Woke up and went for a walk round Cairns as it is humid had to go across the road to the supermarket to obtain more mineral water I then went round town and got my bearings as well as a number of details on trips. Went back to the hostel and worked out 4 trips that I would like to do so went down to reception and booked the following trips Cape Tribulation for the 31st Jan and then Kurranda village for the 1st Feb.... read more

Caught the greyhound bus from Airlie beach at 9:05 and arrived in Cairns at 20:30 so another long journey then walked to the Cairns Central YHA.... read more

Woke up at 6:30am and the crew of the Tallship defender were cooking breakfast which turned out to be a full breakfast, As we were eating they pulled up the anchor and we left our mooring and motored for 10 mins to Whitehaven beach which consisted of a very white sandy beach, apparently it can be seen from space and also went swimming and snorkelling once we had put the stinger suits on, whilst snorkelling e saw a number of various fish and also a couple of stingrays. We had 4 hours at the beach then made our way round to Hamilton Island which is the only island in Whitsundays that is inhabited. We were treated to a superb lunch and in the afternoon we managed to get the sails up and have a bit of ... read more

Woke up at 6am and placed the luggage into storage at the hostel and then the bus picked me up for the sailing trip in the Whitsundays. Arrived at the port and bearing in mind the boat can take 26 passengers, we were all relived to hear that they only had 11 passengers on board and 8 crew so more room for us We motored out of the marina at 9am and due to there being no wind motored to about 12 where we were then taken onto a beach by the little tender and we could go for a swim or snorkel, I put the stinger suit on and went snorkelling which was an experience and managed to see a various amount of sea marine and the coral. At about 4pm we motored off to ... read more

Looked around Airlie beach for the sailing trips to Whitsundays to see if any thing I fancied had been put on standby, the one that I wanted was a 1 night 2 day trip on the Tall Ship Defender, I could not find this on standby, so booked it at full price with the hostel as they gave 1 nights free accommodation and free storage.... read more

The coach turned up an hour late and there was only me waiting for the bus in Bumdaberg, finally got on it then managed to sleep through the night woke up when we stopped for the breakfast break was only 1/2 hr behind, set off then got stuck in traffic due to a overturned lorry blocking the straight road. Finally got to Airlie beach at 11.25 only 2 hours late not bad had to walk to the hostel only 10 mins nooked in then went to see what deals I could get for sailing in the Whitsundays islands and the Great Barrier Reef. Found a tall ship offer for $279 for 2 days and one night departing on saturday. Booked this through the hostel as they give a free night accomodation and storage. Best deal I ... read more

Had a lazy day round the hostel due to catching the 10pm bus. A few new people came in so we decided to have a bbq before they went on the turtle tour. I went round to the butchers and got a very large T bone stak and 2 sausages for the roral sum of $5 aprox 2pound 75p the others went to the turtle tour I paid Rod for the tours and accomodation and waited for the taxi that Rod had booked ro rake me to the bus station. He did this so he could see his family rather then running backwards and forwards. The footprints tour and hostel is by the far the best one I have come across so far. For 2 nighs a 4 bed dorm of my own.... read more

Today took the tour that bought me to Bundaberg which is the rum tour. Left the hostel and arrived at the distallery and was taken around and the method explained then to the bar where we had two free tasting measures. Rather then trying the original I tried the triple distilled which was a lot better mixed with lime and ginger beer then neat, The second taster I had was the rum liquer which was a bit like kahulia when neat but the aussies mix it with cream and when I tried it the cream took alot of the flvour away. Returned to the hostel and took it easy due to the heat being in the mid 30's and very humid, also missed the bush fire which hit the other side of Bundaberg. Tomorrow I am ... read more

Moving on from Hervey Bay to Bundaberg, I was booked on the 13:10 greyhound bus and arrived at 2:25 a short journey for a change. The hostel called feeding grounds was recommended by Sheryl at the friendly, had rung them and booked in for 2 nights. The courtesy bus picked me up from the bus station an on arrival Rod advised there are 7 guests tonight so everyone has a dorm to themselves unless travelling with others. When I rang the hostel to book they asked if I wanted to do the two main trips which are the footprints turtle tour and the Bundaberg rum tour so said yes as the rum tour was the main reason for stopping in here. The turtle tour left the hostel at 6pm and we were advised we may be ... read more

Another night at the friendly hostel new people to talk to and a very lazy day at the hostel due to it being a Sunday and only a couple of the shops are open. ... read more