So we arrived in Cairns on 20th Feb after a pretty horrible flight which also stopped at Darwin along the way. There was actually no leg room whatsoever because we couldn't fit our bags in the overhead lockers so had to put them under the seat infront. I have never felt so cramped in my life. My legs were aching so much because I could hardly move them for the first 4 hours of the flight. Thankfully after our stop at Darwin there was room in the overhead lockers so we could put our bags up there but it was still pretty cramped but that's what you get on a cheap airline!

We got a free transfer from the airport to the hostel and what a shock we got when we arrived at the hostel (Esplanade Backpackers0 which had looked really nice on the internet but actually was like a swimming pool changing room from the 70s. Thankfully the beds were clean but I don't think the floor had seen a sweeping brush or mop for a long long time. We were quite lucky because there was no-one else in our dorm room but as soon as we had checked in we went on the hunt for another hostel. A German guy called Tom, who we had met in Singapore, had recommended a hostel called Dreamtime which we went to have a look at and it was so charming we booked in for 4 nights.

On our first night we met up with Jenna, Adam, Matt and Lucy who had been on our tour through S.E. Asia. We went for a pizza and a few drinks and it was really nice to see some familiar faces when the hostel had been so disappointing! After our night in the Esplanade Backpackers we checked out as soon as we could and made the 20 minute walk to our new hostel and checked into our nice clean room, although we did have to share a double bed as it was the only bed they had left in the whole place.

On our first full day in Cairns we just had a walk around the town, found the lagoon (and Lucy and Matt who we seem to bump into everywhere!) and the Pro Dive shop which is who we did our scuba diving course with. We also went supermarket shopping which was actually really exciting especially when we found some Nerd sweets like we used to get at home so we just had to buy some!

The following day we went for our dive medical for which we had to sit in the waiting room of the 24hr Cairns surgery for about 2 hours before we got seen by anyone. But we were certified as "fit" which was good and Clare thought was highly amusing! After that we went down to the Lagoon and had a chill. In Cairns you can't swim in the sea as there is no beach and they have lots of crocodiles and stingrays in the sea so instead they have a giant swimming pool type lagoon where everyone goes instead. That night we went to Jenna and Adam's hotel for a bbq. It was quite an interesting exoperience as we had to catch the local bus and watch for them at the bus stop as we had no idea where we were actually supposed to be getting off. It got darker and darker but we did see them thankfully and hopped off in the rain and had our bbq. When it was time for us to go home we learnt that Australian buses never run to tiem and as were were sat there 30mins after the last bus should have arrived Clare was getting a bit worried but then it pulled round the corner. I seem to have developed this easy, laid back approach to things at the moment which I can't decide if thats good or bad but I'm sure time will tell!

For the following 2 days we were doing our land based bit of our dive course so we spent half the day in the classroom watching videos and doing tests and half the day in the swimming pool doing diving skills and stuff. After that we headed out on the boat for our 3 days at sea. It was a very tiring first day as we got up at 5.30am and did 2 dives. That night the weather turned for the worst and there were 25 knot winds battering the boat around. It was not a fun experience and the sea sickness came back to haunt me. The weather was that bad that the boat, which had a mooring line and an extra safety line, was dragging the 18 tonne concrete slab along the floor of the ocean so we had to sail to another reef where there would be more protection. That bit of sailing was probably the worst part and not much sleep was had that night. Still we then got woken at 6.30am however the weather had calmed down but the feeling of sea sickness had not gone away and breakfast was not long inside me! For the last 2 days I went out snorkelling and saw sharks, turtles, giant clams, cuttlefish and many more beautiful and pretty ugly fish too. It was the most amazing experience and swimming along with 2 turtles definately made the trip for me!

After 3 days on the boat and 3 very early mornings I think everyone was ready to head back to shore and when we arrived and got off the sea legs got hold and I started to sway. It is the strangest of feelings being on land but swaying from side to side and even 3 days later I still find sometimes that I'm swaying, although it's nothing like it was the day that we got off the boat.

After getting off the boat and having to pay for our Reef Taxes etc. we got dropped back off at Dreamtime and I had the best shower of my life. It was so nice as when we were on board there was a 3 minute time limit on showers so I had no chance of even getting my hair wet in that amount of time so it had become a bit of a salty barnet. That evening we had a last meal with everyone from the boat at the Rattle n Hum then headed over to the Woolshed for a few drinks and a bit of a boogie. I was really surprised that everyone knew the words to the The Proclaimers 500 miles and for a moment it felt like we were back at home. Unfortunately we couldn't stay late as we had a bus down to Townsville at 9am the next morning but we had a lovely night and it was pretty sad to have to say goodbye to all the people we had met on the boat as most of them were really nice (with the exception of a few but we won't mention names!).

We are now in Townsville after our 6 hour bus drive from Cairns. The greyhound bus was actually a pretty good drive for a coach. It is all air conditioned and you get to watch films on it too so we watched a film with Anthony Hopkins in called Instinct which was actually really good and then Master and Commander.

Townsville is a pretty strange sort of town as there doesn't seem to be anyone around. Yesterday when we arrived we went for a walk to Woolworths and the shopping street was just deserted. I've no idea how the shops make money because there's just nobody there. It was quite eerie actually. We are off to catch the ferry across to Magnetic Island in an hour or so where hopefully I will see my first koala bear.

Got to go now but I hope you are all well. Keep in touch. Love Ceri xxxxxxx