Hi everyone

Hope everyone is keeping well! We've got a fair bit to tell you today so sorry for the length!

We'll start where we left left off... The farm gang came round friday night to say our final farewells! It was a really good night and we had a good giggle with everyone!

The next morning we packed our last bits into the car and went to say our goodbyes to Jim and Sue the campsite managers!! he told us it was a pleasure having us and that he was going to pray that we will all find Jesus! I dont think we've mentioned this before but Jim is a religous preacher, healer and as it turns out an exocist! Its always good to know one of those...just in case! he told us a story about when a lady came to him and asked him to get rid of the demon inside her!! so he did and God allowed him to smell what a demon was like and aparently it smells like garbage!! After that story we made our excuses and left...very quickly!!

From Warwick we travelled to Caloundra, we stayed at Dicky Beach camp site. Its a lovely little town with beautiful beaches! right outside the campsite on the beach was an 1810 shipwreck! We didnt know it was there so it was a nice surprise when we went to the beach!

On Sunday we took a trip to Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's Zoo) It was quite small, probably 2/3rds of the size of Colchester zoo but it was very interactive! We saw a live animal show with birds, snakes and Crocodiles! We stroked a Koala and stroked and fed loads of kangaroos!! It was a good day out but i think Colchester is better to be honest!

On Monday we drove onto Noosa again! We booked Fraser Island, Whitsundays and Skydiving! we got a good deal, especially the Whitsundays, we've booked onto a luxury catermerang (not sure how its spelt) it comes with free paddle boarding, big loungers that float in the sea and get pulled along by the boat and loads more!! We set up camp on noosa river that night, it was really nice there and i got an amazing pic of the sunset! there were also wild pelicans walking around the camp as well which was really weird to see!

Tuesday was a free day in Noosa so naturally we were down the beach at 8.30am sunbathing and having a little swim in the sea! we spent most the morning there and in the afternoon we hired a boat and went for a cruise along the river! it was a really hot lovely day! We went up the river past all the millionaires houses and Richard Branson's private island! We stopped half way and Greg and Ben attempted to fish while i read a book!! Unfortunatley whilst greg looked the part he didnt catch anything! Ben, bless him, struggled to not tangle the line everytime he cast in so he got quite fed up fairly quickly!! After the boat trip we travelled up to Gympie and stayed in a rest stop/camp site!

Wed morning we travelled a little further upto Rainbow beach! Its a tiny little town with another beautiful beach! We met our group for Fraser Island and we all had a few drinks in the hostel bar! next morning we were up and ready at 7am for free pancakes and then we all loaded up the 4x4's we were going to be travelling to Fraser in! In our group we had... Me, Greg, Lisa from manchester, Andi and Maltr from Hamburg Germany, Kirsty and Katherine from Holland and Lucy from france! Ben was in a different group but only for the driving so we still spent loads of time with him!! there are pretty much no roads on the island so when we got there we were driving on the beach watching the dolphins swim past and occasionally sliding in the sand!! it was so surreal! our first stop on the island was lake Birabeen! It was beautiful, crystal clear and naturally infused with teatree oil! We were told the day before that there would be no showers on fraser and your not allowed shampoo, conditioner or body wash!!!! so we had to wash in the lakes and creeks with just the water! so the lake was our first natural bath!! it was very refreshing!! everyone had a laugh and we started to get to know the rest of the groups!After the lake Greg drove us through the roughest 4x4 track to and in the rainforest where we had lunch! after lunch we took a little walk through the rain forest and then went on to set up camp on the beach! Everyone started drinking very early and so everyone got a little drunk very quickly! there were 3 very steriotypical americans who we got on very well with, John, Adam and C.P.! they were from Boston and New york, they all played La-cross for there college. They loved taking the mick out of me by saying 'I come from London' in a very posh accent! but i retaliated with 'Awsommme!! in a very OTT American accent' They were also the first people in my life to say I sound posh!! Ben laughed when he heard that!! i also got on really well with 3 irish girls, one in particular had me in stitches everytime i spoke to her! It was an awsome night and everyone had a laugh!!

The next morning we set off early for Indian Heads, which was a big cliff top that you climb to the top of, look out to sea and watch the dolphines, sharks and whales!! we were lucky enough to sea a few hump back whales jumping out of the ocean free willy style!! It was incredible to watch!! we couldnt take our eyes off the sea!! we also saw a few dolpines and a shark but they were no where near as good as the whales!! After Indian Head we went to the Pinnacles (coloured sands) and visited the famous shipwreck on the beach!! We had lunch in a picnic area and then went for our daily 'natural' shower in Eli Creek! The water was crystal clear and so fresh you could drink it! We got back to camp quite early so in true american style with the americans we all played american football on the beach!! It was a lot of fun and luckily no brutal contact so i could play! me and greg were on opposite teams! I always managed to get free but because i was the only girl no one passed to me! but to be fair everytime they did pass to me i dropped the ball lol! so that may have had something to do with it!! It was a good game but Gregs team won in the end! me and Greg are still aching from
it now!! that night we all had an early night as we were still recovering from the night before!! In the morning we woke up and discovered that the Dingos (which are wild dogs) had stolen our milk, cheese and sandwich meat!! which wasnt very nice of them!!

On saturday morning, our last day, we packed up camp and made our way to lake Wabby! we managed to get a phone signal and spoke to Diane and received an update from home! We decided then that we would put our travel on pause and come home for a while!! We wernt sure what to do with the car and everything but as luck would have it our tour guide Joel was in the market for a 4x4! when we got back from Fraser island he came and had a look at the car and fell in love with it straight away!, we agreed a price which was only $150 less than what we bought it.

I also explained our situation to the hostel and the 2 girls behind the desk were amazing and said we can use there phone and internet in the office as much as we wanted even when the office was closed and gave us a free international phone card so we could call home!! it saved us a lot of money and they even gave us tonight free in the hostel and said if we come back they will give us another night free as well!! they were lifesavers and we managed to get our flights and coaches booked and were able to call Diane and keep updated with out the hassel of paying internet fees and call costs!! Its nice to know there are people out there who can help you out when you need it!! Once we booked everything we went to the bar to say goodbye to the Fraser lot!!

Today we have packed, packed and packed til we could pack no more! Ben is leaving us on the bus at 7pm tonight so we bought ourselves a nice big steak each for a farewell dinner! We will be starting out long journey back to the UK at 07:30am on the 20th and will arrive at about 9pm-ish on the 21st.

So, we will see you soon everybody! Love to all!

Greg and Lauren x

p.s. will update photos at our first chance