3/9/06 - Quite a few of us got the same flight out to Cairns today. I phoned for a pick up at the airport and then low and behold Cecilia and Claudia (sisters from Argentina) got on minibus too, we hadn't talked about it and here we were going to same accommodation! All of us on the flight had agreed to meet in town later for dinner, so the 3 of us walked in together along the seafront. Dinner was lovely at the Chapel Cafe and we got the courtesy bus back to the Serpent. 4/9/06 - Slept in, but got disturbed 3 times by housekeeping, who did not seem to understand the meaning of 'it's OK you don't need to clean room'!!!!!!!!! Went into town, it was a lovely day (when had arrived yesterday it was storm clouds and lots of rain), booked a scuba diving course, then went to the cinema and watched a film called 'Thank You For Smoking' which was hilarious! Later met up with Cecilia and Claudia and met someone new, Laura from Wales and we all had our 'free' dinner together. This is what had attracted me to booking this place, but the 'free' dinner turned out to be a portion for an elf! and you could pay extra for larger portions, I didn't out of principle, but ended up having a pudding! I caught up with some emails later and did some laundry before going to bed around midnight (washing machine and dryer took longer than anticipated!) 5/9/06 - Went into town on 9.30am courtesy bus and went and booked the Greyhound Bus for Mon.11th to Airlie Beach. It leaves at 7am and gets me in to Airlie Beach at 6.10pm!!! Also reserved accommodation at a place called Bush Village, which is family operated. It sounds and looks nice on it's literature and the man sounded nice on the phone. He also said not to worry they would be waiting for me at the bus station with a free pick up. So I'm really looking forward to that and exploring the Whitsunday Islands. Had lovely breakfast on the harbour front and read the newspapers which were all reporting on Steve Irwin's tragic death only up the coast in Port Douglas. I was very saddened to hear about it yesterday and they brought his body to Cairns yesterday. Very sad and I really feel for his wife and children and extended family. Went to the cinema to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I still think first one is the best. Got back and spent a few hours updating website. 6/9/06 - 7.30am pick up this morning for my diving course, very excited! Our instructor was Mike from Holland. I enjoyed the first part of the day, theory and quizzes and a medical. Proved I could swim and stamina by doing 200 metres in the pool and treading water for 10 minutes. Got all the gear ready, but unfortunately as soon as I was underwater breathing quite well through the regulator, I didn't feel comfortable at all. Came up to the surface a few times and Aaron, very kind lad, took me aside for some one to one tuition. Turns out I was breathing through my nose as well as my mouth (which you shouldn't do - only through your mouth), but I didn't know I was doing it, so found it very hard not do it!!! Apparently, this happens to a few people and they call them 'Nose Breathers'! I really didn't feel comfortable no matter how many times I tried and it started to make me feel a bit panicky about how it would be out at sea! Therefore, very regrettably I decided to discontinue the course. Everyone was really good about it, I got a refund, but then Mike came out and offered for me to come with the group on Friday and Saturday (as originally planned) but to snorkel, so I paid for these day trips and I have to say I felt alot better and excited about snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, as this I know I can do. Never mind, at least I tried and I now know scuba diving is not for me. I'll stick to snorkelling! It is now 11.11pm and I have just finished typing up over a month's worth of journal and I feel very satisfied indeed! Hope you enjoyed catching up with me! Now time for seepies! Night, night! 7/9/06 - Had a very relaxed day today. Sat at the pool and just read, read, read! It was fab! I finished 'The Liar' by Stephen Fry, very clever and funny book and I'm now reading 'My Life So Far' by Jane Fonda, which is proving to be a very interesting read, 'can't put it down' book, in fact I'm typing this now thinking about it! On the subject of books, I have read some fab ones so far, including the fabist so far, 'Wild Swans' by Jung Chang. I recommend everyone to go out and get this book, it is just fantastic. All about 3 generations of women in China, it is fascinating and very informative, I found it a real eye opener and now wish to visit China even more! 8/9/06 - 7.30am boarded the Supercat for my days snorkelling out on the Great Barrier Reef. It was a fab day, weather beautiful and the reef even more so. Met some lovely people on the boat, Ruth, John, Mike and an Irish lad who's name I didn't get, doh! The crew were fab, so funny and entertaining and the group I had started my diving course with were on board for their first dive in the ocean, it was nice to see them and have a