So we're finally in Australia!!! The sun is shining and life is goooood! Sadly, unlike SE Asia where free internet is everywhere - it costs in Australia! The place is expensive!!

Our first stop in Australia was Cairns. We were greeted by Buddha in our hostel, and yes he said 'g'day' and called us poms. He was so funny and definately put a smile on our faces after the long journey. We pretty much slept through our entire first day! Our sleeping was a little bit messed up and we found ourselves sleeping in pretty late so had to set our alarm for a few days. Our first night we spent in the Woolshed. The meals were huge and tasty but we weren't amazed by the place. It was a bit of a culture shock going from relaxed bars, to bars similar to England where we had to carefully make our way through crowds with our drinks. We also popped into Gilligans bar which was massive! We had ou first scooners - a glass between the size of half a pint and a pint. After we listened to some guy on his guitar singing we headed back for more sleep.

Our second day in Cairns was spent in town and relaxing by the lagoon. There is no beach in Cairnes so they've created a lagoon for people to cool down. Its really clean and big and is surrounded by grass and free BBQ areas. We spotted so many large fruit bats hanging and flying about the town. That night we spent again in the pubs and headed to Heritage bar as Si fancied a dance to Indie tunes! There was a thirty minute offer on cocktail filled teapots ($5 instead of $17) so we stocked up!! I had some frangelico in mine :) We were joined by an old Aboringal woman and her son and spent the night dancing about with them.

The third day we had our first aussie barbie and booked some trips recommended by Buddha. We didnt fancy heading to the Rainforest in Northern Queensland as we'd seen so much in Thailand and Malaysia. Si cooked the bbq, it was lovely but our spread was pathetically tiny compared to families who brought their entire kitchen!!

Our first trip in Cairns was with T5 to the Great Barrier Reef for some diving. I paid on land so I couldn't back out when I was on board. I did basic skills and went with an instructor and three others for three dives. Simon is qualified so could dive to deeper depths for longer. He spotted a turtle and completely rubbed it in that I hadnt!! Other people snorkelling spotted a reef shark but I didnt see that either. My favourite fish is the Maori Wrasp as its got an awesome pout!! Could do with some lipgloss thought girls! I definately want to do my Padi course but shall wait until Fiji as it will be cheaper.

The following day we went white water rafting down the Tully River by the Misty Mountains. We were a bit apprehensive and thought we might cut ourselves on sharp rocks but we were both fine. The tour guide on the bus was hillarious and had everyone in stitches!!! There were six of us and a guide on our raft. We had a quick safety breifing and technique lesson and were off. The rapids were grades 3, 4 and 5. (Rapids are rated 1-6....6 is too dangerous to ride!) At times we jumped out the boat and just drifted - it felt like a colder and more beautiful centre parks rapids. The rapids themselves were crazy, we had to paddle then hop down into the boat and hold on tight! At one point we crashed head on to a massive rock but we were warned so thankfully no injuries. One rapid we all sat on the edge and went down backwards just holding on to each other as we all fell out. Another rapid filled the raft with water and all that could be spotted by the cameraman was out paddles! We did some cliff jumping and stopped off for a BBQ too. It was such a fab experience!! The rapids we went down have been voted one of the top five day rapids in the world :)

On our last night me and Si entered a pub quiz at the hostel - out of 13 groups we came 5th!!! Mainly due to Simons music knowledge! Hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather. Will do some more updating ver soon. Promise! xxxx