Cairns & Green Island

I left Melbourne that morning in the pouring rain. By the time I had flown from Melbourne to Sydney, Sydney to Cairns, it was late afternoon, and yet stepping out of the airport was like walking into a wall of heat. The air was humid and muggy, enough to make my hair go frizzy in an instant! A huge difference in climate from what i'd left behind in Melbourne.

I met the driver from the hostel I'd pre-booked, and drove the 10 minutes into the small town of Cairns. I checked into Gilligans, a renowned party hostel, calling itself a 'backpacker resort', which is exactly what it is. There's a lagoon-type pool, inlcuding a waterfall; a bar selling discounted drinks and free drinks to people staying there; and even a spa and beauty salon. This was far better than i'd expected, and only about $28 a night. My room was a 6-bed dorm with balcony and en-suite. And my roomies were 5 Cumbrian lads. I joked that the receptionist must have known I was from Essex, putting me in a room with 5 guys!

After a quiet night in, I was up early the next morning to see what Cairns has to offer. It turns out, not a lot! It's a nice town, very small, much smaller than I'd expected. The main street consisted of internet cafe/ backpacker travel agents and souvenir shops. I feel quite sorry for the locals, a lot of whom are Aboriginals, because their town has been taken over by either the Western backpacker or Asian tourist, looking to spend fortunes on opals or designer handbags.

Two minutes walk from the hostel I was at the water's edge. It can't really be referred to as a beach, more like a swamp. The sand meets the sea about 250 metres out, but you wouldn't dare go out there. The sand is more like mud, filled with random pools of water, and the sea is full of sharks, jellyfish, stingrays etc. Because of this, right on the sea front they've built a huge lagoon and man-made beach. I spent my first day here just sunbathing and relaxing, a huge novelty as it's not something you can do when working full-time in Melbourne. All was great until I woke up with serious burns to my chest, patches on my arms and face, and anywhere else that I'd missed with suntan lotion. I was wearing factor 30; I underestimated just how strong the sun is in Northern Queensland.

Sore and feeling sorry for myself, I left the lagoon and stopped in and internet cafe on my way back. Before I'd even sat at a computer I was talking to the girl who works there about what do in the area etc, as I was booked to stay here another 4 days. Next thing i knew, i'd been there an hour and spent over $1000 on trips. It worked out to be a great deal. For the next month, I had all my trips, boat transfers, buses and accommodation paid for, so all I needed was spending money. At least now I had a plan as to what I was doing and where I was going.

That evening, after my free meal and $5 pint of low-carb beer, I met up with the boys in my room for a night on the town. We went to the Woolshed, well known for it's backpacker 'Coyote Ugly' style nights. Although that's not quite my thing, it was funny to watch drunken people dancing on tables and generally making fools of themselves! And on top of that, I had all my drinks bought for me all night, a bonus of sharing a room with people on a month long holiday rather than budgeting travellers.

In the morning, nursing a slightly sore head, I dragged myself to the marina for the first of my many trips. Today, I was catching the 'Reef Rocket' for a day of snorkelling at the Great Barrier reef, off Green Island. It was raining at night and in the morning, so the sky was fairly overcast and the water a tad murky. But it was still so hot. I was dropped at the pier and crossed this tiny island to go to the beach where the better snorkelling is. Because I was in Queensland in jellyfish season, it's strongly advised that you wear a stinger suit. I paid the $7 extra and slipped into my suit and flippers, not wanting to take the risk.

In the water I swam about 100 metres out to where the coral started. I suppose in my mind I had an image of what the Great Barrier reef would look like, and this wasn't it. There were all sorts of bright and colourful fish, they were great. With my underwater camera I took loads of pictures over the few hours I was there. I even saw purple starfish and transluscent pink jellyfish. And I saw a clownfish (Nemo) so I was happy. But the coral itself was quite disapppointing, it was plain and colourless, not like the bright and vibrant image you see in the photos and advertisements. From under the water, I started to see part of the reason why... There were poeple, and when I say people I mean Asian tourists, with their flippers on just treading all over the coral. They would readjust their masks or just chat away, oblivious to the damage their doing underneath their feet. On the boat over we were told not to touch any of it; to me this is just common sense. I mustn't complain too much because I had a great day, with enough time to explore the island as well as spend hours snorkelling.

That evening I met up with my friend Sammy, someone else I met when I lived in Portugal. He lives about 20 minutes from Cairns, and was just 17 when I met him. Now he's still a young pup at 20. He met me at my hostel bar for a few cheap drinks, then we went out for dinner. Because of the rain today the humidity was just unbearable. We ate dinner inside, and by the time we were finished we were dripping with sweat. So much so that I had to go back to the hostel and change before I went out. Sammy then took me to the Velvet Club, which is underneath the Reef Casino. Tonight must have been teeny-boppers night. I swear at 23, I was the oldest there by a few years. I stayed for a couple of drinks, met Sammy's 20 year-old, extremely drunken, friends, then felt completely out of place, so made my excuses and left!

The next day was my last day in Cairns. I spent it catching some rays by the lagoon, covering my burnt bits! Sammy came and met me on his lunch break, feeling considerably worse for wear! He dropped me at a nearby locals market, we said our goodbyes, then he left to go back to work and suffer! I wandered round the market for a bit then headed back to my room to pack. The Cumbria boys were now gone so I had the room to myself since no one else had checked back in. After another free dinner and cheap pint, I spent the rest of the night chilling out, ready for my early morning start and 8 hour bus journey to Townsville.