Canada.

1st August: The Journey
So the first flight was supposed to be a 7 hour flight from Manchester to Toronto, with a 6 hour layover until my 5 hour flight to Vancouver. However, due to some crazy storms in Toronto we were circling the area for around 40 minutes until the Captain announced that we needed to stop somewhere for fuel, and the closest airport available was in Buffalo, NY. This was my first visit to the USA and I didn't even leave the plane, (they opened the doors for air so i'm still going to count it). After waiting 2 hours (yes, still sat on the plane), we set off again to Toronto. I had around 2 hours to check in my suitcase again, go through security and find my gate. Really it was just a blessing in disguise as I really wasn't looking forward to sitting around for 6 hours. I eventually landed in Vancouver after sleeping for most of the second journey, and as I rounded the corner into baggage claim, I heard a scream, and Priya was running straight towards me with a bunch of balloons. We got some funny looks and we hugged around 10 times but it was so good to see her again after over a year! We waiting for my suitcase, got in her car, and drove to her parents' house where we crashed pretty much straight away.

Day 1: Priya and her friend Aisha took me to Cultus Lake, which has a waterpark right next to it. After we spent a few hours on the waterslides, we grabbed something to eat and then made our way down to the lake, where we went for a swim. That night we watched a movie and ordered pizza, however I crashed early as the jet lag was setting in.

Trees for days.

Day 2: The three of us went out for the day again, this time to Golden Ears National Park where we rented a canoe for an hour, and luckily, didn't tip it. We rowed out to a little beach where we went for a quick swim, then hopped back in the canoe back to the main beach. After heading home, we changed and went for dinner, before going to see Spiderman Homecoming (finally!).

Priya & I rowing back to the main beach.

Day 3: Priya drove me to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, where we walked across this (really high!) bridge, just like the ones on I'm A Celebrity. I was so focused on admiring the view and taking pictures and videos that I didn't really get that scared, despite heights being up there with one of my number 1 fears. Everything was just so green. We then went on treetop and clifftop walks which were breathtaking.

So high up!

Day 4: We packed up our stuff and left Priya's parents' house, and made our way to Priya's apartment in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island. First we waited for the ferry (for 3 hours), then once we were on it we grabbed some food then went back to the car for a nap. On our way to Priya's we stopped by the liquor store to get some alcohol for that night. That night we went out with a few of Priya's friends for my birthday, where I got some free shots!

Day 5: Finally my birthday! We were really tired from the night before so we had a little lie in and then me, Priya and her friends from the night before all met up at Nanaimo River for a few hours. Then we all went home, got ready and went out again. More free birthday shots were had.

Great views for my birthday!

Day 6: The weekend finally caught up with me, and my head was feeling very sore. Priya and I went for a wander in a shopping mall then went to a different spot by Nanaimo River for a few hours.

Me, Priya & pizza.

Luckily I haven't burnt yet, there's a load of forest fires in British Columbia right now and the smoke is blocking out the majority of the sun. Looking forward to next weeks adventures!

Day 7: Drive to Tofino
Priya drove us a few hours up Vancouver Island to go stay in Tofino for a couple of days. We stayed at a really nice resort on the riverfront and booked a boat trip for the next day to visit a small island with hot springs - something I have always wanted to do.

Day 8: Tofino, Ellis River
During the boat trip we saw Grey Whales, Otters, Bears and Eagles

Day 9: Not the most exciting day, we pretty much just hung out at the apartment all day then went on another night out.

Day 10: Hungover once again, and my new favourite thing to do in this case is to go visit the river, so we went back down to Nanaimo River for the afternoon.

Day 11: Ziplining
As stated previously, i'm terrified of heights, but i've always wanted to go ziplining, and it didn't disappoint. We flew over rivers, trees and waterfalls and the view was amazing. I tried to take pictures and film it but my GoPro decided to start playing up.

Day 12:

Annabel

Trip to Cairns!

Before coming to Australia, there were 2 things that I wanted to do. Number 1 was to climb the Harbour Bridge, which if you read my Sydney blog post, you'll see that I did. The second was to swim in the Great Barrier Reef. Already after just being in Australia for 4 months i've ticked so much off my bucket list. But it doesn't stop there. After waiting through my entire trip here, I finally got to see this natural beauty.

We found this hanging on a beach in Cape Tribulation.

Sunday

After being out all night and coming home at 2am, I stayed up until I had to go meet everyone at 4am to make our way to the airport for our 6am flight. Living in tiny England, i've never flown domestic before (except Sydney). So the fact that we just needed to walk straight through security and to our gate was very strange. We didn't even need our passports.

