OZ - CAIRNS, BRISBANE AND LONGREACH

Well after arriving in Cairns and feeling like dog pooh we went to the cinema cause we couldn't check in so saw Madagascar 2 and slept through it all, then had a very quiet one in the hostel. Next day we went on a tour to the rainforest with Turtle Tours and our guide was Stewey, he took us to some beautiful swimming holes that were croc safe, Leanne decided she wanted a go on the rope swing and fell in badly and cut her knee. Then we finished the day by the beach but could only swim in the nets cause it was stinger season. Next day we hired a car and headed up the coast and stayed in Port Douglas, we visited a zoo type place called the habitat that had loads of crocs and kangaroos and all sorts of other animals. On the way up to Cape Tribulation we went to 4 mile beach which was pretty then went to the Mossman Gorge swimming hole which is the last safe one before crocs. We stayed at PKs hostel that night and was a party hostel and full of young lads. Next day we drove to Crocodylus YHA and slept the hangover off and went for a night walk in the rainforest around the hostel with a guy called possum, saw loads of creepy crawlies but no snakes! We headed back down the coast to Cairns, en route we did a croc cruise and saw a couple of smallish ones. Next day we were picking up a reloc vehicle to Brisbane and we had about 3 and a half days to get there. So straight on the road and ploughed some miles out, we made a detour to Mission Beach but it wasn't anything special, we headed on down to Airlie Beach, arrived late. Next day we booked onto the Ragamuffin Sailing Trip round the Whitsunday Islands, we did some snorkelling and saw a giant clam then had lunch. The sailing was really good cause we had strong wind. Soon as the trip was done we were back on the road and headed for Rockhampton where we camped the night. Next day was just driving all day down to Brisbane and arrived there looked at a couple of houses cause we planned to work for a couple of months but none were any good. We handed back the reloc vehicle the next day and decided to move into a house in Indooroopilly. It was xmas eve when we moved in and got a 5 litre box of goon and checked out our local pub after going to a carol service. Xmas day we made ourselve a traditional dinner watched films and went on the webcam. Most of the time in Brisbane we spent job hunting and handing out resumes but there were hardly any jobs about so we started to consider working in a pub in the Outback. New Years Eve we went to Southbank and got really drunk and went to a house party, obviously New Years Day was a write off!!!! We went to job club in Brisbanes X Base and got the job at the Lyceum Hotel, Longreach. We left Brisbane on 5 Jan and got on the Greyhound bus for 18 hours. The hotel was a bit of a dump, and the air con in our rooms never worked. There was a 50m swimming pool up the road which was handy and used it almost every day. The owner called Lethal was a big sleaze bag and tried it on with anyone no matter how old or young. Then we met the Bar Manager called Russell, the less said about him the better, we ended up getting together and he treated me like an idiot, Leanne left after about 3 weeks in the Outback but I stayed for 2 months cause me and Russell were getting on really well until he cheated on me!!!!! So I left pretty fast after that. I went to some areas around, Russell took us Ilfracombe pool and spa, then we also visited Muttuburra where the first dinosaur skeleton was discovered. Me and Leanne went to the Stockmans Hall of Fame and was quite interesting. I met some cool people in Longreach, Jed and Zak were nice, Gemma from Ireland, Lucy replaced Leanne and was good company for me. Bev was the lady who cooked our meals for us and she was funny and really nice, but I was pretty tired of roast dinners in 40 degrees heat!! Jay, Dat and Bob were regulars and Black Bob with the worst breath ever!! Murray and Shara the most unlikely couple ever and the bakery that had the best pies in the world!! After Longreach I headed for Sydney to meet back up with Leanne.