Tuesday 23rd December 03 Having arrived in the Land of Oz, we checked ourselves into our hostel and spent our first day in Sydney catching up on sleep and having a walk around the city, but retired to bed early to prepare ourselves for the festive celebrations! Wednesday 24th December 03 We awoke more alive today and caught a train to the 5* hotel in Rushcutters Bay which was to be our home for 2 luxurious nights! After having checked out the rooftop swimming pool and the views over the bay, we walked into Kings Cross to have a look around and get our bearings. Having withdrawal symptoms from Thai food, Nat had Pad Thai for dinner, after which we went to a bar for a few drinks and to watch a live music show. Thursday 25th December 03 Christmas Day! We awoke this morning to open our pile of Christmas cards that our friends and family had sent to us and headed up to the pool to enjoy a leisurely swim and a workout in the gymnasium. We then decided to go to Bondi Beach for the day, where we joined thousands of other backpackers to enjoy the sun and the festivities! We left the beach at 6pm and found a restaurant serving traditional Christmas dinners. We then spent the evening with an English couple we met, who have immigrated here and their Australian cousin. We spent the remainder of the evening drinking champagne - which they were kindly supplying for us. After the bars closed we went to one of their places in town, where the guitar was dusted down for a good old sing song over a litre bottle of vodka!!!! Friday 26th December 03 Having got to bed at 5am this morning we awoke slightly tired and worse for wear! We had our final swim in the pool and checked into the next hostel - no more luxuries! We spent the afternoon looking around the city and took ourselves to bed for an early night. Saturday 27th December 03 Today we woke after having the worst nights sleep in history, due to lovely roommates we had to share with! Anyway, after checking out of this dorm and into another, with a girl called Kristen (German) who works at the hostel and Karl, we spent the remainder of the day updating the website. The evening was spent chatting to an English guy, who has had to run away from England due to various counts of credit card fraud etc!! Sunday 28th December 03 Today we caught the ferry over to Manly beach. After a spot of shopping, we hit the beach for the remainder of the day. Having been in the water for a couple of hours, the lifeguards announced that there was a large presence of Blue Bottle jelly fish in the water. So we bolted and didn't return!! On our way home from the beach we bought a body board for a little bit of fun in the sun!! In the evening we went to Darling Harbour for a couple of quiet drinks in the Docks Hotel. Monday 29th December 03 Today we took to the shops in search of some comfy shoes. We both managed to get a pair of Nike sandals. This was such a good buy as our feet were aching so much from doing loads of walking in flip flops. In the evening we took the bus to the Scubar (a Pub) and partook in Crab racing!!! Dan's crab came home in 2nd and Nat's was close behind in 3rd. Anyway this was a bit of a result as one of the prizes we won was a free trip to the Blue Mountains, phone cards, tee shirts and so on! On our way home we popped into a bar to use the toilet and bumped into Dave, James and Colin, whom we met in Thailand - random encounter! So to be social we sat up drinking with them until 5am catching up on each other's stories. Tuesday 30th December Today we awoke slightly worse for wear (again). Having crawled out of bed we went to Bondi beach with the Body board, to catch some waves. The evening was spent relaxing in the hostel, making dinner and watching a little T.V. Wednesday 31st December 03 New Years Eve! In preparation for the big night, we took the day easy, just checking email etc. However, we received one from Simon and Kerry, who we met in Ko Lanta and wanted to get in touch and spend New Years Eve with us. After hours of frantic looking for them with no success, we accepted defeat and headed for the bottle shop. So, around 2pm we headed for a place called Milsons Point, North of the Sydney Harbour bridge, to grab a spot for the night. There were 2 firework displays, one at 9pm and the finale at midnight. The time in between the displays was spent drinking with the lads we met in Thailand and some friends they had met in Sydney. The firework display this year was somewhat disappointing as they invested more of the funds into a laser show, which we couldn't really see, so the fireworks had begun and finished in a flash! After seeing in new year, one of the lads dislocated his shoulder wrestling, so we had to call an ambulance out for him at around 2am. The paramedics were able to pop his shoulder back in on the scene, put his arm in a sling, and send him packing to carry on drinking! Mad! After all of the antics, we returned to Kings Cross, where we continued to drink in a 24 hour bar until 10 am in the morning. On leaving the pub, we went for a greasy fried breakfast, and contemplated going to Bondi for the day and catching up on our sleep there. Looking back now, we are very glad that we decided to go to bed, as one lad went to the beach for 2 hours and got really burnt when he fell asleep!!! Thursday 1st January 04 Having woken up at 6pm, we only had enough energy