first couple of days sorting stuff out. I was also feeling quite odd as it was going to be my birthday in a couple of days and wasn't really looking forward to it. Anyway, I booked the diving on the reef, the white water rafting for my birthday and the the uncle Brian's tour, which is a famous waterfalls and rain forest trip.

On the first night a few of us who had just arrived headed out for a few beers, which in fact turned into a bit of a drinking session! We started at a party run by one of the travel agent, but after 2 of us ( the oldest two out of the group) realised the average age was about 19 we bailed and headed to the pub - the first proper pub in months and a proper pint- happy days! We got chatting to a few locals and joined them at an open mic night which was brilliant, the acts were great, some more odd than others but a great night. The highlight had to be the Bon jovi act, who had a toy gun and was jumping in out of the door at people and then ended his act by falling on the floor - his next act was tap dancing -was very funny! At about 12:30 we staggered back to find the free shuttle back to the hostel. By this point I've bee up for 36hrs......we waited for nearly an hour to then discover that the bus had broken down and wasn't coming so we had to find a cab, I think we eventually got home at 2am. I was absolutely exhausted but a great start to the Australia leg of the trip.

Day 2 started a bit hungover and I got locked out of my room, so I got upgraded to a 4bed dorm, but It did mean being on the top bunk, and the ladders aren't that easy to get up but hey ho will see how it goes! Today I mainly started to plan how I make my way to brisbane and what I will do on route, it's very different to planning thailand which I had got quite used to. Had dinner got chatting to another English bloke travelling and got some good tips, after a few beers it was time for bed as it white water rafting in the morning......6:30am coach pick up!

So I wake up on my birthday at6:30 am to hearing the bus outside!!! Omg my alarm didn't go off, so I nearly fell off the top bunk trying to get down the ladder, I sprinted downstairs, but was too late! I won't repeat what I said! Great start to my birthday, I booked the trip specifically for that day so I was busy, poor mum and dad then got a very upset phone call from one very tired and upset daughter! I was dreading being away for my birthday anyway, so this really hadn't helped. Having gone back to bed, I got up at 10am messaged my friend and we went for coffee and shopping, which was really nice and made me feel better. In the evening we went back out for birthday drinks, which wasn't that later night as I think all off of us were still suffering a bit from the night before. The birthday day and night was salvaged and not a total disaster. One of the highlights was a brilliant video that mum and dad did for me :) luckily for them I am unable to upload videos on here as it doesn't work on my ipad!

On the 9th march I get my backside in gear and get some tours booked, I've put myself on a cairns to brisbane tour over 20 days that takes in all the stuff between here and brisbane but is part of a group which is cool and I've also booked my Melbourne to Alice Springs tour so feeling a bit more organised now.

10th March

I woke up in time for my tour today - whoop whoop! But with a horrible cold and temperature -b*****!!! Oh well I thought, not a lot I can do about it so off I head on the famous Uncle Brian's Waterfall, Rain forest and Fun tour! It was such a good laugh, our tour guide cousin Brad was hilarious! There was not a quiet moment all day, from singing and dancing on Gus the bus to banana fights with the other bus. Would thoroughly recommend it, I was by far the oldest person on the trip! Good job I still act like a 21yr old! We visited some amazing waterfalls included the one where the hair adverts are shot and where Peter Andre filmed Mysterious girl. We were all made to do the hairflick photo - this picture will not be making it on here, one I hate posed photos and I'm in a bikini and you lot don't want to see that lol! The most fun bit was the rock slide, I nearly lost my contact lenses and bikini on that one. One girl lost her top much to the amusement of the lads! We arrived back about 8:30pm.

The next day was the trip to the Great Barrier Reef - the whole reason I did my diving course in koh tao. I am still feeling really rough and am not able to dive - was absolutely gutted, but I was able to snorkel thank goodness. The snorkelling was amazing and to be honest the divers weren't that far beneath us so I felt a bit better about missing out. The reef itself was incredible, I've never seen anything like this, it was absolutely stunning. I also saw my first turtle!!!!!!! The fish were gorgeous too. It was a shame the sea was so rough, it made it quite a challenge to swim. I was totally amazed at the visibility and what I was able to see just through snorkelling. The colours of the reef we're amazing, I really wish I had bought a go pro video before I left :( I could have spent so long just swimming around, every part of the reef was different, the only word I can use to describe it is awesome! I hope when I get to the Whit Sunday islands I can go diving to see the reef again - fingers crossed. The two hour journey back was possibly roughest sea I've been on, how I didn't see my lunch again I don't know!

The next day is white water rafting (take 2)on Barron River, I get thrown in a boat with a bunch of people who cant swim or speak English, except for our lovely welsh guide Rob - I thought to myself this could be a challenging few hrs.......and yes it was! But sooooooooo much fun! I loved it!! Can't wait to do this again in New Zealand! We went through 5 sets of rapid, we nearly capsized a couple of times! The scenery was amazing, and the last 700m of lake placid was stunning, only when we were half way down were we told crocodiles had been spotted a while back - this bit we weren't allowed to swim in! Photos will follow a lot later on this as the USB stick is winging its way back to mum and dad......

Now I am just hanging out at the hostel waiting for my tour to start from cairns to Brisbane............

Hope you are all well and that the weather is getting better, I've had loads of heavy rain for the last few days!

Lou x