01 March 2009

We arrived in Cairns about 8am this morning after an 8 hour flight. We were not impressed to be on an easyjet style plane for this length of time - no room and no tvs in the seat! We anticipated a very long uncomfortable and boring time. We had to stop in Darwin for an hour around 4am so we couldn't sleep much either. So we were very happy to be off the plane and arrive in Australia!

Tim and his brother Chris were waiting for us at the aiport and the four of us got the shuttle back to the hostel. Me and Jess were very pleased with our room - 2 double beds and a balcony! The hostel also has a swimming pool and bar area and free breakfast so we were pleased with our choice. Tim had met a friend from Loughborough Uni at the airport so this afternoon the four of us, plus four ex loughborough students went to the Laguna pool. This is a huge public swimming pool next to the sea, with live music and a bar. We sunbathed here and enjoyed a free BBQ lunch.

Later we booked trips for tomorrow to go on a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef. We wanted to snorkel and Tim and Chris wanted to do some diving so we booked different trips both departing early in the morning.

This evening we bought some goon (cheap boxed wine) and drank in our room. Tim had met an Irish guy called Paul in his dorm so he came up too. After many cups of goon we headed our into town and went to a club. As it was sunday night it was pretty quiet but we all had a good time. We probably shouldn't have stayed out so late (around 3am!) as we were getting up at 6am for our boat trip tomorrow...!

02 March 2009

After just a couple of hours sleep we managed to get up in time to get the bus to the ferry for our boat trip. Our boat was very nice and we had a cup of tea and biscuits when we got on. The journey to the reef took about 2 hours, and unfortunately the sea was very rough. Jessica was very seasick for most of the day and couldnt do the first session of snorkelling and had to stay on the boat to lie down. As you had to snorkel with another person I went out with the instructor. We had to wear stinger suits as there are lots of jellyfish in the water at this time of year.

I had a really good time snorkelling with Ritchie (reminded us of Michael Underwood - looks and personality!), he pointed out all the fish to me and when I was tired I could hold on to a rubber ring he was dragging round. The sea was very rough and snorkelling was much different to when we were in Phi Phi. Some people had to turn back because they weren't strong enough swimmers. I saw lots of different fish, including nemo's and my favourite fox-faced rabbitfish. These fish swim around in pairs and mate for life. Ritchie told me that if they get separated they will swim around the whole reef looking for the other one. So sweet! I also saw a stingray which was a bit scary. I asked Ritchie if it was the kind that killed Steve Irwin but he assured me it wasn't. Ritchie swam down to the seabed and picked up sea cucumbers that I held. One had a defence mechanism which meant loads of white stringy stuff came out of it, was quite horrible.

After lunch we moved onto a different site for some more snorkelling. Jess was feeling a bit better and decided to have a go at some snorkelling this afternoon. She was quite the celebrity on the boat, everyone kept asking me how my friend was. We went out with Ritchie again so Jess could hold on to the rubber ring if she needed to. We saw lots more fish and coral, and even saw a huge turtle! Ritchie said all we needed to see then was a shark, but we were quite pleased we didn't see one!

This evening we rested before heading down to the hostel bar for some food and drink. They had a film on so we watched that before getting an earlyish night after having very little sleep since Singapore. Jess was feeling much better but we will have to be careful about boat trips from now on and get some anti sickness pills in case its that rough again.

03 March 2009

Instead of booking a trip to see the rainforest and Cape Tribulation (where the reef meets the sea) we decided to rent a car for the day and go up the coast ourselves. This was a really nice change to doing trips as we could go at our own pace and stop at the places we wanted to. Our first stop was Ellis Beach, a really nice beach but unfortunately no swimming as its stinger season. We then headed up to the Daintree Rainforest and met a friend of Tim and Chris's who they met in South America. We swam in the waterfall which was lovely, and then took a walk up into the rainforest. We then drove up to Cape Tribulation just in time for sunset. Tim was very happy to be back behind the wheel and sometimes took the corners a bit fast, so we were happy to arrive at our destination! On the way back to Cairns we stopped at Port Douglas for some fish and chips with Tims friend Jeremy and his girlfriend.

04/05 March 2009

This is a joint entry as we did almost exactly the same on each day! We headed into Cairns to use the internet and book some things for the rest of our trip. We also did some sunbathing at the lagoon. We ended up booking a Whitsundays and fraser island trip, some accommodation and a bus ticket in one of the travel agents in Cairns - we got a good deal and were happy we had a plan! We went out for a few drinks for Tim and Chris's last night in Cairns. And then on Thursday Jess and I cooked on the hostels BBQ and just watched a film as we were up early for our bus to Townsville on Friday.