Week 19- Sydney- Cairns- Airlie Beach- Hervey Bay

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Woke up early this morning and my Uncle Trevor picked me up to take me to the airport. We waited about an hour and then Nikki arrived!!! It was so weird seeing someone from home after 4 months but so exciting too! She was very tired and hungry so we went back to my aunties house so she could shower, eat and sleep! I went to the Macquarie shopping centre with my uncle for a little browse for Christmas presents and then we had lunch and went back. Nikki was still asleep so I just chillaxed until she woke up. Then Trevor very kindly dropped us back at the airport around 4.30 for our flight up to Cairns. We checked in and grabbed some good before our flight. The flight went quickly and I just listened to music and read, Nikki of course slept. When we arrived we got a shuttle to our hostel and slept! Not exactly a wild first day for Nikki but we were ready for our first day trip tomorrow!
The next morning was another early start, we were up at 6.30 for our trip to the Daintree Rainforest! Our driver Darryl picked us up- he was lovely! We stopped off in Mosman and had some breakfast- Daintree tea and scones with cream and jam- they were incredible and made with beer not yeast! Then we walked through the rainforest and Darryl told us loads of information, he was so knowledgable about the rainforest and how it had changed over the years! He told us that 95% of the fruits in the rainforest are poisonous unless treated first- so you can't really just pick things off trees! We walked through the rainforest for a while before getting to the Mosman gorge, where we went for a swim! It was a little cold at first but fine once you were in! There were lots of fish in the water and some aboriginal kids were there trying to catch an eel which was cool to watch! Then we made our way to our next stop. We went past a barramundi farm and he told us that most of the fish are male when they are born and then they change to female and can lay up to 32 million fish in a season! Then we went to the Daintree Teahouse where we had lunch. The food was incredible! There were lots of in season exotic fruits to try such as Jack fruit (which was the weirdest texture ever!!), dragon fruit, sweet banana, champagne watermelon, soursop - they were all really nice. The guy then told us all about where they were grown and how they has developed over the years - for example bananas used to be filled with seeds but have developed over time in Asia to not have them anymore but in Aus they still carry small seeds in the rainforest! After lunch we got a boat to the Daintree river to go croc watching!!! I was really excited 😊 we weren't on their long when we spotted one!!! He wasn't very big, probably only a metre long but it was so cool to be that close to him- he didn't like us too much though and started to bare his teeth so we moved on! We didn't see any really big ones which was a shame, they have some in the river that are 5.5 metres long!! After we were taken across the river and Darryl drove us to Cape tribulation and we went to Kulkai lookout and then for a walk along the beach. It was pretty but it was hard to relax with a he danger - crocodiles signs everywhere haha on the way to the next stop we drive past where Steve Irwin was killed- Darryl told us a week before he died he had been tagging crocodiles with him out in the bush- so strange! Our next stop was a remote ice cream shop. All the ice cream was made from the fruits they grew on their land. I had a 4 scoop combo to try all the flavours- there was jack fruit, wattleseed, mango and a soursop scoop- they were all delicious!!! Then we made our way back and stopped at mount Alexandra and the Rex lookout, both with lovely views! When we got home we were exhausted and had dinner, chilled out and went to bed!!
The next day we were up at 6.30 again! We got ready and checked out before being picked up by our tour, Reef Experience! We got to the boat and were given out snorkel gear and a briefing about the reef. Then we had breakfast which was fruit and a bacon and egg roll (sad times) luckily I'd eaten some cornflakes before so was fine! Then we were allocated our dive numbers and allowed to go snorkelling in the Norman Reef until our group was called. We saw loads of really cool fish, they were so colourful! Then after I had been out for about 40 minutes it went and sunbathed before my introductory dive! I hadn't been diving before so it was super exciting! We were in a group of 4 and the guy firstly checked we were confident breathing with the mouthpiece. Then we had to dive under and hold onto a bar to show him two other skills, one was to clear our mask underwater if it filled with water, the other was how to clear our mouthpiece if it fell out underwater. It was all easier than I thought! Then we started diving down, all linked in a group of 5, Nikki's ears hurt as soon as we went down so she had to keep equalising them. Mine were fine until we got further down but I managed