Hey everyone!
So I have left SE Asia now and here I am in Cairns.
The films on the flight to Sydney were so good that I didnt sleep at all, so by the time I reached Cairns I was pretty tired to say the least.
I had booked a bus from the airport to take me to my hostel and as I was waiting I got talking to a girl from Oxford and a guy from Denmark so straight away I had plans for the evening which was great!
As you will probably know I was a bit scared about staying in hostels -sharing with complete randomers, having had my own room for the last 3 months so I was quite nervous.
The hostel is so cool-really pretty with a swimming pool and lots of chill out areas.
I was to be sharing my room with 2 other people so they gave me the key and off I went!
Typically my bed was in the middle of the room -meaning my face would be right next to someone elses head and my feet in the other persons face! I tried to suss out if they were male or female and was convinced they had put me in the room with 2 guys! They were not in so I didnt get a chance to meet them before I went out so the whole evening I was really nervous!
Luckily I was sharing with a really lovely girl from Melbourne (originally from Hong Kong) and a guy from Columbo who was also very nice. Its quite funny as its such a small room and you are just waiting for the key to go to find out who you are sharing with! We got on really well and stayed up chatting for a couple of hours and all agreed we were really happy to be sharing together! I had a great night sleep suprisingly and got up early the next day for my trip to Fitzrold Island which is basically the outer barrier reef.
We set off at 7.30 and took the ferry there and collected our snorkelling gear and headed off to 'Nudey beach'- unfortunately or should I say fortunately there were no nudists on the beach! Haha all nudist beaches on tv seem to be fall of saggy old people so quite happy about that :)
We literally had the beach to ourselves apart from a couple from Korea and America who we later befriended and had dinner with in the evening!
The area is know for jelly fish so we donned some very sexy 'stinger'suits complete with hoods. We looked like fetish people in rubber suits -it was hilarious, so so funny!
I was out there for a couple of hours and saw the most amazing coral and fishes. There was electric blue starfish, rainbow coloured fish, stripey ones..ahhh it was breathtaking and thats only the outer reef so I cant imagine what the rest is like.
We just spent the whole day laughing on the beach and sunning ourselves and didnt bother to collect our lunch until about 4pm it was so gorgeous!
I didnt want to leave the Island at all but Cairns is such a nice town and has a huge park area with the hugest outdoor swimming pool so it wasnt that bad! We went for a few drinks in the evening in the bars and the next day I spent the whole day in the park just listening to my Ipod and people watching! The aussies are really fit and attractive so it really motivates me to get more active at home! Not sure Carshalton pond has the same appeal though!
The prices for drinks and food here are crazy! Meals are about $26 each so we have been trying to use the backpacker deals. The first meal we had was a free luke warm flavourless pasta so I headed to the Supermarket and got some bits there. We have a fully equipped communal kitchen so I have been living off beans on toast and apples! Actually I also found some fake meat for sandwiches so I am very happy!
We went for a few drinks of Goon (cheap wine) round Andress hostel and then headed off to meet up with some girls I had met the other night. The hangovers here are nothing compared to Thai/Cambodian ones so I am happy about that-not sure my roomies would love it if I was in bed sick all day!
My original roomies have moved on now so I am sharing with some girls from Switzland now who are nice. I got on really well with my orginal roomie so I will be meeting her in Melbourne!
I have had a lovely day today on my own -just looked at the shops and chilled in the park with a book-this is the life indeed.
Tomorrow I have an early start as I start my 2 week tour!
I will sign off now and try and make you jealous with some pictures! Hehe
Love to all
xx
