I arrived in Cairns at 4.40 in the morning and called the hostel. After no response for my free pick up I jumped on a shuttle. I was staying in Nomads Serpents. I got into the pitch black room and found the only free bunk and passed out there. I woke around 11ish the next morning and headed out to find my bearings. It was about 40 mins from the main Esplanade which was really annoying but I needed the exercise so couldn't complain. After Garys yummy cooking I had seriously gained some extra weight so I was very keen to lose it again. I hung out by the lagoon and found the nearest woolworths and got some bits. Later on back at the hostel I got chatting to Nicki in the toilets, she was sharing a room with 5 guys and 2 of them were the Georgies. Literally both called Georgie and from Scotland but they were the poshest Scottish people I ever met. They were bloody hilarious. I went to the bar and hung out with them and also Ciara and Paul from Liverpool who were lovely. In Nomads you get a free dinner when you buy a drink but you order in a separate counter. The silly girl behind the counter never told me so I sat there for 15 mins and when I questioned it I had just missed the 8pm cut off time. It was only about 3 mins past 8 so I was really pissed about that to be honest, highly irriratating. Anyway it was a really good night. We drunk loads at the bar and some sneaky goon in the room. They are well strict about no drinking in the rooms over here, something to do with licenses or something. People were all dressed up as it was Saturday and the night before Halloween. We ended up going to the woolshed and got more pissed there and danced on tables and had a good giggle. I am sorry to admit I did have a second mc d's of the day on the way home (tut tut to me).
The next day I headed with the Georgies and the scousers to the Pier to get some lunch. I had a $5 chicken pizza which eased the hangover a bit, I then headed to the lagoon and went and did a big shop at woolworths. I bought the essentials, tea, bread, butter, milk, sugar, cheese, pasta, chopped tomatoes.. and lets not forget the chocolate which I have a serious issue with at the moment :) Later I headed back which was a long ass walk in the heat with a heavy bag with a lovely headache :( That night we headed to the bar again but I was determined not to drink as I had an early pick up the next day for Cape Tribulation which is north of Cairns. I wasn't going to go out out but got tempted by Hannah to head out. So to the Heritage we went to which had topless waitresses and waitors. Of course the actual nipples were covered up. We had a good dance there and then I left about 1ish I think to catch the shuttle bus back, however Hannah and I missed it so we had to get a cab.
The next day I headed off to Cape Trib. On the way we did the Daintree river to do some crocodile spotting . We spotted a baby one and a 2 metre one in the water so not to many, apparently its to hot so they stay in the depths. A young boy got killed there last year when he went into the water to save his dog. The croc was caught and sentenced to a life in prison. Literally thats true, they can be put down or locked in a cage and used for trials and this was his fate. We then did a boardwalk in the rainforest and saw a really cool funky tree which had holes in it in a pattern. We droppped people at PK's and then onto the Cape Trib beach house which was lovely and was set in the rainforest. I shared a room with a girl from Holland called Mariek and Stefanie from France. Mariek were so frigging annoying. She seemed to stick her nose up at things I said and would challenge a lot of things I said. It was f***ing irritating to say the least and I was glad it was only for a night. Stefanie was lovely and Jill from England was really nice as well and I enjoyed their company. We sunbathed on the beach which was absolutely stunning and very quiet which I loved. The tide started to come in so we moved to the and the pool and in the evening spent a few hours in the bar/restaurant. I actually made a cheap pasta dish which I made again on the second night. This was the start of my cooking for myself and I am still doing it and saving bucks doing this. Cape Trib was a very chilled out and peaceful place and I was shatted so I went to be at 9ish and didn't get up until 9ish the next day. I clearly needed the rest :) The next day we set off for a walk to the look out and then Myall beach it was a nice walk and did not take us to long. We went in the sea as well, its now stinger season which means you have to wear stinger suits if you go in the sea. At this time we were ok to go in, in just our swimsuits so we took good advantage :) We saw a stingray as well. We headed back and had a sarnie before we got picked up to head back down south. We went on the Daintree river ferry which is run on cables. We stopped at Alexandra lookout and the Mossmon gorges. The Mossmon gorges were stunning check out my pictures. I couldn't resist but go for a swim..There is the Devils pool which people are not allowed to swim in as its very dangerous. There is a small hole at the bottom which sucks people down. An Aborginal tale was that there was a girl who was meant to marry a guy from a tribe but she fell in love with another guy. Anyway his family were disgusted he was dishonouring the tribe by getting involved with this girl who was to be wed to someone else so they took him off and she never saw him again. She was naturally heartbroken and died of a broken heart. They said she cried so much she created one of the rivers and she lives near the gorge looking for her lost love. If a guy between 18-26 goes swimming in the devils hole then she pulls then down thinking its her lost love and by the time she realises its not him she lets him go but he has drowned.== Statiscally in the last so many years the person to die has fit that profile which I think is really creepy!! Realistically its because guys that age would get drunk and flaunt the no swimming rule.

