The 10th of June was the day we had scheduled to leave Brisbane. Our plan over the next few days was to check out Noosa and Fraser Island, then Byron Bay, and finally Surfers Paradise. It would involve a fair bit of driving, but I was more than up for the challenge, and Stu was an eager and fantastic navigator.

We woke up and checked out early, the plan being that we would head to Noosa, drop off our things, and then head to Fraser island - a large island of sand north of Noosa. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans for us. By the time we reached Noosa, the rain was absolutely torrential and it took all my focus to get us safely to the hostel.

With our original plan in tatters, we headed to Tripadvisor to find a backup. We eventually settled upon 'Underwater World' - an indoors sea life centre south on the coast. We set off and made good time for the centre, which was absolutely jam packed. Apparently, everyone had the same idea we did!

We entered and discovered that one of the attractions was the ability to swim with seals. This immediately caught Jess's attention, and we all suggested she should do it. She did indeed, and whilst paying for the experience, we had our next bit of luck. The till assistant noticed Stu and Jess were together but that Stu was not doing the experience. He asked if Stu would like to do it on a 2 for 1 deal - amazing!

This leads me on to one of the points I really cannot emphasise about Australia. The people here really are fantastic. They are so friendly, welcoming, accomodating and cheery, it warms my heart!

Anyway, we made our way around the centre and at 3pm Stu and Jess began there experience. I have to say, it was amazing to even watch. They got to play and swim with the seals in the tank, and I managed to get a photo of each of them stroking a seal too. They were in the tank for almost 20 minutes, and I nearly completely burned out Jess's camera taking photos of them.

After the swim experience, we were then treated to a seal show, in which the seals do a variety of tricks for the crowds. It was very entertaining stuff, and they trainers and seals were very impressive. After that, Stu and Jess were given a 'Seal Kiss'. They sat down on a bench, whilst a seal leant in and kissed them on the cheek. Very amusing stuff, and again we managed to get a photo of this happening for both Stu and Jess.

After the days activities, we headed back to Noosa, though not before I was able to grab a couple of snaps of Mooloolaba - the site of Underwater World. Unfortunately the rain did not stop all day. After the long day we crashed out pretty early, even having a break from alcohol!