Hey guys. Sorry about the delay from the last entry but we ended up staying here longer than we thought!!!

We flew up from Melbourne on the 30th and spent the night in Townsville which is a random place on the north east coast. The next morning we got up and caught the ferry across to Magnetic Island. (it got its name because the island interfered with Captain Cook's compass when he was cruising round!) FACT!!! The island is really small (about 13km wide) and extremely chilled out. There are loads of little bays that you can go to and the views are just amazing. The weather is beautiful (the island has 320 days of sunshine a year) with an amazing breeze so its never too hot. We rocked up and managed to wangle some work at the hostel resort we are staying at 'Magnums on Magnetic' or as the locals call it 'Arkies'. We've got a really big bar and bistro, 2 pools and look right out onto the beach. Because we havent got working visas they cant pay us so we work 4 hours a day/ 5 days a week and get all of our accommodation free (a 6 bed dorm room to ourselves) and dinner and a jug of beer/drinks for free every day. Bargain!!!

We have had a fantastic 2 weeks here and met some wicked people as well as some dodgy drunken locals. There is so much to tell so we wont bore you with everything but here are a few of the higlights:

• The staff here are so nice and we have made some really good friends. There are Frenchy and Rhys (dreadlocked aussies who will do anything for anyone). Stacey (most genuine person you will ever meet from South Australia), Chris and Andy (our supervisors), Kelly (she has left but we are meeting her in Brisbane) and Laura (been out here for 4 years but is from Bakewell).
• Most of our days consist of chilling by the pool which we pretty much have to ourselves, playing pool (we are getting good) and reading our books until its time to get ready for work.
• On our second day here, Andy, Frenchy and Rhys took us down to Radical Bay for a spot of rock climbing. We jumped about 2 rocks and then headed back. We think it was more of a boy thing. Although we did have a giant game of snakes and ladders on the beach which was fun. That night we went to Horseshoe Bay for a party where there was a campfire and Rhyso played some tunes on his guitar. Fun times.
• On the 3rd there was the full moon party (nothing like the one in Thailand - more like a night out in Leeds with a beach). The whole island was going nuts for it!!!! Crazy! It was a good night though and we stayed up til 6.30 and got to see the sun rise.
• Frenchy and Rhys took us fishing one day which was mint and within the first 10 minutes Laura caught a shark!!!!!!!!!!! Well it was a mini shark, about a metre long and was called a Wobbygong )or something like that). Didnt manage to catch anything else though and got a few scratches from all the rock climbing. Man up!
• Even though we arent getting paid we do manage to get some tips from the drunken oogling yocals! I swear the amount of random crap they come out with e.g are you 2 sisters, are you Paris and Nicole Hilton, your both all leg!!!! Losers! So we managed to pool together some tips and hire a topless car for the day. It was so much fun. We cruised round the island (it was also Melbourne Cup Day so there were people everywhere). We went to a couple of bays and then headed up to west point which is the best place on the island to see the sunset. The chef from work had packed us up with a picnic too which was great and the view was immense.
• We went canoeing the other day and didnt get too far before the canoe capsized and it took us so long to empty the bloody thing out that we ended up heading back to the beach!!! It was an experience for sure!

There are other bits and bobs but they are the main things. We pretty much chill all the time and relax after work in the evening with a couple of drinks so not much to report there. We have one night left at work tonight and then we are off all day tomorrow so we reckon we will have a BBQ on the beach, watch the sunset and then get ridiculously drunk! We head off on Friday to Airlie Beach which is about 4 hours south of here and then gonna do some sailing round the Whitsundays.

Hope all is good at home and everyone is well. We miss you all heaps and it is so weird to think that it is nearly xmas!!! Just doesnt seem right that it is a million degrees at xmas time! Anyways make sure you all keep in touch and dont forget about us! Love you lots, us xxx