Next stop on my whistle stop tour of Queensland, Brisbane! Arrived Saturday afternoon to a bottle of bubbly and some chocolates in my room at the hotel - good job I'm here for two nights! My room has a small kitchenette with a washing machine, it's not that my life revolves around laundrettes or washing machines, but when you don't have one to hand and you wonder when the next one will be you take every opportunity. A short walk, a couple of blocks north brings...

A short flight from Cairns to Hamilton Island (and a short ferry ride) and I arrive in airlie beach, a small town, most things seem to be along the one main road along the front. Hotel is brand new, USB ports for charging devices rather than plug sockets etc. Booked another snorkelling trip out round the whitsundays about a yacht - the Derwent Hunter. A fab day with with only 9 of us aboard, but great fun. Even getting to follow a turtle for a while through the...

Yes, finally arrived in Australia, it's no longer a gaping gap in my countries visited. It's hot here, similar temp to the Philippines but no where near as humid. Already had a chance to explore some of the town (whilst I was trying to find my way to the nearest laundrette from the hotel to give all my clothes a good machine wash!). One quietish day relaxing at the lagoon, then it was day trip to the reef and snorkelling, fish, one turtle, one barracuda (nick...