to cook our dinner and return to bed! - What an exciting day to report!!! Friday 2nd January 04 Today we took the bus to Coogee beach, and attempted to body board, mixing with the locals!!! I don't think we were that bad??? Saturday 3rd January 04 Today we walked through the Royal Botanical gardens to eventually end up at the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge (Circular Quay). After a little camera action we tracked down a pub that every traveller except us was clued up on, as they were doing 5 dollar steaks - Very Nice. Sunday 4th January 04 Today we woke at 6.30 am to catch the Oz Experience bus to the Blue Mountains, taking advantage of the free pass we won crab racing. After stopping at a small town called Windsor for breakfast, we progressed to the 3 sisters and rode the steepest railway in the world down a cliff (52 degrees!!) On our return we went to a wildlife Sanctuary, where we saw roos, koalas, wombats, dingos and lots more! The sun was relentless at the sanctuary, hovering at around 40 degrees!! Having returned to Sydney we went out for a quiet drink in an Irish bar using up a free drinks voucher that we received for going on the day tour, so waste not want not!! Monday 5th January 04 Today we woke late and the weather was doing very little so we decided to head for the shops to purchase our new mobile phone. After shopping we went for dinner and met up with the lads again from Thailand, for another large drinking session, starting in the sports bar, moving on to the Empire club, and returning to the sports bar! Tuesday 6th January 04 After last nights antics, we got to bed at 4am but due to us sharing our dorm with Kirsten, the hostel allowed us to stay - when checkout is normally 10am. After getting some more sleep we received a message to say the lads had missed their 6am flight to New Zealand due to falling asleep, meaning they had to stay in Sydney for another 3 days! We, on the other hand, caught our flight to Melbourne in the evening and checked ourselves into a rather grotty hostel and took ourselves to bed. Wednesday 7th January 04 We decided (after a rather disturbed nights sleep due to being in the centre of the transport links!) that we would go to a recommended hostel the other side of the city, which is one of the biggest hostels in the world! The day's weather was cold and raining so we decided to have a lazy day! The evening was spent in the hostel's underground bar with our room mates, where a live band played 70s and 80s music. So, after having a sing along and a 'few' drinks we went to bed around 2am. Thursday 8th January 04 Today we awoke and decided to partake in the 'Neighbours' tour which our hostel organised - a must see thing in Melbourne (honest!). After a tour of Melbourne we were taken to the famous 'Ramsey Street' or as it's known in Melbourne - Pin Oak Court. We walked around the street and taking photos of the various houses and trying to decipher who lived in which house! We then drove past the television studios - home of the sets and Lassiters complex and then onto Erinsborough High School! On the way back, we stopped at St. Kilda - the trendy part of Melbourne - and walked to the beach, but were nearly blown away by the gusts of wind! Friday 9th January 04 We decided to move to a different hostel today which was to save us quite a few dollars and was in fact a lot nicer! We arrived to hear that India and Australia were playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the VB one-day test series. So we dumped our bags in our new dorm and made our way on the trams to the MCG to join the queues for tickets! There was a crowd of 60,000 people, so the atmosphere was amazing with chanting coming from both the Australian fans and the Indians until 10.30pm, with the last 2 hours played in floodlight. However, we lost our $10 bet on the Indian team to win! Saturday 10th January 04 Today, we walked to Smith Street, home of many factory outlet shops, where Nat bought some much needed shorts and Dan some flip fops (or 'Thongs' as they are called in Oz!). In the evening we went to the Crown Casino where we watched people spending thousands of dollars without a worry! We managed to win ourselves $3 dollars on the pokie machines so we took ourselves home before we spent any more money! Sunday 11th January 04 After a bit of a lie-in we headed for Mcaffertys coach station to buy our east coast bus pass up to Cairns (244 dollars each). Having sorted this out, we went to Hertz to hire a car for 2 days, to travel down the Great Ocean Road. From here we went to the Queen Victoria Market which houses thousands of stalls, although neither of us made any purchases! After this, we headed for Albert Park which is the home of the Melbourne Grand Prix! We then walked along the sea front and had a nice cold beer. Monday 12th January 04 Today we checked out of the hotel and collected the hire car. Having driven out of Melbourne we stopped at a little town called Geelong for a spot of lunch. Our next stop was a place called Torquay, which is lined with massive surf shops - Nat was in shopping heaven! Our next stop was the infamous Bells beach where we watched some surfes in action. After this we went to Anglesea golf course which is home to approx 1000 Kangaroos. Our next stop was Aireys Inlet Lighthouse, which had some spectacular views of the coastline. We