to equalise them. Then the instructor let us go one by one if he thought we were confident, once he'd let go I started going up a bit so he added weight to my suit! Then we came across a Humphead Wrasse called 'Frank'... He always comes over when the photographer is in the water for some reason! Then we had some underwater photos. I saw a big fish and swam over to it, just as I got to him he ate a small fish swimming by! That was cool! Then Nikki tapped me and pointed, saying she saw a shark but I couldn't see it- she's thinks it was a black tipped reef shark. After our dive we went and had lunch, we had fajitas, they were really nice! After lunch we headed out on a different reef. When we got there the current was really strong so they out extra staff in the water but Nikki and I were fine! Nikki didn't stay out long but I snorkelled for longer and swam to the prettiest part of the reef I've seen so far, it was much less damaged than other parts and was more colourful! I looked really hard for turtles and sharks but didn't see any 😞 After a while it got tiring swimming against the current all the time so I went back in and sunbathed for a bit, it was boiling! The heat in Cairns is far more intense than Sydney! Then we bought a couple of underwater photos from our diving and headed back to Cairns. Once back we went to the shops quickly before going back to our hostel. We had already checked out so we just slyly made dinner and waited in the TV room until out coach at 12.25am! We had a little nap and then I had a long phone call with Justine from home 😊 Then we walked to the coach station and started the 11 hour overnight journey!
The coach wasn't too bad and I slept for most of it. We checked into Magnums and had a shower before grabbing some lunch- I had chips, cheese and gravy! Then we went for a little wander around Airlie Beach. Then Nikki had a drink before we went to sunbathe by the lagoon, we were both quite tired so it was nice to chill out. Then we had dinner and Nikki had a nap. I sorted some things on the internet for the rest of the week before having an early night!
The next morning was another early start for our day trip to the Whitsundays! We had a guide called nick who was friendly. Our first stop was Daydream island where the resort was stuck in some sort of time warp ... It looked like it was still 1980's with their decor which was funny! We had a look at a few sites, including a beach which was nice. Then we went to see their biggest indoor reef. I didn't really like it because it wasn't a very big area and had big stingrays and some sharks in. They said they were all happy as they were breeding but I thought it was too small an area for such big fish! Then we went on a rainforest walk and saw a nice viewpoint of the island. After we had lunch and headed over to Hamilton Island, it was much prettier but we only had an hour on there - I would have preferred more time there than Daydream! We went a sunbathed on the beach for an hour which was really pretty! Then we headed over to Whitehaven beach ... Which was of course beautiful! We had two hours to ourselves there so we got to relax and sunbathe- I also took some Christmas pics! On the boat home we got chatting to a mum and her kids from Colarado, she offered me a nannying job for next year! An interesting offer 😊 Then we got back, showered and went to the bar attached to our hostel to watch a band there. We met a girl called Kelsey who was sweet, she was from a farm and thought Airlie Beach was busy- I couldn't stop laughing ... About 6 cars go past per day! It was so weird listening to her talk about where she lives! Then we went on to a club which was fun.
The next morning we didn't feel great but had to check out. We went to Mcdonalds to cure it before going to the lagoon for the day! Then we went to get our coach, it was due at 5.30 but turned up at 6... We had 12 hours ahead of us and we weren't looking forward to it. Then after driving for an hour the bus driver pulled over and told us the bus was broken... So we had to wait 3 HOURS for the mechanic and a new bus... Not what you want when a journey is that long. We swapped buses and were on our way again and swapped drivers about 3am he told us we were 4 and half hours behind schedule... Which meant nikki and I would miss our trip the next day which was annoying! Then we slept for the rest of the journey.
In the morning (still on the coach) I rang and cancelled our trip! Then we finally arrived in Hervey Bay at 10 after travelling since 6 the previous day! We sat by the pool and chilled while we waited to check in. The hostel was nice though which was good after the day we'd had. Then we went to the beach and had a nice day there.bin the evening we went to watch the sunset but it turned out to be way further than we thought so we just went to the beach and saw the pretty sky! Then I facetimed Emily and Nekisa 😊

Christmas Eve tomorrow!!! So strange being somewhere this warm 😊 Have a fabulous Christmas everyone!

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