Cairns

Cairns isn't half as bad as people make out. It's certainly not the outback muck savage redneck place people told us it ie.

We stayed in a shitty hostel last night at the back of a travel agent! Hello! That's the problem with blindly booking places over the phone. Don't stay at Hostel 89 (esplanade Beach Hostel). We've since moved into the Global Palace, none of the rooms have a natural light i.e. a window but this is a bonus in Sal's book; it doesn't have the potential insect factor of the first place. Don't be fooled by the free meals either, two of them wouldn't even fill a five year old let alone an adult. Other than that it is a really nice place.
The place we really want to stay is Gilligans which is more a Hotel than a backpackers but its all booked up.

Well, we're off snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef in the morning and then meeting up with Liz and Catherine Carlon tomorrow night to paint this town red.