So last time we blogged, we left you by saying we were going on a boat trip in Townsville where I was snorkelling and Sam was going to be scuba diving.... It didn't quite work out that way as the trip got cancelled due to bad weather :( Instead, we went to the Reef HQ Aquarium, which is the only aquarium where everything in the tanks comes from Great Barrier Reef. They don't like to be called an aquarium though as they are an educational centre for the reef. We spent a while looking round and talking to the many volunteers about the different fish and coral. They were all so friendly and very passionate about looking after and preserving the GBR. Later in the afternoon, we went and visited the sea turtle hospital where they nurse sick and injured turtles back to health before releasing them back into the ocean. We felt a mix of emotions there - we felt sad that the turtles had to be there in the first place, but at the same time we were glad to see that they were being well looked after. Most of the turtles were in the hospital because they had floating syndrome which, more often than not, is caused by them eating a plastic bag that's been dumped in the ocean because they think it's a jellyfish. This then causes a build up of gas in their lungs and they float to the top. Other turtles were in the hospital due to being struck by boat propellors. They aren't sure exactly how old the turtles are, but they estimated that one of them was 70+ years old and she weighed a massive 150kg!!!

Overall, I would say this was one of our highlights of Australia. I think we probably saw and learnt a lot more here than we would have done if we'd gone out on the boat trip, so in a way, I'm glad the trip was cancelled. And we saw sea turtles!! Bonus!

Our next stop after Townsville was Airlie Beach. We both really enjoyed it here. The weather was great, the town was lovely and the hostel was pretty good too. On our first full day we went out on an Ocean Rafting tour, where we had one stop for snorkelling before going to Whitehaven Beach and walking to one of the most amazing lookouts I've ever seen. Again, the visibility for the snorkelling wasn't great, but it was a lot better than the one in Cairns. We saw a lot of colourful fish and were lucky to see a blue spotted sting ray too. After an hour or so, we were back on the boat to go to Whitehaven Beach. The boat ride itself was really fun - it was a 'rib' which inflates all the way round so it was more like we were skimming the waves rather than sailing on them! Soon we were at Whitehaven, walking along the pure white sand. We walked up to the view point and what we saw was absolutely breathtaking. The different colours in the ocean, the bright white sand...it looked like something off of a postcard. We had a couple of hours on the beach to do whatever we wanted, so we laid out our towels and caught a few rays. The sand on Whitehaven beach is something like 98.9% silica sand - neither of us particularly knows what silica means, but it's very good for your skin if you rub the sand on you and it squeaks when you walk on it! However, if you were to try and take any of the sand through customs, they can fine you up to AUD$10,000!!

We didn't do much on our last couple of days in Airlie Beach. We sunbathed around the lagoon (public swimming pool) and on our last day, we had to wait until 5:30pm for the bus to pick us up and take us to Surfers Paradise. That was a loooooong journey! It took around 21 hours before we reached Surfers...and we didn't even leave one state of Australia!

We were extremely lucky in staying here as our hotel was paid for by one of Sam's relatives, David. We arrived in the afternoon on Christmas Eve so after having a very long shower to get the smelly coach smell off, we went out for a steak dinner in a good old Irish pub. We were both quite tired having not slept particularly well on the coach, so we were back at the hotel and in bed watching Home Alone by 8:30pm! Rock and roll!!

Then came Christmas Day! After one of many FaceTime calls to home, we went out to explore and see how Australia celebrates Christmas. The beach was very busy with people having a Christmas morning swim, surf and sunbathe and we were surprised to see that some of the shops were still open. We then decided to go onto the beach and build a 'Sandy-Claus', after having a very festive lunch - McDonalds! Then came our second round of FaceTiming home later that evening before going out for dinner. We tried and tried, but sadly, nowhere seemed to be doing a roast dinner, so we had the next best thing - I had carbonara and Sam had chicken parmigiana! Boxing Day mostly consisted of sitting around the pool, FaceTiming our families and having an afternoon nap (at least that was a bit Christmassy!) Later that evening we were again very lucky, as David treated us to a lovely meal at the Hard Rock Cafe!

