Sonnia generously took us back to Bangalow to pick up "the exec" and after settling the $462 bill (£310ish) we were back on the road. With morale low at this point and the flood situation getting worse further north preventing us from going towards Cairns we spent some more time in Southport enjoying Sonnia's baking, going to the gym, going bowling and in a real effort to cheer myself up loving fish as much as I do, visiting the sharks club where the reception is dominated by two large marine tanks containing... You guessed it - sharks!

Sonnia and Shaun's friend Ridley had kindly invited us to join the Canadians to meet him at his holiday home on the Gold Coast. We all enjoyed meeting Ridley and his family over lunch. He had some fantastic stories and footage from his years in the TV and film industry where he specialised in slow motion filming. We spent the day marvelling at some of his personal follies of the slow motion pictures world and took the time to head down to the beautiful beach (only me and Shaun would battle the big waves and rip tides though). It seemed morale had been lifted enough to attempt another venture out!