Well, I'm finally here!! After a hectic day yesterday, I managed to get my rucksack packed, which wasn't very easy with a fuzzy head. I was in bed by 10pm as I was so tired. Grant kindly offered to take me to the airport this morning, which meant I could get up at 5am instead of 4. The flight was pretty uneventful, I must admit I was a bit scared this time, I think my last flight shook me up a bit and also I guess it was because I was tired, so I didn't enjoy it very much. Luckily it was only 2.5 hours, so it wasn't too bad.

I arrived in Cairns at 11 this morning and got the shuttle bus straight to my hostel. I really noticed the difference in climate from Sydney, even out of the sun you can feel how humid it might get in the summer months. The hostel is actually ok, it's right on the waterfront, I'm sharing with 5 other girls who I met briefly earlier. It's very clean....a bit noisy, but you can't have everything! I took a walk to have a look around, I've been everywhere today. It's so different here to Sydney, it seems a lot more laid back, a totally different atmosphere. The people are really friendly too, I guess they're used to having lots of tourists.....I must say there are loads of English here, and quite a few Germans too!

So I had a nice walk down the Esplanade by the water front, there isn't really a beach, they've just built a swimming pool on the front which was pretty busy. Anyway, I was walking along minding my own business when out of nowhere I got attacked by a bird! It frightened the life out of me, I thought somebody had punched me, it's beak stabbed me just above my eye, I was so lucky it wasn't any lower, I was so shocked I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! I was a bit paranoid after that, cos there was some blood and I wasn't sure how bad it looked and I thought everyone was staring, anyway, I found a mirror and it didn't look too bad. It was really weird because we were talking about birds the other day with Al, and I said to her I hate them cos I always think they're gonna fly right into me and stab me in the eye....spooky!

So after that bit of drama I took a walk to the train station just to check where I have to meet Al and Hayley tomorrow, there was a really nice shopping mall, I bought myself a pair of sunglasses, which I really did need! I've just got back from booking some tours, I'm a bit disappointed because they are advising against going on the Barrier Reef tours for the next 4 days as the sea is forecast to be really rough, so I'm going to have to hang fire there, but I did book a trip to the Atherton Tablelands (the highlands of Cairns, I've put a link on the right if you want to see) on Wednesday, and a trip to Cape Tribulation on Thursday, stopping there for 1 night, then going to Port Douglas for a night, then back to Cairns on Saturday, I'll see whether I can do the reef tour on Sunday or something, I'm planning on staying here till next Tuesday at least as there is so much to see.

I've just got back to the hostel now, I'm really doing the budget thing and making my own dinner to save money, which is a shame as there are some really nice restaurants here, but I'm sure I"ll go out with Alison and Hayley tomorrow night. I think I'm just going to have an early night tonight, although I may pop down to one of the pubs for a quick drink.....I am on holiday after all!!