Arriving in Sydney on July 4th it made me realise how naive i was about Australia's winter... we were warned by numerous Aussies that it would be cold but both ben and I shrugged it off and said 'you should go to england in winter!'. so we get off the plane and immediately rap ourselves in as many layers as possible for the next 2 weeks that we are there. we would return to our room after being out in the freezing cold and would find it is even colder in the room (they dont have heating in hostels dont u know)!? we would literally be shivering with constant runny noses and we even had to use my hairdryer to warm our feet and the bed up! I bought some uggs to keep me warm and they are probably the best investment ive made all year! I was even starting to miss the sweltering heat of Bangkok!!

We stayed in the glorious Kings Cross, for those that havent heard the rumours about it... it is all true. Their are prostitutes galore, druggies, and lots of stip clubs to suit all tastes except the number of backpackers that have to stay there to stay within their budget! Sydney is so expensive we figuered staying here would help us keep our accomodation costs low, but it also gave us a few of sydney that not many tourists see! very interesting!

We spent the next week visiting all the major sites in Sydney, at first glance it is alot like London but on a much smaller (and slightly cleaner) scale. We met up with Jen and her mum on the first day wandering around the Botanical gardens and snapping pics of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera house. We then went to the Aquarium, the number one toursist attraction in Sydney, and saw some amazingly huge sting rays and sharks, and ben even had the guts to touch a baby shark and forced me to touch a starfish... yuk!

Ben and i visited the blue mountains just outside of Sydney and the views from the lookouts were absolutely stunning... just mountains and valleys for miles around! It blew my mind and i was so glad we went on the trip to see the different scenery Australia has to offer.

Ben and I ventured out on the Saturday night to get a taste of Sydney nightlife which turned out to be pretty cool as we headed to see Paulo Mojo at Renaissance in Famous Nightclub on the harbour. We drank copious amounts of alcohol, chatted to some locals while looking out over the harbour, and danced lots before getting back to our our freezing room at 5 am! not bad at all!

For bens last few days Ben, Jen and i visited Bondi Beach in the pissing rain (not how we imagined it at all and it was pretty small!) went on a harbour cruise, got drunk and spent the night in the bedroom with 3 bottles of wine between us and then the next night went up the skytower to see the views, which was pretty amazing. I decided then that i do think Sydney has a gorgeous skyline, dare i say maybe even better than londons!

Unfortunately, it was time for Ben to go home and i saw him off the next day, where my adventures with Jen started. We spent the day eating lots of pizza, chocolate and reading magazines as we were too cold, and lazy, to go out and i was in mourning hehe! Next day we got our acts together and went up the skytower again to do the skywalk where you have to put on ridiculously ugly blue and yellow suits and walk around the outside of the tower 260 metres above the ground. It was wicked to see all around sydney from so high up and i was really pleased we did it!

Finally it was time for us to leave Sydney, i certainly wasnt going to miss the cold or the ridiculously long waiting time you have to stand at traffic lights waiting for our turn to walk! Our first stop on the greyhound bus was Byron bay, a little quaint coastal town with only a small population and a sandy beach and waves perfect for surfing. We went out that night to a couple of bars and after being accosted by 5 old Aussie men recounting tales of when they were young, we ventured to some cheesy clubs to dance on tables all night!! (p.s. to the girl who tried to steal my jacket but i caught on the way out of the door, haha you werent quick enough for me!) Next day, very tired and hungover, we went dolphin kayaking, and after 2 hours of no sightings we saw a turtle and about ten dolphins swimming within 10 feet of our kayaks and 2 even swam right underneath my kayak! we were pretty chuffed after that!

Time to get back on the greyhound we headed for surfers Paradise. I wasnt expecting it to look like it did but i imagine its what L.A looks like! lots of skyscrapers and pink and purple hotels with a beautiful marina and a lovely pure white sandy beach! We spent our first day at Dreamland, the themepark where Australia Big Brother is based and some pretty scary rides. Luckily we went on the Big Drop first and the way my stomach felt after that i was glad the worst was over, my god it was so so scary!! you literally get taken up into the air and for a minute you are held there until you are dropped at some stupidly fast speed to the bottom! We then had our picture taken dressed in saloon girl outfits, it was so funny!

Next day we laid on the beach- in our clothes- as it was quite breezy and ate some lovely mars bar cheescake, yummy! Surfers Paradise hostels orgainse a Big Night Out on Wednesdays so we spent the evening getting ready and met up with the hundred or so other party goers! we went to 5 different bars and clubs and after lots of alcohol were taken to an RnB club with some random beauty contest on the stage! Not really aimed at us girlies, me jenni and claire decided to go back to the previous nightclub and being the only ones there we danced on the stage and requested, ok I requested, the last tune of the night to be.... Mylo In my Arms!

Next day we are back on the greyhound, very hungover and wanting some sleep, we reached Hervey Bay, the base for people to do the 3 day Fraser Island Safari. We left early in the morning with the ten other islanders and packed up the 4 wheel drive with enough food and more importantly alcohol to last us the 2 nights on the island. We all took in turns to drive on the island which is harder than it sounds as the sand can be quite slippy or so soft that the truck gets stuck and you all have to get out and push.. pretty funny watching 6 girls try to push a huge 4 wd out of the sand! It didnt occur to me that you are not meant to wash on this trip... so im sure it will suprise you all to know that i couldnt shower for 2 days... yuk yuk! i cant say i enjoyed it but i managed not to moan! we had to follow an itinery where we walked to Basin Lake with the whitest sand you could ever find! We then got ready for a "few minutes" walk to Lake Wabby which ended up being a one hour trek over sand dunes in boiling heat and no water (we forgot ours!)... jenni nearly gave up and stayed there for the night and i crawled over most the dunes to get back(see pics!!). After playing some drinking games and playing cards and cooking our lovely beef and mash dinner we got into our sleeping bags for a good nights sleep. Up early the next day we drove down the beach to indian head to spend some time looking for whales and dolphins from the lookout. Unfortunately, i only saw two whales blowing water out of their holes, but that was pretty cool and put a smile on my face! after that we walked to the chapagne pools and watched some brave people jump into the water in their bikinis... crazy crazy!! knackered from the days activities jen and i fell asleep pretty early (party poopers!!). In the morning we packed up and made our way to the last stop of the trip, lake Mackenzie. The lake is absolutely stunning, whiter than white sand and crystal clear water, and with every metre the water became a darker shade of blue (see pics!), however it was pretty cold and only the bravest of our group got in for a dip! through the 3 days we even managed not to be attacked by the scary dingoes, although one did manage to get into our camp and attempt to steal our rubbish!

This leads me up to 2 days ago where we jumped back on the bus and headed for a town called 1770. With only one day to look around we went on a bush/beach walk where a guide from the town taught us all about the plants and animals that live in the bush. It was actually very interesting and i was amazed by the huge spiders webs spanning from one tree to another!yuk! The guide was so funny and kept us amused with his wacky- and possibly true- conspiracy theories about our governments... if he was to be believed then in 22/12/2012 the world may come to an end and our governments are trying to cover it up....!

So now I am sitting in a town called Airlie Beach, it is supposed to be a party town but its also the access point to the Whitsunday Islands where jen, Heidi (a german girl we met on the safari) and me have been booked onto the Habibi Boat to sail around the Whitsunday islands for 3 days with 30 other people. It sounds so cool and im really looking forward to it, so next time i write il let you know how it went.

Miss you all. Love me.xx