G'Day Nancy,
Welcome to the site - I won't speak for the Mods, but I'm sure it's fine for you to post here. Hopefully some of the personalities that lurk these pages might remember why they started in this line of work in the first place and regain sight of what is fundamentally important about aviation - to enjoy it!
Nevertheless - Melbourne to Cairns solo is a solid undertaking - you'll love it when you do it. Make sure you take a few days to stop along the way and see the sights, otherwise you may as well do it in the back of a jet - boring...
Jabiru vs C152 - I won't open that can of worms (much like a Ford vs Holden debate...) by my personal opinion is that you have made a sound decision. The 152 is a tried and true trainer and many of us have their first solo hours in one (for me, I fondly remember VH-HCC at RQAC - painted olive green, of all colours...).
Studying before each flight is essential - stay on that track and you'll be fine.
Landing into wind? Essentially, it means we don't use as much runway after we touch down (ie less landing distance required) and the lower groundspeed for touchdown is more easily absorbed by the brakes (they'll last longer!). It also causes the aircraft to climb steeper (ie greater angle of climb) than nil wind or tail wind in the event of a go around. This, in turn, gives us better clearance margins over obstacles such as trees / powerlines / houses at the far end of the runway. Check out the graphs in Section 5 of the C152 Pilot Operating Handbook - you'll see what I mean when you do a chart with a 5 knot headwind vs a 5 knot tailwind... Arriving quicker in aeroplanes is not always the best outcome!
Anyway, back to work for me - enjoy the journey!
Last edited by Flying Bear; 11th Aug 2013 at 23:29.