Monday 12th January - well we had the 13 hour Greyhound overnight bus journey to Byron Bay. It wasn't toooo bad, but did not sleep at all. Had a few stops, then the sun started rising and I just stared out the window wide awake. Got there and checked into the hostel which was quite quirky, and we wandered around town to see where everything was. It was me, Vicky and Damian, and we had a German girl called Vanessa in our room who was lovely, so we all went out for dinner and to watch live bands in the street. Its a very chic, bohemian area, and really chilled out. We had also gone down the beach to check out the waves.

Saturday 17th January - to fill you in on the week in Byron. We hit the beach and went body boarding on boogie boards which is sooooo cool. There were some big waves, but its basically a body board and you go into the sea and try to get in after being knocked around violently by the waves, then as a big wave comes you jump on the board so your lying in it, wait for the wave to hit you, then kick your legs as your taken back in by the wave. Its so much fun, and after about 1/2 hour trying to actually balance on the board and not fall off, I got the hang of it and couldn't stop!! Full credit to Vicky as she was the one teaching me and helping me to balance, god love her!! We then went to chill on our boards in the little lagoon type part, but it was great fun. There were a couple of occassions when I hadn't realised I had lost my dignity by falling out of my bikini tp for all the world to see until Vicky told me, but hey, nevermind. We also hit the backpacker bars in town (Cheeky Monkeys - its infamous amongst backpackers), which were tacky fun, with everyone dancing on the tables. It was me, Vicky, Damian, Shelley and Will, and we had the best time ever. You know the score. Also we all went to Nimbin for the day. Nimbin is the stoner, pot head, hippy capital of Australia, where all the shops are neoncoated graffitied, old hippies smoking joints on the street singing to themselves, and you get asked if you want anything as soon as you step of the bus. You start to feel as if your hearing voices in your head as they all come past whispering "Any magic mushrooms guys?", and "any cookies guys?", but they don't say it loud enough for it to register at first. Bizarre. There were hippies everywhere, it was 41'C - in the shade!!!! We were so hot and it makes you so physically redundant. Anyway, Shelley and Damian bought some cookies, and I have never done cookies before, so I tried some, and had a whole one to myself. Well, an hour later I was stoned off my face!! I felt like I was a 15 year old teenager all over again. The others were laughing at me because I had the uncontrollable giggles and just sat smiling for about 5 hours and laughing at everything, They were strong! It wore off after about 6 hours, but yep, an experience! Me and Damian lay on the top bunks opposite each other just cracking up constantly, which started the others off, and this just went on and on. I do love Byron Bay though, its so chilled and met some really cool people, and had a very RANDOM time over there. Everything about that place is random. We have now taken the bus and got to Surfers Paradise. Its really commercial area of the Gold Coast, but we've yet to check it out properly, and is about 20'C cooler today, thankgod.

Tuesday 20th January - I miss Byron Bay!! Byron was my favourite place I've been to in 3 months of travelling, I loved it there and we had the best time, from being a really cool hostel, to having gorgeous beaches, a great time body boarding and meeting some fantastic people. It was just the best. Surfers Paradise was w***. Couldn't stand the place, it was all high rise buildings, really touristy and commercial, full of posers, crap nightlife and generally a pile of poo. The hostel was good, but that was about it, so lucky we only stayed for 2 nights. We are now in Brisbane. We got here yesterday and chilled all night in the room. We partied hard in Byron and its caught up with us, 5 nights of no sleep do eventually take their toll. Today Vicky realised she had $400 stolen from her purse. 2 girls checked in our room in the early hours of the morning, Vicky had her purse by her bed, then today they checked out and her money had gone. The staff here are useless and said theres nothing they can do, so we trekked down to the police station to report it, so at least she can claim back on her travel insurance. They are just scum of the earth and need to be shot. we are all backpackers, we are all poor, none of us can find any work but the last thing you do is steal off others. I hope they rot in hell. The recession has hit here hard as well, and so many people have been laid off, so my plan of coming to Oz and being able to find casual work has blown up in my face because there is none. None at all. It sucks.

