Well it's been a while since we updated this! We've packed a fair bit into the last few weeks in Oz so thought we'd split it up into states to make it a bit easier to read...

Arrived safely in Cairns on 11th August following our flight from Singapore via Darwin. We were treated to a very Australian welcome when Customs dude complete with cork style hat, shorts, long socks and sandles said "Gidday girls, don't supose you have anything edible in those bags?" To which we said no so we were sent on our way. Good to see the Australians have got their priorities right - always thought a ham sandwich was much more of a threat than, say, a fire arm!

We stayed in a lovely hostel in Cairns, with it's own pool. And we were also pleasantly surprised to find that even though it was Australian winter it was a cosy 30 degrees in sunny Queensland allowing us to enjoy a day by the lagoon (swimming in the sea not advisable due to sharks, snakes, crocs, stingers and various other dangerous creatures). Although we did brave it to go snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, which was amazing! Emma thinks she saw a shark but I'm pretty sure it was just a large fish!

From Cairns we took our first overnight Greyhound bus to Airlie Beach. The bus driver was pure comedy (imagine a grumpy Harold Bishop!). He'd obviously had a bad day and proceeded to use his microphone to tell us all about it and explain the "Greyhound Bus Rules" in great detail. Did you know that you cannot consume hot food or beverages on greyhound buses, neither can you stretch your legs across the aisle - random spot checks were carried out to ensure this rule was adhered to!

In Airlie Beach we continued to enjoy the sunny weather and our first bush walk in Australia, which was going well until we came across a snake. I was none too impressed as I had been reliably informed by some people that I wouldn't see a snake in Australia! But turns out it was a harmless carpet snake anyway. Having survived that adventure we went snorkelling again off the Whitsunday Islands and spent some time on Whitehaven beach (see picture above). We were also lucky enough to spot some Humpback whales on return to Airlie Beach.

Next stop was Hervey Bay and The Fraser Island Dingo Tour. Everything about it was excellent; Karl our very Australian tour leader, the amazing lakes and beaches, rattling along the sand tracks in our 4WD, the daily cakes and cookies and the Dingo Bar! We were entertained by Karl's regular poetry and jokes although it wasn't so funny when he drove us into the bush, stopped the bus and told us he was going to murder us... weird australian comedy!

Back on dry land we took another Greyhound bus down to Brisbane where we were met by my Auntie Marion and Uncle Jimmy. We then spent a lovely few days sightseeing with my family, taking in Mt Coot-tha, The City Cat, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Surfers Paradise. It was also lovely to enjoy some home comforts for a while - although very strange not sharing a room/bed with Emma for the first time in 4 months! Much good food and wine was also enjoyed with cousins Steven, Andrew + family!

We then headed slightly south of Brisbane to stay with my Auntie Margaret and Uncle Bob where we enjoyed a birthday dinner for Cameron, involving the best chocolate cake we've ever eaten and a hoola hoop compettion that Emma and I failed miserably at! While in Cleveland we took a day trip to Stradbroke Island (Straddie) where we enjoyed a very tasty sausage sizzle. We also visited the set of the next Narnia film (sorry Caroline no scarily attractive 12 year old boys to look at, just an impressive wooden dragon ship!) and enjoyed lunch with my cousin Karen. On our last day in Brissie we ate more cake than you can imagine and Auntie Margaret set us on our way with a very tasty packed dinner complete with a couple more bits of cake!

Next stop Newcastle, NSW...