Hello guys!

On Thursday my time in Cairns came to an end. Although I had a great time there, it felt like I had had a long enough period there to experience what it had to offer. So, after a quiet night in saying goodbye to my friends in the hostel, I boarded an early greyhound bus and made the two hour journey down the coast to Mission Beach. The town itself is very small, bordered by a 4km long white beach and surrounded by rainforest and mountains. I spent Thursday evening exploring the coast and the town, before heading back to my new hostel, Absolute Backpackers, to use the pool, watch a dvd, throw around a (american) football and have dinner. The hostel itself is small, clean and quiet, with a fantastic tv room and even better ktichen. After sitting and chatting to the other guests for a while, I made an quick retreat to bed, as I had an early start the next day.

This morning I got up and jumped on another bus, this time heading up into the mountains to the Tully River. I was going to be spending the day white water rafting down this picturesque waterway, and I was really excited! Tully River is classed as a grade 4 rapids, which is the highest you can do out of the six levels with beginners like me. Suffice to say it was an awesome day. The mountains and rainforest were a perfect backdrop to a trip made entertaining by our guides. I fell in three times, once by accident, once when someone from another boat pulled me in as a joke and once when our guide capcised us on purpose! We also all got out and had a swim at various calmer stages of the river, and jumped off a rocky outcrop into a pool. It was a great experience, but a bit tiring as we were paddling for four hours!

Tonight i am planning a quiet night in, and tomorrow its back on the greyhound for the eight hour journey further south to Airlie Beach, where the famously beautiful Whitsunday Islands await...