Made it to Oz on the 3rd of May - strangest thing happened though. On the connecting flight from Darwin to Cairns I met a girl I went to school with called Anna who just happened to be on the same plane, same day... and she is doing the east coast as well which is great, and i am travelling with her until i get to Sydney (so if i refer to 'we' you know who i am talking about!) Arrived in Cairns exhausted and tired, and got to my hostel which was a little way out of town but very realxed and cosy. Spoke to a few travellers there who had travelled north from sydney and get all the good spots to go to from them. Met Anna in town for some lunch and walk around. Decided that there really wasn't much going on in Cairns nad that it was a place that you finished up with friends at to party etc, and that it was for us, so we got out the next day and began our journey south. From Cairns we went to Mission beach on the bus. On which we met some friends of a friend from Henley, and stayed with them at mission beach for a few days. We were in a great hostel called Scotty's Beachhouse which i recommed to anyone - really great place. Planned out our trip to Sydney and buses and stuff on that day. Next day, we went white water rafting on the tully river - WOW! this was one of the best things i've done on my trip! Such a lot of fun - whole day going down grade 4 rapids getting soaked and battered about! Went back to teh hostel, and had a BBQ on the beach with our friends from Henley, and had a bonfire aswell. Sat up chatting to late and then went to bed. Next day, went our snorkling on the Barrier Reef. Amazing - great clear blue water, fantastic clours of the fish and coral, and sunny all day! Great experience! Day after was a very lazy day on Mission Beach. Just lazed around reading and sleeping etc etc...

From Mission Beach, we travelled to Townsville, as we had to stop here overnight as the bus didn't go any further. Quiet town with a nice sea front and bars. Didnt really stay for very long - just looked around the town at the shops the next day until the bus left and took us here, to Airlie Beach!

At Airlie, we met back up with our friends from Henley, and went out with them until very late the first night we got here - dont really remember much of that night... all a bit of a blur! Next day we had to prepare ouselves for our sailing trip and recover from the previous nights booze. The next day we left on our sailing trip round the Witsundays Islands. Our baot was called the Waltzing Matilda (typically Ozzy!) The baot was mixed age, with most of them coming from Switzerland and we couldnt understand them. One english guy, and a couple from Belgium. We were by far the youngest on there by over a decade, but it was very relaxing. I finished my book, did some snorkling, took in the sun, and enjoyed the sailing. On the second day, we went to Whitehaven Beach (in the top 10 beaches in the world!) so beautiful. Sand as white as paper, water was so clear! Arrived back after 3 days at sea, and went out with our crew and people on the boat for diner... had a few beers. And today we have just been chilling in Airlie. Catching a few rays, doing a bit of shopping, relaxing. Tomorrow we leave to go to a cattle ranch for a day in the outback!!! not quite sure what to expect, but im sure it will be fun! Having a great time out here!