then went to Kennet river where we sampled Koalas sleeping in the trees. On leaving here we went to Apollo bay for dinner where Nat sampled shark and chips!!! After reading that the famous 12 Apostles (huge sea stacks) are best seen at sunset we spent the next hour driving very quickly only to arrive 20 minutes too late!! But they were still great to see! We left here in search of somewhere to settle down for the night and found a lovely spot at a lookout point, where we spent the night in the car! Tuesday 13th January 04 We awoke at 9.30am to find an Oz Experience tour coach parked alongside us - this was rather embarrassing but we quickly moved the car to prepare ourselves for the day! We decided we would drive back to Melbourne back along the Great Ocean Road, which is 4 hours longer than the recommended return route but having missed various spots yesterday this was our plan! We stopped at the London Bridge lookout and returned to see the 12 Apostles in daylight. We then stopped for a walk to a waterfall, which only had a trickle of water due to the drought situation in Australia. We then decided to stop for a spot of sunbathing and body boarding at Lorne then headed back towards Melbourne. Having stopped for dinner, Dan sliced his foot open on a shard of glass as he got out of the car, so while mopping up the blood, Nat drove to the next stop! Having arrived back in Melbourne we checked in for a free night at the grotty hostel we had spent our first night in Melbourne in! This was a result, so we upgraded to a double room so we could get a good nights sleep! Wednesday 14th January 04 We spent today having a look around the shops of Melbourne and Nat decided to get her hair cut! We then decided we would go and visit Dan's relatives who live close to Melbourne in Montmorency. We called Alan and made our way by train to their house, only to surprise his wife Chris who didn't know we were going there but made us feel very welcome! They cooked a traditional Australian BBQ in the evening and we spent the night catching up! Thursday 15th January 04 Today, Chris took us to Badger Weir where we had a picnic and fed seeds to the local Rosella birds which inhabit the forest. After a short walk up to the weir, we headed to 2 winery's for some 'sampling' of the local Yarra Valley wines and returned home feeling rather tipsy! Chris and Alan's daughter Corrine joined us for dinner and we arranged a night out on the town with her for tomorrow! Friday 16th January 04 Chris and Alan very nicely let us borrow their other car, so we drove around the suburbs and out to the Memorial Tower at Kangaroo Ground. From the top of the tower, there were stunning views of the surrounding countryside. We then drove to Sugarloaf Reservoir where we had a picnic and sat by the water in the 40 degree heat! On returning to Montmorency we stopped at the Greensborough shopping mall, where Nat bought some much needed shoes and Dan some tee-shirts. We then spent the evening with Corrine and her friends at an Irish bar/club and after quite a few drinks we headed home at 4am after a very good night!! Saturday 17th January 04 Today we visited Alan's brother, Brian and his wife Lorraine, at their campsite in Rosebud. On the way there we stopped at Arthur's Seat lookout with great views over Melbourne and the bays. After a catch up with Brian and Lorraine we headed with Alan and Chris to the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island where hundreds of penguins return every evening after a long trip out to sea, with food for their chicks. As we were waiting for the Penguins to arrive, the heavens opened and we were soaked! But this didn't stop us enjoying the site of the penguins making their way long the beach to their nests! Sunday 18th January 04 Today we went with Alan and Chris to visit Chris's sister Karen and her husband John at their home in the country. We went to meet Karen's friend who rescues injured animals at her home and met Cocky the Parrot who can talk but can't fly as he only has 1 wing! We then spent the evening at Karen and John's watching the cricket and boozing!! Monday 19th January 04 Today, Karen and Chris took us to the Melbourne Zoo where we saw hundreds of animals. We then went over to stay with Brian and Lorraine in the suburb of Heathmont and spent the evening catching up, playing pool and surprise surprise - having a few drinks!! Tuesday 20th January 04 Today we went on the famous Puffing Billy railway, which runs through the Dandenong Ranges of Melbourne. However, due to the very hot weather and the subsequent fire ban, the normal steam engine was replaced with a diesel engine, but we still enjoyed the trip through the ranges! Brian met us the other end and took us to various lookout points in the ranges for amazing views of Melbourne and the Yarra Valley. We returned home to play in their tennis courts and a had a lovely relaxing spa, then continued our relaxation by watching a film in the evening! Wednesday 21st January 04 Brian and Lorraine's son Lee is qualified as a Private Pilot so took us up in a 4 man plane for an hours ride! Lee took us over the Australian Open Tennis Courts where centre court was being played on! We saw the MCG and the Grand Prix track at Albert Park and circled the city centre from 500 meters in the sky - it was an amazing sight! He then decided to scare us by