Hello from Cairns!!

I'm loving it here so far. Spent yesterday relaxing at the lagoon which was a nice break and gave me time to recover. Went to some backpacker bars last night to get a quick sample of the nightlife and learned some of the local Aussie expressions from another English traveler!

I got up early this morning to do my trip to The Great Barrier Reef. Although the weather started off really promising, it soon changed while out at sea. This didn't matter while diving but made an interesting ride home....!

I did my first dive! Nervous at first but was comforted by a German and two Irish travelers who were a bit worried too. We got in the water and from that moment on it was amazing. We saw corals with lots of tropical fish and even saw Nemo and his friend!!
I loved it and couldn't believe 25 minutes had passed when we came back up. We then snorkeled for a bit but the sea was so choppy which made it hard work on the legs!

After the first dive we had a buffet lunch which looked really nice but with the boat rocking, I couldn't eat. We then made a trip to the 2nd reef and I snapped up the opportunity to do a second dive. This one was even better as we were no longer linking arms with our buddies but were free!! I swam with two American guys and an instructor far out to the reef and dived much deeper. We saw a turtle, 3 stingrays and loads of fish and coral. It really is a very beautiful and peaceful world underwater and I wasn't ever worried about sharks or whales!

I'm so pleased i've dived here as it must be one of my longest ambitions to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. The feeling of achievement is great and I want to do it all again!!

The trip back home was terrible as the winds had really picked up. The sea sickness must have been bad as I turned down homemade chocolate cake....so unlike me!!
Some of us made our way to the top outside deck to help with the sickness but as the rain and freezing winds came it was a choice between this or staying inside and almost certainly being really ill. I opted to stay out and although freezing, I thankfully managed not to get too ill (although i still feel like im going up and down- 4 hours later in an internet cafe!)

This was a trip high and I loved (almost) every minute!!