CAIRNS

After doubling our time in cairns and staying for a week it's safe to say we loved it. Theres so many activities and things to do, we only had one day where we didn't do anything! 

We stayed in the YHA hostel which was actually pretty decent and we got quite lucky with our dorm mates. We opted for a 4 share dorm as it was our first hostel and just wanted to experience it. We also got lucky on the last two nights and had the room to ourselves which was a win! 

Here was where we did our bungee jump, we took a trip to AJ Hackett and the staff were so friendly and just encouraged you to be brave, something I definitely needed! The height of the jump was 50m, which doesn't sound a lot but when you have to throw yourself off it trust me it is. I stood at the top for just under two minutes before he counted down and I just flopped off the edge; my video is so funny! I'm so glad I did it, but I am 90% sure I would never do it again. The couple of seconds you're free falling you just feel like you're not attached to anything and just heading straight towards the ground, which gives you the biggest burst of adrenaline! Brad enjoyed it so much he did a second one; this time running and jumping off the roof. 

In Cairns we also did three day tours. Our first to Cape Tribulation and up into the Daintree rainforest. We went for a wander in the rainforest, stopped off at a little beach and went on a little cruise and saw some crocodiles! One had even wedged a dead cow in a tree to munch on. 

Our second day trip was snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. This is definitely one of the best things I've done and it was just something out of a film as soon as you stuck your head in the water. We saw countless numbers of fish and jellyfish, a few turtles and a baby reef shark! (He was still about a metre and a half) But on the way in from our second stop there was loads of bluebottle jellyfish! So many people got stung and Brad took one right to the neck. The weather was also amazing and we met some friends on the boat and finished the day with (too many) drinks with them :)

Our last day trip was to the Atherton Tablelands with many stops at all the waterfalls to swim in and slide down! We stopped at Millaa Millaa Falls; where the Herbal Essences advert was filmed. We were quite lucky because everyone on our trip was young and from the UK. Literally everyone mingled and it was such an enjoyable day! 

There is some other things to do in Cairns also. There's a lagoon, because unfortunately you can't swim in the sea in North Queensland because of crocodiles. There was a live band playing everytime we went there which was nice. There's also a huge shopping centre if you're not trying to save money! We just took a wander round and just brought dinners from Coles. We also went to the casino where I got lucky and won $40! There's plenty of markets and food places to wander round during the day and in the evening too. 

We went out for drinks most nights with friends and all the bars/clubs have free champagne to girls, did numerous happy hours and jäger bombs went down to $4 (£2) which was always a win-win situation.

Despite all the day trips my favourite memory in Cairns has to be Brad being so drunk he opened the hostel door (naked) in the middle of the night, went for a wee right outside the door, and wandered back to bed... All hanging loose for our two hostel roomies to see! 

Overall we really enjoyed Cairns and I can tell it will be one of our favourite places that we visit. We couldn't work out if we would come here again because we've done all the main activities and there wouldn't be much point repeating them, but it will always be one of my favourites!

Cavesham Wildlife Park

After being in Australia nearly a month we decided we probably should go and see some wildlife! We originally wanted to see kangaroos in the wild, but after going to Penguin Island and only seeing one penguin we didn't want to leave it to chance.

As it's only a wildlife park there's not that many animals there, and the majority were exclusive to Australia. There wasn't monkeys or penguins or anything like that as they are all at the main Perth zoo. But, the experience of feeding all the kangaroos whilst they laze about is incredible. Because they are one of my favourite animals I made Brad stand with me to feed them for so long (sorry Brad) but they all have different personalities and it was so cute to just sit and watch them. 

There's also koalas at the park, and you walk in and can stroke them and watch them; however they are very lazy and don't do much other than sleep! There's certain shows as well, we watched the farm show where you can milk a cow, watch a sheep getting sheared and what not. They also then open up an area where you can take a picture with a wombat and look at some lizards and other little reptiles.

It was a good experience, especially if you haven't seen some Australian wildlife before like Brad. Also on days where it's not hot enough to go to the beach it's nice to do something a bit different!

Rottnest Island

Brad and I visited Rottnest Island for two days for his birthday. It's so close to Perth and is beautiful! We had an early start as the ferry departed at 7.30am and arrived at Rottnest just after 8. We went straight to the hire shop and got two bikes to start exploring, but before we set off we stopped at the bakery for a jam donut for me (obviously) and a pie for Brad.

