Hi Guys!! So I've finished the east coast now.. can you believe it.. After my adventures underwater I headed back onto dry land and to the Billabong animal sanctury in Townsville.. possibably the best animal 'place' I've been to...You can hold Koalas, feed Kangaroos and all sorts of animals... they are just roaming around free to go where they want. had a great day and even held a Hairy Nose Wombat!!( Tara I hope you are suitably jealous!??) After this on the Cairns, 6 hours on a bus.. which for some reason felt like forever even though in South America a 24hr Journey didn't seem to be a problem at all??? Caught up with Andy for an afternoon when I arrived...could have been a good afternoon drinking and catchin up session in the sunshine for old times sake (or basically another excuse to get drunk), but unfortunatley he had to run for his plane to Darwin.. argh well another time in Perth I'm sure Last stop but least was Cape Tribulation.. where the Great Barrier Reef meets the Rainforest.. oh my god.. another amazing place.. ideillic.(I'm sure you must be bored of me saying this by now). it was like a holiday from a holiday (and obvioulsy very much needed - haha) Seriously we stayed in a georgeous log cabin on a holiday resort.. god knows how we managed to get that in our backpacker deal but we did.. it was like a luxury resort and gave us a couple of days just to chillout and relax and read...(yes mum.. me reading!!) much needed and a great end to a great trip up the coast. After this back to Cairns, party hub, made the best use last of our free food and drink vouchers , celebrated and I said farewell to Paula and Sarah my east coast travelling buddies... until reunions in the UK I'm sure. Now Im in Melbourne for a few days doing city sight seeing, and then heading to Perth for some much needed time out.. I've decided to put off the middle section of Australia for the moment, maybe do it later or on another trip, as an amazing time as I have had so far the Youth Hostel/travelling thing is taking its toll and moving place every 2 or 3 days is wearing thin, so I've decided to head to Perth until Christmas and find a job.. hopefully actually settle somewhere for a while before I start the last leg of my trip in South East Asia... so its all good, just need to change tack a little for now I feel.. I don't want to do it for the sake of it.. i want the Rock to be 'special' when I see it.. not just.. wow.. thats cool - whats next..... you probably think I'm mad!