chat. We were all given safety numbers and the crew would check you were on board before moving on the a different part of the reef. My number was 13! The skipper asked for my safety number at one point and I said 'unlucky for some' and he replied 'oh! looking for some?', this stuck and we had good banter the rest of the day, as you can imagine! I saw lots of colourful fishes and coral, it is just another world under there (obviously I hear you cry!) but I felt overwhelmed at actually snorkelling and seeing one of the seven wonders of the world with my own eyes, rather than just seeing marine life in pictures, in books and on the telly (was at Saxon and Norman Reef). Fab, fab day, just didn't realise how tired I would feel. I think I will sleep very well. 9/9/06 - Second day out snorkelling today, this time on the sister boat Osprey V. Different crew, but just as good, as my 'group' were there for their final day diving. Met some more lovely people, Richard, Julia. In the morning the ocean was very choppy and it was very windy, I didn't last long out there, it was just too choppy and my mask kept filling up with water. At one point I started to feel a little panicky, as the waves were very strong, so I decided to swim back to the boat. In the afternoon though the tide was going out and it calmed down alot and we moved to Hastings Reef. Here we saw Wally, the big friendly Maori Wrasse! He came right onto the bottom platform at the rear of the boat (where we all get in and out of the water) and took food from Phil, one of the crew. He's apparently always there and looks out for the boats!! He is massive, with a huge blue head, it was fab to watch and he was still around when I got into the ocean. Wow! I felt I was in paradise this afternoon, I was snorkelling away, having just had my photo taken by an underwater photographer (which I've now got on disc along with all the shots he took that day of turtles and fishes, etc.!) when I rounded a bend in the reef and came upon an array of colourful coral, with no end of different species of fish all swimming around. It looked like an underwater secret garden and I felt like a mermaid!!! I then looked down and saw a gigantic clam on the sea bed, it was beautiful!! It was open, but later on it closed and it was fab! It was about the size of a 3 seater settee! Unfortunately, I didn't fulfil my wish to see turtles, hopefully this wish will come true soon, as there are still plenty of snorkelling opportunities as I move down the east coast. Mike (Dutch diving instructor) invited me out for dinner and drinkies with the group later on, which I thought was a lovely gesture. We met up in Rattle and Hum, I had a gorgeous 'Cairns Tropicale' pizza (Hawaiian!) and we had a great evening, moving onto The Woolshed later on. Scott, the other instructor told me that Mike and he were gutted when I decided to pull out of the course, as they had sensed I had the 'right/good vibe going on'. I thought this was lovely and he hoped I would give it another try in the future. I have great respect for the ocean now and for those who go diving in it!!!!! 10/9/06 - Got 9.30am bus into town and had a lovely b'fast on the harbour front, reading the papers. Bought a new bag on wheels which also has straps to use as a back pack if needed. I may post my back pack home, or keep it with me incase it comes in handy. There's just no need to have a back pack, it's so much easier to wheel luggage behind you. So many people I've chatted to have said the same thing. Updated website later on and uploaded some more photos, then for the rest of the day I read and dozed. Had dinner then went with a few people to the lagoon on the seafront where there was an open viewing of 'Yellow Submarine'. It was a very funny film, I hadn't seen it before and the music was fab, as you would expect from The Beatles! Got back around 10pm, packed then went to bed. 11/9/06 - Up early as bus to Airlie Beach was at 7am. Had to ask for the kitchen to be opened, so I could have some breakfast, taxi arrived ten minutes early at 6.20am, great would prefer early than late! Got the Greyhound bus fine and had a seat to myself for the whole journey, yippee, stretched out!! Stopped 4 times altogether on the journey, passed through different little towns, including Bowen where they've got a massive sculpture of a Gum Boot, which collects rainfall info. Got into Airlie Beach at 6.10pm, my bum was a bit numb! Bus to Bush Village, where I'd booked some accommodation was waiting for me. Very nice place, checked in and shared a 4 bed dorm (2 bunk beds) with a German couple, who were very nice. I had the bottom of one of the bunks and they had the other bunk. They are self contained cabins, so we had our own kitchen, bathroom and toilet, nice and clean too. Went up to the lounge later and watched the movie True Romance with Christian Slater, which was very good. They have a movie every night at 8.30m and anyone can choose from a big collection of videos. 