Well Sydney was brilliant!! We had two days there so spent the first day doing the usual tourist spots - the Opera house, the bridge and The Rocks which is just off the Harbour and had a lovely little market! Had a lovely day apart from a brief panic when Jon left the backpack - passports and all in a shop!!

The second day we went to Bondi Beach which apart from being overpopulated - was lovely!! White sand, blue seas and a great atmosphere. really nice to chill out for the day and recover from being ill!! The sea was pretty cold so we ventured in up to our little toes and ran back to our towels screaming like girls!! The last night in Sydney was really good - there was a live singer in the bar below our hostel so we went for a few drinks with the people we had travelled up from Melbourne with. the singer was really good and as you can imagine Jon spent the whole night in awe of him - as we all did!!

Left Sydney Tuesday morning and headed for a place called Arrawarra beach up the East Coast for a surf lesson. Arrived late evening and had a camp fire, food and drinks with the group and the surf instructor which was fun. Up early the next day with a hangover for a surf lesson - on the beach by 7:30!! What a gerat time we had!! Fortunately the waves weren't too big so we all got standing up and had a laugh. Played a game where we put all the surf boards in a row and tried to run across them all which was alot of fun!! Surf pictures are on a CD so will put them up in due course.

Onwards from Surf Camp we went to Byron Bay for a few days - we loved it there and didn't want to leave. Great shopping, great beach, good nightlife and all was pretty great except for one idiot on our tour who spent the whole time winding everybody up and generally playing the village idiot much to everyone elses amusement!! had a very funny night in a backpacker bar called Cheeky Monkeys - won and goldfish racing competition and drank champagne all night which was probabaly the cause of the table dancing later in the evening (and lots of moaning in the morning)!!@ Despite the hangover we got up early and took advantage of the free bikes on offer from the hostel, cycling up to Cape Byron - the most easterly point of the Australian Mainland - with two girls we had met on the trip. Enjoyed the fantastic views and spotted a few whales before making a spur of the moment decision to go hang-gliding! What a great decision that was!! half an hour flying over the mountains and ocean feeling free as a bird - well that was me, I think Jon felt like his life was in the hands of a very thin rope and another man. Nevertheless we both had an amazing time!!

Left Byron Bay this afternoon (Friday) headed for Brisbane for an obvernight stop over on the way to Hervey Bay. On the way we stopped to do zorbing which was great!! Invented by the New Zealanders, zorbing invoves being in a big ball full of water and rolling down a hill - brilliant fun!! To add to the experience Jon decided to dress in a womans swim suit provided by the driver of the Oz bus which was hilarious and resulted in him getting a refund for being a good sport - bonus!!

Arrived late in Brisbane and went down to grab some food - thought we would have an early night - a plan which soon went by the wayside with the offer of free alcohol!!! It is now midnight and we are pretty much under the influence, we are avoiding looking at the screen as we can't seem to focus on the words - so just typing away and hoping this all makes sense!!! We decided it was a while since we had written an update and we wont get the opportunity for a few days.

Off to Hervey bay tomorrow which is the leaving point for Fraser Island - we spend 2 nights and 3 days exploring the island in a self-drive 4x4 (promise we'll be careful Mum) and camping at night - wicked!! Then we are off to a cattle station to do some goat herding on horseback (ha!) and after that we have a three day sailing expedition round the Whitsunday Islands and snorkelling on the Barrier Reef - WICKED!!!

Right think that's everyone updated - off to bd now as we leave for Hervey bay at 6:30 am - ouch!!

Hope everyone is good at home!! We are finding as time goes on we are wondering more and more how everyone is doing at home and missing you all rather alot. Nevertheless there is planty of fun to be had in the Sunshine State of Queensland so there is plenty to keep us distracted and lots of excitement to be had. We have made a gerat bunch of friends on this stretch of the trip and will be sad to leave them behind!! Never mind I say - on to the next lot!!

Love and kisses to all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx