Until now we hadn't actually seen any of Australia's deadliest creatures... this all changed when we stopped at Finch Hatton Gorge on our way to Rockhampton. Walking to a waterfall Mark stopped abruptly having noticed a snake sunning itself on the side of the path. The snake looked scarily like a Taipan (one of Australias deadliest snakes we had seen a few days earlier at the Billabong Sanctuary). Phil hadn't even noticed it and when he saw we had stopped walked ...

WOW! The Whitsunday Islands really live up to the hype! We had booked a trip which entailed flying out to the stunning Whitehaven Beach by helicopter from Airlie Beach and then setting sail on an old sailing ship overnight to sail back to port through the islands. We were slightly concerned by the disorganisation of the company we had booked the trip with - the offices were in complete dissarray and the 'transfer' from our campsite was in a smelly jeep packed...

Whilst in the Townsville region we had planned to visit Magnetic Island. However decided against it when the ferry people told us the fee to take the 'Wizard of Oz' (our campervan) across for the day would be around 150 quid...WHAT????? It turns out it's bigger than the average camper...while I'm sure that fact boosted the Wizards ego we decided to save our pennies and visit Billabong Sanctuary instead! The Billabong Sanctuary is an Australian wildlife sanctuary...

First stop today was Mission Beach, miles of golden sand and palm trees - stunning. We then headed onwards and tried to see Wallaman Falls (Australias biggest waterfall) but were thwarted by the gravel road which would have made our insurance invalid - bah! So we headed intstead into mountainous Paluma National Park to see stunning views and to swim in Crystal Creek under the waterfall. Phil pretended to be eaten by a shark much to the concern of a watching pass...

Overnight in a lovely campsite right on the beach we breakfasted with the sound of the waves, watching parrakeets scratching around on the ground for food. Our first major driving day, we drove through huge sugar cane and banana plantations and small farming towns with mountains looming in the distance. We stopped at Josephine Falls for lunch. A lovely waterfall which we have since renamed Philip Falls as, you guessed it, Phil fell in while clambering on rocks m...