We arrived in Mission Beach 29th Nov.We were greeted by Richard, who Holly said, can only be described as similar to Ade's Dad!He gave us a nice little tour of the village on our hostel transfer and once we got there, he always asked us if we wanted to go to Woolworths again (Very good at his bus driving duties!).Although the beach itself was stunning, we couldn't help but notice the damage caused by cyclone Yasi earlier this year.Palm trees knocked down, roofs blown off and the rainforest generally looked bare.In the afternoon we watched as the 'Jump the Beach' sky divers landed on the sand, which reminded us of our experiences a few weeks back.

We then travelled to Townsville and arrived at the hostel - think a Peckham council estate complete with loud music, stoned inhabitants, and Lucky…. A very cheeky chicken!Swam in the warm water of the ocean from the safety of the stinger nets (2 of the 6 jelly fish that live in the waters here can kill you!)We then played around like kids in the water playground in the late afternoon.Made our first homemade chicken curry with coconut cream from scratch and we were quite chuffed with it!

We made it through the rain to our Whitsunday Terraces in Airlie Beach.Free internet meant lots of Skyping and catching up with lovely friends and family.It wasn't the nicest of weather (wet season has officially begun) so we weren't fussed about missing the Whitsunday Islands.It wouldn't be great in the rain!So instead we relaxed in our lovely hotel room with TV!

We were apprehensive about Rockhampton as Lonely Planet didn't rave about it, but we quite liked it!Arrived at hostel, which turned out to be a YHA - nicely maintained in a lovely wooded area.Wanted to visit the Botanical Gardens as we heard there was also a small zoo there.Admission was free and we had a fantastic day out watching the chimps, koalas, dingoes, kangaroos, parrots and loads more animals.We even walked down to the lake to see lots of little turtles swimming up to the surface.On our way back we saw an advert on a pet store window saying 'Puppies for Sale!'Yes… we went in!Beautiful pups all ready to spend their first Christmas with their prospective owners.Unfortunately we couldn't be them!

Agnes Waters (1770) saw us staying in one of the nicer hostels.We definitely did the activities in the right order!Day 1 was sunny, so we spent the day body boarding - actually caught a few good waves!Day 2 was overcast with patchy showers so we went on the 'Scooteroo' tour - drove 50cc choppers ourselves around the town of 1770 spotting kangaroos and having a few giggles with the stick on tattoos and leather biker jackets!

Hervey Bay we'll bypass - not much to report, just bad service at hostel and no air con or fan - very hot sticky nights!

Had a little stop over at Rainbow Beach - nice friendly hostel and really chilled out.We should be feeling left out as everyone at the past 2 places have been en route/just got back from Fraser Island - another one we have skipped.It's a lot of money - even for a day trip ($175 each!).We both said that A) We've been very lucky to see beautiful islands and beaches in the Caribbean on our ship contracts, B) We've got New Zealand, Fiji and LA yet to visit, and C) It's rainy season weather anyway!

We absolutely loved Noosa.It was lovely upmarket seaside town with its own National Park.We took a 3 hour coastal walk around the National Park and unintentionally walked along a nudist beach!The next day we paid homage to Steve Irwin at Australia Zoo!We thoroughly enjoyed the croc show and the obvious Irwin family passion.

Now in Brisbane and we're off to an outdoor carol concert tonight to get into the Christmas spirit!

Merry Christmas Everyone xxx