Friday 23rd - last couple of days in Brisbane have been entertaining. The Queenslander ozzies are really cool, great sense of humour and so much nicer than the ones in Sydney. Will and Shelley from NZ have joined us, so we've been to the Botanical gardens where I have seen the first MAHOOSIVE spiders in Oz. We met up with a couple Jane and Martin who we met in Surfers, and all of us had a BBQ in the Southpark gardens. They have free BBQ's dotted around the place, so we all chipped in for food and had a great time - in the rain. proper English style. Its so bloody hot though, but its wet season up the east coast, but we need the rain to cool us off. Brisbane has a man made beach and lagoon which is so cool, and its just so relaxed and chilled out here. Today we went to Australia Zoo which is Steve Irwins zoo. The 2 boys went yesterday, so us girls went today and it was amazing!! The animals are treated so well and Steve is a legend, he's done an amazing thing. I hand fed an elephant some banana, patted a koala, hand fed a kangaroo and held a baby crocodile. We watched the main crocodile show where we were really lucky as that morning Steves wife Terri, his sidekick Wes and his 2 kids Bindi and Robert were all hosting the show. It was just such a shame Steve wasn't there. They were showing us the crocodile called Graham, and Wes was demonstrating the death roll with him. They really have the best jobs in the world, its awesome. Its rainy season up the east coast, but its so hot and humid you need the downpour to cool off, and my god did it rain. It was like a monsoon, but luckily Will had lent me his rain jacket, even then I almost drowned. It was the best day and so glad we actually got to see it. Fan-bloody-tastic!!!!

Sunday 25th January - really sad as Shelley and Will have left us. They are going on up the east coast and we won't see each other again until we get home now, so quite gutted as they were fantastic, but they live in London so not far to go. Us girls went to see the film 'Australia' yesterday and it is fan-bloody-tastic! Its about mustering cattle to Darwin, a love story (as always), plus the whole underlying story of the lost generations of the Aboriginal children that were taken from their mothers and put into care. The fathers were the white 'gentlemen', who obviously wanted nothing to do with the kids, and the white people thought it was a scientific fact that Aboriginal women were quick to 'forget' their children. The government only apologised last year for this, and its so unbelievably sad and horrific the way Aboriginal people have been treated. Anyway, lets just say that after having my eyes well up, bottom lip tremble and trying my hardest to stop myself crying about 50 million times (I just succeeded - only just) it really moves you. Now I'm not into kids ( I don't trust anything under 5 foot tall), and I have no maternal instincts, but the main little boy Nullah is the most adorable kid, he made me want to smother him with hugs and adopt him in a heartbeat. Girls, when you see this you will understand completely. I have fallen head over heels in love with this little boy and his amazingly beautiful huge brown eyes. If you haven't seen this film, GO AND WATCH IT!!! And theres also the added bonus of Hugh Jackman being a bit of a hottie!!! Afterwards we went into town and Brisbane nightlife is pants. Seriously pants. We had a good dance in a place next door to where we are staying, but its just full of far too many sleazy eastern European men, so we decided to call it a day. We decided to look on the bright side and we figured it will save us money being here as we won't want to bother going out. My god I am sat here covered in bites up my legs and its driving me mad trying not to scratch them. AAArrrrrghhghhhhh, I hate biting insects. Oh and another thing, just incase your all so jealous and think this whole thing is glamourous, its not. I have never been in a hostel that has so many cockroaches. I mean these babies are everywhere. You open a kitchen cupboard and a family of 50 run away, their in the internet room, Vicky just had to shoo one away from her about 2 minutes ago, you sit outside for a fag and they come running out, so you have to chase them back into their holes, and they can grow BIG. They are going to rule the world one of these days. As long as they don't try and share my bed or eat my food then I'm not too fussed, Australia is overrun by them, but they do get on your nerves when you see them constantly. Oh the glamour!!!!!!! And the humidity here is about 90% so after getting out the shower you need another one within 2 minutes, and its cooler to sit indoors than go outside. Still, wouldn't change this experience for the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday 26th January - Australia Day today. We hit Southbank in the morning as they had a day of celebrations going on. There was the military doing their thing, stuff for the kids and an arena with loads of different music, acrobatic and dancing acts on throughout the day, and on the grass verge by the river everyone was sat chilling with picnics listening to musicians on the accoustic stage. It was a really cool day, everyone was really celebrating all dressed up in flags and stuff, and it was so buzzing with an amazing atmosphere, then they ended up with a really cool firework display. Sweet as! Being out all day though meant we got burnt to b*****y and I now look like a giant tomato. Its very attractive. Honest. Today we had to move rooms because we got 3 of the most vile, vulgar, disgusting pikeys in our room. They were 3 Irish lads who were so obviously pikeys, they STANK to high heaven, kept farting and made us physically retch with their stench. They asked us where we are from, I said near Oxford, they pulled a face and put on a posh voice and were like "oh la de da!" - p****. Then Vicky said she's from Manchester, to which they replied "Manchester is scum". Now thats not the thing you say to someone when you first meet them is it really. Obviously these boys were not brought up, they were dragged up. Within 5 minutes of meeting us they then announced that they have just come from Thailand where they spent £2000 in 10 days on drink and prostitutes. Me and Vicky just looked at each other, and knew instantly they were not worthy of any further conversation. As far as I'm concerned, any man who pays for sex should be shot - between the eyeballs after being castrated with a rusty blunt object. Anyway, one of them then practically accused Damian of stealing his phone, this p****was so drunk when he came in he walked into all our plates and cups, sending them all flying and never said a word, then made so much commotion getting into bed sending the lot flying, including his damn phone no doubt. The noises that came out of him during the night were NOT human. He has a severe case of apnoea, and he sounded like he was trying to suck the entire universe in through his mouth. Now I've heard some snorers in my time, but my god, this was from another planet. We were all cursing him, and the next day he didn't care and said we should just all ignore it. Yeah right!!! They were so rude, so we went to reception today and said there was no way on this earth we could spend another night in that room, reception nodded knowingly and said they would not extend their stay as they are so scutty, and they moved us 4 into a room with Koreans, who are so polite and considerate its unreal. Really, these people should not be allowed into society.

Monday 2nd February - had my induction at the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary today where I am doing a 2 week voluntary placement. I start properly tomorrow. Its the worlds first and largest koala sanctuary, they have over 130 koalas as well as your kangaroos, wombats, dingos, tazmanian devils e.t.c. Whats really cool is they house the koalas in different sections. They always house the boys seperately, so the poor girls get a break from breeding, and they have a "Batchelor Pad" for the boys. These babies can weigh in at 9kg, but in South Australia in the Victoria state, the male gets up to 14/15kg!! Thats the size of a dog (and about the maximum I could ever lift). They then have the "Retirement Home" for the old girls. In the wild they live up to 8/9 years of age, but in cpativity they average 13 yrs. Theres the "Mother and Baby" section, which is sooooo cute seeing the babies clinging onto mum, and they have the "Kindergarten", which is where the weaned babies over 1 years of age are. I love koalas, there's something about them that just makes you smile automatically and go all gooey. They make me so broody, but unless I get with a very, VERY strange hairy man, then I won't be popping out a baby joey!!! They look like their smiling permanently, and they sleep 18/19 hours a day to conserve energy. I'm telling you - my next life I'm coming back as a koala. How cushty is that????? They get fed fresh eucolyptus leaves everyday, which no doubt I will find out in these next 2 weeks is a mission for the staff to keep on top of. They also have certain koalas that they use for "cuddle a koala" photos with the public due to their personalities being so passive, but what I think is really good is they have a roster, and each koala can be used for a maximum of 30 minutes a day for cuddles, as this is part of their 6 hours 'awake' time, then once they have maxed out their 30 minutes, thats it for the day, and they have 'days off' rostered. Awwww bless them! I can't wait to get hands on, so will report more once I have.

