Life Down Under- Cairns Edition

This week took me to the tropics. I flew all the way up to Cairns for a week while my host family took a holiday to Bali. I still can't quite get my head around Cairns, it was such an odd little place. It's far too small to be a city, there were no tall buildings, and the centre basically consisted of a strip of clubs, hostels, supermarkets, pubs and tattoo parlours- effectively just services that are aimed at backpackers. It was quite surreal to be surrounded by the Rainforest, too. No matter where you went you drove through luscious green scenery, with clouds lurking amongst the tallest trees. It was so beautiful, but unfortunately, the fact I was in the RAINforest definitely reflected in the weather. Turns out March is one of the only months of the year that's considered part of the 'rainy season'. On average, in March alone Cairn's rainfall is around half of the UK's rainfall in an entire year. This definitely put a dampener on my trip.

Ironically, the only day it didn't rain was St Patrick's Day, and I was dragged to PJ O'Brian's Irish Pub from 10am until the evening by the Irish friends I'd made at the hostel. It was SO much fun, but I just wish that it could have been sunny ANY other day of my trip!

My first proper activity was seeing the Great Barrier Reef, which was basically the whole reason I made the effort to go to Cairns. The boat journey to the reef was, without a doubt, the scariest thing I've ever had to endure. For 2 hours the boat crashed into vicious waves sending us flying, and a couple of times the bow of the boat actually plunged into the ocean and the waves almost engulfed the boat. I was grabbing onto my chair for dear life. Once we got there the weather gave way a little bit and I could finally have a breather, but the fear was not over yet. I'm not sure what possessed me to do so, but before we set off I signed up for an introductory scuba dive. We all had the all-important safety briefing and then we were all set up with our tanks and such. I was actually quite excited. I got in the water and the instructor gave me some instructions to make sure I understood how to use the equipment and then she pressed the button that deflated the jacket and I began to sink. All of a sudden, the information I had been given scrambled in my brain and I began to freak out. I felt like I couldn't breathe and I couldn't swim upwards. I basically just had a huge panic attack and I asked to go up to the surface. As much as I'd like to learn how to dive I think I'd like to learn at a much slower pace rather than just being plonked in the ocean. However the day wasn't a complete loss. I still did some snorkelling, and despite the weather causing poor visibility in the water I still managed to see some amazing fish (including Nemo!) and the parts of the reef I did see were so, so beautiful The journey back was so much calmer, THANK GOD.

The day after, I went on a Cape Tribulation and Daintree Rainforest tour. Our first obstacle of the day was that the tide of the Daintree River, which we had to cross to get to the rainforest, was considered too high and we weren't actually allowed on the ferry. We drank tea and ate biscuits for about an hour until we got a call to say we were finally allowed to cross the river. Once we got there we were greeted by a few mudslides, some burst river banks, and some misplaced waterfalls that were literally spilling over the roads. We weren't allowed to swim in any creeks because it was too dangerous, we saw 0 crocodiles on the crocodile cruise because they prefer shallow waters, and we didn't see the supposedly breathtaking beach, Cape Tribulation, because we couldn't see 3 feet in front of us due to the torrential rain. It would have been a complete fail of a day if I hadn't been in such great company. Everyone on the little minibus we were packed in were so friendly and the tour guide was just  bucket full of fun. He even did a little pub-like music quiz for us all to lift our spirits. ALSO, I saw a Cassowary! A Cassowary is a very rare, flightless bird that's thought to be a major link to the dinosaurs, even though it looks more like an Ostrich. It was only a baby one and it had disappeared into the vegetation in about 3 seconds but I still saw it so I'm happy.

There was one activity that actually benefitted from the rain, and it was the most fun I've had since being in Australia... white water rafting. We went to the Tully River, at which the World Rafting Championships are being held this year. The river was so much higher and faster than normal, making it like a giant log flume. We all got thrown into the river at some point but that was all part of the fun. The sections of the river that weren't riddled with gushing rapids were so peaceful and serene. You just bobbed along taking in the views of the rainforest, and we were even greeted by a few electric blue Ulysses butterflies. Sadly, I didn't have the right mount to attach my GoPro to my helmet which means I didn't get any videos, however the photos the professional photographer took were GOLD. I'm screaming in every. Single. One. Happy screaming, I assure you! I feel extremely sorry for the guy sat in front of me on the raft, I wonder if he can hear out of his left ear yet...

On my final day I got my second tattoo! I've wanted one that reminds me of my time in Australia since I got here but I wasn't sure what to get until I found an adorable, little shell on Bon Beach, where I live back in Melbourne. It was so much cheaper to get it in Cairns so I got it tattooed on my wrist- not the most discrete place, to my parent's dismay (again), but I'm totally in love with it. No regrets!

Although the rain made it extremely difficult to enjoy my excursions I still had tonnes of fun, and all the credit goes to the hostel I was staying at: Gilligan's. I met loads of amazing people who I already miss so much. The pool area was stunning but obviously it was not used very much this week. Gilligan's was also a club. Outside under the shelter there was incredible live music every night. Inside they had some really good DJs. They also had events going on every night. Pirate bingo was an interesting one. The night before I had made friends with one of the bar staff who happened to be one of the guys manning the game and he chose me to come up to the front for none other than a... 'pirate twerking competition'. Now, I can dance, there's no doubt about that, but I can not twerk for my LIFE. It was SO horrendously embarrassing but it won me a free drink so I'm not complaining! Other events included jelly wrestling and wet t-shirt competitions (which I did NOT participate in) as well as pub quizzes and beer pong (which me and my friend SMASHED! We made it all the way to the semi-finals!). One night they even had a wildlife show where someone brought in a snake, a lizard and a baby crocodile! I'm so happy I stayed there.

So that was my eventful week in Cairns! It was definitely an experience but I'm 100% going to have to go back to experience it properly.

I hope you enjoyed reading! Keep your eye's peeled for my next adventure!