After a short bus journey from Rainbow beach we arrived in Noosa, which is the most beautiful place. With reccomendations from Laura Spencer we hired a kayak and had a leisurely paddle down the river, we've both decided we're going to retire there when we're old and rich, as the riverside houses are amazing!

The next day we had an early start as we headed off to Australia Zoo. Crikey Mate! The zoo was really nice, and we got to feed elephants, kangaroos and cuddle a koala! they stink. By the end of the day we were all Steve Irwined out, as his face was everywhere, and so was Bindi's, his weird little girl - did you know she's got her own clothing range and kids workout video? she's definitely not going to grow up to be a well balanced person.

On our last morning in Noosa we had our first surfing lesson! It was so much fun, and although the waves were quite small and not very frequent, Rachel was pleased as it meant she had more time to talk to the fit instructor. I think she's in love. That afternoon we were collected by Alyx's relatives - d*** and Heather - and went to spend a few days with them up in the mountains in Maleney. It was really nice to chill out, and sleep in a comfy bed and have home cooked food!

After our Maleney trip we headed off to Brisbane for a night, which was pretty uneventfull. It was an ok place but we felt a bit lost in a city after being in tiny towns, and there weren't enough backpackers around for our liking!