5th February 2009 - I started at the Lone Pine on tuesday and you are assigned to a keeper each day, and every day you do a different section, so first day I was with a lovely keeper called Rebecca, and we were on mammals, which most of the work was with the wombats. These tubby things can get vicious so you dont get hands on, and Rebecaa showed me several scars on her legs where she has been attacked by them. We also dealt with the bats who are gorgeous and echidnas. These are ozzie hedgehogs, so impressive with the longest tongues, and dead cute. You get to learn so much about all the species, and its so great to get away from the domestic cats and dogs that I dealt with at the vets back home. All the species at Lone Pine are native to Australia, and I also preparted all the food for the animals, so you learn all about what they eat, and we sorted out the enclosures. Whilst in the feed shed, a delivery of 2 boxes of tiny yellow fluffy chirping chicks were bought in, sooo cute, but obviously to be somethings dinner. I was told that they go into the farm section for 2 weeks where the kids can hold them, pet them and generally learn all about their cuteness, then they are gassed to death, put in the freezer and then fed to the animals. Nice ending. I laughed my head off when they said the kids are told they go to a chicken farm - yeah in the owls stomach!!! I have not done so much physical gruelling work in ages, and the sun was pelting down at about 35'C, I'm aching all over from so much slogging, you get filthy, covered in mud, dirt, sweat like a pig, but I absolutely loved it!! I love being out in the open and doing some proper hard graft, it makes you feel like your actually doing something rather than sitting on your arse at a desk all day eating cakes. I always wanted to be an animal keeper back home, and its so good to see what they all do. It really is hard graft, but so cool. The next day I was with Sandy and we were on birds, so met all the species, sorted out their enclosures and feed, got rid of all the old mulch in their enclosures and make sure they have new trees and plants. I was getting in all the enclosures with the lorikeets, parrots and owls, plus all the rest. When I was in the owls, I was sorting their stuff out, and you just end up singing to all the birds because all the parrots chat to you, especially the ones that constanly say "hello" and "bye bye", and the owls were about 20cm away from my head, just sat completely unfazed watching my every movement, and they were so stunningly beautiful. The public come round and end up asking you questions as well, so you get to show off everything you have just learned and look like you really know what your talking about. Some birds are nesting eggs, so the male gets very defensive when you go in, and they can be really intimidating, so you creep around and get your job done a.s.a.p before the eyeballs are taken out!! Got to cuddle 5 year old koala Theresa today as well, and she's the one I got my photo with. There are 2 baby koalas in the mum and baby section, about 7 months old, and they cling to mums back and look around so sleepily at the world. There are the most adorable things. During the day I noticed a bite on my left ankle, and just presumed it was a mozzie bite, but it was quite big and hard. When I got back and had a shower I saw there were 3 white heads in the bite, then an hour later me and Ruth counted 7 heads. it looked like the back of Gizmo before he sprouted out gremlins from them. A group of us sat out on the balcony in the evening, and one of the lads gave me his antihistamine type cream to put on, and when I touched the bite I felt sick, it was huge. Within 2 hours all the heads had joined together and it was now 1 huge blister type ball. I had spoken to the guy in reception earlier and showed him, because being an Aussie I though he might have an idea. He said it looked like a spider bite, and I should see a doctor if the swelling did not go down. He said that was all the infection coming out. I went to bed and couldn't sleep as it was burning and itching like mad, and the next day it had doubled in size, so I called the sanctuary and told them I was going to the doctor. I saw the pharmacist first and by this point the swelling was the size of a $2 coin, orange and just a big blister type pus ball. He told me it would burst by itself, and I needed to keep it clean, blah blah blah, and got me some dressings. He suggested antihistamine tablets, and the woman pharmacist who served me them said she has worked in pharmacy in Darwin for 2 years, and she has never seen anything like what I had. She was so impressed and asked if she could take a photo!! So now I am waiting for this monster to burst, and its not going to be pretty!!!! We were all joking about last night that they might find me dead and blue in the morning, or it would burst and millions of tiny spiders would run out. At least its not poisonous.

Friday 6th Feb - had a fantastic day at the sanctuary today. Was working with the 'macropods' which were the kangaroos and wallabies, and there was loads of hands on interaction with them. The kangaroos are the softest and friendliest things, and the keeper I was with introduced me to them by name (there are 70), and we stroked, cuddled and fussed them, and they loved it!! They come up wanting a tickle under the chin and all sorts, they are fantastic creatures, and the public adore them. Everyone was excited today as the sanctuary was getting 4 new kangaroos in today, 2 greys and 2 reds, and I was there when they were bought in sedated, so we carried them to their new enclosure where they were given sedation reversal drugs, along with vitamin E to help stop muscle wastage which can actually kill them, and they had tetanus jabs. We then stood around discussing names, and eventually all 4 were named. We made sure they recovered from the sedation and the red kangaroos fur is much softer than the greys, but I love then both. We then left them to get used to their new home, but made regular checks. I learnt that kangaroos will give birth to a joey after a 30-35 day gestation period, then the underdeveloped tiny pink joey will crawl into the pouch, then the mum can mate again a couple of days later and fall pregnant again, but the embryo will develop into a certain point and stop. The Joey in the pouch will keep growing, and then when it leaves the pouch, the muscles tighten and hormones kick in due to milk production, and the embryo which has been paused, will then start to develop again until its born, crawls into the pouch, then mum will mate again and go through the whole process again. When food is short she can pause the embryo development for longer, so once Joey has left the pouch, the other one will not develop further until the food supply increases, when it does, it will continue developing in the womb. I think that is so bloody clever its unreal. What I also love about working in this place is the sounds around you. Being surrounded by the laughter of the kookaburras and other birds is awesome. This is the best week. The guys at the sanctuary confirmed my bite is definately from a spider as mozzie and ant bites would never swell like mine, only spiders to that. When I got back it was twice the size of yesterday, so I had enough and wanted to pop it. We had a vote in my room about who thought I should and should not pop it, and the vote swung in favour of yes, so I sterilsed a needle and took myself into the bathroom with a cup of tea that Damian had kindly made, and popped it. It was just full of yellow fluid that oozed out. I used one of the girls sterile water to pour over it, then dressed it. Hopefully it won't come back, if it does then the doctor is certainly in order. Damian our travel mate is leaving tomorrow to go to Perth as he has a job there, and its a shame as he's a little gem, total sweetheart. The best thing is he always buys the Tim Tams (the best thing ever in Oz, the equivalent of chocolate penguin bars, but FAR nicer), and he makes a great cup of tea. We do tend to take it in turns, but when none of us can be bothered we always settled it by playing 'paper, rock,scissors', and Damo would usually lose. Bless him. Now he's going me and Vicky will have to make our own, and that sucks.

