Water water everywhere...

...let's pick up the trail from my last entry...after Sydney, it was up to Cairns for some diving.

I hadn't really realised how little there is to do in Cairns except use it as a base to go diving and other tours around. I found Australia quite expensive so I had quite a few "down" days where I did very little, but I did get out to the Great Barrier Reef for a spot of diving. For those of you who dive, and haven't gone to the GBR, then do plan your diving a bit better than me!

I was quite underwhelmed by the GBR. I think some of that was to do with the awesome dive trip I had in Similan Islands in Thailand - the small group and relaxed time on the boat had a lot to do with the fun of that trip. In the place I was diving there was quite a lack of fish. I mean the variety was good and the coral was awesome, but it wasn't as teeming with life as I expected it to be. I have since found out from friends that it is better to dive further north or south and probably at different times of the year...



I did see some cool stuff though like black tipped and white tipped sharks, giant barracuda, and I got to scratch the back of a few green turtles.



I met some cool people too and enjoyed having a chance to just buddy up and go diving and be more in charge of the dive. We had a bit of a hilarious dive where neither of us were particularly awake (it was a 6am dive) and we misjudged the current and ended up seeing A LOT of sand!

The night dive was also quite cool - lots of big shrimp with their glowing eyes.

After Cairns it was onto Brisbane to see my friend Jimmy. It was great seeing him again.



Unfortunately it was the start of all the rain that has caused massive flooding in Queensland and as Jimmy works in that sector he was very busy with work. But considering what people in Queensland are dealing with, I think I can't really moan about the rain. My thoughts go out to the people there dealing with the aftermath of the flooding. I have heard stories of community spirit and people coming together to help each other and it is very inspiring. Thankfully my friends there all seem to be ok.



Christmas was quite quiet this year as a result, but I did have some fun times with Jimmy, with some of his friends and also meeting up with some friends I had made when I went surfing in Portugal earlier in the year. And Brisbane seemed like quite a cool city to live in.