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We spent over a week in Cairns, was a really cool place with loads of things to do - plus our hostel and the people there were all really nice. To start with we had our own twin room for a couple of nights which was a bit of a luxury after sharing in Alice Springs, especially after experiencing some seriously annoying snorers! After our trip to Cape Trib we returned to the same hostel but shared a room with a couple of guys - Juan the French/Spanish guy who works in Cairns and a northern guy called Pat who loved getting drunk every night. They were a good laugh and quite entertaining in their own ways!
We spent our first day in Cairns chilling out, we walked into town and down to the lagoon. The lagoon was really nice, with a massive pool and outdoor public BBQ areas. Most evenings in Cairns we went to a bar in town called the Woolshed. We had free meal vouchers from the hostel for here but for just a few extra dollars you could upgrade the meals to a better selection and a much bigger portion. Was such a bargain!!
On the second day we caught the public bus to the nearby town of Kuranda. We wandered around and went on a walk through the rainforest to Barron Falls where we took a few pics of the view. On Weds 18th, we went on an overnight trip to Cape Tribulation. Here we stayed in little dorm huts right in the middle of the rainforest with the beach just a short walk away. We visited a wildlife park on the way to Cape Trib where we were first introduced to cassowaries and we saw a very snappy croc! When we got there we went on a 2 hour bike ride around the rainforest and along the sand on the beach. That evening we went for a quick cheap meal with the lads we were sharing a dorm with - Andy and Darren, as they had a car and we were practically stuck in the middle of nowhere! Then we sat and played cards for ages as there wasn't much else to do. The next day Em and I got up early and we went sea kayaking! I hope you all appreciate how sporty we are being!!! The leader of the group was a guy called Kane. He even took his digeridoo in his kayak with him and played it whilst we were out at sea! Very random! However we did unfortunately lose it under a big wave in the end! We walked around the rainforest and Kane showed us the ocre rocks laying around so we all painted aboriginal symbols on our arms using all the different coloured stones. We also ate fresh pineapple and he cut open some coconuts for us. On our way back to Cairns we went on a river cruise down the Daintree River and visited a place where they make fresh tropical ice-cream.
On Fri 20th we went to Cairns Tropical Zoo where we fed the kangaroos and had our pictures taken with koalas. After we left the zoo we met a random aussie couple called Barry and Wendy who stopped us to ask for directions. As we were lost at the time we weren't much help but they offered us a lift and we ended up going on a little tour of all the beaches in the area. We even wandered into some luxury hotels on the beach to have a sneaky look at how the other half live!
On Sat 21st we went on our diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef. We went snorkelling around the reef and both had a go at scuba diving. It was amazing! We saw loads of coral and tropical fish - I even saw a couple of clown fish (Nemos!) It was a very exhausting day though but I have to say we did look sexy in our wet suits!
Sunday we just chilled out around town, did our chores like washing etc and generally tried to recover from such an action packed week!
Monday was cloudy and a bit rainy in Cairns so we walked up to the local flying doctor station and walked around the Centenary Lakes. We were crocodile hunting as apparently one had been spotted there recently but we didn't find any! In the evening we went for dinner at the Woolshed with these two Italian guys we met at the hostel. After a few drinks we went to "power hour" at Tropos nightclub. $10 for 1 hour of free spirits. After that drinking marathon we headed back to the Woolshed with everyone else from the hostel and stayed there til it shut at 3am dancing on the tables. It was a really good last night. When we got back to the hostel Pat had passed out on my single bed, he was in the top bunk but I don't think he could manage to climb up so I had to swap with him. Not a great experience having to sleep on a top bunk when you've had a few and there's no safety bar to stop you falling off! Luckily I survived!
We had to get up early to catch the Greyhound bus at 9am so we were a little tired and worse for ware but we made it in time. We then had about a 4 hour journey to our next stop - Wongaling - Mission Beach!
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