The next part of our trip was kind of strange, in that the places we were going to were dictated to us by the Oz Experience people (they have compulsory overnight stops, most of which are at places you would want to go anyway!). First up was a tiny little place called 1770/Agnes Water. So named because of Captain Cook's voyage in 1770. They love that guy here. Too much, if you ask me! We arrived in the afternoon, after driving through a town called Maryborough - the birthplace of P L Travers. They even have a Cherry Tree Lane and a little Mary Poppins statue. And here I was thinking Ms Travers was British!!! So, once in 1770 Soozie to take herself off scooteroo-ing (driving around on a scooter looking for kangaroos and watching the sunset). I decided (wisely I think!) that this would not be a sensible activity for me to partake in. Anyone who has seen me playing mario cart or trying to steer myself down a luge track will fully understand and support this! I would most certainly have crashed and/or killed myself!!! I had a much calmer afternoon on the beach doing nothing :-). Our hostel was called Cool Bananas and was definitely very cool. Had a total hippy vibe to it, reminded me of the folk festivals my parents took me to as a kid.

The next day we started out for Kroombit cattle station, where surprisingly we only saw one cow! I think we were kind of in the middle of the Great Dividing Range, instead of sticking to the east of it as we have done previously. But don't quote me on that. Basically, it was the middle of nowhere. Literally. Actually literally. No mobile reception or anything! Being surrounded by dirt, wooden huts, clapped out, rusty looking cars and ridiculously loud birds is not my idea of fun. And I will freely admit that to start with this part of the trip seemed pretty hellish to me. Most of the group went off horseriding in the afternoon, which I didn't fancy due to the purpose being mustering up goats (!) so Sooz and I stayed back at the base and spent the afternoon chilling out in the nothingness. It was actually quite peaceful and I relished the opportunity to get my journal up to date (thank goodness that is coming along at greater speed than the blogs!). My peaceful afternoon was short lived. We had to go and learn how to lasso a goat, practising with rope and a stick with a goat's skull attached. I don't need to exaggerate the fact that I wasn't very good :-) but I did manage to successfully lasso the stick a few times! This was all in preparation for the goat rodeo: capturing a real live goat in groups of 3, with the other 2 people tipping and branding the goat. Imagine my relief when the rain got a little too much to bear and they called off the stupidity before Sooz and I had our turns! This really was crazy, torrential downpour stylee rain, which combined with mud is not a good look.

The evening at the station was a lot more fun. Roast beef for dinner, followed by lovely vodka and passionfruit (in a can - weird country) and face painting. Sadly they also forced us to have a talent competition, which involved standing in a circle and every person having to go into the middle. I put a leg behind my head (sitting, not standing!), not very well actually, but I think it qualifies more than partially downing a can of beer (which some people did!). I also learnt to crack a whip which was a lot of fun. Difficult to get the hang of, but the tip of imagining people as you do it helped quite a lot! The evening ended with rides on a mechanical bull...I didn't get involved, and neither did Sooz. People were flying off that thing with far too much force for my liking!

So, onto Airlie Beach, which involved a lot of driving. We were staying at a great hostel called Beaches - we even had a fridge and TV in the room!!! In fact, this was the first time I watched an entire TV programme (albeit a dodgy Australian one!) in the whole time we've been away! It was quite nice to do something normal! Anyway, our driver had booked us all in at the Beaches bar for our first night which was really fun - good food, free drinks, fun people and dancing. All great until we went across the road to a club called Mama Africa's which played the worst music.

Most people stop in Airlie because of the Whitsunday Islands. Apparently beautiful but a big part of the trip is snorkelling...seeing as fish are not on my list of things to go near I decided that this trip would be a waste of money for me. And yes, I know it's one of the highlights of the coast and everyone does it and blah blah blah. But I did actually think about it for quite a while and I am very happy with my decision! I spent my time in Airlie either chilling out by the lagoon or watching the picturesque scene of little sailing boats from a grassy area by the sea. Had some amazing sandwiches thanks to an amazing person's suggestion and finally found a new book to read in the book exchange next door. I'm beginning to struggle to fit all the books in my bag but I don't want to leave them behind...dilemma! To finish the time in Airlie we made little bracelets in this cute bead shop, mine is predictably pink and flowery but I love it and it's now another 'not to be removed' item along with my NZ necklace :-)