We booked our Cape Tribulation tirp with Asylum- I have never seen a tour booking take so long and be messed up so roally, but if anyone can do that, it's the staff at Asylum... anyway, what's one wasted afternoon in 10 months of travelling? We booked a 2 day, one night trip so we could make the most of going somewhere different and it wouldn't feel quite so rushed. We drove first to Daintree, where we'd opted out of the crocodile spotting river cruise, in favour of saving our money- little did we know it's that or sit for half an hour and wait by some public toilets while everyone else does it... So we paid more than we otherwise would and went on the boat after all. We did spot a few crocodiles, but it was a fairly short trip and would have been far from worth it if we'd seen nothing. We went for a walk through some of the mangroves by the beaches along the way and learnt a little about the trees and things there- quite interesting and strangely pretty for a swamp! Once we'd arrived at our gorgeous little jungle retreat hostel, we grabbed some overpriced lunch (mmmm jam sandwhiches for every meal... my favourite!) and decided to have a go at finding the Cape Tribulation lookout point. We had a look at our little map and made it down to the beach, which was really cool with the mangroves and swamp just feet from the sand. We did as the map told us, and walked along the beach towards a 'small creek' that we had to cross. It turned out to be a pretty big river. We stood and discussed the best point to cross for ages, deciding in the end to risk being stung by jellyfish and go for the shallowest part (or the bit we thought was shallow)- where the waves were breaking. We got about half way before it suddenly got about waist deep. I'm sure it would've been pretty entertaining watching us wade through, holding our bags in the air. We found the lookout and did indeed look out. We got some nice photos and enjoyed the view before having a chilled out walk back, this time along the road, before spending a relaxed evening making the most of the bar's cheap wine :) .

The following day, we decided to walk down to the supermarket as the shop nearby was ridiculously expensive (only to find the supermarket was smaller and more expensive!) and the natural swimming hole, which was basically a secluded gorge/ river. It was so relaxing sitting by the water with a book- Laura and I were the only ones there for a good 2 hours- we really didn't want to leave. I had a walk through the river but didn't fancy braving a full swim- the rocks were a bit slimy and I ended up getting a free fish pedicure everytime I stayed in the same place for more than a few minutes. The bus back to Cairnes took us via an animal sanctuary where we fed baby ostridges (sp?), kangaroos and wallabies and saw all sorts of other aussie animals. We had a look for the resident cassowary, but it was hiding at first, however when I went back to use the loo just above it's enclosure, it had a similar idea and met me at the gate before promptly doing the loudest fart I've ever heard, with a whole lot of follow through. Nice. We also went via this really cool little fruit farm that grows all sorts of weird and wonderful fruits and seeds and berries and then makes them into ice cream- you turn up and they give you 4 scoops of whatever their icecreams of the day are- really yum and totally what you want on a hot day!

Back in Cairnes (and back at Asylum, the novelty fast wearing off) we met up with Nicole and Ann again for our day trip to snorkle and dive the Great Barrier Reef. On our way there, we walked past the lagoon to find a free aqua aerobics class taking place- it was about 6.15am- we were very impressed! We had a really good day, chilling out on the boat, soaking up the sun and snorkling around the reef watching all the beautiful coloured and very big fish! We had been given a free introductory scuba dive, so the 4 of us suited up in our wetsuits and diving gear and attempted to sit on the edge of the boat steps (harder than you'd think- we must have looked like giggly children, attemtping to stay sat normally and massively failing!). Now diving is something I'd always been interested in the idea of but not actually that fussed about doing... but you canno turn down freebies like that! Anyway, I was first in the group to try the skills to make sure we knew enough to be safe- clearing water from our goggles by basically blowing huge amounts of snot out of our noses into the mask (gross); and learning what to do if we lost our mouth peice thing. This freaked me out a little and I didnt trust that I'd de-watered it, so paniced a little and flapped about like a crazy person back to the surface (only about a meter away), before being told to wait UNDER the boat for the others. laura didn't like it either, and decided to pass, so by the time the other 2 had done their skills, my breathing was getting to be slightly less erratic and I was calm enough to actually enjoy it. We saw some pretty cool brightly coloured fish and a few giant clams, which are very strange things, but really cool. I was slightly disappointed for not seeing any sharks, turtles, stingrays etc, but still had a really good day.

The next day we managed to escape from Asylum! Yay! We pretended we were moving on sooner than we'd thought, checked out, got our money back for the extra nights... and walked down the road to the amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Gilligans. Sooooo much happier- the rooms have beds that are straight, showers and toilets with doors that lock and it actually seems to get cleaned! Can't say I minded the club downstairs either! Randomly, a guy from our dorm in the Bay of Islands, NZ moved into our dorm in Gilligans, which was slightly strange- shows how many people do the same routes! We celebrated our new happier home by going out to Woolshed and Gilligans with Aileen, Martin (I like the way you smell hahaha) Alice and Laura. In Woolshed, we bumped into the guys who were working on the reef boat and Laura and Nicole went off to have shots and do 'F*ing big shark' dances with them, while we moved on to Gilligans, unable to find each other. The Bay of Islands guy (who seemed to have decided to tell everyone a fake name... as you do...) found me and after managing to lose him me, Laura and Alice danced our backsides off and sweated a ridiculous amount! A fun night all round!

After a chilled out day exploring Cairnes and attempting to sit in the sun by the lagoon (which was hiding behind rain clouds- booo!) we met up with Mike and his dive group for what was meant to be a drink at Gilligans, but turned into a full blown night out. Nicole entered a wet t-shirt competition, spurred on by a scary monster of a man and I spent the evening having joke dance-offs with Mikes South African and Brazillian friends. I moved on to woolshed with Mike and the dive lot and just had a generally hilarious and totally surreal night, managing to forget I'd gone out in the bikini and shorts and t-shirt I'd been wearing all day, with heair scraped back and no make-up- nice!) I bumped into Amy's brother Matt in the lagoon the next day and we did the whole 'I think I know you but can't work out why as you aren't meant to be here' thing for a second before we both twigged. Very odd- small world indeed!

Next stop- Mission Beach. Will continue my story later, fee internet place is about to shut ahnd I have a night bus to catch! Oh the life of a travelling bum!