I finished on Monday in Cairns where we'd been partying all weekend, we decided to have a night in that night even though it was our friend Katie's first night so we made a stir fry and had a wander around the night markets before heading off to bed.
On Tuesday I had my Great Barrier Reef tour - I set off to catch the boat at 8am and after a long very bumpy boat ride we arrived at the reef. I decided to do a scuba dive here so we all got geared up and got in the water. I've got to say I was pretty terrified and had a slight panic once we actually got under water but once my breathing was under control I relaxed and enjoyed it.
We saw a massive fish that comes up to the instructors and plays with them - you can only touch the lips as otherwise it can cause blisters on their skin so we all got to touch him which was really cool. We also saw some nemo fish in the coral and got some cool pictures with them!
We then had a massive buffet lunch and went to the next spot where I snorkelled, I actually saw more snorkelling and I saw my first shark wich was very exciting - a very small reef shark but nonetheless it was a shark and it was swimming towards my face! Again loads more beautiful fish and coral before we boarded back on the boat and set for land.
That night we went out for drinks again but the week nights always had games going on which I wasn't really interested in so ended up going to bed at a reasonable time.
The next day was my long awaited dreaded bungy jump with AJ Hacketf. Katie and Chels came for moral support which was nice and once I'd signed up and much to my embarrassment had my weight written on my hand I climbed up the stairs to the top. They didn't hang around and before I knew it I was standing on the edge with him counting down from 5. At 1 I jumped, there's no point in hesitating because you'll scare yourself out of it and once the first jump is out the way it's sooo much fun!
Once we got back to the hostel we decided to go out again so got ourselves ready and off we went.
The next day I had my Atherton Tablelands Rainforest and Waterfall tour. The tour itself was great but I didn't have a particularly great group so wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been but still good nonetheless. We started off with Josephine Falls which has a man made water slide which was fun. From there we went to another waterfall (which I can't remember the name of) where Peter Andre's mysterious girl video and the herbal essences advert is filmed! I did the classic hair flick but the water was freezing so only went in waist deep.
We went to one final waterfall where we saw a snake in the tree which was cool. This one was even colder so I just about got my feet in but you could actually swim behind the waterfall which is cool. After that we went to Lake Eachem which was the last stop. This was just a massive lake but was slightly warmer than the waterfalls so I went in for a swim then just sunbathed for the rest of the time.
That night we stayed in, we cooked spaghetti bolognaise and then bought some pineapple, grapes and chocolate and melted the chocolate down to make a fondue which was amazing!
On the Friday me and the girls all went to Mission Beach for our rescheduled skydive. For those of you that don't know what happened I'll explain it now. I was so happy that the 4 of us got to be in a plane together and I felt absolutely fine till I saw the plane then the nerves kicked in! Once we were in the air and I was all strapped up that was it the door was open and we were dropping like flies. I went out third and it was amazing, the free fall was absolutely fine and then the parachute went up and I started to feel all dizzy and everything went blurry. The next thing I remember was the instructor shouting at me to wake up cause we have to land. Yes I fainted in the air, I don't think it was for long and I still remember 80% of the skydive just a bit blurry! The experience was still amazing however and I would love to do one again just maybe with not such a tight harness!
That night was a big one, for some reason we met an American guy who bought a booth for about 10 of us, hired a barmaid and mixers and we all had any cocktail we wanted which I was certainly not complaining about. I did get pretty drunk that night and woke up the next morning in my bed, fully clothed including shoes with all my stuff around me!
Luckily we didn't have much planned over the weekend. Saturday was moving day - we were going to another hostel as we had vouchers and thought we'd need a break from Gilligans. Oh how wrong we were. The second hostel was horrible, a 30 minute walk from town, the rooms were so hot, stuffy and crowded and it was just not enjoyable. Saturday night we went out for dinner and then came home for an early one and as Sunday was my last night we went for drinks. We started at the Irish bar for the ladies night which includes 5 glasses of free champagne - they did these nights 3 times a week - and we then went to Woolshed for a few more drinks and a dance before heading back.
Come Monday I checked out and had to say an emotional goodbye to everyone. I'm so sad to leave all the amazing friends I made along the way but I wish them all the best with the rest of their travels and we'll reunite in December. After a quick flight back to Sydney I'm now back in Wake Up where it all started! It goes so so quick but I've enjoyed every second of it and would 100% do it again.
On Thursday I'm off to Hawaii and my next post will be posted from San Diego so keep an eye out!
With love, Lauren x
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