Dear WIllie

As promised, here is the second half of our trip to Fraser Island. Picking up where I left off on day two of the three day tour.

Jake (the tour guide) was very keen on early starts every day to avoid the rush. Jake's idea of what an early start is is somewhat extreme. So at 4.30 in the morning, yes 4.30 in the morning, after getting up to watch the sunrise and breakfasting, we were off to visit Eli Creek, Indian Head, Champagne Pools and Alan Lake.

Eli Creek is a little river through the forest. After walking upstream for about 10 minutes, you then immersed yourself in the rather chilly water and floated gently downstream to the sea, a bit like a natural lazy river without the rubber rings. We drove past the place later in the afternoon and there was perhaps 500 cars all visiting it so we forgave Jake the ridiculously early start It was worth it as we had the river to ourselves. The whole experience was idyllic and beautiful and only slightly let down by the fact that the water was bloody cold and the water level was slightly too shallow. Getting beached on the shallow sandy water and having to drag yourself off like an ungainly whale might have taken away from the paradisiacal nature of the experience but definitely added to the comedy element.

Indian Point is a clifftop with beautiful views over the ocean. It is meant to be a really good spot to see wildlife in the water. We saw a turtle. We were quite high up so it looked like a small black dot in the water. We didn't bother taking any photos. We also saw a crocodile. Although it didn't move so it could have been a dead crocodile (or some seaweed).

Champagne Pools are a rockpool that you can swim in. The waves from the ocean come over the edge of the pools shooting bubbly water across the pools, making it look like sparkling wine, the waves bring lots of little fishies that want to nibble your legs but no jellyfish, definitely no jellyfish, well probably no jellyfish, Jake wasn't sure.

The highlight of the entire trip was in the afternoon going to Allan Lake. Whoever Alan was he did a good job of having this lake named after him. You can imagine twenty or so backpackers walking down the path from the carpark, chatting and joking and until they saw the most beautiful lake. We were the only people there and the only way into the lake was down some little steps, at the bottom were 10 or so little turtles swimming around in the golden water. The lake was fed by tea tree oil so it looked like the little turtles were swimming in tea. We sat there with no one saying a word, no one wanting to spoil the magic of the moment until Jake finally pointed out if we wanted to go for a swim then we would have to disturb them. Swimming in tea tree water is great fun. It seems to hold the heat from the sun in little patches, so one minute it is cold and the next hot and then you swim underwater and look up at the sun and everything looks like a strange golden colour.

The last stop of the day was to see some sand dunes. It was a bit of a walk so Donna and me decided to stay by the jeeps instead. After everyone had departed, we happened to find an amazing picture that someone previously had drawn in the sand, all swirls and patterns and funky designs Obviously someone had waited for the dune walkers before us, someone with a lot more talent than us. There was nothing else to do but to draw a border round the art, write our names at the bottom and pretend to be finishing it off just as everyone else came back from the walk. I think we got away with it.

And so after a full day, the best fun day of our travels so far, we were back at the camp for dinner and a few cups of wine and getting to know our fellow travellers. Hanging around with such a mixed bunch of people from all over the world is a good way for breaking down international barriers and learning about foreign cultures. For example, we learnt that in America, it is perfectly acceptable to say that you are being double fisted. Rather than an obscene sexual act normally only seen in hardcore pornographic movies, it is an innocent expression that means that you have something in either hand, usually alcoholic drinks. I think knowing this will come in useful when we go to America to avoid an social mishaps when someone asks to be double fisted.

Despite such an early start, we still managed to stay up until 2.30am. This was mostly down to the fact that we were camping by the beach and going down the beach to look at the stars meant seeing the most amazing Milky Way that was far too distracting to go to bed. We only popped down there to have a quick look before bedtime and ended up staring up at the sky for two hours with Benny the Belgium Baker.

On the subject of Benny again, he is the perfect example of the Happy Families School of Job Seeking. Do you remember the old children's game Happy Families where you had to swop cards with the other players to collect whole families? They were always things like Charles the Candlestick Maker or Simon the Sailor or Brian the Butcher. In all the pictures, all the characters look so happy they are clearly enjoying their job. Therefore the key to happiness in the workplace is simple. It is just a matter of alliteration, of finding a job which begins with the same first letter as your own and then you will always be smiling and happy. Benny is the perfect example of this. When he started out, he was Benny the Baker and he enjoyed his job, then he became Benny the Journalist and he was not so happy, now he is Benny the Backpacker and he is happy again. We have taken this idea to heart. When we get back from our honeymoon, I am going to become Jim the jam-maker, Donna is going to be Donna the doctor (or a donner kebab shop owner). Chloe is already a consultant so she must be happy in her job (but if not she can always become a cobbler instead).

The last morning dawned hungover and tired but happy. There was just enough time to explain to the poor volunteer that had to clean our bedding that the suspicious white stain all over our sheets was in fact the toothpaste that Donna had spilt and not what you might think before we headed off to the beach for a scenic flight over the island in a tiny little 8 person plane. This experience I could split perfectly in half. The first seven and a half minutes of the fifteen minute flight I spent the time mostly being completely terrified and counting down the second until we landed. The second seven and a half minutes were amazing though when I finally relaxed and started enjoying it. Seeing the beautiful island from up high, all the lakes and forests and the little roads snaking this was and that, looking out over the ocean and seeing a massive shark (it could have been another dead crocodile again to be fair) was brilliant.

So anyway, thanks again WIllie. We really did enjoy your wedding present. Sorry everyone for such a long blog. And I haven't even had time to mention the rainforest walks, the wonderful food, any of the people (Mia, Marcus, Desree, Stephen, Annalise and Jamie) in the best car, the boomerang injuries, the sunrise, the white python, sleeping in a tent, Bonnie the assistant tour guide or the very nice tour company who returned Donna's pink towel when she left it in the car.

Our first three days of 2016 have been amazing. Let's hope the rest of the year can live up to that!

All our love

Jim, Donna and Chloe

PS Here is a song I wrote about Benny. It has a really catchy tune but you probably don't get that

HAPPY FAMILIES

Oh darling, can you please?

We could play happy families

We could even be a star

We could be better by far

You could be Benny the baker

Or maybe Carl the cakemaker

Or even Steve the stocktaker

As long as you have the time

Oh darling, it's up to you

What job you want to do

Normal or bizarre

You could be better by far

You could live like Chris the code breaker

A simple job like George the garden raker

Just make sure you're not a name faker

As long as the words all rhymme

So darling, I don't want to damn you please

We should play happy families

We could even raise the bar

We could be better by far

You know I will not forsake ya

And it will help to unbreak ya

Your life will be so much greater

And the mountains will be easier to climb

It doesn't take much to make you great

Just a job that will alliterate