circling, in a very small circle! In the afternoon, we returned to Ramsey Street, where Brian and Lorraine's other son's (David) girlfriend's sister, Heather works on the set! They were filming on the street so Heather introduced us to 'Lyn Scully' and 'Max' who were really friendly and took time to chat to us and take photos! It was very strange talking to them and even stranger when we watched Neighbours that night (it just had to be done!) and we saw them in action! Thursday 22nd January 04 Today we decided to go to the local swimming pool and realised our fitness levels were not as good as we thought! We then joined Lorraine on a walk to their Boules Club to watch Brian play and we even had a go ourselves - it's much harder than it looks - honest! Brian and Lorraine took us out to dinner at a hotel in the city before we departed on our 12 hour bus trip back to Sydney! Friday 23rd January 04 We arrived in Sydney at 8am this morning and booked in a really nice hostel for $15 dollars a night - result! After catching up on some sleep and having a walk around the city we spent the evening with Brian and Lorraine's son David and his girlfriend Sue, who were in Sydney for 3 days. After a few drinks in our hostel bar we headed into the city and then to Darling Harbour - it was a great night! And we ended up going to bed at 3am! Saturday 24th January 04 Today we awoke slightly hungover (again!) and as the weather was scorching we went to Bondi Beach. However the great weather was short lived as it clouded over in the afternoon, so we headed back to the hostel in the pouring rain! We then spent the evening with our 2 English roommates - Dan and Rich -who had just arrived from Singapore and various other people joined us during the night. After having played various card and drinking games in the bars we finally got to bed at 4am. Sunday 25th January 04 We awoke today slightly worse for wear and had to check out of our hostel at 10am! We spent the day updating the website in King's Cross, but the computer decided to crash as we were loading the photos on - typical!!!! We then caught the 9.45pm coach to Byron Bay (surfers mecca!). Monday 26th January 04 We arrived at Bryon Bay at 10.45am and after checking into our hostel decided to have a walk around the small town, and did a bit of window-shopping! As it was such a gorgeous day we thought we should hit the beach for a spot of sunbathing. We then treated ourselves to a curry for dinner, which was much needed after last night's bus trip! Tuesday 27th January 04 We decided to check into a different hostel today, which had it's own sandy path down to the beach, it was more like a motel than a hostel! So we spent the afternoon sunbathing (again!!!) and body-boarding in the waves and watching the surfers in action! We then walked the 1-hour walk to the Cape Byron lighthouse where there are great views of both Byron Bay and the surrounding beaches. Past the lighthouse, is a walk to the 'most Easterly point of Australia' so off we trundled to this point! On the way back to Byron we decided to take a shortcut by walking through the sea to the other side of the bay but as we got half way across we realised this may not have been such a good idea as the sea was up to our shoulders as the tide was coming in, and we were fully clothed and holding the camera above our heads! So we had to turn back! So after all that walking we chilled out in the evening watching movies at the hostel! Wednesday 28th January 04 Another gorgeous day, so off to the beach again to sunbathe and body board but the weather turned very stormy so the waves got bigger - it was fun! In the evening, our hostel held a 'Sangria night' so for 3 hours we drank lots of sangria and headed into town with 2 English girls and 2 Aussie guys from our hostel and spent the night drinking 'Jam Jar' cocktails -very nice! And finally turned in at 3am. Thursday 29th January 04 We awoke today slightly hungover and as the weather was not so good (overcast and drizzly) we spent the afternoon emailing and updating the website and having a lazy day! A huge storm was brewing in the evening to we watched it from the beach - huge lightening strikes on the horizon - it was an amazing sight! Friday 30th January 04 Today was our trip to Nimbin on Jim's Alternative Tours - what an experience this was! This is the only place in Australia where police turn a blind eye to Marijuana!! The town was full of old hippies sitting around smoking and drinking - it is a very bizarre place! After spending an hour here looking around we were taken to a 42 acre plot of land owned by a hippie, Paul, and were shown around his fruit trees and vegetable plants, as he told us his theories on life and the universe! Saturday 31st January 04 We caught the 1 hour bus to Surfers Paradise this morning and checked into a huge hostel which is attached to a hotel so had all the facilities you could need - swimming pool, tennis and squash courts, sauna, spa and games room - very nice!! Surfers is a resort town with lots of high-rise hotel and glitzy bars - very much like being in Miami! We took a stroll down to the beach and did a bit of body boarding but due to the previous days rain, the water was very green and full of stinging plankton! We then enjoyed our free meal (yes free!) at the pub next door to our hostel and spent the evening relaxing and