12/9/06 - Get a free continental breakfast here between 7.30am - 8.30am, so got up for that, it was very nice and the owners had also baked some lovely muffins. Spent all day reading and relaxing. I've had a rash on my arms and legs for a few days now and today I'm feeling very very tired, I'm beginning to wonder if it's more than just what I thought was a reaction to some new moisturiser I'd bought, maybe it's chicken pox or a virus or something, better not have been bed bugs from Cairns!!!! Either way, I feel a bit under the weather. Booked a sailing trip on a yacht called Dreamcatcher, the first two choices I made were fully booked, which was a real shame as the first yacht was beautiful and had some history. It had been used by King George V and Marilyn Monroe in it's time! Never mind I'm sure this one will be good too. German couple have checked out and now sharing with 2 girls, who staying for just one night, didn't see much of them at all. Went to supermarket and bought food to cook myself and tried to get some cash out, but wouldn't work! Called Lloyds TSB hotline and was told not to worry, not just me, the whole network had gone down and the department to sort it weren't open yet!!! So I tried a bit later on and everything was fine, phew!! Movie tonight was Patch Adams, excellent movie! 13/9/06 - Explored the town today, very nice place and seafront and harbour lovely. Had a pedicure, the lady was excellent, very attentive, my nails are now a lovely bright pink, a decent length again and hard skin all removed, super! Went to the book exchange, went to sailing office and paid reef tax for my trip. Met Amy, the hostel's new courtesy bus driver, very nice girl. 2 Irish girls, Jenny and Clauda now sharing room, they seem nice too. Movie tonight was Bachelor Party with Tom Hanks, very funny, I hadn't seen it before. 14/9/06 - Irish girls were up super early for a day trip, after breakfast I went and had a mooch round shops and booked my accommodation in Hervey Bay and a Fraser Island trip once I got there and Greyhound to get me there. Got back and was relaxing in the lounge, a young lad came and picked up the guitar, which sits next to the TV and started strumming on it. It was lovely, at one point it reminded me of my Grandad as he started strumming what sounded like a tune he used to play 'Horsey, Horsey'! That made me feel very nice. Movie tonight was 'The Castle' an Aussie movie which was really good, very funny, all about a family that fight against there house being bought off them for an airport extension. 15/9/06 - Checked out at 9.30am, put my luggage in storage, as only taking small day pack on the yacht. Hung around until 1.30pm bus to take me to the harbour for 2pm trip. Lovely group of people, Lydia, Amy and Katie are all English and nurses working in Sydney, Alison (Amy's sister) and Matt, Laura and hubby (Dutch), Raphael and Niels (German), Mel (Dutch), Lena (Swiss), Lee and Catherine (English). Connor our skipper seems a nice chap and Jason our host/crewman I'm not too sure about. As soon as I met him I felt unsure about him, ummm. A very wet and windy journey once we got out of the harbour. It had been glorious in the harbour, but once out on the open ocean the black clouds and winds came rolling in. Ended up having to put wet weather gear on and eventually I gave in and sat downstairs. Once we reached Whitsunday Island itself it had calmed down and we had some lovely food. Later on we sat on deck under the black, starry sky, it was lovely and all the yachts near us were all lit up, very pretty. Didn't sleep too good, not very comfortable. Myself, the 'nurses', Lena and Mel slept in what in the day time is the communal area. My bed extended out from one of the seating benches and unfortunately the foam kept moving everytime I did and the wooden join poked into my back! I did sleep eventually, but felt like more of a doze. Also, just as we were all nodding off an alarm went off and so Connor and Jason were attending to that for a while. Raphael is a big fella and unfortunately he was too big for his bed, so he ended up putting his mattress on the floor and his head was poking out of his room into the kitchen area and he snored very loudly all night!! The kitchen area was right next to us!! Lovely guy though. 16/9/06 - Tracey and Neil's 5th Wedding Anniversary!! Lovely day, weather superb!! After breakfast we took turns in the little motor boat over to Sawmill Beach and Connor took us on a trail through the rainforest. He was very knowledgeable and I actually licked a green ant's arse!!! It tastes of lemons!! On way back to yacht a massive sea turtle came to the surface, I couldn't get my camera quick enough, ooooh it was so beautiful! Climbed up ladder to get back on the yacht and because my feet were wet, I slipped and ended up gashing the side of my right foot, it was soooooooo painful!!!! It didn't stop bleeding for over an hour!! Subsequently, once we got to Blue Pearl Bay I didn't go snorkelling, damn, damn!! Had a lovely lunch and even though I thought I had sat in the shade all day, my shins were burnt!!! Jason acted quite strangely for most of the afternoon and