The bus finally arrived on Friday afternoon to pick us up from Cape Tribulation....I must admit I was quite relieved, we'd just been sat in the bar playing cards for ages! On the way back we stopped off at the Alexandra Range lookout and at Mossman Gorge, the scenery was stunning. I arrived in Port Douglas about 5ish, I was really pleased with the hostel I chose, it was like being back in civilisation again. So far the YHA hostels have been very good....but I have found out that not all hostel rooms are same sex which has taken a bit of getting used to! I got chatting with James, from Sheffield, we were talking about where we've been on our travels, turns out he's doing roughly the same route as me. Once I'd settled into my room I had a quick look at the beach and the marina before it got dark and then went back to the hostel. I bumped into a couple of German girls who I'd met in the hostel in Cairns...everyone was saying that you always meet up with the same people along the way. I met James and a couple of others in the Bistro (yes, a youth hostel with a bistro!) The food looked fantastic and were very large portions, I went for the Barramundi (fish) and chips. It only cost me $8 as I had 30% off too....it tasted absolutely gorgeous, but I couldn't manage all of it, there must have been at least 10 potatoes worth of chips there! I had got in touch with Al earlier and she said they would be going out later on so I could meet them out, but I was so tired and the hostel was a fair walk away from town, I had to say I'd meet up with them the next day. It turned out to be a really relaxing, chilled evening, I met a couple of Americans too, so we were all sharing our travelling stories. The bar shut pretty early, so we went to the TV room for a bit, I couldn't keep my eyes open much longer, so had to go to bed....my week has been so tiring!

I checked out yesterday morning and took a walk into town to meet Al and Hayley, it's been funny seeing them in Sydney, Cairns and Port Douglas. I really loved Port Douglas, it's a very exclusive place to live, the houses are gorgeous and the town is really pretty. We took a walk to the beach....yes, the sun finally came out ;o) We even sunbathed for a while, well until the clouds came back and it started to get a bit chilly. We walked back into town again and had some lunch. I felt quite sorry for them, they'd come here for a holiday in the sun and it hasn't really stopped raining (I feel sorry for me too!!). After lunch we said goodbye...again...they were to fly down to Brisbane to see Al's brother and I had to get the bus back to Cairns. I may meet them in Brisbane, it just depends how my itinerary is working out....so many places to see!! I've been trying to decide how much longer to stay in Cairns as I really want to see the reef up here, it's supposed to be the best place to go from, but I spoke to the tourist places yesterday and they say the weather won't really have fully calmed down until Weds or Thurs and I haven't enough time to stay here until then, so I decided to book my bus to go down to Mission Beach tomorrow....I really hope it's sunny there, but I don't think it will be, apparently this is not normal weather for this time of year :-( Anyway, I'm still going to go snorkelling at the Barrier reef, but it will just be further down the coast, I'm sure it'll still be amazing.

I arrived back in Cairns and got settled into my new hostel, I'm sharing with a guy that looks like the lead singer from the Prodigy....a bit scary!! actually, he's not really, he's only a young (smelly) lad, yes the room stinks.. yuk! But I've only got one more night here, it's not so bad....actually there is an adjoining room where Rachel, who I met in Cape Tribulation is staying. I was supposed to be going out last night with the girls from Cape Trib, but I was still really tired so just stuck around here, I made myself the worst meal ever, my jacket potato didn't cook properly so I ended up having half cooked crumpets....I gave up after that and got myself a carafe of wine (I got given lots of vouchers when I checked in) and sat in the bar for a bit, and lo and behold it started throwing it down with rain again!!! and it's still raining now....is this really Australia?...I don't think I'm in the right country, I want my money back!! just kidding!