Mission Beach was a complete wash out, we left Port Douglas around 9am on Thursday and first headed north to Mossman, we were going to walk to the gorge but it was beginning to rain so we stocked upon supplies and headed south. We drove the 200kms south to Mission Beach in torrential rain and arrived in torrential rain, in fact it probably got heavier and coupled with the gale force winds we were left wondering if we were in Australia or back in England?! The hi...

Cairns was great, a much more holiday/traveller feel to it than Sydney and Darwin, suppose that comes from not being out with the locals, who know the places to avoid. Seen a couple of hostels that look questionable to say the least, glad we chose to book alternative accommodation. Saturday was spent exploring, though we didn't venture much further than the esplanade and the beach lagoon, trying to improve the tan, but when you're constantly covered in factor 30 ...

We've made it Cairns, been here just over 5 hours and already found a Coles Supermarket so I could buy some Cobs lightly salted, slightly sweet popcorn, it's a taste sensation. The apartment we're staying in is lovely, we booked it through Airbnb (people advertise their properties, or single rooms to let and it's cheaper than a hotel) and our host, Kylie, seems really nice. This is our first taste of Australia without family and friends there to lend a helping...