4 weeks from Cairns to Melbourne with only a few mishaps along the way......... the road is f****** hard - especially when your in a skip on wheels! Picking up the van from Cairns we were VERY excited - this was the closest to actual "backpacking" we had got since we left Glasgow. The van was not the prettiest and a bit smaller than we had envisaged - skip on wheels sums it up - but in the jolly mood we were in we set off without too many complaints. Our first night was spent in a van park in the centre of cairns and was probably one of the worst we experienced - but again with our spirits high we got on with it. Driving the thing was the first big setback - being automatic took some getting used to as did having no rear view mirror and major blind spots but the racket of the everthing falling about in the back at every turn or bump was a bloody nightmare - 4 more weeks of this..... our spirits faltered ever so slightly!! Only a few days into our travels and one of the worst things that can happen - does - we get a flat - in the middle of bloody bushland with the sun going down! s***ting ourselves is putting it mildly but luckily Jim was to hand - Gill gave guidance while Kelly decided this was a perfect opportunity to take some sunset pics.... but we survived to travel another day in the great white skip! Mission Beach was the first stop when we thought "this is why we are doing this" the van park was right on the most amazing beach with the brightest clearest sky - paradise! Airlie was a MAJOR highlight. After celebrating Kellys birthday with a few light beverages (aye right) we decided it was a good idea to take a day trip on a catamaran to the inner Coral and Whitsunday Islands. lets just say catamaran and hangover - DONT go well together. Whitehaven beach (one of the top 5 in the world) was BLOODY AMAZING - white sands and clearest waters you can imagine. Kelly had a wee accident in the water when she went snorkelling and swallowed some salt water and spewed into her mouthpiece - not pretty! Next big stop Hervey Bay Torquay Beach - the weather was HOT HOT HOT and we managed to land an excellent van park with tennis courts, basketball courts, turtles, ducks and every other type of bird you can think of roaming around - SUPERB - and only 2 mins from the beach! From there we took a day trip to Fraser Island which was just FANNYTASTIC - with the 75 mile beach, the fast flowing fresh water of Eli Creek, the amazing Maheno Wreck, the pinnacles vibrant coloured sand cliffs and the most exquisite Basin Lake - swimming in this deserted clear water white sand lake in the heart of the forest was just an experience we will never forget. The BEST experience BY FAR was the day trip Whale Watching - words cannot describe the day but we know we will probably never experience anything like it EVER again. There were pods of whales surrounding the boat, breaching and spraying and playing with us - swimming under the boat and hiding. These massive mammals were sooooo close we could practically touch them - we manged to get some pretty good pics and videos on our cameras so were well chuffed. As well as the whales we got a chance to see some dolphins - again they were swimming with the boat and so close we could almost touch - the best day by far! to be continued......