Hi everyone. First of all I'd like to apologise, I have only just noticed there is a message board on here and I have just read everyone's comments. Good to hear from everyone. In answer to Hilda and Patsy's question I haven't sung the Fields of Athenry yet, I'll try make sure it happens before the end of the trip! The last time I wrote I had arrived in Byron Bay. We ended up staying there for about five nights to recover from the surf camp and to organize the rest of our trip. We spent a lot of the time in Byron with our surf camp chums and had a great time. Byron is quite relaxed, our hostel (Aquarius) was really cool with a swimming pool, spacious dorms and balconies. We went out for a few nights, I'm surprised at how strict they are with alcohol and ID (I'm sure I even saw the bouncers asking for a man, who must have been over 50, for ID!). There were a few good bars in Byron - we went to a place called Cheeky Monkeys a few times because the food was dirt cheap and really good (if you got there for 7pm the meals were as cheap as $3 and a rump steak was only $5 one night). However during the days we didn't do a great deal, mainly sort out a camper van and our trips to Fraser Island and the Whitsundays.

On Monday (May 19th) a group of us went to Nimbin (the hippy capital of Australia) on a day trip. It was a very weird place and every five minutes people were asking if you wanted to buy some weed. The Nimbin Museum was one of the most bizarre places I have ever seen in my life, and the art was clearly "out there". The guide told us to go to the pub and sit next to the weirdest person we could find and have a chat. We found a woman who was a typical hippy and hated most things that a big city had to offer (I didn't mention I was an accountant!). A fun day that ended with a big BBQ.

We left Byron on the 22nd and headed to Brisbane. A Dutch guy called Rob was also travelling up the coast so we invited him to share a camper van with us. We somehow ended up getting a monster van - a 6 berth Apollo motor home, with toilet, shower, air con and DVD player. Talk about flash-packing! It's a good job really as it's still a bit cramped. So we picked up the beast from Brisbane and went straight to Noosa, which I thought was a great place (although maybe not on a budget as it was quite trendy). We met up with a couple of friends from surf school and had a meal in our new home (which we have imaginatively called "Dutch Courage").

In the morning we headed to Hervey Bay, which was to be our base for a trip to Fraser Island. Fraser is the largest sand island in the world and companies rent out 4x4's to groups of people, who go on the island stocked with loads of food and booze and camp for a few nights. The night before we left we had a few beers with some Irish guys we had met and Rob impressed everyone with his card tricks (some are quite amazing - we've managed to convince him to show us a couple).

On the day we went to Fraser we had an early start, picked up our 4x4, tents, food etc and headed to the ferry. The weather was fantastic and once on the island we went to Lake McKenzie, which was amazing. The water was completely blue and the sand golden (just like you'd see on a postcard). The boys, for some reason, decided to swim the Lake which didn't look too long from the shore. 30 minutes into the swim there was silence as everyone attempted to get to the otherside without drowning! That night we camped on a site that was dingo safe (dingo's are wild dogs that are on Fraser and can attack you if they are feeling a bit hungry!). We had a BBQ, drinks and campfire which was good fun (although we did break the rules as campfires are technically banned, but you can't camp without one surely?!) On the second day we went to Lake Wabby which wasn't as beautiful as McKenzie but was surrounded by sand dunes. That evening we camped on the beach and myself and Rob cooked spaghetti bolognaise for the team. A few dingos were around but we managed to scare them off.

In the morning we went to Central Station for a walk around a rain forest in the middle of the island before heading back to the ferry terminal. Driving the 4x4 was good fun and a bit bumpy at times (especially down the beach). Luckily we didn't manage to flip it, which is apparently quite common.

Unfortunately I have about 10 minutes left in an internet café so will have to stop there before I get thrown out! I haven't written about the Whitsundays yet, which were great even though it rained on our sailing trip! Luckily the weather is good now and today was a scorcher. Heading North tomorrow and we will be getting our diving certificates either in Townsville and Cairns which should be good. Hope everyone at home is well!