Blogs from Cairns City, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Oceania

My first day upon arrival in Cairns, I was relieved to be in warm weather. It's humid, tropical, and definitely a turnaround from the weather in Melbourne. I had a walkaround the city and was determined to hold a koala. I asked around and it was too late to take a trip to the zoo. I knew the only time I would be able to do so would be on my first day since I have day plans for the next three days. So...I asked around and found a place in the city where you could do so. And that I did :) So cute that cuddly little fur ball...with massive claws! Next, I needed some lunch...had some fish n chips. Then walked around the night market and had met a cool girl at the tourism ... read more

AUSTRALIA – DEL 3! Da er vi ferdige med Australia for denne gang! Vi har hatt det helt fantastisk. Virkelig en av våre favorittdestinasjoner. De siste dagene i Australia tilbrakte vi på en seilbåt på Whitsundays. Her lå vi langflate på dekk og slikket sol. Det var steikende varmt og om det kom en sjøsprøyt eller to var det bare deilig og avkjølende. Krystallblått vann og et tropisk øylandskap - Vi var i paradis! På turen fikk vi oppleve Whitehaven beach (kåret til en av topp 10- verdens fineste strender) og snorkling ved korallrevet var også en del av programmet. På kvelden var det tid for karaoke og da var det Annky og Christinas tur til å vise de skjulte talente sine. Vi brakte løs med This Love av Maroon 5 og fikk stormende applaus for ... read more

Hey everyone! This is another super quick update I'm afraid, they charge to use the PC's at the 'Hide Hostel' (where I'm currently staying) so I don't have time to upload any photos or anything. I arrived safely in Cairns yesterday and went straight to 'Gilligan's Backpackers Hostel' where my Gold Coast tour was due to start the next day. Gilligan's is a party hostel, full of skanky British twenty-somethings. I managed to get some sleep though and a couple of the girls in my dorm took me out to find some food. Good Friday is not a good day to turn up! Nothing was open apart from the occasional bar. This morning we all met in reception to get on the bus and head up to Port Douglas to learn about the Australian aboriginal lifestyle/heritage. ... read more

Australia – Cairns – Diving at the Great Barrier Reef and a quick visit to Cape Tribulation before I say goodbye to Oz. OK I realise a lot of my blogs of late have been a little negative towards Australia and in particular the weather. I will get the weather out of the way now, it rained during my Great Barrier Reef trip and Cape tribulation but I’m pleased to say it did not ruin either day. This is the end of my moaning and the blogs from now on will be more upbeat. Yes you’ve guessed it I’ve had a word with myself! Diving at the Great Barrier Reef was one of the main things I had been looking forward to so I was very happy to be on board my boat and heading out ... read more

Sorry we haven't written in awhile...we ran out of time in Cairns, and then we didn't have internet access for awhile. The big excitement in Cairns was that we got our open water scuba diving certification! Woohoo! Australia threw in an extra money-making hoop and we both had to get medical exams (which we had to pay 60 buck each for). Let me tell you, this was the biggest waste of time and money ever. We showed up to a clinic the first morning we arrived, to a waiting room filled with sick and injured people. A nurse took our basic information as soon as we arrived. She got us worried by saying that our spirometer readings (lung capacity) weren't as high as they should be. Then we had to wait 2 AND A HALF HOURS ... read more

Next morning we were on the bus at 9am for an 11h trek to Cairns. This ride was much better than the tide to Airlie Beach because a) it was 7h shorter b) the driver played movies and c) we didn't have to sleep. Sure, it took up the whole day, but when you're really tired from not sleeping all night you end up wasting a day anyways. So we arrived in Cairns at 8pm, went to our hostel and settled in for the night. Next it was off to the Cairns Tropical Zoo. This was one of the best days so far, really, I had so much fun! You felt like you were walking through a jungle with big pathways and they had shows throughout the day where you learned about the different animals. The ... read more

Hello from Cairns the hottest place on earth! it is absolutly stunning up here we are in the middle of a mountain range and you can see lush green hills whenever you turn your head! we flew in and i managed to brave looking out the window and saw a waterfall...theeee most scienic arival ever! i knew we were going to have a good time when i saw that. stepping out into this heat was quite nice from a change from melborune but i seriously love air con now it is most definatly my best friend haha we get free meals at the hostel but last night we couldnt stand our 3rd night of chillie con carne and figured that they just reheat and keep reheating so i splashed out and boguht myself some yum food ... read more

As I haven't had much luck finding work, and having done what I came out to do, I'd decided I would probably go home A.S.A.P rather then staying out here for the full 6 months. I'd got some quotes to change my flight dates and got a bit of a shock when I found out the price. It was cheaper to stay here for another 3 months than to go back home. So I applied for some jobs on the dive boats. It's quiet season now though so wasn't expecting much. Went to Cape Tribulation the following day. It took a couple of hours to drive up there, and then when we arrived we went to some lookout points and drove throught the rainforest before going on a crocodile spotting river cruise. We only saw 1 ... read more