Hiya again,

So, we really enjoyed Brisbane even though we'd had mixed reports! It really is a garden city and well worth exploring. We headed north to visit Steve Irwin's (Crikey!!!) zoo on the edge of the Glass House Mountains National Park. Although not one of the great zoological gardens of the world it has a certain charm in that one of the keepers might get eaten by a crocodile! To add atmosphere to our visit 'it hammered it down with rain' during the crocodile show!

Our campsite was perhaps the most basic so far but had tremendous appeal in that it was surrounded by a flat valley floor with huge granite mountains rising upwards (the Glass House Mouintains). These are ancient volcanic plugs which refuse to erode with the surrounding rock. We enjoyed a great trek around Tibrogargan Mountain but we (especially Doreen) were eaten alive by the biggest midges the world has ever produced! We managed to return to our 'van in time to drive -yet again, north- to Noosa Heads.

This was our opportunity to explore the famed Fraser Island and promptly booked an overnight stay on the Island. Fraser is the worlds largest sand island yet enjoys incredible natural phenomenon -a huge Rainforest, freshwater lakes and creeks and practically no rock whatsoever. We did the tourist thing by swimming in crystal clear freshwater at Mackenzie Lake after a hike over a huge sandblow (sand dune) and then swimming in the emerald green water of Wabbi Lake. This was followed by a huge buffet dinner, plenty of wine and happy hour(s) at the local bar -limbo dancing included for free! The follwing day saw fabulous rainforest walks, floating down a freshwater creek, climbing to the edge of Indian Heads for a tremendous viewpoint and -to cap it all- a 20 minute flight over the island in what is best described as an empty transit van with wings!!! Adrenalin was leaking through our %&^*! As you might have already guessed -the other people on this tour were KIDS!

We really enjoyed Noosa (especially walking through the national park) and Fraser was the icing on the cake but -as has become the custom- we need to move north. Our next stop (Sunday 13th) was in the city of Rockhampton; this was merely an overnight stop after a whole day driving through spectacular (and boring) countryside. It actually turned out to be probably the best site we have stayed on in Australia! We moved onto another 'off the beaten track' area called Hillsborough National Park and have enjoyed some great walking overlooking the Whitsunday Islands -these are our next stop. We move on tomorrow to Airlie Beach -the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. This morning we woke at 6am and walked to the beach to enjoy a rare encounter with kangaroos coming down to the waters edge -a truly remarkable sight!

Only 8 nights left in our campervan................................that hurts!

Speak soon, x