Once we were in Cairns we had a couple of hours to kill until we checked in, so we left our bags behind reception and went to chill by the pool. Me, Priya and Nikole had a quick swim and then went to sunbathe, where I fell asleep. At 2pm it was time to check in and once we were all in our rooms, we fell asleep once again. When we finally had some energy, we made our way into the city of Cairns for dinner where I finally tried the Aussie famous 'chicken parma''. At 9pm we were all in bed fast asleep after an exhausting 24 hours to prepare for our 6am start the following day.

Monday

Waking up at 6am after a month of going to sleep at 4am and waking up at 2pm was weird, but a lot less painful than I was anticipating, thanks to a sleepless night on saturday I slept like a baby. At 7am we were picked up by a minibus: we were going to Daintree Rainforest.

Our first stop was Mossman Gorge, which is sacred Aboriginal ground. This meant we needed to be 'welcomed' by the Aboriginal ancestors. The welcoming ceremony was interesting. We walked around a fire that was billowing smoke to be covered in the smoke. As long as we respected the land we would be protected by the ancestors. We then had some fun with Aboriginal face paint: Priya and I gave each other some army stripes. Next we hopped on the shuttle bus up to the Gorge where me and Priya went for a swim. Cairns is rife with Crocodiles, so swimming in rivers and at the beaches is a very bad idea, but the Gorge was high up, covered in rocks and the fresh water was cold, so Crocodiles don't swim there.

Mossman Gorge.

After the Gorge we hopped on the bus once again, now we were on our way to a Crocodile cruise on Daintree River. On our way there, our guide told us of a woman who was unfortunately killed by a crocodile on a beach that we drove past the night before. As we passed the media and police were still there. After this and all of the information that the cruise guide told us, I have a new appreciation for these fascinating and terrifying creatures.

Crikey!

Next stop was Cape Tribulation where we stopped for lunch. I tried a Kangaroo burger! (Pause for all the vegetarians that are gonna be hating on me now). It was pretty tasty, it made me think of a mix between chicken and beef.

Kangaroo burger!

We then spent the rest of the day stopping at various locations in the Daintree Rainforest, including an ice cream shop and a boardwalk through some of the forest. Daintree is also the only rainforest in the world where it reaches the sea.

Daintree Rainforest looking very Jurassic Park-esque!

Tuesday

Here we go again with another 6am wake up call. This time, I wasn't bothered one bit. I was going to do what I had wanted to do ever since I knew I was coming to Australia. It was Great Barrier Reef day.

We made our way to the docks and waited for our friends Val and Julian to meet us, then walked to the boat that we would be spending the day on. The weather was pretty grim. The first 2 days greeted us with 30 degree heat and sunshine, but the weather was now letting us down.

Once we were all checked into the boat and had been given our equipment for the day (wetsuit, snorkel, mask & flippers), we went to sit on the top deck for the 1 and a half hour journey out so sea. The sea was extremely choppy so we were being splashed and thrown about everywhere, which at first was hilarious. But after a while, one by one people were dropping like flies to seasickness. About half an hour before we reached the reef, there was just me and Dillon left that hadn't turned a nasty shade of green. My Dad gets seasick so I can thank my Mum for that one.

The staff member that gave our safety briefing assured us that the typical Great White and Bull Sharks don't typically come into the reef as it's hard for them to move around. Which was a huge relief to hear. As soon as we got the OK I threw on my wetsuit and jumped in.

I can't even think of the words to describe what I saw. It's something you'll have to go do yourself, because it was phenomenal. The reef was beautiful with shades of all different colours. There were so many different fish in different shades and sizes.

The first location we were at had cloudy water as the weather was a little miserable. Once we had lunch and moved to the second location, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day, which also meant we could see a lot clearer underwater. I made a lot of use of my GoPro and I can't wait to edit all the videos together.

The Great Barrier Reef.

Wednesday

Finally! A sleep in! It was only 8am, but that sounds so much nicer than 6. We checked out and left our bags behind reception again as we went into the city to get breakfast. After we had eaten we went to the Cairns Esplanade where there was a gorgeous community pool called the Lagoon. I made the most of my last few hours in the sun (there was no way I could face going home being as white as when I left). After a couple of hours we caught the last bus of the afternoon (at only 3pm?!) back to the hotel where I sunbathed for another hour.

A quick Instagram-worthy picture in the Lagoon!

Then it was time to return to cold and rainy Melbourne. There wasn't a lot of people on our flight so we all pretty much had 3 seats to ourselves.

When we were home Priya, Dillon and I dumped our bags and went to the common room to watch the new Game of Thrones episode that we had missed 2 days earlier. We didn't want to risk seeing any spoilers!

It probably goes without saying but this has been the absolute cherry on top of a fantastic adventure in Australia. It's a matter of weeks until I go home now and I can't wait to see everyone again, but at the same time, there's a lot of people here that are going to be missed.

ᗩᑎᑎᗩᗷEᒪ♥