On the journey from Cairns we drove through Innisfail where our friends are working picking bananas. We were tempted to go all CIA/FBI/Wonder Woman and hijack the coach to go and rescue them from the rat pee and general drudgery of work - but we're far too lazy and I was up to a good bit in my Jackie Collins. The Greyhound dropped us off right outside our new hostel in a part of Mission Beach called Wongaling. Wongaling consists of a million trees, about ...

On Tuesday we managed to make it out of the room again, god we've been active this week. We generally minced around the town, had a look in the tacky tourist shops and enjoyed a small beverage in a trendy cafe with comfy chairs. As we've discovered on our (not so) extensive travels, part of being cultural is getting to know what the locals enjoy in their spare time - ie having a pint in a nice bar! Plus they had the TV on so we really got into the mindset and ...

HURRAH! On Monday there was a break in the rain long enough for us to get out of the hostel. Unfortunately it was also long enough for us to make it to the shops and blow our budget - yet again! It was worth it though, Becky got a new black 'kini and a pair of leather flip flop thingies and Nat 'invested' in a purple Roxy weekend travel bag (we do travel at weekends you know) and a very cute white dress. Yesterday was by far the best day we've had here - topp...

We arrived in Cairns on Wednesday evening...5 days later, we're still waiting for the rain to stop so we can actually leave the bloody hostel! It has rained almost non-stop since we arrived, and it's still hotter than the west! So unfortunately, we've done no sightseeing, no snorkelling and Becks hasn't been able to go diving cos of the crap visibilty. We're sharing a six-bed dorm with 3 Germanians who won't speak to us and hate us for no apparant reason (...

Its a bit of a shame, but every time we move into a room for a really short time we seem to meet really nice people. Back in room 205 for the last time, we spent our last night in Sydney packing and then went to Sidebar to use up our 2for1 vouchers. Well all except one girl who was a bit of a tit with a penchant for short shorts and is bezzies with the bloke from next door who's face really does Becky's head in. We ended up sitting with an ex-couple from ...