Cairns

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On the way to Cairns we went via the Atherton Tabelands, we stopped in a town called Innisfail and then went to Millaa Milla falls where Peter Andre filmed his videa for Mysterious Girl. The waterfall is really cool and pretty big. We went to Eacham lake next which was quite large and got some nice photos, before going to Curtain Fig National Park and seeing a "killer" fig tree. The seed for tree had landed on the branch of another tree and grew until it completely took over the tree and strangled it to death, it then went on to kill the next two trees beside it as well and it now massive!! So that was pretty awesome to see. We then drove along some really windy roads through the moutains and the views were absolutely spectacular!! The tops of the mountains I could see were in the clouds and there was just so much beautiful greenery. We arrived at our hostel Calypso around 6pm and then went out for a meal which the Oz Experience bus. I had a lovely meal for only $7.50 and a free drink! Had a couple more drinks and a nice chat with some of the people off our bus and a bit of a dance with one of the other girls. Got a cab back to the hostel with Anwen and one of the guys also staying here as it was raining heavily!

Dived the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday. Took a boat out to Miln Reef and went to two different dive sites. The boat trip was really rough and a few people were actually sick but I took some sea sickness tablets so luckily I wasn't hurling over the side of the boat!!! Saw some dolphins swimming at the side of the boat which was really cool 😊 At the first dive site I went down to 10.8 metres and saw some really cool, colourful coral and fish! Some of the coral was surrounded by millions of tiny fish and it looked absolutely amazing! I must breathe more than others as I ran out of aire first so I had to go back to the boat first. Once the air gets down to 50 bars we have to stop diving and ascend and swim back to the boat. On the second dive I got down to 16.3 metres!!! Which is now my deepest record and it did feel quite different, could tell I was at a much higher pressure. On this dive we saw a really unusal fish and a big sea turtle :D I was so pleased to finally sea a turtle!! And I even got to dive down and touch it. Soooo cool!!! When we ascended there was blood in my mask, so I must have had a nose bleed at some point. Apparently this happens to people a lot so nothing to worry about, just because of the pressure!

On Sunday we had a slight lie in!! Which we were in desperate need of after so many 6am starts! And then we went parasailing. It was good fun and had a pretty good view but after doing sky diving it didn't have that much of a thrill to it to be honest. The guys on the boat did other water sports too and then offered us to also do extreme tubing for just $10!!! We watched two other girls go first and it looked like a lot of fun and for $10 we couldn't really say no! So we did that too and it was brilliant!! Had so much fun and just constantly laughed. For those who don't know what this is, it entails sitting on an inflatable chair which is attached to and pulled along behind the boat. They make lots of waves for you have send you flying from side to side! It was really bumping and thought I was going to fall in a few times, but held on tight and had such a good time! It was hilarious and neither of us could stop laughing. On the way back to the boat the guy taking all the photos of our parasailing and tubing dropped the camera in the water so that was lost to the fishes and we didn't get to buy let alone even see any of our photos which was a shame but it was a really good afternoon none the less. We had a look around the city next and I managed to get myself a new camera charger...for a whopping $80!!! Ouch!!! But had to be done! 😞

There was a snake show at the hostel tonight and I held two snakes and a lizard. I held a black and gold atherton jungle python which was huuuge!!! and a coastal carpet python which was also pretty big. They felt really smooth! And really strong!! The atherton one gave me a really good squeeze. The lizard felt really scratchy and spikey, nothing like the snakes at all. But was really proud of myself for holding such big snakes as I've never even touched a snake before! We sorted out our bags tonight, throwing anyway any crap we had accumulated and pulling all our winter stuff to the top as it is going to be a lot colder in New Zealand!!!

Final day in Cairns (and Australia!!!!) was spent going on a rainforest tour. We drove out to Daintree National Park and visited Mossman Gorge. Took a walk around the gorge which was a really peaceful and beautiful place and then drove on to see the mouth of the daintree river. Another spectacular view! We then went on a bush walk through Daintree rainforest. Our tour guide was an aboriginal gentleman and he had some really interesting stories. He knew so much information about everything and could tell us loads about each individual tree or plant. He tolds us what the aboriginal people would use the plants and tree products for and we saw some massive spiders in webs between the trees. There are trees out here which are lethal, there is one in particular with needles which contain a neurotoxin and they compare to the box jelly fish!!! So I was very careful not to touch anything even though I don't think we came across any of those. Next we drove up to Cape Tribulation, and this is the furthest north we will have gone in Aus. We had lunch at a picnic site near the beach and a quick stroll on the beach before heading back to the Daintree river. Back at the river we got on a boat and went in search of crocodiles!!! We saw the alpha male, a huge crocodile called scar face and one of his females Lizzy, a juevinille croc and several tiny baby crocodiles. I think I can now officially say I have seen all the classic Australian wildlife! On the way back to Cairns we passed through Port Douglas where many famous stars including Mick Jagger and the Clintons have stayed. Its a rich looking town with several amazing looking resorts with villas....wish I could stay in one of them for a change instead of hostels all the time!!

Got back to the hostel around 7 and did my final few bits of packing before the flight tomorrow. Can't believe my time in Australia has already come to an end. We've been here 2 and a half months and its absolutely flown!! I don't want to leave yet, I'm not ready, but must keep thinking about the adventures to be had in New Zealand, which I am most looking forward to! :D

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