cairns

Sun 07.10 - Arrived in Mission Beach at 4ish. Went to Scotties Hostel. Rooms were a bit manky. Like portacabins and there were big flies in the room. There were marchflys that would land on you and give you a nasty bite. Walked to shop. Met a couple that had camped in Kakadu the same time we were there. Went to a Table quiz and were teamed up with Richard and Eleanor, from England, but living in San Francisco. There was a free beer for the best joke and CLAIRE WON IT!!!!!!!! Her joke: Why was the washing machine laughing? It was taking the piss out of the knickers! We managed to win the quiz with the final question. We got it right and none of the other teams did. The Question was: What is Thomas Crapper renowned for? Answer is a bottom of this page.

Monday 08.10 - Most chilled out day we have both had. We lay by the pool or in a hammock reading ALL day. Ain't Mondays great!

Tues 09.10 - Up 8.15am. Packed and caught bus at 10.45am. Bus Drivers name was Kevin Simpson! We had no reception on our phone whilst at Mission Beach, when I picked up reception Pauric Lawless had left messages that he was in Mission Beach at a hostel down the road! Arrived in Cairns at 12.30pm and got to Gone Walkabout Hostel. The Rough Guide said it was the best in Cairns. Im not sure if I agree with that! Went to Internet cafe and sent my CV to Townsville Agencies.   Paudric Rang, he and his mates were arriving in Cairns. Claire and I walked out to his hostel and said our hello. We met later after dinner at the Sports Bar and had a good few drinks. We got struck talking to Aussie Motormouth thats travelling with Pauric.

Wed 10.10 -      Slept in. Filled in Diary and Read. Went to KFC for dinner and then to The Reef Teach. This is a 2 .5 hour lecture on the Great Barrier Reef. The difference is that its given by a mad Irish Marine Biologist / Diver who looks like Billy Connolly!! His name is Paddy Colwell. The talk was highly enjoyable and we would recommend it. It will make visiting the reef more interesting as we now know how to identify different type of coral and fishes.. We were chatting to him after. Hes from Dublin, and has dived loads at home but has been here for 16 years.

Thur 11.10 - Pauraic at Hostel at 9am. We went out to Airport to meet Shane, who was flying in. I held a sign saying "Mighty Bite Cabs - Cappy Run". We then booked Reef Tour for tomorrow. Phoned home in the evening. Great gossip with Mum.

Fri 12.10 - Up at 6am. Got lift to Jetty. Met Shane, Pauraic, Eamon (Ennis) and Wayne (England). Sailed for 2.5 hours to Michaelmas Cay. Its a small sandy island.   We went snorkelling of the island. Some great coral and fantastic giant clams about a metre wide. We both scraped our leg on coral that was very high. Not pleasant. We then moved on to Hastings Reef. Claire and I swam over the coral. It was a great experience to be in the water 50kms from the coast, knowing that there were sharks in the water. Pauraic went diving and so did Shane (his first one). Claire and I were saving ourselves for Magnetic Island where we are going to do our Open Water Diving Course.

Took 3 hours to sail back in. Claire was very sunburnt.

At 8pm we met in PJ O'Briens for the Ireland v Australia Compromised Rules, but it wasnt on live. We had to wait until 11.40pm for a delayed broadcast. We were all rightly on by that stage. The atmosphere was great. We were all wearing our respective county jerseys. Met Ronan from Monaghan again! Claire met a girl that works in Dillon filling station, Ballinasloe. Great to see Ireland win, but the Aussies dont have the same interest in it. In bed just before 2am

Sat 13.10 - Up at 9am and caught bus back to Townsville at 11am.