Awesome diving in the Great Barrier Reef!

Ok - I was suppose to update you guys on the orangutans, but i've been mega lazy and keep putting it off.

But anyways, since my last blog I've travelled to Cairns, Australia...so if you really wanna hear about the organgutans I can give you details in an email - basically it was a totally fascinating encounter and I would seriously consider working for the charity in the UK that helps these gorgeous creatures.


Now, lemme tell you bout Cairns...

My preconceptions bout Cairns was that it was a large city near a lovely big beach, and only a few minutes from the Great Barrier reef - full of posh and retired people... well, it is kinda like that, but there are some parts of it that reminds me of something out of Ibiza uncovered!! Type of people living here - the odd old people, loads of jap tourists and some trashy travellers.. I mean not as in skanky travellers, but i mean the type of people that visit places like Ibiza and Tenerife. In fact, this place is a little like tenerife - you got english and irish pubs holding wet t-shirt competitions, karoke nights, toad races and sleazy stripping contests (held by hostels).

Ok - I'm making this place sound really tacky now - but really its not THAT bad... its still a really nice place to be and chill out. Major thing we weren't prepared for was the cost of living here - DAMN expensive!!! We have to pay like 5 or 6 quid per head per meal! Although we have had some free meals from the hostel we staying in, and get this, the hostel is called the Asylum... and we're staying in room 26 and a half... yeh, kinda crazy...

Anyways, despite having to live like a real traveller, i.e staying in hostels rather than mid-range hotels (like what we've been doing in Thailand), we had the most amazing dives in the Great Barrier reef! We were mega lucky - as soon as we dived in, we saw reef sharks, giant potatoe cods, napolian wrasse (big wally) and a GREEN TURTLE!!! Apparently, its pretty rare to see turtles (only comes out once a month). The water was so calm and clear, and coral was really colourful! I'm on a roll now and desperate to do some more diving!!

Tomorrow we going WW rafting, then we hiring a car to drive up and around the Cairns area, which I'm really looking forward to - instead of going on all these organised tours...

Til then!