Day 8: We drove to Cooktown, stopping at Endeavour Falls on the way, which definitely needed some rain! A man was killed by a croc a couple of weeks ago in the Endeavour River, so although it's fine to swim at the falls, we all suddenly decided we were suddenly in a rush to get to Cooktown and didn't have time. Cooktown was the biggest town we had seen, and it's very scenic, right on the sea, with a few beaches. So I explored for the afternoon, and we went out that night for the first time. There was a surprising number of German backpackers there, considering the remoteness! Proving that they are everywhere! I met some interesting characters that night, and a group of locals we talked to invited us all to their house after ... read more

I was planning to leave the potatoes behind in Atherton 2 days ago, Monday. But last Tuesday we went into town for lunch to visit our friend who is the manager of a new hostel in Tolga, near Atherton. I met a girl there who was on her way to the Wallaby Creek Festival, which is held at that campsite I stayed at with the waterfall one night when I was last in Cape Trib...who's been faithfully following my blogs and remembering every word? I heard about it a lot when I was in Cape Trib so I decided to go. It started on Friday, so I told the farmer I was leaving on Wednesday, had a great last night at the hostel and got the bus early on Thursday morning to Cairns. I made it ... read more

This is a month late, but...after Port Douglas I went to Cairns for a couple of days while sorting out my trip to the Atherton Tablelands (where I am now!). I went to the Botanic Gardens and Mount Whitfield which is worth a mention because the view from the top of the "mountain" (most mountains in Australia seem to be hills really!) is of the airport, and walking up you get the strange experience of planes flying right next to you. Very different from Cape Tribulation! ... read more

My last post didn't really do Cape Tribulation justice, so here is a new, I-am-no-longer-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-with-expensive-internet one! Cape Trib is the most beautiful place I have been, in fact it must be the most beautiful place in the world because it is the only place where 2 World Heritage sites meet and share a border- the Daintree Rainforest (thought to be the oldest rainforest in the world) and the Great Barrier Reef. It was named by Captain Cook, because this was where his boat hit the reef and all of his "trials and tribulations" began. The cape itself is covered in rainforest and most people who go to Cape Trib don't even go there. The township is basically a hostel, a small grocery store and a pharmacy on one side of the road, and a campsite and ... read more

I spent my first 3 days in Cairns doing pretty much nothing, hanging around the hostel, swimming in the pool. Then I went to Fitzroy Island, which is near Cairns and you can go snorkelling right off the beach and see bits of fringing reef, which was so cool. Next day was even better, I went out to the reef on a boat and spent the whole day snorkelling and sunbathing, and did my first dive which was AWESOME!!! I was a bit scared before I went in but it was easy and it was easy to forget about it when I was looking up at the reef towering above me and touching a giant clam! Didnt see a shark or a turtle unfortunately but it was amazing anyway! I dont have many photos cos it ... read more

Today is my last day in Sydney for now, I'm flying to Cairns tonight. I've spent the last few days doing everything else I wanted to do here and using all the freebies/discounts I've managed to pick up! I went to Bondi Beach on Friday, it's amazing how easy it is to get out of the city- I got the underground to Bondi and it was so weird to get off the train, come out of the station and walk down to the beach, because underground trains always make me think of London. I spent Saturday looking round a couple of markets with Susie's friend (she's practically running a hostel at the moment with people she met travelling coming to stay!) and then I went up one of the Harbour Bridge pylons because I had a ... read more