Stefanie and I headed for a walk further up to check out the rest of the park before we got back on the coach. Tuesday was Melbourne Cup day which is a big deal over here, a bit like Grand National. By the time we got to Port Douglas the partying was in full swing. I stayed in Parrotfish hostel which was ok but was full of Germans who really kept to themselves so I didn't really meet anyone there. I headed for a walk to the beach and then up a very steep hill to the lookout point. That was a serious workout! I lastly headed to St Marys by the sea which was a lovely church which had a window which overlooked the sea. I then watched some guys as they did their fishing as it started getting a bit darker. After that I headed back to the hostel and just relaxed for the evening and took advantage of the free wifi. The next day was a bit rainy so I did not do much but walk to Coles and get some food shopping and to the Marina Mirage and the Port to take some pictures. There is a little railway that runs into Port Douglas its really cute. I then headed back and waited for my 5pm ride back to Cairns. When I got back into Cairns I stayed in BHA Central in a 4 bed dorm which was new to me as I was used to 10 bed or more sometimes. There were lovely girls in there called Christina from Ireland and Nadia from Scotland. It was about half 6 when I got back so I made a jacket potato and chilled out ready for the reef tour the next day. For the reef tour I had to be at the marina for 7.15. It was a lovely boat with about 13 people in it. I met Anki and Leonard from Sweden and Erin and Dave from the states. They were both lovely couples. One of the guys who worked on the boat was from Watford, small world. He loved Cairns and was trying to get sponsored to stay. We got a muffin and tea to start with. Lunch consisted of salad, bread, chicken and hams, potatoe salad which I really enjoyed! Man I miss my mum's potato salad. I will definitely be getting some of that in December when they come out :) In the afternoon they fed us fruits, cheese and crackers and cakes..topped with wine ahem goon :) Anyway thats enough about the food. I get a bit carried away when I talk food. If you read my blogs you will spot this pattern. We sailed out to Green Island which took about 2 hours. We then snorkled for 2 hours and saw some beautiful reef, fish and sharks.. YES I did say sharks Black tip reef sharks... They were around the boat when we docked. Needless to say no one got in the water at first but eventually we did and I saw one a couple of times. The reef was gorgeous and I was impressed with it. We saw lots of fishes plus lovely yellow, pink, purple and blue coral. The current was very strong though and the wind was a bit crazy so visability was a bit rubbish however we went out after we visited Green Island and it was much better. There were also less of us in the water so we actually saw the sharks more times. I was fascinated and would swim after one but then swiftly turn around realising I was following a SHARK! Eeeekkk!! We did visit Green Island for 2 hours and it was lovely. People pay $600 to stay on the island. We spotted 2 turtles on our return journey to the boat which was cool. The sail home was pretty long and painful and I started to feel a bit dodgy.. maybe it was the goon :) We were rocking all over the place and I enjoyed it from the outside to start with but thought I would head at the back near some shelter. Probably a bad bad move as I felt a bit rough by the time I got off. Also I did not realise how red I was until I got back to the hostel and the girls pointed it out and I looked in a mirror. I was a lovely shade of blotchy red!! Always attractive :) I showered then headed to Gilligans the big party hostel/restaurant in Cairns. I had a free meal so thought I would go take advantage, the free meal consisted of spaghetti and some crappy tomoto and peas thing. I guess a free meal is a free meal but man.. yuck!

The next morning after loading up on free breakie I headed to catch my 7.45 bus to Mission beach...