The next day, it was time to leave Surfers Paradise - boooo, and get on the bus to start the journey down to Sydney to stay with Sarah - yaaaaay! The journey this time took around 17 hours and we did finally cross the border into a different state. After arriving in Sydney just before 7am the following day, we caught the train to Wollongong and was reunited with our good Aussie friend! We were made to feel at home straight away after arriving at the Borger house. It felt like such a relief to be in a house again, rather than hotels and hostels!

After a good nights sleep, we got up in the morning ready to experience a very full day touring Sydney with our very own tour guide. We visited a rather windy Bondi Beach, then went on to Circular Quay where we saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge and of course, the Opera House. We then got the ferry over to Manly where we wandered around for a couple of hours and got an ice cream before getting the ferry back to Circular Quay and walking over to The Rocks (Sydney's old town). We found a pub with a rooftop bar that had a great view of the harbour...the only thing was, there was a big cruise ship docked up so we couldn't see anything! We had a drink there anyway and then caught the train to Darling Harbour. (Did I mention that the trains in Sydney are double decker?!) It was soon dinner time so we got a bite to eat then made our way to the casino for a drink. Sam nearly wasn't allowed in as the bouncer wasn't convinced that the photo on his ID was actually him! The joys of having a baby face without a beard, aye Sam! The time flew by in the casino and before we knew it, it was time to start heading home.

The next day, we enjoyed another busy day sightseeing, but this time around Wollongong. Sarah and her mum drove us all around showing us various parts of their hometown. We went to Sea Cliff Bridge which was absolutely amazing, not what we were expecting at all. Again, it looked like something you'd see on a postcard. After this, we went to a pub to look at the view from the garden - White Hart eat your heart out! This was followed by fish and chips on the beach in Thirroul. Finally, we went to the top of Mount Keira which overlooks the whole of Wollongong - the view was amazing! We could even see the Borger house from there! Later that night, as a thank you for letting us stay, we cooked everyone a British BBQ. All that was missing was the miserable British weather! Everything seemed to go down well and everyone enjoyed the pork sausages which pleased Sam very much!

We got up bright and early the following morning to join Sarah's mum and dad at the beach for their morning swim. Sam had a go at body boarding but unfortunately the waves weren't big enough so they weren't in the sea for long. We then had breakfast before going back home to chill out and save our energy for bringing in the new year that evening. We spent New Years Eve at Sarah's friend Hayley's, eating homemade pizza, drinking and playing Scattergories. At around 11:30pm, with a rather drunk Sarah in tow, we made our way down to the beach ready to bring in 2014. We both thoroughly enjoyed this...it's not every year you get to go and stand on the beach, wearing summer clothes and not be cold on New Year's Eve!

New Year's Day was very chilled out. We spent the majority of it watching TV before having a very tasty roast dinner. YESSS!! We finally got our Christmas dinner!

It was then time to say goodbye...not that we wanted to! We had such a good time with the Borgers and can't thank them enough for having us!

When we arrived at the airport in Sydney however, there was a sign at our check in desks to say that our plane had been downgraded to a smaller one due to problems with with original one and as a result, not everyone would be boarding the flight that day. Unfortunately (or perhaps not...) this included us and we ended up having to stay in the hotel across the road overnight and catch our flight to Fiji the next day. But we did receive a very generous allowance for all our meals and the hotel room was very nice, so we couldn't complain too much. Who could moan about free food and accommodation?!

We're now finally in Fiji. At the moment we're staying on the mainland in Nadi but to be honest, it's not that great. Our hostel is on the beach but it's not the sort of beach you'd expect to find in Fiji - it's very dirty and not all that nice to look at. The Fijians are so friendly and happy though, it's hard to complain!

We've just got back from a day trip today to South Sea Island. We spent 3 hours on the island before cruising back to the mainland via the other Mamanuca Islands. South Sea Island is much more what you'd expect from Fiji with white sand, clear water and a very relaxed vibe all round. Tomorrow we are going to one of the Yasawa Islands called Waya Island, where we will be staying for 5 days in the resort. Hopefully Sam will get to do some scuba diving this time and I'll be doing some more snorkelling - who knows...maybe one of us will see a sea turtle in the wild!