Firstly, Happy Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! It's been an unusual one for me, I hope you've all had a nice time just relaxing, eating and drinking into a stupor!Right, Australia...well the east coast! We arrived in Cairns on 3rd December with no transport but a plan to be in Sydney 3 weeks later for Christmas Eve. This meant despite having no sleep we hiked around Cairns all day looking for the oldest, cheapest, rust bucket we could find that had enough left in it to get us down to Sydney! It was the start of the summer holidays and nearly all the vans and cars had been bought up so we looked at hiring one...a 10 day queue to hire a van for $5000 dollars (£2400!) We laughed and walked on. On a notice board we saw an ad for a '93 Ford Econovan for $4200, unwillingly we gave the guy a call and arranged to look at it. It ran pretty well, the bodywork seemed ok and most importantly it was the only van for sale in Cairns! Decision made! When he was writing out the receipt he wrote $3500 so I just kept very quiet and paid the man! So, on day 1 we had some transport...a pretty successful day really!The next morning we left for Cape Tribulation and the Daintree rainforest feeling a little under the weather after our van buying celebrations. Both were fantastic but Cape Trib clinched it as it is beach that has the rainforest backing onto it. We found a great rest stop just outside Port Douglas with a shower, BBQ and seating so we camped up there both nights and cooked pasta and sausages. We then got on the road and headed south aiming for the Atherton Tablelands, an area just inland with some great waterfalls and views. We swam under the waterfall at Mia Mia falls. After a very natural shower we got on the road and headed down to Airlie Beach which was about 600km away by then. We got to Airlie the day before our trip out to the Whitsundays which meant we could chill out at the lagoon for the day and make the most of the showers! The Whitsundays and Fraser Island are the highlights of the East Coast so we booked a package in Cairns that gave us 2 days 2 nights on a boat around the Whitsundays and 3 days 2 nights on Fraser Island. We were on a boat called Boomerang with the most Irish people I think I've ever met! We went to Whitehaven beach at 7am after the first night and chilled out for a few hours before climbing to the lookout. I wondered whether it could beat Ko Phi Phi in Thailand and somehow it did...last time I went it was pretty cloudy, this time it was incredible. It felt very weird wearing a Xmas hat sat in the perfectly clear waters of Whitehaven beach knowing that in a few weeks I'd be on the beach again but on Xmas day. We did a bit of snorkelling and then stopped for dinner on a spit of sand to watch sunset and drink the night away! The Whitsundays are incredible and if you're in this neck of the woods anytime make sure you do it, I've done it twice now and hope I get to go again.We had another day at the lagoon after we got back to dry land and a fairly big night out before getting back on the road and missioning the 800km to Rainbow beach where we would leave for Fraser Island. We met our group and went shopping for 3 days worth of food for 11 people...2 were Vegan which made things a little interesting! Fraser was even better than the last time I did it mainly because of the group, everyone got on really well and we're all meeting up for New Year in Sydney. I think the photos will tell the rest.After Fraser we drove to Noosa, spent a few hours on the beach and then decided to drive 100km down to Wet 'n' Wild, the best water park in the country (maybe!). The next day was an action packed day of slipping and sliding around like 5 year olds! We then spent the next few days in Surfers Paradise and Byron Bay where we hired a surf board...I was on it for about 5 minutes before it wiped me out and did my arm/collar bone in! Kunaal then drove the 800km down to Sydney while I slept most of the way! We're now staying in luxury at my uncles' house in Manly using many forgotten luxuries such as electrical power, hot showers and the internet!! We took Joe to the ferry this afternoon so he can catch his flight back to the UK for New Year, he'll be sorely missed out here as he has provided us with hours of comedy gold...mostly due to ridiculous comments unfortunately for him! We're moving back into the van for New Year and getting ready for the biggest party ever overlooking the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge! After that things get a little serious as we knuckle down to some serious work to pay for South America and New Zealand! Don't worry though we'll get bored of that and get back on the road to head to Melbourne and then fly to Alice Springs to see that big rock thing everyone talks about!Anyway, have a great New Years and think of me passed out in my van when you finally get to see the New Year in!