Hia, will have to make this short as took a while to get photos uploaded.

Well its been non stop since we left the snowy mountains but we have travelled from Sydney to Cairns in 18days and have had an absolutely awesome time. Was good to be back in Sydney for a while as it felt a bit like home after living there for 3 months after there we went to Byron Bay which we loved, it was a real hippi surfer town and was just so nice to relax on a beach again. We did the walk upto the lighthouse and were lucky enough to see a group of 9 whales swimming round the bay. It was also Byron Bays local food and wine festival while we were there so got right amongst the food and bev's and there was loads of bands playing over the weekend. Next we went to Surfers Paradise for 2 nights wasn't that impressed with the place, the waves were pretty impressive but the beach front is really built up with tall buildings and its really commercial it kinda felt like Florida. Then it was up to Hervey Bay where we stopped over to do the 2 night trip over to Fraser Island. There was 8 people in our group and we had such a good laugh, it was a really tiring trip as we had to be up each day before 6am as you can't drive down the beach while the tides in. Was loads of fun though being on the island felt a bit like 'lost' as there is nothing there but beach and rainforest. We also got to see more whales and saw some dolphins and wild dingo's. When we returned from there feeling really tired and dirty we had to get straight on a overnight bus upto Airlie Beach. Spent 2 days just chilling by the lagoon then did a 2 night sailing trip round the whitsundays, again we were lucky as we had a really nice group and the weather was brilliant. It was a really relaxing trip just sunbathed on the boat went snorkelling and ate some really good food prepared by the crew. Whitehaven beach is definately the best beach we have ever been to, the sand was so fine and white and the sea was so blue, only problem was you have to wear stinger suits as its that time of year, and as you can see from the pics its not the most attractive look. Now we are up in Cairns and its so hot, we only have 6 more days in Australia so next we are going up to Cape Tribulation where we are going to do a scuba dive and a rainforest horse ride, then spend our last night in Port Douglas. We fly over to New Zealand on the 15th Oct where we have planned to Hire a campervan with Aaron. Will keep you all updated, hope you all good back home.

Take care Love Ruthy & Burts