My first week in Oz!!

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Hello to everyone back in England!!



I cannot believe that it has now been over a week since I left home, time has flown so quickly!

After spending over 24 hours on aeroplanes and in airports it was such a relief to arrive in Cairns. As I came out through customs Emily and Becca were waiting for me with a sign that said 'Melon'! It was such a relief to see them both and we had a lot to catch up on so then ended up sitting in the airport for an hour or so catching up!



We then caught the shuttle bus to our first Hostel called Gilligan's where we spent 2 nights - there was even free dinner here so that was a bonus! For the rest of my first day my tour guides showed me around and we booked our trip to The Great Barrier Reef for the next day. We also spent a bit of time around The Lagoon in the evening where Emily and I played a bit of bat and ball, I think our raliegh got up to about 20!! After we wondered back to the hostel had dinner and then went to a nice bar for a beer with a girl we met at our hostel which was nice.



The next day was an early start and we went down to the marina to catch our catamaran to The great Barrier Reef. The journey was very bumpy and even I began to feel a little sea sick which is unusual! When we got there we had a snorkel in two locations in the reef. For the first one the crew member gave us a bit of a tour and pointed out various sealife which was informative and we saw everything from fish to sharks to clams. Then we had a snorkel alone in the next location and just before we got out Becca spotted a turtle! At fist she thought that it was a rock but then it moved!!



The next day we caught the Oz Experience bus to Mission Beach and on the journey we drove through the atherton tablelands. Here we stopped at some waterfalls and I was the only one to get in!! But I didn't blame the others for not getting in as it was drizzling a bit! W then arrived at Mission Beach and stayed at The Absolute Backpackers Resort for the night. Which again was very nice and the people there were really friendly. Here we also managed to book our Whitsunday and Fraser Island tour so that means we have some of our excusions sorted for the next couple of weeks!



Here in the evening we got a team together to play some pictionary...I never thought that it could become such a competitive game! At the end the points were totted up and our team won so we were given a bottle of wine and sat with our team mates and drank it out of mugs!!

The next morning was another early start and we set off for Magnetic Island. I shall fill you in on our trip here in my next blog.



Hope that you are all well and the sun is still shining in England!



Love Emma xxx

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Photos

Snorkelling
On the catamaran in our snorkel gear!

Waterfalls!
On my larry in the freezing water!