Cairns- Great day trips!

I arrived in Cairns from Perth and had to wait an hour for my hostel's mini van to pick me up. Eventually I ended up at the hostel which had a pool and was quite a nice place to stay. I set out to explore Cairns only to discover how small and underwhelming the place was. There no beach in Cairns and not that many cafes and you can't swim because of the crocodiles. I went for a walk to the shore:

There were loads of birds:

and an outdoor pool area:

and after having a coffee and wondering round the shops there wasn't much else to do so I went back to my hostel to book some trips and make some friends.

The next day I was picked up for my first tour...The tablelands!

There was only 6 of us on our tour and the scenery was beautiful:

We were taken to lakes:

and waterfalls:

And a massive tree:

We even saw a platypus:

It was a great day out into the countryside and our guide was really good.

The next day my next tour was the great barrier reef:

I was dropped off at the pier by my hostel and found the boat I was going to be on for the next few hours. There were 6 other people on board, 2 Canadians, 2 Americans and 2 Australians. The Canadians and Americans were young girls so I made friends with them.

We sailed out to the great barrier reef on a catamaran. It was so bumpy and quite cold but it was worth it when we arrived.

 Everyone on the boat opted for wet suits but I was the only one brave enough to go without and the water wasn't very cold at 23 degrees celsius but everyone kept complaining about how freezing it was. Now I have to admit i am not a fan of snorkeling. I tried it in bermuda and kept getting bashed by rocks and swore I would never do it again. However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity so after looking at the water for a while I eventually went in.

It was amazing. I didn't have an underwater camera for pictures but I saw loads of fish and a sting ray and lots of coral and swam about for ages. The sea was a bit choppy but it wasn't that cold.
We went to two different spots. After a couple of hours we then had to go back and had a lovely picnic on the way back. I even got to steer the boat.

My new friends and I then went out to a harbour bar for the rest of the night.

The next day was Kuranda!

We were taken to an old fashioned railway station for Kuranda.

I got on board an old fashioned train next to a few older people and we started our decent through the rain forest. It was very picturesque and I saw valleys and waterfalls.

We ended up at Kuranda which was very pretty and had lots of little shops and it even had a Scotland shop:

The vibe of the town was very hipster and I really enjoyed wandering around into the little art galleries and having nice coffee.

It was then time for me to go and I had to venture back to Cairns via gondola!

It was amazing looking over the rainforest tree tops trying to spot wildlife.

I even met a retired couple from Melbourne and had a lovely chat with them.
I really enjoyed Kerunda and the rainforest although I didn't see much wildlife apart from kangaroos on the way to the railway station.

My last adventure in Cairns: Cape tribulation!

I met two boys from England (Joe and Christopher who had just finished their degrees) on board and became friends with them. It was a full bus and we started off in Port Douglas. It was very pretty and I wish I had more time there but we only had an hour which was just enough to have a wonder and take some pictures.

We then headed into the rainforest for a rainforest talk. After, we drove for ages to cape tribulation for lunch. We were taken to a cape trib resort which was disappointing as we wanted to see the real rainforest. Everyone else had bought lunch as part of the tour but me and the boys had our own so we ate them on the beach. We were told we couldn't swim on the beach due to crocodiles so we had a walk along it.It was massive!

After relaxing on the beach we went on a crocodile tour. This was my favourite part as we went on a boat and the crocodile guide was really knowledgeable and we saw loads of crocodiles including babies!

The tour guide then drove like a maniac back to cairns where my new friends and I went for dinner. We then had dessert at this dessert place and looked at the night markets. I then had to say goodbye as they were leaving for melbourne the next day. I then went back to my hostel and made friends with a Scottish guy. I overheard him talking and said I'v not heard a scottish accent in soo long and so we ended up chatting til 2am!

On my final day I started off in the botanical gardens which had jungle swamps and an aboriginal garden.

It also had a butterfly sanctuary.

I walked around for ages then walked into town along the promenade.

I had another wonder round Cairns and it started to pour in rain so went into a shopping centre and went shopping for a while. When it stopped it was time for dinner and went back to chat to my new Scottish friend for the rest of the evening.

I enjoyed Cairns because the tours were good (apart from cape trib because the tour guide was rubbish but making new friends and seeing crocodiles made up for it). Cairns itself is a bit boring. After a day you are done and most people seem to stay for the amazing wildlife and diving etc around the area. I think Port Douglas was much prettier but its a bit out of the way from everything.

Perth Australia...Finally!

I flew to Perth Australia during the night and it took me ages. Its miles away! I landed  and was really tired and was expecting to queue for ages in immigration as I have been told by many backpackers but when I landed I was through in minutes. I think because I declared things on my boarding pass they assumed I wasn't hiding anything. Although when I looked back there were loads of chinese people been asked to empty their suitcases while immigration were looking at funny sorts of food they had.

I found the train and headed to my Air B&B, it was 8am when I arrived and my room was beautiful. I was staying with a mum and two daughters and a cat and they were lovely.

My first mission having arrived was to find a hairdresser. I went for a wonder and found one that had just opened and it was great. I finally started to feel at home.  Afterwords, I went to a supermarket to get some food and was shocked by the prices. Australia is expensive!!!

I then walked back through some leafy streets and got home to find my air B&B hostess Louise who was a South African living in Perth. she offered to take me out and show me Perth in her top down car. The weather was lovely and we drove round Perth towards the water and to the lookout points:

I then went for a walk through the neighbourhood.

The next day I went to town.

I noticed that the town centre was very similar to a UK town centre with some nice buildings dotted around. I went to buy some more paracetamol and it cost me $5 in a discount drug store!!

I then walked to the botanic gardens and spotted wildlife along the way:

There were some lovely views from the botanics:

My first day in Perth was great but I did feel it lacked a bit of wow factor, especially the town centre.

The next day was a trip to fremantle. For some reason Fremantle felt similar to a town in the highlands of scotland.

It was very quaint and had a nice seaside feel and was full of little galleries selling art from inspired by the sea (like the highlands).

I went to the fremantle markets where I picked up some aboriginal souvenirs  and then went to buy fish and chips. They were good but not as good as the UK, partly as they do not have haddock here.

There was a lovely beach:

and a boat museum and more views of the sea.

I then relaxed in a coffee shop people watching for a while before I went back to Perth via train.

I then made a friend of Girl Crew Perth and we went out to dinner that night. She was an amazing person, she picked me up in her car and then she paid for my meal when I went to the toilet! She then also suggested she take me to the pinnacles on her day off.

The next day my air b&b hostess took me to Cottesloe Beach.

We had a great chat and a lovely drive and then she dropped me in town to visit the Perth Art Gallery.

I then had a lovely last night watching really bad australian tv while my air b&B hostess tried to explain this was the best they had. It was terrible! Australian TV is awful.

My last day in Perth and my new friend picked me up in her car and we went off to the pinnacles. We had a great drive and I saw kangaroos! We then came to the pinnacles and they were amazing!

It was a desert full of large rocks:

After our amazing trip to the pinnacles we went to the sand dunes on the way back:

We had a great time sliding down them and getting sand everywhere!

After our great day out we went back to her house and had dinner before she dropped me off at the airport and said goodbye to go to Cairns. She was such a lovely person.

I really liked Perth but i think to enjoy it you need a car to go to the natural beauty around it. Perth as a city is a little bland. Its just a city but its the surrounding sites that are worth visiting.