g'day!!!

East coast catch up time!

so after a real nice stay in Canberra and finally receiving my bank cards i was able to book my east coast travels but was limited til end of the month so although i managed to do everything i wanted its been a tight schedule!!

from sydney headed to byron bay....(overnight bus) and arrived early morning! had a day hanging around in byron and taking nin its bohemian vibe. chilled on the beach and did the infamous lighthouse walk which was well worth it...saw dolphins playing in the sea and views were beautiful...oh and it is the most eastenly point of Australia!!

my second day in Byron, i had my surfing lesson.....on my last few goes i started to get the knack of it, even when i wasn't standing it was great fun, but as i was able to stand and ride a wave ....wow i'm kinda hooked! i keep day dreaming about surfing!! for real....it has that appeal! i want to be a surfer chick!

in byron bay i met a girl called caroline who i have seen most of my way along the east coast ..... and infact from there on in i've met lots of people that i kept bumping into so its been nice to hang out with familiar faces in new locations!!!

next stop....rainbow beach...where the cliff rocks are different colours, hence the name! rainbow beach is a real quiet place with little else than the beach or the hostel i stayed at but it was where i began my fraser island trip! my first night of arriving however i bumped into annie and laura, who did trek america with me! so good to see them and catch up on all since.

next day i had a meeting and was introduced to my fraser island group before we headed off on our adventure the next day! fraser island is the largest sand island in the world and i'd booked on a self discovery tour... where u are put in groups of 11 and given a 4x4 vehicle and a map of recommended places to go and some camping gear and then u go!!! fraser island is beautiful, with lake mckenzie, a bright clear blue lake with white sand which you get to through rough terrain and forest; indian head the northest point for a lookout; Lake Wabby, a greenish freshwater lake that appears over the sand dunes and the maheno ship wreck as the main attractions! we were unlucky with weather and it rained both nights and most of the days, but we had some sun and were lucky to have sun at lake mckenzie and lake wabby! i drove the 4x4 and it was lots of fun driving on sand and rough terrain, although my group were a little conservative, (although nice) so that stopped me unleashing my bad boy driving skills!!

once back from fraser island, it was an overnight bus to airlie beach! airlie is a real nice touristy location, with a lagoon as the beach isn't the best, so everyone chills out by the lagoon that overlooks the harbour! so many beautiful boats. from airlie begaqn my whitsundays sailing trip! was lucky this time with weather and had a real cool group of people on my trip so it was most enjoyable, sunbathing on the ship, helping with cranking up the sails, having someone make my food, snorkelling, visiting whitehaven beach (which is quite possibly how you would describe a beach paradise!) and generally chilling and socialising! was strange sleeping on a sailing boat and there wasn't much room, but the rocking from the water was somehow relaxing!

the night we returned we had a night out and i'd met up with caroline again too so there was a big group of us out for the night, which was fun and so naturally i had crazy dance moves to bust on the floor!!!

next stop.....magnetic island. travelled with annika who i'd met on whitsundays and ended up seeing lots of other people off trip there too! magnetic island is a small island which had lots of rainforest, small beaches and abundance of wildlife! my hostel was on the beach front...lush! spent the full day i had there doing a hike through rainforest, tried to spot koala's in trees but instead found kookaburas, laurakeets, butterflies and lots of tiny lizards! oooo and at night time there were huge fruit bats flying around! sweet!

from magnetic...it was onto cairns! didn't really get to see cairns in the daylight as went on a cape tribulation tour.....the location where the reef meets the rainforest! went jungle surfing while there as well as walks and time on the beach!

yesterday.....i had my great barrier reef dive and snorkel time aboard the passions of paradise cruise! was awesome......probably my favourite attraction in australia. nothing is comparable to the feeling of diving but i actually think i saw more when i was snorkelling as the fish stay above the coral! the coral was spectacular and the fish beautiful! i didn't know anyone on the boat and although i spoke to people i was so happy just in my own company and taking in the wonderful sights of the reef, i really had a happy day and was truly appreciating how lucky i am, smiling all day to myself!

last night i had a good time with my 'east coast friends' who i've spent most of my time with...played drinking games and had a boogie!

then this morning i had to get my flight at 6am...so little sleep was had! now i'm in brisbane and going to have a day orientating myself and sorting out things before i fly to singapore tomorrow afternoon!

only in singapore for two night and already got my hostel booked before i travel towards thailand!!! will update from there!

sorry on lack of photos........just going to leave them now til i get home!

x x x x x

lots of love x x x