watching TV in our dorm room! Sunday 1st February 04 We decided to do a spot of shopping today, Dan treated himself to a new wallet and some 'boardies' (the Aussie slang for shorts!) and Nat bought a new bikini (after spending lots of time looking for one!!!!). To catch the last sun of the day we relaxed around the hostel pool with our dorm-mates George (American) and Dave (English), then had a sauna and went to a Chinese buffet - what a hard life! We had planned to go out in the evening but instead spent it playing cards and drinking games with George and Dave at the hostel! Monday 2nd February 04 We woke up today too late and slightly hungover for our planned trip to the Wet & Wild water park so had a long lie-in watching the US Superbowl in our room. Our dorm-mate George returned from watching the game at the pub and due to his team winning was very drunk and soaking wet, as he had fallen asleep on the beach in a storm! So the evening was spent laughing at George's antics (such as running naked into hostel spa in front of everybody's balconies!). We went into town for a few drinks and returned with George in worse state!!! It was a funny old day! Tuesday 3rd February 04 Although it was pouring with rain today we took the bus with George to Wet & Wild - it was fun being a kid again! We rode the flumes and decided after we were numb that we would return to the warm hostel! We then spent the afternoon sleeping and generally being very lazy and why not?!!! Wednesday 4th February 04 We caught the morning bus to Brisbane and checked into our hostel in the West End of the city. We then took the courtesy bus into the city and had a look around before walking to South Bank where Brisbane now has an artificial beach on the edge of the river! We then went back to the hostel to sunbathe and relax around the pool and went out for dinner in the evening which was not the best of ideas as we were both ill after! So a night of watching TV was the best cure!!!!!!! Thursday 5th February 04 Another day spent lazing around the pool but it was quite drizzly and overcast so decided to play some racquetball! After this slight bit of exercise (?!) we had an extremely lazy day!!! Friday 6th February 04 After checking out of our room at 9.30am we spent the morning around the pool then caught the afternoon bus to Noosa. We checked into a hostel next to the Noosa River with gorgeous views! We had a walk down the river and spent the evening with Lee (English) and Alan (Dutch) playing games and chatting! Saturday 7th February 04 Today we swapped dorms to a new and very nice one! And hired a free kayak to have a paddle on the river, but we didn't realised until we were out there, that the current was really strong and it took us forever to get across the river against the current!!!! So after an hour of battling against the current we admitted defeat and returned the kayak! We then had a walk around Noosa Junction and the main shopping street (very upmarket!) and had the plan to see Noosa's nightlife in the evening, but instead played cards and games with Lee, Alan and a Scottish couple Niall and Amanda at the hostel! Sunday 8th February 04 Today we swapped rooms again to a double, in order to get a good nights sleep and went off for our 2-hour surf lesson at Merrick Davis's surf school (he is a surfing champion!). It was a lot harder than it looks and the waves were huge and the current very strong, but despite this we both managed to stand up a few times on the board and we considered ourselves pros!!! We booked a package in the afternoon which includes, 3 day Fraser Island trip, 3 day Whitsunday's Sailing trip, a day on the Great Barrier Reef and a 3 day Cape Tribulation Safari as well as 12 nights free accommodation - what a bargain!! We went out to town in the evening with Lee, and after a few drinks headed back to the hostel where Dan sliced his hand and fingers on the room's ceiling fan (which was admittedly very low!), but after Dan assuring Nat it wasn't serious we both fell asleep with Dan in pain! Monday 9th February 04 After Dan awoke to more pain and throbbing in his finger we went to the hospital where he had X-rays - no fractures or breaks luckily- but lots of blood swelling under the nail. We returned to the hostel with no advice on the finger from the doctor! So spent the afternoon and evening relaxing from the previous few day's antics and Dan's finger! Tuesday 10th February 04 Today we caught the bus to Rainbow Beach and booked into a double room so Dan's finger could try and recover, but after taking lots of painkillers the pain didn't disappear and worsened during the night. Wednesday 11th February 04 We went to the emergency medical surgery in Rainbow Beach this morning, where the doctor pierced Dan's nail with a needle to release the pressure, which had built up underneath! So after Dan taking some anti-biotics and yet more painkillers we relaxed at the hostel pool and soaked up some sun. We then went up to the Carlo Sand Blow and huge expanse of sand that leads from the forest of Rainbow Beach right down the cliffs to the beach - it is an amazing sight! Thursday 12th February 04 Today we moved to the YHA hostel next door which is a lot nicer!!! And chilled out in the pool chatting to Trevor (Canadian) and English couple Louise and Adam. We spent the evening playing a pool competition with Dan coming 3rd and Nat 12th (ooops!)