The next day in 1770 was absolute class. Instead of lounging around on a beach and generally recovering from the mayhem of a previous night, I decided to get active. I was up bright and early and headed off for a surf lesson. A bargain at only $16.50, probably the cheapest thing in the whole of Australia! Although tough at first, and a huge amount of time spent paddling in the wrong direction, I finally managed to get on a few very basic waves, sailing them back into the beach. To be honest, I never really gave enough respect to the simple looking airheaded surfer dudes, but now realise that when they hop on and cruise across huge waves at speed- they really do have some skill!

That afternoon, after a quick turnaround, I headed off to do a Scooteroo tour of 1770. The town itself is proabably smaller than most South Oxhey estates, but the surrounding countryside is peaceful and stunning until...you put 30+ people on mock Harley Davidson bikes, complete with huge handlebars at shoulder height, and let them rip through the countryside armed only with a helmet and a full tank of diesel, scaring any wildlife or normal tourist within an inch of their life! But what fun- you can really let rip on the flat roads getting up to about 90km/hour, maybe more- but bearing in mind the majority of us were wearing only vests, it might have got a bit messy.

The next day I headed on up to Airlee Beach, the home of the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. The name Airlee Beach is a little inappropriate, as the beach is a rotten stoney mud-flat- but unlike Bognor and Brighton where you're forced to amble over the stones (and needles!) the Aussies do things properly- and build a huge man-made lagoon pool area with huge grassy surrounds to spend your days. Enjoyable.

The next day was my day of departure to the islands for a 3 day 2 night trip. I was on a boat called the New Horizon, a big sailing boat carrying about 30 passenger and 4 crew. The Whitsunday Islands are one of Australias areas of natural beauty- and for good reason. It was full of individual paradise-like small grassy islands, with the sandiest of beaches and clearest of waters. The first afternoon we went for a quick snorkel before gathering on deck for a feast, and a good old get-to-know-you session with the other passengers. Luckily i bumped into 2 lads who I had partied with the night before, and again, as luck should have it- knew both a lad I was great mates with at Uni, and Ellie who they had travelled with on the Kiwi Experince bus- the world is well and truly tiny, of that I'm now positive!!! Evryone on the boat was in great spirit, or maybe just drank loads of it! Being a true party boat, we sang and rank rum until well into the wee' hours, and accompanying us was the Captain of all people. His name was simply 'Blue'- and an absolute legend so he was. Never without a rolled up cigarette or a quick remark, he had been at sea so long the poor b****** had begun to develop webbed feet!

The next morning early we rose and took a short dingy ride across to Whitehaven Beach. Due to some scientific reason that I wont bore myself with, the sand on the beach there is churned in the ocean in to the finest of fine powders. It was like walking on silk. The water was so clear and fresh, a perfect cure to many of the sore heads on board. Later on that afternoon we sailed a bit longer before stopping for another snorkelling session. Unlike the coral I had seen in Thailand which opened and closed and didnt really move- this stuff was amazing. It literally swayed side to side with the tide looking like a gigantic underwater Mexican wave. The fish were plentiful and remarkably varied in size and colour- had to scamper when we saw an angry trigger fish though! The second night on the boat provided a feast of spaghetti bolognaise followed by more drinking, songs and sharks. Blue shone a huge spotlight over the side of the boat, and threw a little bolognaise over the side to entice the beasts- he clearly knew what they liked, as within an hour we saw a reef shark- at least a metre and a half long, and fairly meaty in width. Baring this in mind- later that night, me and 4 others including a crazy Canadian lumberjack, decided it would be great fun to jump into the water off of the top deck of the boat- and scramble for our lives back to the boat!! It was ludacris looking back- but such an adrenaline rush- and we were only in the water for about 30 seconds each time!

The twist in the tale comes later however, as at about 3am we heard a banging on the side of the boat and someone shouting "Kev- Kev get the ladder!!". I thought at first someone from our boat had fallen in- but to my surprise- 4 lads from another boat had swum from their boat "The Boomerang", parked at least 200 yards away! They were fully wetsuited up, and protected from Stingers- but those suits dont stop sharks- so when we showed them the pictures of the sharks we had seen just hours earlier- a 15 minute swim back to their boat looked far from enticing! They had planned to wait until dawn to swim back, but good old Blue spotted 'Pirates' on his boat, and duly sent them on their way! The good news is that they survived. Great effort though.

The next day was a leisurely cruise back to land with just one stop-off for snorkelling where one of the girls saw a huge turtle. That night was our last night in Airlee Beach, so we had a sendoff party for everyone on our boat, which turned into a huge party for everyone and anyone throughout the town. I actually got offered a job on one of the boats by a skipper who had heard about our antics the past few days and wanted a lad to liven up some of his more recent trips which had become in his words "a little too proper". My tight schedule didnt quite permit this opportunity although I would have loved to have done a few more trips in those islands. Time to move again- next stop Mission Beach.

Most people come to mission beach for one reason and one reason only- SKYDIVE!! I had one very quiet night in the hostel in Mission Beach- (another tiny town) before getting up at 7.30am to go and jump out of a plane from 14,000 feet. I was completely calm- and really not worried even on the plane on the way up and actually even when the door opened. However- when the first person went out- Jaysus did they drop fast...then the pants almost needed a change. But before I could even manage that it was my time to go- that first few seconds of freefall is unreal- you are accelerating at a speed you cant even imagine, but once you reach a top speed of about 225km/hour- you can actually look around and enjoy it. The scenery in Mission Beach is stunning from the air- mountains on one side, and the Great Barrier Reef on the other lined by a gorgeous white beach which (after the cord was pulled and I nearly lost some impoprtant body parts) we landed on about 8 minutes later. I invested in the DVD and pics, which are quite classic- my mouth is literally in my ear because of the wind and pressure!! Easily one of the best rushes I've ever had. Amazing.

