We travelled from Airlie Beach to Hervey Bay on the overnight Greyhound. It was awfull trying to sleep on the coach but at least we saved some money. In Hervey Bay we stayed in a lovely hostel called Palace which was set up like appartements. On the first day there we walked for miles looking round the town. We set out to try to find a supermarket that Simon remembered from last time he was there. We ignored the receptionists advice about the one down the ro...

On Wed 27th September we arrived at Airlie Beach. we stayed in a huge hostel called Magnums. It wasnt particularly great as there was no kitchen and it was very noisy but it was ok. We spent Wednesday and thursday by the lagoon soaking up the sun and booked our trip on the Whitsundays. We decided to travel round the Whitsundays for 3 days and 2 nights on a Maxi boat. The boat we chose, called Apollo, won loads of races in the 1980s and was a fantastic b...

On Thursday 21st September we left Cairns for Mission Beach. We stayed in a very comfortable and friendly backpackers hostel and the people really made us feel at home. Mission Beach is a very small town with a few shops and restaurants. The area is not very touristy and the lovely sandy beach was almost desserted every day. We stayed there for four days just chilling out on the beach and relaxing. On 25th we moved on to Townsville. We spent the two days at the m...

On Wed 20th Sept we went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We took a boat called Compass (the oldest, slowest and cheapest in Cairns) to the outer reef. The weather was pretty awful and it rained loads but it didnt matter as we were going swimming anyway. The journey was fairly rough and a few people were ill but thankfully not us. On the way to the Reef we saw some dolphins in the distance which was a fantastic sight. At the reef we got our snorkel and fins ...

On Thursday 14th September we arrived in Cairns and at our acommadation called Global Palace. We spent the next day exploring and booking activities and tours the first of which being white water rafting. On the Saturday we went rafting for the day on the Tully River. They are grade 4 rapids which are fairly intense and can be dangerous. We found out after we had completed them that at least one person is taken to hospital each month with various broken bones. Th...