Hi All

Happy Easter. Arrived in Sydney on 16th March and stayed in guest house in Glebe Village for three nights. Very central so we used public transport to get about. Spent one day on a tourist 'hop on hop off' bus which gave us a good over view of the city. Very hot. Will post some photo's of opera house etc soon.

Then we hired a car and spent a couple of days driving from NSW to Queensland. The views were fantastic and the hills very green and lush (a bit unexpected for Australia but they have had loads of rain). Arrived at Ian and Jennie's (friends of Ken and Ann) on 20th March. They live in Mermaid Water (on the Gold Coast) in a great appartment overlooking a huge lake. Spent the next few days being shown around the coast and inland. Had a look in the local casino (Conrads Jupiters). Suffice to say that we have seen better places. Jim and Penny drove up to Brisbane to catch up with Sue and her husband Sam and the family. Penny and Sue worked together at the Golden Nugget in London in 1974. Great weekend being shown about the City and spoiled rotten with BBQ overlooking pool and golf course. What a life!!! Did a drive with Sue up to Noosa Heads beach and town for breakfast and then a drive into the hills for a look round a lovely place called Montville. Took our leave of Sue and Sam on the 30th March and drove back to the Gold coast to catch up with the others.

On 1st April the 'fourtrekkers' flew from Brisbane to Cairns and took a taxi to our hotel in the center of town. Bit basic (backpackers place) but great location for everything. After a good look round we found a night market and food hall which had loads of stalls selling very good cheap freshly cooked food, so we ate there. Following day a fantastic trip to Great Barrier Reef. Took a big catamaran to a moored pontoon. Took about one and half hours to reach so quite far out. Swam in clear blue water through a huge shoal of fish. Jim and Ann went off snorkelling. Beautiful day clear sky bright sun and no wind. The reef covers a huge area and we only saw a small part but it was a great experience. The following day we took the skyrail up over the rainforest with a few stops for a walkabout on the way up to Kuranda village which sits at the top. Bright and clear again (we have been very lucky with the weather since we arrive in Australia) Visit to a butterfly sanctuary. Our return was on the Kuranda senic railway (a fantastic old deisel engine with wooden carridges). We stopped for a great view of the Barron Falls on the way down.

Will update photo's asap.