I hopped on another plane from Brisbane to Proserpine, just off the Whitsuday coast and a short drive from Airlie beach. I should point out that due to the size of Australia that it is often cheaper to fly with a budget airline than to get a bus and is certainly quicker! Anyway, on arrival in Proserpine, it started to rain, giving me some indication of what the next few days would be like, although there were some patches of brilliant sunshine and it was hot rega...

So, on leaving Fraser Island, we dropped off the van at the 4wd centre where they discovered we had left a saucepan lid on the island. Now, you wouldn't think this would be a great problem for them. After all, they send about three vans a day to the same campsite and get another three back. The operator however concluded that it would be impossible to retrieve and proceded to charge us $40, not a huge expense between 7 of us but still, his rudeness did slightly s...

As I mentioned in the last blog I was taken on a trip into the Blue Mountains, first to some botanic gardens to get to grips with some of the local plants before heading on to a place called Govett's Leap. This was my first real view of the mountains, which are comprised of sheer rock faces surrounded by a sea of green trees, stretching as far as I could see, a stunning sight. Although there was a significant drop in temperature, the weather held long enough to s...

So, from Franz Josef the bus took us to Lake Wanaka, a huge glacial lake with a small town, and we stayed in a hotel for a change, although still in four person dorms. After a short walki around town, a few of us decided it would be a good idea to jump in the lake! The water was perfectly clear and looked so inviting and so we each took a running jump off a small pier. That soon woke us up as the water was freezing. Lovely to swim in though being so clean and fre...

Again, sorry its been such a long time since the last entry but here we go! My last day in the Bay of Islands was spent visiting the Waitangi treaty grounds where the founding treaty between the Maori and the British was signed before heading back to Auckland for another night before heading to Mercury bay in the Coromandel peninsula. I had hoped in the region to go to hot water beach, where hot spring water bubbles up through the sand when you dig, but the tide...