Sunday 8th February - just got back from a fantastic weekend in Noosaville. Me and Vicky went with our friends Mark and Nat. They are both English but live in Sydney as they are on sponsorships. Its their apartment we spent new years eve in, and they flew to Brisbane to meet us, hired a car and drove to Noosaville which is a lovely seaside town on the east coast. We had a 2 bedroom apartment, and so me and Vicky just bunked up together in the double, and the place was stunning. Mark is a legend as well as he paid for the majority of it, and we just contributed the same price as a hostel - so we got a bloody good deal!! Its one of the nicest apartments I've ever been in, and the hallway leading to it smelt like holidays. It was just like being in Tenerife or somewhere and we were all like little kids, especially when me and Vicky saw all the stuff it had, e.g teabags, CLEAN cooking utensils, CLEAN bathroom, comfy beds, a T.V, e.t.c - its amazing how easily pleased you are after spending 4 months in hostels. We got there late evening on friday, so got some wine from the drive-thu bottle shop (how cool is that - drive thru offie!!!!), and we sat on the balcony chatting til the early hours of the morning. The next day was scorching, so we hit the beach which was stunning, and they had surfing and kayaking competitions going on, then we took a boat down the river for 2 hours. We had the music blaring whilst chilling out on the boat taking in the beautiful views and chilling. We all took it in turns to drive the boat as well. In the evening we went out for dinner and a couple of drinks. Today we checked out and went to Noosa National Park and did the coastal walk where we saw our first koala in the wild, way up in the tree. A local guy pointed the koala out to us and it was amazing to see it in the wild. We then headed back to Brisbane for some lunch before Mark and Nat got the flight back to Sydney, and it was so nice to get away for the weekend, and Noosaville is a beautiful chilled out place to go.

Friday 13th February - well Ive finished my 2 weeks at the sanctuary and I have really enjoyed them. I also got to work in the hospital with the sick birds, possums and reptiles, then I worked on reptiles which was great as it was really hands on. The young lad Rory who was in charge got me to handle all the blue tongued lizards, and you have to check if they have finished shedding their skin properly, as if they haven't then we need to help take it off, otherwise they can end up losing limbs. I also handled other reptiles which I can't remember the names of, and the lizards that puff their necks up like big collars when they are pissed off. The geckos were total nutters and really skitty, so we left them, then I got to hand feed the dragons their crickets for dinner, and hand feed the tawny birds their mice. I also watched the snake show, bird of prey show, koala show and sheep dog show, so I got to see everything in the 2 weeks and I had a great time. I had always wanted to be a zoo keeper back home, and although I loved it I realised that I no longer wish to be a keeper. Its a lot of hard slog and the pay is s***, and although working with the animals is fab, its just not a livable wage anywhere. Shame really. Anyway, looking forward to getting out of Brisbane. I have spent the week with the other girls in my room as we have all been doing the sanctuary together. Our old travelling pal Damian who is now in Perth has text me today to say his car got broken into last night, and all his money, surf board, camera, sunglasses, paperwork and visa has been stolen, and the Police are not bothered by it. Poor guy, he's having a miserable time now, and I thought I was bad because the vets in Darwin who offered me a 2 month job had emailed me a few days ago, to apologise but they had f***ed the rota up and can no longer offer me a job. b******s. Roll on the next chapter!!!! I need a break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday 17th February - have just got back from Fraser Island. Its the largest sand Island in the world, and its stunning. There was a group of 11 of us including me, Vicky, Ruth and Fabian, and a German guy also called Fabian (never heard that name before and then there are 2), another 2 English girls called Christine and Charlotte, then 3 Canadians Jamie, Shannon and Corey, and an English guy called Ian. They were a fantastic bunch of people, and we were really lucky as everyone got on really well. We got a 4WD vehicle, got the 10 minute ferry across to the Island, then we were off driving down the beach listening to the travelling tunes, and first stop was Lake Mackensie. This lake is paradise, its like stepping onto the set of the film 'The Beach', pure white sand (even though its a lake), and clear turquoise waters which were so warm. It just smelt gorgeous and fresh, and we all dived in and started swimming around and playing frisbie. It was like being in the Caribean. We then drove inland as it all depends on the tide when you can drive on the beach and we did a scenic route around, then back onto the beach to camp for the night. Well, I