! Friday 13th February 04 Today we checked out of the hostel and got a full refund from the room because Nat was subjected to a savage attack from Bed Bugs! We spent the day hanging around the pool waiting for our 4pm bus to Hervey Bay. The Hostel we checked into was really nice, although the dorms were ridiculously hot. We spent the evening lounging around the pool with a couple of drinks. Suddenly, 300,000, which is 80% of Australia's population of bent wing bats, flew over our heads heading out to their sea caves for the night! Great Site!!. Saturday 14th February 04 After a morning of lazing around the pool at the hostel, soaking up the sun, we took the courtesy bus into town and bought a lotto ticket in the great hope that we would win! Surprise surprise - we didn't. In the evening we went out for dinner in a nice restaurant as a little treat, and then returned to the hostel for a few drinks at the bar!. Sunday 15th February 04 After getting up we booked our trip to Fraser Island and managed to get our growing amount of photos burnt to CD. At 3pm a meeting was held to organize the groups for the trip. We were put in a group of 10 with an Irish couple - Alice and Simon, 4 English people - Gaz, Ali, Mike, Katie, and 2 Korean girls whose names defied us throughout the trip! Dan was selected with Alice to go shopping for the group for the next 3 days on a tight budget - interesting! In the evening we all met in the hostel bar for a few drinks, and regretfully got a little tipsy and ended up hitting the sack around midnight for a 6.30 am start the next day!! Monday 16th February 04 After packing away our backpacks into storage, we finally set off around 8.00 am for a briefing at the 4 wheel drive garage. We finally left around 10.00 am to catch the 10.30 am ferry - the trip had now begun!! When we landed on the island, we drove to Central station to stock up on reserves such as water and wood for the next few days! After leaving here, we hit a traffic jam? - Yes, some people had decided to take a non off-road vehicle into the sand dunes, and got very bogged in! After helping to dig them out, we had to drive very fast along the beach to India head, in a race against time because of the incoming tide! Upon arriving we pitched tents and went to the Champagne pools, which were amazing! The evening was spent getting really drunk around the campfire and tucking into a great BBQ!! Unfortunately, the tents were so warm that in the evening we had to sleep outside, despite the ranger warning us that in doing so we would entice the wild dingoes. It wasn't too bad although a dingo was standing around 2 feet from Dan's face staring at us! After this encounter we jumped into the back of the smelly 4x4 and managed to get just under an hours sleep for the night! Tuesday 17th February 04 After our short bought of sleep we awoke at 4.30am to climb up to the cliff of Indian Head to watch the sunrise, but as soon as we got ourselves positioned on the cliff the heavens opened and we were soaked!! Plus, due to the clouds, the sun was nowhere to be seen! So off we went back to bed for a few hours sleep before climbing back up to the cliff (when the sun had emerged and the clouds disappeared!), where we saw 2 huge sharks and manta rays - it was well worth the climb back up! We then packed up the jeep and headed back down the beach where we stopped at several sights along the way including the Maheno Shipwreck- the ship was on its way to Japan and became shipwrecked during a storm, it now lies on the beach. After setting up camp behind a sand dune by the beach we walked the hours walk to Lake Wabby - surrounded by rainforest and a huge sand dune, but the water was green and a bit smelly so we declined the opportunity to swim! We then spent the evening around the campfire playing drinking games and chatting to 2 other groups that had joined us! Wednesday 18th February 04 After having 4 hours sleep (another late night!) we set off all feeling rather hungover, in pursuit of Lake McKenzie - it was amazing - clear water and bright white sand surrounded by rainforest. It was luxury! From here we went to Lake Birrabean where we all had a much-needed nap then drove back to the ferry in the late afternoon! After returning to Hervey Bay we all treated ourselves to pizza, due to the lack of food on the last day, we were all starving!! We had one last drink with our group in the evening, before everyone headed their separate ways the next morning! It was a brilliant and unforgettable trip!!!! Thursday 19th February 04 We decided that we would stay an extra day in Hervey Bay to recover from the Fraser Island trip! So today was spent doing laundry and generally chilling out into the evening! Friday 20th February 04 Another relaxing day having a walk around the shops of Hervey Bay. We caught our bus to Town of 1770 (so-called as this was the year James Cook discovered Australia) in the early evening, but didn't arrive until 10pm as the bus was delayed, so it was off to bed to look forward to the next 2 days spent here! Saturday 21st February 04 Due to the scorching hot weather, we decided to take a walk down to the beach with a body board each - this was great fun as the waves were pretty big!!!! We then took the 'sunset tour' in the evening, which took us around the Town of 1770 (population of 80!) and to 2 lookout