Raining in Cairns

We've been in Cairns for a few days now hoping that the bad weather was going to blow over, but it doesn't look like it is! I didn't go snorkelling the other day because there were torrential storms and although it may have been better out to sea, it still wouldn't have been sunny and when I'm paying $150 to go snorkelling I want it to be sunny and colourful, not raining and grey. We will have other chances further south in places such as the Whitsundays so fingers crossed it will be better there.

All the rain is right over Cairns!

Tomorrow morning we're taking the Greyhound coach about 6 hours south to Townsville and Magnetic Island. I'm unsure if the weather will be much better there, but hopefully there will be some more things to do if it's not. An English couple we have met here in Cairns recommended that we hire a 4x4 on Magnetic Island, I can imagine that would be even more fun in the rain! Townsville also has a huge aquarium so there should be enough things to keep us busy for a few more days until the sun comes out.

Arrived In Cairns

So we've completed our Asia part of the trip. According to google we've covered 3684 miles, mostly by plane but a large amount by coach. My two favourites have got to be Chiang Mai and Ko Lanta. Chiang Mai had loads to do and see. The food and the markets were amazing, not to mention the elephant trekking at Patara. Ko Lanta was equally amazing for different reasons, it was such a great place to chill out, although a lot of this is down to the people we met. We couldn't have asked Lek and Malay to be more welcoming to us so I really hope we get to see them again. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you go to Ko Lanta stay there and you will learn more from the about Thailand then anywhere else. Blue Moon bar was a great place to chill out at night in the hammocks, helping ourselves behind the bar all because of the trust of the owner, who had some great stories to tell us! Lanta Welfare centre also was a key part of Ko Lanta for us with the people there and the dogs they look after, miss them loads!

Now we're in Cairns and onto our next adventure. The climate is really different here, it's still just as hot but a lot more humid. We could live without air conditioning in southern Thailand but here it is a must! I haven't got any photos of Cairns as yet because it's a really uninspiring place for photography (after having spent months in Asia it is anyway!). But, I'm off on a snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier Reef in the morning and I'm armed with a waterproof camera again so I should hopefully see some interesting coral and wildlife. Fingers crossed I don't see any big jellyfish or sharks!