have never seen so many mutant flies in my life. Everything in this country is 10 times the size of home, and these flies live everywhere on the island but are in huge monster groups near the sea. Its hilarious watching the guys have a competition to see who can kill the most, but these b*****s really sting when they bite, its like a wasp sting, and we are all now covered in them along with millions of mozzie bites. We all dance around trying to wave them away as well, and we all ended up getting really aggressive screaming "f*** OFF!!!!!!" at the top of our voices to them, like they really understood. There are wild dingoes on the island and you have to ignore them and you can get a $3000 fine if caught feeding or interacting. They attack kids, especially this time of year as the pups are playful and learning to be dominant, so kids have been mauled to death. We saw a few, and they really are beautiful creatures, but we were told we needed a toilet partner at all times if you go in the bush, as there was a story of a woman peeing by herself, a dingoe came up, scared her, so she ran off with her knickers round her ankles, fell flat on her face and got a deep bite to the arse!! So us girls always made sure we went in pairs - but hey us girls are used to that. The guys had a problem going in pairs, so proved their masculinity by going alone. Fools!! We cooked our dinner and I haven't been camping for 20 years. It brings back childhood nightmares as I HATED camping, and thats what we did for a few years. I hate being sandy and dirty, and not having clean cooking facilities, but this time around I didn't care, I was having far too much fun, and we had such an awesome group of people. After dinner we got out the goon (cheap wine crap), and sat on the beach drinking it. When the sun goes down those mutant flies disappear, then you get eaten by mozzies instead, but its fine as you can't see them or feel them at the time. A 4WD of Canadian guys pulled up and pitched near us, so they joined us drinking and chatting, one had the guitar out, so its was all cool. The stars were fully out and everyone was in awe of the sky, and the sound of the ocean right next to us. Eventually we went to bed, and it was soooooo uncomfortable it was unreal, we had no airbeds or pillows, so we lay ontop of the sleeping bags as it was too hot, and with 3 of us in a small tent it was hot. Ruth was in the middle, and me and Charlotte on each side. We woke up so many times with a body so stiff and aching, and we could hear the dingoes padding around our tent and sniffing by our heads. We got up at 6.30am the Monday morning, battled and danced and screamed with the flies for an hour whilst packing the van, then we drove to a campsite where there were hardly any flies to have a great fryup brekkie, then we headed to Lake Wabby, which was a 30 minute walk, a steep climb up sand, then wow, the view was stunning. There were vast sand dunes, then lush vegetation, then the lake. It was a greenish colour as it had tea tree oil stuff in it, and we got in and it was so soft and smooth on the skin. The guys were entertaining us by having races rolling down the sand dunes into the water, and it was so chilled and relaxing. After a while we went back to driving on the beach and saw the old shipwreck ruins, and also loads of Dingoes running around. We camped in a site as we couldn't bare to spend another night battling with the flies, even though it was so cool to wake up to the noise of the sea. Us girls set up the tents whilst the boys orgainsed the BBQ, and dinner was served. We all sat round drinking and chatting, and freaking out as there were MAHOOSIVE spiders in the trees, and there were huge things running on the ground that we all swear were tarantulas in the dark, and Ian was a bigger girl than all of us put together. Eventually we all retired to bed, then just gone midnight it started pouring it down with rain. There was slight leakage, but nothing too bad. We were all worried that we might drown but eventually it stopped, so we had a 5.30am start in the morning as we had to drive on the beach at the correct time for the tides, so we went to Indian Head which was a lookout point up some cliffs, and we saw a shark in the waters below. Swimming in the sea is a no go as there are tons of sharks and box jellyfish in the water, and to actually see a shark in the wild was awesome. They come in really close to shore, it was madness. We then went to Eli Creek where some of them took a swim. No matter what the weather is the temperature of the water is always 15'C, so there was no way I was getting in!!! We got back to the ferry at midday and went back to Rainbow Beach where we are staying. We checked the vehicle in at the garage who gave it a once over and it was fine. We only got stuck in the sand twice, both times were today, we all just piled out the back and Corey reversed and drove off with no problems. It was an amazing few days, but its so great to be showered and away from sand, and to now be able to sleep in a bed. Im certainly no camper, a couple of days maximum is enough for me!!!

