Well, so far so good!

My first day in Cairns went really well and I feel really comfortable that I am going to have a fab time here.

After getting a shuttle from the airport to the YHA I dumped my bags and set of the familiarise myself with the local area, find out where I needed to go for my pick up to head to Bowen and then get a bit of food shopping for my stay. I learnt something from this little wander. Never wear a T-Shirt that says 'Such Fun' in a place that does not know where the sentence has come from. It sets you up for being whistled and Oi Oi'd at as well as potentially being approached by random men. Thankfully, I've learnt to react to all these things with a bit of harmless banter and then walk away. Note to self. Do not wear shirt while wandering round alone!

Anywho, after getting back to the YHA, I bumped into one of my room mates. A lovely girl from Crawley called Emma. My first travelling friend. :D. She quickly made me feel welcome and invited me to come and hang out with her and a group of friends she'd made on part of her trip. Just what I needed! I had a great time. The Lagoon in Cairns is lovely and the hour long swim was very much needed with the weather being particularly hot and muggy.

We went out that evening to dinner and it was great to chat to various people from different backgrounds about their experiences so far and what their plans were after they moved on from Cairns. It was a fun night and I still managed to get an earlyish night ready for an early get up today.

I was collected, along with the 5 other people on my tour, from my accomodation. We set of early, with our jolly tour guide out of Cairns and up towards the Rainforest. Our first stop was at a lovely spot, which had a very interesting Aboriginal Dream Time story about a girl that commited suicide after her love was taken away from her and to avoid being married off to a man at least double her age.... It was a beautiful spot and we had a spot of afternoon tea before heading off to our next stop.

Stop number two was another stroll throw rainforest to get to a gorgeous waterfall and swimming spot. Here we swam in the lower pool of the waterful as well as taking advantage of the naturally made waterslide. Great fun and a much needed cool down on yet another muggy day. It was a gorgeous place and we set off just as rain set in.

The third spot on our trip was another gorgeous waterfall. Apparently it was the one used in Peter Andre's video for 'Mysterious Girl'. One of the lads in our group took it upon himself to try and recreate the hair flick. lol. Brilliant stuff. This waterfall pool however was stupidly cold! We managed to swim across it and through the waterfall which was awesome. Tis a beautiful thing to look up at from behind, almost doesnt seem real. Then the swim back! At this point it had also started to rain again. I was freezing by the time I got out, to the point where my thighs hurt (something only experience in winter while playing rugby!). We swiftly moved on to our next spot where we had a quick spot of lunch before trekking through the rain forest again, trying to spot Tree Kangaroos. Not such luck... just a load of Bush Turkeys and a whole load of Turtles in a pool nearby. Again, rain set it. We definately got the full Rainforest experience!

A quick hop down the road led us to a beautiful natural scene. We walked round one of the largest trees in North Queensland. The Curtain Fig Tree grows up around other trees after the seed is drop by a bird. Its fascinating and looks like Grandmother Willow in Pocahontas! Its a stunning place, almost magical.

From here we went to see if we could spot a Platypus. No such luck, but was good to stretch the legs again.

Our final stop was at a volcanic crator lake where we could swim. It was massive and so calm and traquil. The water was beautifully clear and not too cold. A lovely relaxed way to end a wonderful day.

After getting back a little later than planned I changed as quickly as I could (after issues with actually getting into my room) and went and met Emma and a few people from yesterdays group for some food. After eating we wandered round Cairns Night Market before some very yummy passionfruit sorbet and a good old chit chat. Now for kip before another early start tomorrow.... Oh and the big 25!