ended up being very rude to a few of us, including myself. He just seemed to belittle everything anyone said and acted so defensively to things people said, even if the conversation was nothing to do with him! He didn't serve dinner until 10pm and we were all starving. Mel made a comment and he really ripped into her. Lydia said something and she said she felt like she'd been told off by her Dad!! He then went to say something to me and I just said 'Don't start your rubbish with me pal' and he wandered off. Alison said she heard Connor having a go at him at the back of the yacht up on deck. Not sure if he was drunk or what (Alison said she had seen him drinking and Connor later on said he had taken quite alot of Panadol), but was very unnecessary behaviour. This caused a bit of an atmosphere, but we 'girls' laughed it off and went to bed. We went to bed though without our dessert!! 17/9/06 - Got up and I was expecting that maybe Jason would apologise, but nothing was said! The sail back was awesome. All sails were let out and the yacht was practically on it's side as we sailed back to Airlie Beach. I couldn't hold on at one point, so moved very slowly and cautiously and sat down on the deck with my feet up against a box for anchorage!! Got back around 12pm. Connor gave us some feedback forms and I was very honest on mine, as were the majority of the others. We thanked them for a lovely trip, as it was, it was just last night that was weird! It will be interesting to see if the office follows up on the feedback! Went back to Bush Village, had a shower. Watched end of Lord of the Rings, then watched 'Ali' with an American girl called Kelly. Will Smith was excellent as Muhammad Ali and I learnt alot from the film. Got 7.45pm courtesy bus to coach station and got coach to Hervey Bay at 8.05pm. Had a seat again to myself all the way. Met Phillipa, who had actually also stayed at Bushies. 18/9/06 - Got into Hervey Bay at 9.25am. My ankle was so swollen on my right foot, must be because of the gash that it was worse than usual, as my ankles had been a bit swollen on last coach trip, it had been 13 hours!!!! Palace Backpackers were there to pick me up and Phillipa ended up coming to, as she hadn't arranged any accomm. We ended up in the same room. She seems a nice lady. She's 54 and resigned to come out travelling, as she had asked her work twice for 5 weeks off and each time they didn't reply, so she thought 'stuff you' I'm off! Good for her! Her Mum had passed away 2 years ago and she had left her some money and a note which said, I hope this will help you get to Australia, so here she was! We walked to the beachfront after checking in, only a 5 minute walk, it is so lovely. Seems a quieter place than Airlie Beach with a lot more 'older' people. We had something to eat and Phillipa bought me a drink as a thank you for helping her find the accommodation. I left her to mooch around a bit and went back to put my ankle up!!! We had booked a whale watching trip at check in and were ebing picked up at 12.50pm. Phillipa still wasn't back by 12.45pm!! We found her though down the road, she had got lost, bless her! What an afternoon! It was just superb! We saw so many humpback whales and their young calves. They pop into Hervey Bay every year on their way migrating to the Antarctic. The skipper was even chuffed at how many we were seeing. They were playing, jumping out of the water, turning around, splashing their fins and tails. The mothers were teaching their calves and it was sooooo cute seeing them try but not quite getting it! At one point they came so close to the boat, it was a magnificent sight, they are sooooo big and graceful! We were told about a petition they had going to the Australian Government about not letting the Japanese start whaling there next year. It had been stopped back in 1986, but the time was up next year and they would be able to hunt the humpbacks again! I then found out that they say it's for 'research' but the truth is it's for the upmarket restaurants, who sell as delicacies!!! Apparently, they have plenty of whale meat in stock and are even trying to sell it off to the Norwegians, but they still want to hunt for more, it's an outrage!!!! It just doesn't make any sense!!! Of course I signed the petition and it will be interesting to see what happens. Got back at 5.45pm, very very tired. Had a shower then went straight to bed. 19/9/06 - Slept in until 11am, I slept well, I needed it!! Did some washing, then spent time on internet, emailing and updating journal. Movie and pizza tonight at 7.30pm. Will be checking out tomorrow for Fraser Island tour, pick up 7am, will be back 6pm on Thursday. 