Brisbane may not be the most exciting city in Australia but it does have it's advantages! The location's great if you want to make the most of your weekends and take in some of the East Coast's most amazing spots. Byron Bay, being one of our favourite spots on previous trips, was great to go back to - great weather, great beaches and a nice chilled out weekend on our own. We don't need to say much more about this other than check out the photo album and you'll see for yourselves.....

Another place is Fraser Island. This is the largest sand island in the world with amazing coastline, white sandy beaches stretching as far as the eye can see, great natural lakes, and a few dingoes thrown in for good measure (and to scare Caroline!) For the first time both of us were doing it independently with our Aussie mates Cameron & Terri-Ann. These guys have all the camping & fishing gear you could want, and luckily a 4WD truck named 'Harry'! Fraser is a 4 wheel-driver's paradise and the only way you can see the island.

We had a few dodgey moments where we got stuck on the soft sand, but Jim would like to point out that this was never when he drove! Luckily Aussies are friendly and don't ignore you if you're in trouble, so we were quickly rescued.

During our 3 days on the island we were rewarded with amazing views of hump-back whales, pods of dolphins, manta rays and even a Wahu chasing a huge bait-ball of taylor whilst we were watching sunrise on Indian Head in the North of the island. We were lucky enough to have this headland all to ourselves and it as definitely worth the early 5am wake-up! We saw a dingo within the first half hour of being on the island but luckily (for Caroline) no more after that.

Harry was certainly put to the test when we decided to steer away from the tourist-trap Lake Mackenzie and head inland to Lake Birabeen which a lot of people don't bother making the journey to. Okay, the journey was pretty rough, especially when you're sitting in the back wedged in between beer crates & fishing rods, but when we finally arrived and walked down the path towards the lake we were gobsmacked! Only a handful of people there and the most amazing clear turquoise water and soft white sand you've ever seen. Lake Wabby was another beautiful lake we visited surrounded by endless sand dunes, and great to cool off after the long jungle walk to get there.

Rather than living-it up in the few resorts on the island, we were roughing it and camping just off the beach in our 2-man tents. Drinking goon, eating pot noodles and ravioli out of cans & using the bush toilet....classy! Caroline's initial fear of the aggressive dingoes soon vanished when she realised that there were alot more dangerous things out there that could get her! On a late night trip behind a bush, with Jim accompanying incase a dingo fancied a snack, I went to squat & at that moment Jim shone the torch down after hearing somthing move and there was a 1 metre black snake right below!! That could've been nasty....for the snake.

Cameron being a drunken Aussie decided to be Steve Irwin and picked it up by the tail and whipped it about towards us thinking it was funny! We all soon backed away and heard from a fellow camper that any snake on Fraser Island was in the top 10 most deadly list. All fears of dingoes had gone, the toilet was no longer needed and every zip was fastened on the tents!! After doing a bit of research this was either a baby brown snake which are generally darker when they're young, or most probably an Eastern small-eyed snake which are nocturnal and up to 1metre! Both highly venomous!!

So we survived the camping experience with only a few cuts and sore heads. We were so lucky to see so much variety on one island & everyone should make the trip here if they're in Australia. Jim would also like to point out that he was also the only one to catch a fish and tucked in to his Bream that night when we got home!

So the weekend trips are over and we're getting ready to leave Brisbane and head off on another big adventure. Wiggsy's brother Chris arrives on 9th October which we're very excited about and then we head up to Cairns to explore Northern Queensland in a campervan. We then need to be in Melbourne early November for the Melbourne Cup before heading back to Sydney to find somewhere to live and work.

So all very exciting over the next couple of weeks! We'll take lots of photos and update you when we can.

Hope everyone's well x