The next day I headed up to Cairns and had 3 nights before heading to New Zealand. For a supposedly big city, and considering it has a massive international airport, Cairns is tiny! Personally, I felt I had given rather enough of my hard-earned tunnell cash to the Australian economy in the 9 weeks I had been there, so decied to take it easy and save the pennies for more adrenalin fueled activities in NZ. Man Utd won the Champions league- not pleased. Before the match I wasnt sure who I wanted to win- but when I was watching the match (in a cafe in the airport in the dark at 5.30am) I soon realised I do actually hate Man Utd more than Chelsea.

Not to worry- the next day I arrived in Auckland late, around 7pm, ate then headed to bed. Jetlag- obviously. The day was the start of my "Kiwi Experience" a guided bus tour of New Zealand on a hop-on hop-off basis. The first took us on a free tour of Auckland which to many is just a start point in NZ, and is not highly promoted. However, the tour took us around the nicer parts of Auckland, a walk over the Auckland bridge, up to Devenport a rich suburb for lunch and finally up to a viewpoint for great pictures. Now, with all these tours you want to make a good impression with your new group- so- me and an Irish lad Robbo from Cork decided to jump up on an old cannon for a bit of a laugh and few pics. However- just as I jumped up on the base of the cannon, I heard a rrrrrip- and I had absolutely ripped my trousers completely open straight along the crotch line, exposing my white boxers and even whiter legs! NIGHTMARE!! Funny for them- rubbish for me- especially when the bus dropped me 10 minutes from my hostel in the centre of Auckland!

The last few days have fulfilled my desire for change compared to the routine and scenery in Australia. New Zealand is just coming into Autumn/winter, so it was nice to whack on a pair of jeans and a hoddie, and put the flip-flops away for a bit. Its also nice to see real greenery, trees, mountains and animals other than kangaroos and wallabies! We headed towards Mercury Bay, stopping off in Cathedral cove for a very very quick and cold dip in New Zealand waters. There is only about 16 of us on our Kiwi bus at the moment so everyone can really get to know eachother well on the bus, instead of the oh so impersonal Greyhound bus trips, where after each trip you are back at square one in terms of meeting people, its mint.

The next day we drove to Rotorua, stopping in the afternoon to do one of the best activities I've done in my whole trip- "luging". Basically we were placed in a flat trolley with 3 wheels and 1 brake, and belted it down a huge hill at not far from warp speed!! I dont know how they managed to get away with building it, as there are no guards to stop you making a mess of yourself- and so whack 15 keen travellers on the track and you are asking for trouble! We all luckily escaped unscathed, but could have stayed there all day and all night, definitely something England needs to get involved in.

That night we were advised to attend a night of Mauri culture, which is encouraged, preserved, and appreciated very strongly in New Zealand. We arrived and were given a traditional welcome by some very angry and dangerous looking Mauri warriors in full authentic dress and attitude- trust me, you would not mess! We then got a tour of a mock Mauri village and explained about the foundings of NZ, and how the tribes all worked. This was followed by tribal dancing, including the Haka- (very impressive up close), tarditional songs and instruments, followed by a complete slap-up meal all at the village. A top-top night.

Rotorua is also one of the most Geo-thermally active regions in New Zealand- and if you were to land from mars, would probably think the earth smelt of rotten eggs and dogmess! The sulpher smell is completely overwhelming, but of course there are upsides- like, when you drop your own silent sulpher bomb- you can just blame the environment around you! I got up early the next day along with just 4 others to do a tour of the amazing bubbling mudpools, and the Geysers (pronounced Geezers) which are basically huge boiling shoots of water and steam, boiled by the magma underneath which gives it an amazing Jurassic park swamp type feel. We were then given an insight into Mauri culture and song very similar to the night before- bu tthis time, the 5 of us took part in the show. The girls performed "Poi" dances, whilst me and a Borat lookalike were hauled up on stage to perform the Haka- in all its glory!! Brilliant.

We stayed in a place called Waitomo last night, another sleepy little town, used only really as a base for caving activities which we did this morning. Although a little pricey- 8 of us had the best 5 hours ever! We got geared up in Wetsuits, helmets and harnesses before starting our decent into the cave through abseiling down 40 metres into pitch darkness. We then decended to a lower level in the cave via Flying-fox, or Zipwire. You have to sometimes ask yourself who the hell first decides that it would be a good idea to put a 50 metre zip-wire in total darkness in a cave? I dont know, but whoever it was must have been both a nutter, and a legend at the same time! I was the first person to fly down the wire, which was awesome, because as I jumped, no one in the group knew how far we were descending which made it literally like flying into an abyss, an abyss dimly lit only by the thousands of glow-worms which lined the walls of the cave like a brilliant constallation. Once the guy below unclipped me- the rest of the guys following knew how far it was- so I was lucky to have the real fear in me as I jumped!

We meandered along through freezing water, sharp rocks and very very small holes considering the muscle bound fella I am ;-] We finished the 5 hour tour by climbing up the face of 2 separate waterfalls before finally finding light and fresh air. Hot soup and warm bagels followed- proabably the nicest bagel I've ever had! I am now in Lake Taupo, a nice spot, and a very nice hostel, our room has ensuite and a balcony overlooking the lake- Flashpacking mate, flashpacking. xx