Had a really long day today, and it's quite weird being in Japan after being in Australia for so long. Tokyo is also SO different to Oz, and the UK, so my eyes are popping out of their head at everything!! Last morning in Cairns was a little sad as it felt really weird leaving. Packing up my stuff just felt odd at first, but then I was actually looking forward to getting on with my journey! I managed to leave a few things behind that I didn't need anymore, an...

Had a really nice relaxing last day in Cairns today. Went to the lagoon with Jenny from my room in the morning, which was really nice. I'd seen postcards of the fish sculptures and did wonder where they were, and they are at the lagoon! It's really nice down there, and I had a lovely walk along the promenade by the sea. Just hung out in the town centre really, having a good look around and catching up with emails and so on. I finally phoned for my Fraser Isl...

Today was a really fab day!! Snorkelling on the Barrier Reef was really amazing! I couldn't get the hang of it at first, but I persevered and finally got used to having to breathe through my mouth and clamp onto the snorkel mouth piece! I wonder if I looked like a fish, having to pucker up to the mouth piece all the time otherwise I swallowed half the ocean whilst swimming around! You see loads of fishies and coral and sea cucumbers and all those sorts of thi...

The trip today was really, really cool! Long day, but a really good one, despite me falling arse over tit right outside the hostel and giving my right leg and arm a good scraping on the concrete!! Despite that, the trip (ho ho) did get off to a good start. A few English people on the tour, one Ozzie, three French friends, a couple of Canadians, two girls from Columbia, a guy from Norway, and a small assortment of other foreigners! Uncle Bart was our guide and...

Got a lift to the train station this morning ok and had a nice chat with Steve who gave me a lift. He and his wife have only been running the guest house for about 3 months and have given their notice already! They really like people, but I think running that place isn't quite what they imagined. I think they'd prefer a different calibre of guest, seeing as that place is for people on a budget. They probably really want to run a B&B and have actually been...