Our journey started on Monday afternoon and after arriving in a very rainy Cairns on Wednesday (having had to get on one extra - very bumpy- flight we weren't aware we had to get) we were shattered after more than 24 hours travelling, so we decided to explore the town and then promptly gave into our jetlag and decided to call it a night at 5.30pm.
First tour of the week was Uncle Brian's Rainforest and Waterfall tour which was absolutely incredible. Anyone coming to Australia cannot leave without having done it. We got to visit some amazing places such as Josephine Falls and Millaa Millaa waterfalls, where we did loads of swimming, sunbathing and rock sliding, as well as visiting the town of Babinta and getting to know more about the aboriginal cultures. And later on we got to go and spot a real life Perry the Platypus! Guiding us was the brilliantly stereotypical Aussie cousin Rohan, who showed the "brighter side of life", as printed on the side of the tour bus.
Next stop in Cairns was the Great Barrier Reef. We went snorkelling at Paradise Reef and Michaelmas Cay, at times close enough to touch the animals (obviously we didn't do this...). The best spots were 2 blue spotted stingray, and purple giant clams that turned turquoise in the light. This also allowed us to get away from the rain in Cairns for a day and take full advantage of the Australian sun!
