White Water Rafting and Horse Back Riding

I took a flight from Alice Springs to Cairns and on arriving I was greated with rain, lots of rain! I didn't realise I was arriving in rainy season where it rains more or less constantly for a couple of months! At first I thought it would spoil my stay but it turned out to still be a great week. My first adventure was white water rafting down the River Tully which was fantastic. As it had been raining the water was high and rough making it extra exciting. I was pretty nervous to start with, especially as the guides found it pretty funny to tell us all the horror stories! I was put in a raft with 5 other girls who were all really great. For some reason, the guide thought I should be the one to take the so called "death seat" which is at the back. It is called this as if you hit a rock you get thrown forwards, which I experienced more than once! Most of the time I managed to stay in the raft, but I'm ashamed to say that I got caught out in a whirlpool and in I went! It wasn't too bad though as most people did fall out at some point (even the guides sometimes!) so I didn't feel too stupid. We covered 45 rapids along the river, mostly grade four (five being the hardest) so it was really scary but a great adrenalin rush! We also stopped off at a hill by the side of the river where we all had to jump off into the river. It was so high, and stood on the edge I really didn't want to do it but as there were so many people watching, I had no choice and just went for it! We had almost 5 hours in the raft so it was a really great day and we went back to dry land to watch the dvd that had been filmed of it, it was pretty funny seeing everyones faces!

From Cairns, I took a trip up to Cape Tribulation which is one of the only places in the world where reef meets rainforest and it is a really beautiful place. On the way up to Cape Trib we stopped at the Daintree river where we went croc spotting and we saw a female croc and her nest! In the afternoon, I arrived at my accomodation which was a rainforest retreat, with little huts in the middle of the rainforest! Myself and a couple of girls I had met decided to spend the afternoon visiting the famously beautiful sights and views of Cape Tribulation. After walking for about 15 minutes, the heavens opened and we were drenched within seconds! Being hard core travellers we continued our walk, bearing in mind none of us had coats or umbrellas! We visited the sights which I'm sure would have been wonderful if we could see them through the rain. By the time we got back we were completely soaked and couldn't have been more wet if we'd jumped in a pool!
My second day in Cape Trib was the day I'd been most looking forward to, the horse ride through the Rainforest and onto the beach. I arrived at the stables where I was greated by my guide, called Buffalo! He was a little bit crazy I think (and had plaits in his beard!!). He asked everyone how much experience they had riding and each time joked that he would make them ride a horse called Raja. He said that anyone who rides him is 'BFG' (bound for the ground)! When he got to me and I said I had riden a lot, he said well you'll be on Raja then! As I hadn't riden for a long time, I was a bit worried at first but it turned out to be an amazing ride! As I was one of the only experienced riders there, Buffalo told the other guide to go with me for a "little canter". But as soon as we were out of sight of Buffalo, our little canter turned into a flat out gallop through the rainforest! It was amazing and I'd forgotten how great it felt. When we pulled up the guide turned to me and just started pointing and laughing at me. When I looked down, I was completely covered head to toe in mud!

On the way back, I stopped at a beautiful part of the rainforest called Mossman Gorge where I went walking and saw some lovely waterfalls and rivers.
Then it was time to get back to Cairns for one more night before heading to Magnetic Island.