Thursday 19th Feb - yesterday me, Vicky, Fabian and Ruth went to Bundaberg to see the loggerhead turtles on Mon Repo beach as this is the season. We went to the conservation centre and listened to a talk about turtles, then we waited for 3 hours whilst the people went looking on the beach for them. It has to be guided tours in groups so we don't mess the turtles up. We went down at about 10pm and up to a spot on the beach where over 100 baby turtle hatchlings emerged, digging their way up through the sand. My god they were the cutest most adorable things, they are small enough to fit into the palm of your hand. We were all going so gooey and mushy over these tiny things, and they follow the light of the sea horizon, so they were following the guides torch light, so she picked them up and put them in a safe holding area on the sand, and they just kept on coming. The mother had laid all the eggs on the 23rd December last year, and the hatchlings are as fully functional as the adults, just small, they only have to grow in size, nothing else changes. They then go off swimming in the sea for 3 days before hitting the EAT (Eastern Australian tide), where they don't have to swim, they just get taken away like in 'Finding Nemo', then they are gone for 17 years before coming back to the area, and they only start laying eggs when they get to 30 years of age. There was about a 10 minute gap between all the hatchlings and then the last 2 little ones emerged. The guides check the nest to see if any are left and then wait for them, and these 2 had real trouble getting out the nest, they kept falling back in, so everyone was rooting for them. Apparantly they usually have a sleep on the way as its so tiring. They had such trouble that the guide then just scooped them up and put them with the others, then they showed a couple of them around us all, and we got to take photos and touch them, and they were placed in our hands where you could feel just how strong the little blighters were. They had had a camera group from National Geographic filming them underground as they hatched, so would be great to see that on t.v when it comes out. Because they were a special group that needed to be monitored they were taken back indoors to be tagged and studied before being released into the sea, so we didn't get to see that part, but seeing the hatchlings actually coming out in the wild was unbelievable. They are such amazing creatures, and its so sad that only 1 in every 1000 will reach mature adulthood. Oh and to top it off I saw a shooting star. Haven't seen one in donkeys years.

Thursday 19th Feb - Vicky and Fabian left to go back to Brisbane today which was really sad. After 4 months of travelling with Vicky, it was sad to see her go, but we are hopefully going to meet again to do the Great Ocean Road. Also, after getting to know Fabian, he was fantastic. He's Irish and an absolute gentleman, and so funny, him and Vicky are besotted with each other, its dead sweet. Plus he carried my backpack everywhere for me - so that puts him up in my estimation!! Me and Ruth had to wait 6 hours for our bus, so wandered into town, then sat in an internet cafe as it was too hot, and the owner called David was an ozzie my dads age, but lovely. He was getting us freezing iced water constantly, and we just sat chatting for 6 hours about life and the universe. I love talking to the locals. We then got the bus to Agnes Water/The Town of 1770. The next day on the Friday we went to the beach, and the water was so warm it was like getting into bath water. Even though I slapped the suncream on thick, I still managed to burn. This heat is unbearable sometimes due to the humidity. The hostel is such a chilled out place and there are some people who have been there for a while, and we hang out with them and they are just so cool. Its the kind of place where before you know it you have stayed there forever, its so easy to stay as the atmosphere is amazing. On the Saturday we went on a scooteroo tour. A South African guy called Rod who has been riding bikes for about 50 years runs it, and its riding around 1770 on chopper bikes. I was quite apprehensive about this as I know I have zero balance, and when Rod said its easy if you ride a bike, I knew I was screwed. I have not ridden a bike since I was 13, so I thought "Oh crap". I know I have no balance either, so its a viscious circle. I know I'm going to have an accident, I do, and it reinforces my feelings that I'm useless, so I panic again. However when he told us that if you come off the bike you will end up taking chunks of flesh and muscle out of your limbs, I realised this probably was NOT the time to try and break that cycle. We started off and I could not get my feet off the floor, I was just stressing, then when I did I couldn't steer the thing, then I braked and fell off. I had nightmare visions of my