Cruising down the beach in a 4x4 to Ocean Drive by the Lighthouse Family and the theme tune to The O.C sounds like something out of an American TV show. It's actually how we've spent the last 3 days, alongside 32 other backpackers on Fraser Island - the worlds largest sand island. Following a short brief about the island, how to drive on sand and a few unnerving tips on how to deal with all the poisonous snakes, spiders and wild dingos we loaded the cars and set...

It poured with rain for 3 days when we arrived in Cairns, which for obvious reasons didnt give us a great first impression. We weren't ready to give up the sun, our tans were fading and we're still only equipped for the summer. Putting our positive heads on though we headed into town to book the Great Barrier Reef trip we had planned all along, only 2 hours later we left with a Reef trip, a sailing trip to Whitsundays, 3 days on Fraser Island and a zoo day to cud...