Cairns.
Cairns is shit. Seriously, it's the first town in Australia I actually hated. The only thing Cairns is good for is partying. There are no sights, no interesting history, no bushwalking opportunities. All you can do (and indeed that's all most backpackers do in Cairns) is get pissed, sleep till three, work away your hangover at the pool and then go to the conveniently close backpackers bar to get drunk again. And you can do all that without ever leaving your hostel! Or venture out to any of the other bars - there are more than you could ever hope to visit. Only one of them's a gay bar and it's not much good. No proper Irish pubs either, just a PJ O'Brien's. There is just one redeeming factor about Cairns (apart from the free meals you can get) and that is...
The Reef.
Cairns is one of the gateways to the Great Barrier Reef and since there's nothing else, I decided to book a daytrip. I was just going snorkelling at first, but when the booking agent told me the first dive was free, I jumped at the chance. Took a shuttle bus early in the morning (nearly oversleeping meant no coffee and no brekkie) and boarded the boat that would take us to the outer reef. Seasickness made for an interesting first hour, but soon after I was in a wetsuit, putting on my flippers and my mask to go snorkelling. Nice little taste of what was to come. Then, the dive. After a briefing on different things you need to be able to do under water, we actually went under. And I panicked a little. Breathing through the mouthpiece was a lot harder than I thought it would be. At one point I made the thumbs up sign - "I'm going up", but the instructor stopped me and helped me in taking regular breaths (as opposed to the gasping I was doing). It worked and after a few minutes (in which the other two went through the motions) we went for our dive. Since it's my first time, I was focusing on the actual diving and not so much the Reef, but I liked it. So much that I booked a second dive on board. I figured it'd be worth the $40. And it was - a lot more relaxed, I could really look around this time. The Reef is beautiful. Even though it was cloudy, I was surrounded by bright colours and beautiful patterns. The definite highlight was swimming with a turtle - it just went along with us for a minute. I loved the Reef and I loved diving. Argh, now I want to get my PADI...
Maggie.
Pet name for Magnetic Island. 320 sunny days a year and it shows. It's a small piece with everything paradise should have: great bushwalks, small; beautiful little beaches; palm trees against a blue sky... amazing. The hostel was crap (you get what you pay for), but that didn't matter - I wasn't spending much time there anyway. Lazing on the beach with a book, trying to get some tan on my still pasty skin, was about my favourite pastime. Great little holiday island. And it's only getting better, for today I am moving to Airlie Beach, gateway to the Whitsundays.
