Down Under!

Well, I'm finally here in Australia, my halfway point for this trip around the world, both in terms of time and distance.

dancing

I was lucky enough to take the Airbus A380 super jumbo from Singapore to Sydney, which was an experience in itself. The plane is only a few weeks old, and is far larger than the 747, and has 2 floors. I was able to take a peek into the first class areas which look pretty amazing, with seats having permanent beds next to them, with some even having double beds! Hmmmm...!

After arriving in Sydney to heavy rain (didn't think this happens!), I caught an internal flight to Cairns, from where I will begin my journey south over the next month, arriving in Sydney in time for Christmas. Cairns is a pretty non-descript town, with not a lot going for it apart from the surrounding countryside and the activities you can do here. A bit like Swindon really! It even has the same drunkenness in the bottom of the town. So I'm told!

Vicki

On my first night here I got press-ganged into a dancing competition! I lost of course, but gave it my best shot, fists and all! It's not often I make a complete fool of myself in front of hundreds of strangers, but when I do, I do it well!

Went Scuba diving today in the Great Barrier Reef. This is something I've wanted to do since studying Australia in junior school Geography! It was just amazing! Went on 2 dives to a depth of about 12 meters, saw some amazing fish that surrounded us looking for food, and luckily no sharks looking for food! I was much more relaxed this time having got my panicky first dive out of the way in Vietnam. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for some fellow travelers who freaked out within putting their head underwater and breathing from the regulator and had to return to the boat!

A380

I met some friendly Spanish people on the boat too, along with another German girl, all of whom I'll be meeting up with again tonight for drinks and scuba reflections (!) before an early start tomorrow (6.30am!!!) for whitewater rafting and moving onto Magnetic Island, about 100km south of here. Is white water rafting a good hangover cure? Results from this experiment tomorrow!

A380 plan

Cairns

Dancing competition

Inside the A380