So I thought I would take the opportunity and write the blog as Brad is trying out his video blog, and as backup in case he misses anything out :)

So we arrived in Hervey Bay on 30th June and stayed with a family for a couple of nights. The family where friendly and the house was huge (5 bedroom) but it just didn't feel that homely and inviting. We decided to explore the town and sea front which was pretty but we ran out of things to do very quickly. We looked into visiting Fraser Island but decided to save our pennies for the Whitsunday Islands further north so we just relaxed for a few days before setting off for Rockhampton.

Within 30mins of setting of for Rockhampton I got pulled over for my first random breathalyzer test, passed as you would have hoped at 10.30am on a Wednesday morning. I think the police just had nothing better to do.

We were staying with Tracey in Rockhampton who was a Teacher by day and Yoga instructor by night. We got on really well and she had a lovely house with her own veggie patch and chooks. It was a shame we where only there for one night. I think we have had a few stops along our travels where we have stayed in one place one night and wished we where staying longer and then vice versa where we wish we didn't have so much time to try and use up.

The next stop was Mackey before heading to Airlie Beach where we can relax for more than one night. We stayed with Elaine in Mackay whose house was just a stone's throw from the sea. She was really friendly and said it felt like she had family staying with her as we all got along so well. It's so nice to be able to fit into someone's home so easily. We talked for hours and she said she was hoping to move to the Sunshine Coast to be away from the cyclones, crocodiles and stingers so maybe we will see her again.

Finally, the end of our one night stops and Airbnb's for a few days. We arrived in Airlie Beach and checked into Magnum Backpackers which was right in the main town. It instantly felt like we were in a party town with bars and clubs just crawling distance from our room. By pure chance some of our friends from Dunkeld, Victoria where staying in Airlie for a long holiday so we caught up with them which was great as we don't get to catch up with the same people again very often. We met a few Irish who were staying in the rooms next to ours and exchanged travel tips, they were flying out to Sydney the next morning so they were giving away their unwanted beers which would of been rude to turn down.

We booked onto our trip to the Whitsunday islands for the next day. The boat was called the Big Fury and was one of the faster boats that did the trips. We wish we where pre-warned that it was going to be windy and cold though as we came out in shorts and t-shirts. The first stop was Border Island where we all jumped out and went snorkelling on the reef wall for an hour. The water was pretty cold, and being the brave/foolish brits we are decided not to hire wetsuits. The visibility was ok but a lot of the coral was dead which was a shame. The hour was up pretty quick and we were all back on the boat and headed off to Whitsunday Island. The beach looked beautiful when we arrived, white sand, turquoise water, looked just like a postcard until boatload after boatload of tourists kept being herded onto the beach. Lunch was provided so we sat and relaxed on the beach for a while until we saw a dolphin in the bay which gave Brad another excuse to try out the GoPro camera, unfortunately the dolphin didn't want to play and disappeared before Brad could reach him. The whole boat trip was good but didn't quite live up to our expectations. Snorkelling is never going to be enough once you have tried scuba diving.

In the end we didn't do much else while we were at Airlie apart from relax at the backpackers, chill by the beach and get bitten by mosquitoes. (I got 9 within 24hrs of arriving in Airlie)

Last stop before Cairns. We stayed in Civic Guest House backpackers in Townsville and it was all a vast improvement on Airlie Beach. The city itself didn't feel like your usual city. There were no overpowering skyscrapers and it all seemed more relaxed, even at rush hour. Again we didn't get up to much, just a bit of exploring, relaxing at the beach ready to hit the road for our final road trip (for a while) to Cairns.

The scenery on the way to Cairns was breathtaking, long roads with mountains on either side, mile after mile of sugar cane fields and banana plantations. The only thing that gets annoying on our road trips so far in Oz is the roadwork's, and by roadwork's I mean signs slowing you down, then speeding you up slightly then back down again but for nothing, not even a lonely worker painting lines. You also get the opposite of workers filling pot holes, with no warning signs on a 100kph road, but I guess roadwork's will never be tolerable where ever you go.

To break up the drive we opted for a detour through a Cassowary conservation area and we managed to see one. We saw some in a sanctuary but it's never the same as in real life. I'm a sucker for any creatures (except spiders) I still get excited when I see a kangaroo which locals just find a nuisance. On our detour we stopped at South mission and mission beaches along the way as we were told not to miss them if we were in the area. You can just never get bored of the beaches in Oz. Sand will win over pebbles any day.

Now we are in Cairns and it's time to explore and hopefully look for some work to fund our next dive courses.