Just when I thought I had seen everything Cairns had to offer, 'River Tulley' in the 'Misty Mountains' of Cairns' amazing rainforest offered stunning scenery as we struck grade 4 rapids. It was an early start today waking up at 05:30! Was difficult especially having Staggie snoring away, oh how I envied him. At 06:30 the bus came and picked me up just outside the hostel and took the rest of the pick ups and I to their base in Cairns town centre. There we had to switch buses and on jumped one of the raft guides; 'Marty', a hench aussie preparing us for a day of getting wet and wild.
It was a 2 hour journey heading to south of Cairns. We made a breakfast stop at one of their companies own cafes where I pumped myself up by stuffing myself with a sausage roll. On the bus trip we were given groups and a briefing on safety and what to do in the raft at certian times. We got off at the top of River Tulley which had perfect water level today, so we were told. The weather today did start off pretty miserable yet was perfect weather for a good rafting session. As soon as we jumped off the bus we got into our groups and met our raft guide for the day, mine was a Kiwi from Queenstown named 'Ben', an experienced rafter who was in charge of the whole day. Being on the same raft as Ben was fantastic as he really gave us our money's worth putting us through the most extreme rapids (once he found we were all decent at it). Luckily I found myself in a good group full of Poms, all got on well and worked pretty well in the raft.
We jumped into our raft once we were all geared up and were given another briefing by Ben. We set off down Tulley at around 10ish. With names such as 'Double Waterfall' and 'Wet and Moisty', we were certainly tested but found it pretty easy keeping in the raft with lessons on how to keep balanced using our feet. The first set of rapids we were put through is named 'Alarm Clock' just to make sure we've woken up by this stage, it certainly managed to get us into it fast.
We had a good 2 hour rafting session this morning before stopping at a lunch stop just off the river. A set up BBQ, by this point Ben had already named us the 'A Team', splashing others with our paddles and showing them up over the rapids going the most extreme way each time.
After lunch we set off to complete the rest of our journey down with another 3 hour session. Facing rapids called 'Dissapearing Falls' and 'Flipper Wilson', half way through we stopped off at a 5 metre tall rock which we could jump off, the other guys in my team and I thought to somersault off, I can still feel the pain on my ass as I crashed against the water . After most rapids today we were able to jump off during a calm spot and have a swim with our life jackets still on. Was fun being able to drift off to the current. Only flipping over our raft once due to Ben having a laugh and teaching us what to do if we were put in the position again, the 'A Team' mastered River Tulley safely. 
We finished about 15:00 and hit a traditional aussie pub. Had a pint with the team whilst looking at the pictures taken for the day.
This evening I got back at 18:00 and joined Staggie. Have showered and are now both ready to eat.
Overall an amazing experience, river Tulley is set right in the middle of the rainforest and is the only place to see all the amazing creeks, waterfalls and views around it. Rafting was exciting and was made into such an entertaining sport. Met some great people again and enjoyed every second.
Chino x
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