Monday 6th December - Arrive in Cairns early and find some cheap accommodation. However, when we walk into our room at 'Leo's' shocked was not the word! It was horrible! Anyway explored the City (not much of it) and had a a stiff drink and went to bed - sleeping on my backback because the place was filthy! Tuesday 7th December - Find a new place to stay, booked lots of trips and had a bbq. The great thing about Cairns is the outdoor way of life. There is a public outdoor pool (lovely) because you cant swim in the sea at the mo and you can use their bbq's! Wednesday 8th December - Up early to go on the worlds longest skyrail to a small village called Kurranda. Went back down to Cairns on the scenic train. Thursday 8th December - 3:50am start up in a hot air balloon! It was a really good experience until we had to crash land on someones' farm. We bounced about four times and then nearly tipped over! It made it a lot more exciting though! Friday 9th December - Had a quiet day by the pool and tried to save money! Saturday 10th December - Up early and went to Mangroves Wildlife Sanctuary and saw some beautiful birds, crocs and snakes. Stopped at Alexandra Range Lookout to take some pictures and then had a walk in 'Marrdja Rainforest'. Had lunch up at Cape Tribulation and then went on another river cruise along the Daintree River - yawn! We then went up to Mossman Gorge (see photos) and had a swim in really cold freshwater. It was beautiful! On the way back to Cairns we stopped off at Port Douglas. Sunday 11th December - Up early and made our way up to Palm Cove near Ellis Beach. We sailed out to Oyster Reef and had a snorkel, it was a bit choppy, which made it a bit of a struggle because you get warn out very quickly. We then went to Upol Cay a sand island about 3metres long and saw loads when snorkelling then. We saw a stingray, vibrant blue starfish, a turtle and some other fish stuff. The colour of the reef is vanishing before your eyes - not as vibrant as it would have been 10 years ago. Monday 12th December - Spending the day on the internet and awaiting a flight at 8pm to take us to Brisbane. We are going to be collected by family friends who are taking us to Noosa to spend some time with them!