experience of the luge in New Zealand, so got up and went "Right, I can NOT do this". Lara the girl who works in our hostel and doing the scooteroo as well came running up and told me not to worry, theres always at least 1 person in every group who can't do it, so they popped me on the back of Rods bike instead. Now I'm so pleased I did this, as I could not bare the thought of spending 4 hours hating every minute of the ride, and Rods was an actual motorbike, and I have always wanted to go on the back of one since I was a little girl. Also, there was 1 girl at the back of the group who halfway through was in tears as she hated it, so she got on the back of someone elses, so I was not the only idiot. Obviously being on the back I didn't have to concentrate so I could take in all the amazing views, see the wild kangaroos and get the pure rush of adrenaline whizzing along at 120km/ph with the wind in my face. Rod realised I love the speed, so he zoomed off down hills and asked if I was enjoying it, to which I was whooping like a child "Again again!!!". We stopped off to see some kangaroos, then we went to a pub to pick up our wedges, then sat on the rocks on the beach to watch the sun set before setting back. It went on for 4 hours, and Rod was pointing out all the places to me. This town is the first place Captain Cook landed in 1770 (hence the name!!), so he pointed out the landing spot. When we got back eventually I was so happy I had got on the back, had an amazing time. At last I have fulfilled my dream of getting on the back of a motorbike.

Sunday March 1st - just got to Townsville this afternoon. We had been at Airlie Beach for the last few days, and its so chilled out there, just another cute little sea side town, but yesterday we went on a day boat trip to the Whitsunday Islands. All the waiting around paid off, we couldn't go earlier due to the floods, but the weather was perfect. Our boat was called The Voyager, and we started off snorkelling on Hook Island. The Whitsundays are 74 Islands, with Whitsunday Island being the largest. I have never been proper snorkelling before, so we were kitted out in stinger suits because the jellyfish are lethal over here, and went snorkelling on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. It was so awesome, seing loads of brightly coloured fish around you. We went on a submarine type thing as well, where we could see the Barrier Reef through all the viewing windows. We then had lunch on the boat and went to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. This was paradise, pure white sands and turquoise waters. We still had to wear the stinger suits to go swimming, but the water was so beautifully clear and warm, it was like something out of a dream. We then went to daydream Island, and me and Ruth just played some crazy golf to while away the heat, then we took a casual sail back around the Islands. It was truly amazing.

Tuesday 3rd march - just rocked into Cairns and have ended up in the wrong hostel. We had booked another one, but Ruth thought the pick up from the station was for ours, and we have ended up somewhere else, so decided to stay anyway as I can not be arsed to f*** around, and I'm not in the best of moods. Feeling slightly irritable today. We spent 2 days in Townsville and spent one of them in Magnetic Island, which was a short ferry ride, and it really is beautiful. I do love tropical North Queensland, its truly stunning, but I guess I just need a change of scenery now, so leaving here on saturday and fly to melbourne, then heading up to the Northern Territory - which is what Im looking forward to, seeing the 'real' Australia.

Saturday 7th March - well I've come to the end of my time on the east coast, and what a blast its been. I've met some amazing people, especially the locals, and its been fantastic. Its such a beautiful place. Unfortunately our diving trip got cancelled yesterday due to the cyclone threatening to hit Cairns, and the rain was torrential, but I've snorkelled off the edges of the reef on the Whitsundays, and we saw the reef in the submarine boat. The comforting thought is that you do not really get to see the bright colours anyway, all the amazing blues and pinks you see in pictures are beacuse the colours come out at night when the coral is feeding, and chemicals are put on the photographs to make them really bright, so I'm going to go diving off the west coast, where its supposed to be absloutely awesome and some people think its better than the east as less damaged. The one thing you can never rely on is the weather, but we have been soooo lucky up until now. Ruth has just literally left me to get her flight to NZ, and my flight to melbourne is in 8 hours time, but I got a phonecall from Will last night to say he's coming over to join me, so that will be great, seeing that total nutter again!! Will update in Melbourne.....