As the island is quite small you can literally cycle round it in about 5 hours and stop off at beaches and lookout spots along the way. On the first day we went round the bottom half of the island, stopping at the most amazing little bays and having a snorkel round. Stupidly, we didn't take much notice of the warning signs and ended up cycling round for 5 hours with no water, as there is literally no shops, toilets or water fountains along the way. Me being the drama queen I am- I declared I was on the verge of dehydration; so we decided to head back to the settlement and check in at the hotel. 

The island is so small, so there isn't many places to stay. As it was Brad's birthday we just decided to go for Hotel Rottnest over the campsite and it was a lot nicer than we expected! Our room was right round the corner from the bar, so naturally we went straight there and we had pimms for me and a G&T for Brad. We ordered two seafood pizzas and just snacked on them for the evening. After spending $200 on drinks (that's our sensible backpacking budget) we decided to head to the jetty to watch the sunset. After deciding I was not capable of riding a bike drunk, Brad took a cycle to one of the beaches we had seen earlier to watch the rest of the sunset.

The next day we checked out of our hotel room, enjoyed another breakfast at the bakery and headed for the other half of the island- with plenty of water this time. We snorkelled round more beaches and Brad spotted a little octopus! The GoPro came in very handy and the sea was so clear so it was a good place to get footage and some pictures. The water was so calm at the bays and just further out you could watch the surfers on the bigger waves.


The second day we did less cycling as we had to be back to catch the ferry back to Perth at 4. So we just chilled out along the jetty with some ice pops and fruit. Brad was having fun jumping off the end, until he decided he didn't like being the only one in the water in case he got eaten by a shark, he also nearly lost his big toe to a crab.. Sealife 1- 0 Brad.
It was a lovely couple of days and Brad thoroughly enjoyed his birthday. It felt like a holiday from a holiday and we would definitely go back to Rottnest again. The only thing that was a little annoying was the price of everything; with the ferry, the hotel and bike hire amounting to quite a bit. However, as it was Brad's birthday we don't regret spending the money at all, because we wanted both our birthdays to be amazing whilst we're away!

Cottesloe Beach

Since being in Perth we have had time to explore a couple of places and Cottesloe is definitely one of our favourites. It's the most amazing beach with a calm sea, a couple of cafes nearby- the best ice cream shop and lots of fish! It's in a good location as well; a 20 minute drive or a 25 minute train journey. It's become easier for us to drive as it's literally one straight road to get to, and car parks over here are all free!

Every time we have been to this beach there's also been kids swimming lessons on in the calmer side near the rocks, which is quite cute (and a little bit noisy)
It isn't overly busy either; mostly filled with families and couples, and everyone here is friendly. A man even suggested we head out to a certain area because he saw Brad's GoPro.

 There's also some rocks (below) which you can take the path way and walk along, which shows you the other side where there's often people snorkelling. It's nice to have other things to do on the beach rather than just sitting around or swimming, as we often get bored easily.

Our First Week In Perth

I wanted to keep track of what Brad and I have been up to on our travels, I also have a handwritten diary but just in case something ever happened to it I know I have this!

Trigg Beach

We have been in Perth for just over a week now and are really enjoying it! It's so nice to just relax and explore a new place together. Luckily we also have access to a swimming pool which is helping us with our money. The beaches are amazing and we have already fallen in love with Cottesloe beach; a place I've been before but now I'm older I can appreciate it more. Brad's GoPro has been coming in handy with underwater pictures and films. We've also been to Hillary's Harbour where you can have lovely seafood meals, sit on the man made beach, or look round a few shops. There's so much to do here and we have so much more to explore as we are still finding our way round; my dad's put me on his car insurance which is making it a lot easier!
We have also been to the city a couple of times and spent a (tiny) bit of money, but both of us have had a lot of will power to put things down, which is a huge surprise.

                         Kings Park above and below- the car we have been driving around!

            Cottesloe Beach

The weather has been amazing and we have enjoyed 40 degree heat and also cooler days which allow us to do more. Both of us have been burnt to a crisp and are currently going through a bottle of after sun a week; not good for our budget!

With another 3 weeks in Perth we are going to try and drive up North/South for a couple of days and explore more beaches. We also have a trip to Rottnest Island planned for Monday and Tuesday for Brad's birthday, which we are both very excited for. I will try and keep this updated as often as I can/need to; but when we leave for the East coast of Australia wifi probably won't be as easy to find.

Maddie
Xxxx