Australia Part 1

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Time for an update on australia so far. I am just over halfway through my time here and it has been amazing. I started up north in cairns. On my first night there I was sharing a room with a guy from Glasgow and eventually ended up on a night out with 5 scottish guys. Just like home apart from being out in shorts. Cairns is a really chilled place and we had a good night out. There was a barbeque organised by the hostel where I got to try Kangaroo, which is very nice - a bit like a mix of venison and beef, Emu, which was alright - a little like lamb and crocodile which was not great - more like chicken but less nice. Anyway in Cairns I also did a tour out to the great barrier reef where I did snorkelling and diving. Both of which were ace. During the snorkelling at some points the coral was barley a metre below you so you could see everything really well. The multi coloured parrot fish were probably my favourite. During the dive i got to touch a turtle and pick up a sea cucumber. Swimming along 10 metres or so below the water is just an ace feeling.

My next stop down the coast was mission beach where I spent a day. There was a really nice walk through a section of rainforrest where we saw some massive spiders and then got a great view over the beach area. In the afternoon a group of us went to see some wild wallabies and then walked back along the beach. The weather was not fantastic there which was a shame.

I moved onto Hervey Bay where I did a sail and stay tour of the Whitsunday islands. It was such good fun. We had an awesome mix of people. The weather was a bit cloudy the first day but perfect for the second two. We sailed across through all the beautiful aslands until we reached the resort which we had all to ourselves. We made use of the bar and all had a late night session in the pool. The second day of the tour we sailed before stopping for some snorkelling which was not quite the barrier reef but I did see an eel which was cool. From there we sailed to whitehaven beach which (excluding sandend obviously) is the most beautiful beach I have ever been on. We did a bush walk up the island and got the most incredible 280 degree views of the beaches and islands. The sand of the beach is meant to be the purest on earth and it felt like powder under your feet and like cream in the water. I could have spent all day there. We took the boat back towards the resort. It was so nice! The goon (really really cheap australian "wine" that all backpackers drink) was flowing and everyone was chatting and enjoying the sun. We got a stunning sunset as well. Back on the island the drinking continued and there was some karaoke. I did what I was told was an excellent version of teenage dirtbag. Most of us eneded up sitting on the grass looking at the incredible stars, so beautiful, before somehow finding our way to bed. The next morning We did another amazing bush walk that porvided even more amazinf scenery and views before we made the lazy sail through the sunny islands back to mainland.

Everything is going great so far. Hope the rest is even better!

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