20/9/06 - Nice group again, 14 of us in total and Deano as our driver/guide. Fraser Island is just sooooo beautiful. We caught ferry over from Rainbow Beach and watched the dolphins playing. Then it was a great 4WD ride up '75 mile beach' to our resort 'Eurong Beach'. We only stopped off here for toilets, etc., then we got back on board and headed for Eli Creek. This place was lovely, on the way we saw two dingoes, a male and a female on the beach, so we stopped to take piccies. Eli Creek wasn't very deep, so ended up paddling in it rather than swimming, it was lovely, so clear and the sand was great under my feet. After about 1 hour Deano set up lunch on the beach, yum, yum! After lunch we headed for the Maheno shipwreck. It had once been a luxury cruise ship, then it had been used in WW1 as a hospital, it bought the wounded soldiers back from action and cared for them on the journey. But in 1935 the Japanese bought it for scrap and began towing it back to Japan, but unfortunately they didn't navigate very well, as it grounded on shore on Fraser Island!!!!! Here it has stayed ever since, as it quite a sight to see - look out for piccies! We then headed for the Pinnacles, which are coloured sands, again very beautiful and Deano showed us 'Coffee Rock', so called because of it's colour and consistency, but basically it is sand and vegetation which has become compacted over time. We then ended up at Indian Head, where we climbed to the highest point and the views were magnificent. I could have stayed there all day, we could see sharks, turtles, dolphins, rays, even though we were quite high up, fab! We headed back, where I ended up sharing a dorm with 3 lovely Irish girls, Marion, Maura and Briea, 2 of whom are teachers. Bethany, also a teacher and Rachel, a nurse were very nice people too. Marion and I had a snooze for about an hour, then we all headed off for dinner. Dinner was absolutely fab!!! Roast Lamb and all the trimmings, yummy yummy! followed by a gorgeous chocolate sponge with choccie sauce and custard, I ended up having seconds of the roast dinner, it was soooooo lovely. We all walked out of the restaurant very very stuffed!! We all ended up in the bar and had a few drinkies. Deano had told us over dinner about how the Rangers on the island treat the Dingoes. They basically get rid of them (I'm sure you know what I mean) and now there are only about 60 left on the island. It is pure madness and just doesn't make sense. OK one boy was injured by one, but they ended up killing 42 dingoes, even though they knew the 2 which had actually been involved!!! They are a wild animal and will defend themselves accordingly, I understand they have to be dealt with when humans get hurt, just like any domestic animal would, but there is no need for overkill and as usual, bad media coverage! The rangers behaviour and attitude I found very disturbing! After a few drinkies, Rachel, Bethany and I walked down onto the beach and did some stargazing. The night sky was just beautiful, all lit up with thousands of stars. Bethany showed me the Milky Way, I was stunned, it was sooooo beautiful, awesome!!! We don't get to see this back in good old Blighty! I was chatting about how I had never seen a shooting star, after about half an hour, I decided to turn round and look in the other direction and low and behold I saw one! It was lovely and Bethany said she was soooooo chuffed for me that I had seen one. So I made a wish! Went to bed very satisfied, good day and night had by all. In the middle of the night Briea shouted out in her sleep, I answered her thinking she was awake, it was very funny! 21/9/06 - Bethany knocked on our door for sunrise, but I didn't get up, I need my sleepies! Had a lovely breakfast, we had been given a breakfast box for each chalet, so we had cereal, toast, tea and juice. After breakfast we loaded up and headed for Central Station where we walked through the rainforest. On our walk we saw 2 tawny frogmouth owls and a big lizard darted up a tree away from us. Deano showed us a Satinay tree, which are only found on Fraser Island! We then ended up for the afternoon at Lake Mackenzie, which was just GORGEOUS! Crystal clear waters, beautiful white sand, we had a lovely swim and sunbathe. Deano had told us to exfoliate with the wet sand, so we did, our skins were so soft afterwards and so was our hair, as the water is high in acid. Definitely could have stayed there forever! But we had to have lunch and get going for our journey back to the mainland, boo hoo! On the way back down the beach we saw lots of little birds called crested turns. Before we had left I also bought a beautiful book of Fraser Island, jam packed with gorgeous photos taken by local resident and photographer Peter Meyer. Got back to the hostel about 6pm, where I showered and flaked out for the rest of the night. I ended up sharing the dorm with 1 Swiss girl, 1 Canadian guy and 2 American guys. 22/9/06 - The Swiss girl got up and left around 5.45am, but she left her camera behind, the 'guys' noticed when they got up at 5.45am and took it to reception. The 'guys' then realised they had got up 1 hour too early (American had set his clock wrong - doh!), but at least they vacated the room and left me to sleep a bit longer! I got up around 8am and found them still sitting in the lounge, they had missed their bus!!!!! Thick or what, they had got up an hour early aswell!!!!!! They ended up getting same bus as me to Brisbane at 9.25am.