Today held the joys of an 11 hour bus ride to Airlie Beach with our driver, Papa Keith. We drove through lots of areas that had been damaged by Cyclone Yazi earlier that year. Trees were almost horizontal, bulidings were missing a roof or missing altogether & the banana crops were having to start growing all over again after being completely wiped out. After being spoilt with a week of glorious sunshine in Cairns, we were most disappointed to drive into rain as soon as we had left. It would appear that Cairns had a little protective sunshine bubble surrounding it.

Arriving in Airlie Beach (still raining) we checked into our hostel. En-route to our dorm, a door flung open & a screaming girl came running out & hugged me. It took me a while to realise it was Lou. They were staying in the dorm below us. So that evening we had a catch-up with the girls & enjoyed complimentary drink from the hostel's bar.

The following day arrived & the rain wasn't easing off at all, so that hindered our plans for the day. Roads in & out of Airlie Beach were flooded, so the buses weren't running & people were becoming stranded. Our day consisted of booking in for our sailing trip (which was due to start the following day), going to the bookshop to find something new to read (I'm already on my 6th book) & generally just lazing around the hostel & watching DVD's in the common room. The girls were due to start their sailing trip today, but because people couldn't get into Airlie, it was postponed until the following day. Damn rain!!