points, which were great. We then went to the town's only pub and met several of the residents before settling down on some rocks to watch the sunset over the river and hills on the horizon! The evening was spent with an Irish couple - Caroline and Stephen - in the pub, then onto a café, which had live music, so we had a good old, sing song! Sunday 22nd February 04 This morning we went on the free tour of 1770, which took us to different sights that we hadn't seen. We were told the town is very much like Noosa was 20 years ago, and has only had it's roads paved year ago!! In the afternoon, we had booked ourselves onto a canoe tour around the river but the water conditions were too rough so instead they took us out on 3 man catamarans, which were great fun! After this we chilled out in the evening, until we caught our bus at 8pm for our 14-hour journey to Townsville. (We had to head this far north as our Whitsunday's sailing trip couldn't fit us on until 2nd March and we are running out of time!!) Monday 23rd February 04 We arrived at Townsville and after getting a few hours sleep to recover from the overnight bus journey, we had a walk around the city, which has improved due to it's modernisation programme, but there are lots of drunk aborigines which was a little daunting! Still feeling pretty tired we had a night watching TV in our dorm!! Tuesday 24th February 04 Today, we caught the ferry over to Magnetic Island (so-called due to James Cook experiencing problems with his compass while passing the Island) where we are spending 5 days relaxing before heading south to Airlie Beach. We arrived at our hostel to find a resident crocodile in an enclosure outside our dorm! We were informed that it was rescued from becoming a handbag so feel better about seeing it in this tiny enclosure. We lazed by the pool during the afternoon and spent the evening in the hostel bar playing pool! Wednesday 25th February 04 We hired a Moke today, with our 2 dorm-mates, Nick (English) and Bart (Belgian). This is a topless car the size of a mini and made of plastic with bright pink velvet seats! We drove to several of the islands bays and admired the beaches but due to it being the jellyfish season, we couldn't have a swim, despite the weather being 36 degrees!!! We then decided (in a moment of madness!) to do a 6km walk in the midday sun which took us up and down some very steep hills and with not a lot of water between us. We were feeling a bit worse for wear by the time we got back to the car! On the way back to the hostel we stopped at a waterfall, which was great and very refreshing! Thursday 26th February 04 Today was a very lazy day, sat by the hostel pool soaking up the sun and taking a dip every now and then to cool down a little, although the water felt as hot as the air did! In the evening we walked to the jetty to watch a huge tropical storm on the horizon - it was an amazing sight! Friday 27th February 04 We spent today relaxing by the pool again as it was another hot day. The evening was spent huddled by the bar with the other hostels residents as a huge storm had erupted over us and rained all night. We sat playing cards with the other backpackers and swapping travelling stories! Saturday 28th February 04 We had a long lie in today (what a hard life it is being a traveller!) and as the weather was not so good today we read magazines and books and generally vegged out! Sunday 29th February 04 We got the ferry back to Townsville today and after having a spot of lunch caught the 4-hour bus down to Airlie Beach. We checked into a hostel with great views of the sea! And spent the evening chatting with an English couple Louise and Nick. Monday 1st March 04 We walked around the shops of Airlie Beach today - Airlie is a very small town, which comprises of literally 1 street full of shops and hostels and no beach which seems strange! Dan bought himself an 'awesome' Billabong hat, some sunglasses and a wallet and Nat bought herself a wallet and some sunnies! We then went to Airlie Beach's lagoon to have a swim, then updated the website in the evening as we had got very much behind - huge relief! Tuesday 2nd March 04 Today we go on our Whitsunday's sailing trip! We boarded the boat at 11am with our group of 14 and 2 crew. Due to cyclone warnings and the presence of 5m high waves, we were told we are unable to go to the infamous Whitehaven Beach, so instead we sailed to Hook Island where we would have shelter from the weather for the night! We took the dinghy to the island and after a short bush walk saw some Aboriginal cave drawings! After having our dinner cooked for us (it was great!) we played a few games and had a few drinks, then it was time for bed!! Wednesday 3rd March 04 We were woken up at 7am with breakfast ready for us and set sail to Blue Pearl Bay, where we did some snorkelling and saw an array of tropical fish and lots of coral! The weather was still bad today so we couldn't sail far, but on our way to our place of mooring for the night, the front sail ripped in half due to the force of the wind and the boat tipped completely on one side - it was great fun! The evening was spent chatting with our group, but it was an early night for us at 10pm, as the crew needed their beauty sleep! Thursday 4th March 04 We awoke at 8am this morning and had a snorkel after breakfast, but this time we couldn't find many fish