With an early morning flight out of Sydney on New Year’s day, I made my way north to Cairns (pronounced Cannes). The purpose of this trip was to scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef. It was raining quite a bit in Queensland, so much so, that there were floods of biblical proportions wiping out towns in the state. Luckily, Cairns wasn’t in a state of emergency, and in fact, I was able to enjoy two days of sunshine. Other than the Barrier Reef, I was able to enjoy a waterfalls tour, where I was able to swim in the lagoon (crocodile free) and shower under the waterfall. I was also able to buy a kangaroo steak and cook it at my hostel – yum! Caravella’s 149 was my hostel. At first, I was not too impressed as it seemed too spartan for a country like Australia. But like all of my trips, it was the people I met that made the hostel a pleasant stay. I really enjoyed the hostel company of Sinan, Allen, Fleur, Nick, Esther, and Jake. It was also nice to meet Louis (Glasgow) and Ana (Liverpool), who I befriended in the Woolshed restaurant because Louis was wearing an LFC Gerrard jersey! In the end, my stay in Cairns typified all that I love about staying in hostels.