Arrived in Cairns pretty hungover on the evening of the 26th. Our friends Charlotte and Lyndsay from Byron Bay were there but I didnt feel very well (self induced) and we were all shattered and had a sky dive the next morning so we all just had an early night. Unfortunately a sweedish lad who was also in our room snored uncontrobaly and so i ended up wearing ear plugs and listening to my mp3 player to try and drown him out!

We were up early the next morning, and got straight on a bus to mission beach for the sky dive. When we arrived we had a short time to wait so had a free bbq and watched some dvds. We went up in the plane at about midday. None of us had brought covered toed shoes so had to borrow some hideous ones from the sky diving company. They also had to weigh us before we went up. I have been avoiding scales for the last four months until we get to the oc and i can use the gym. So i told the guy to write it down but i wasnt going to look. Luckily the scales were broken (BEFORE I GOT ON THEM) so we just guessed.

My tandem was a guy called ryan who had been doing it for 8yrs. his idea of a joke was to tell me he had narcolepsy and grab me from behind when we were on the plane! We went up to 14000ft with the door wide open and rather than let me quietly contemplate my detah ryan kept jabbering on about how he wasnt sure i was clipped in properly etc. By this point Helen was shaking uncontrobably and had gone a bit pale.

We had taken another guy up whi was doing it by himself. He went first and literally climbed onto the side of the plane and let go. Then within about 5 seconds gem and helen were gone, and it was my turn. It went so fast i couldnt belive it. Im glad we didnt hang of the side of the plane for ages but i didnt even get chance to realsie what i was doing.

You free fall for 60 seconds which is the first 10,000ft. The girls before us said it feels like 5 seconds but i dont think it did. You just have no idea what is going on because you are going so fast, but it is good at the same time! Luckily bcause the plane is going so fast when you jump out you dont get the sensation of losing your stomach, but ryan kept spinning us and doing sommersaults so i did feel a bit sick by the time he pulled the parachute. After that it was great. You could see all the reef and the beach and he let me take control of the parachute for a few seconds. Then we had landed and it was all over!

We opted not to have photos taken and Im glad as when i got down i realised as id come down screaming and laughing spit had flown out of my mouth and covered my face. Hopefully none had hit Ryan.

The next day we had another early one to get on the Ocean Freedom and go scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. We were at the dock for 7am, and away by 8am. We have all started to run out of money so are trying to get as many free meals as possible. Lucikly we get breakfast every morning in the hostel, and then when we boarded the boat there was tea coffee and pastries. Once we got onto the reef we went on our first dive. Within about 5 minutes we had seen our first turtle which we had been wanting to see since we started diving back in january! It was amazing and absolutely grogeous. We ended up seeing about 3 or 4 and also some stingray and amazing fish so it was a good dive. Once we got back on the boat there was a platter of meats, king prawns, smoked salmon, pasta, salad, bread etc waiting for us, and then we prepared for our second dive a bit further down the reef. Our Dm the 2nd time was a girl called bec and she was the best instructor we have had yet. she let us touch a couple of things and again we saw loads of turtels and stuff. It was a really good dive and the coral was amazing. We then went to kay bay which is basically a beach that appears in the middle of the sea when the tide is low. You can pretty much walk to it which is weird to say you are in the middle of the sea. we snorkled for a bit and helen got to see a nemo fish and some turtles which was good. Then we swam back to boat and headed for home. As soon as we got back on we got fresh fruit and about half an hour later a huge cheese platter with blue cheese, brie, cheddar etc on it. We devoured most of that just in time for more cakes and pastries. We definitely did not need tea that night.

The next day we had a small lie in, but wanted to get some sunbathing in at the lagoon 9see pictures). Spent the day there and i bought some ugg boots ready for new zealand and sorted out our flights back to sydney. That night we went out with Lynsday and Charlotte for a few drinks, but as we had a flight the next day we didnt stay out late.

The next day we headed for Sydney for our last night in Australia.

The lads had cooked us a nice spag bol, and then we all went out to World bar for their indie night which was really good.

Our flight to New Zealand was early the next day so with another hangover we dragged ourselves out of bed and said a tearful goodbye to helen (who wasnt leaving until that evening back to england) and headed to the airport!