or coral, it was as though someone had stolen the reef overnight! On the way back to Airlie Beach we encountered some huge waves! It was a fantastic trip and everyone made the most of not having much to do, due to the weather! A good time was had by all! We then had a sleep after getting back to our hostel, then joined our boat group in a bar where we spent the evening singing karaoke and the night ended with us and Adam and Lisa (English) as everyone has gone to bed. Friday 5th March 04 We didn't wake until 1pm today - much needed lie in! Dan's favourite hat had broken whilst on the trip, so that was to be returned unfortunately!! We spent the afternoon at the lagoon for sunbathing and swimming - a great end to our time in Airlie Beach! Saturday 6th March 04 We caught the 9.30am bus this morning to Townsville, where we stopped for 3 hours before catching the next bus to Cairns, where we arrived at 9.30pm and checked into our luxury hostel - Bohemia Resort - where we had 2 free nights. The hostel was fairly new and more like a hotel with a lovely lagoon-like swimming pool and large dorms! We took ourselves off to bed after meeting our new roommates! Sunday 7th March 04 We lazed around the hostel pool today, and then took the courtesy bus into the city centre to have a look around. Cairns is quite a small city; it has a real nice friendly atmosphere! We bumped into Adam and Lisa from the Whitsunday's trip and realised we had arranged to move to their hostel the following day (small world!). Monday 8th March 04 We checked into McLeod's Hostel and very small and very friendly family run place, for 3 nights in a nice spacious double room for $40 each!!! Bargain!! In the afternoon we headed into town and splashed around in the lagoon for a few hours to cool down. In the evening we headed out to the Woolshed and upgraded our free meal passes to a more respectable dish - and very nice it was! We took an early night as we had to be up at 6.45 am to go to the Great Barrier Reef in the morning! Tuesday 9th March 04 We boarded the boat at 7.45 am and cruised out to the reef for around 2.5 hours. Whilst on the reef we managed to do some great snorkelling and took full advantage of the free 5 min introductory scuba dive that the boat offered. Whilst scuba diving we saw Wally, the massive fish! On the return we all went boom netting. This is where the skipper throws a massive net over the back of the boat and tourists jump in whilst the boat accelerates at speed making people fall out! Wednesday 10th March 04 Today we woke late and decided to catch a few hours of sun around the hostel swimming pool. Later in the afternoon we went into town to do some souvenir shopping, and shopping for our own little treats! After uploading more pictures onto the website we had dinner and packed our rucksacks for the Cape Tribulation Tour tomorrow. Thursday 11th March 04 Today began early, with the bus picking us up at 7.00am. After a breakfast stop we went for the crocodile cruise on the Daintree River. We managed to see 3 massive wild crocodiles from very close distances! From here we drove into the rainforest and had a walk in the worlds oldest rainforest! We checked into the Beach house hostel - very nice dorms set deep in the rainforest! The rain began falling after lunch and didn't stop! The evening was spent playing board games with a couple we met in the bar! The Cape Tribulation rainforest is where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef in the sea!!! Friday 12th March 04 Now we know why this is called a rainforest! It hasn't stopped raining since yesterday!! The afternoon and evening was spent reading books and generally trying to stay dry! Saturday 13th March 04 During a short rain break we headed down for a walk along the beach and returned to finish our books! We then took the bus to Port Douglas, and on the way went to the Alexandria Range lookout - too cloudy and misty though for a great view!! From here we headed to Mossman Gorge where we walked through the rainforest getting wet, to see a beautiful river the other side.. On arrival in Port Douglas we checked into Dougies hostel, and jumped into bed, the damp weather had taken its toll on our immune system! We went for dinner in the local YHA and Nat showed Dan where she had stayed and eaten and everything else the last time she was here!! Sunday 14th March 04 The sun is shining! We caught the bus into Port Douglas after sleeping through the alarm and having to check out late - oops!! We bought some presents and souvenirs in the shops and at the local market! Later in the afternoon we caught the bus back to Cairns and checked back into McLeod's hostel! We repacked our bags and made a few calls home in the evening! Monday 15th March 04 Today after getting up, we ploughed through our masses of washing so that we could take at least a few clean clothes with us to New Zealand! It was pouring with rain all day again today, despite remaining at a very humid 27 degrees! We went into town and after much deliberation bought 4 Peter Lik posters. After this we packed off a 6 kilogram box each, of surplus bits and bobs back home to reduce the weight of our bags! Surprise surprise, Nat sent home loads of clothes she never wore once! In the evening we packed our bags up, went out for dinner again at the Woolshed and took an early night for our journey tomorrow.