WELL!! if you've logged on in the past couple of weeks,...hoping..praying..WISHING we'd blogged or even..don't say it...but actually added pictures(!) I'm sorry to dissapoint you..and it also lied, we weren't on Magnetic island that long, and as you can see know we've come to an entirely different COUNTRY!! how exciting! but I'll tell you all from where we left you!

So...we did rent a car in M. Island (which isn't magnetic if you're wondering..Captin cook was wronga bout somet things) And five of us drove round the island, me and 3 boys in the little open air car and greg trying to keep up with us on a moped! It was brilliant fun and we saw some lovely bays and some great forests, and some little rock wallabies which were so cute and you could feed! went on a really nice walk, very inappropriatly named Koala walk as after one and a hlaf hours we hadnt seen anything much wildlifey at all but some great views! after a while of driving round the island we had some photo shoots with the car..its that cool and when you see photos you will be jealous! Our friend ben was seriously considering importing possiblilities.

the day after dinner with the wild possums overlooking the sea, we moved onto mission beach leaving our remaining friends on the bus. mission bech was lovely and we stayed ina great hostel with hamocks and a really chilled out atmosphere, and..we couldnt believe it but it was actually hot..HOT! not a bit nice if you werent in the wind and were wearing a jumper, but actually i think i may get out my bikini today and lie in the sun hot! I made the fatal mistake of trying the pool tho..i never knew i could move so fast til i jumped into it! (even after seeing me greg STILL tried it too..and i sat back and..well..laughed)

so after a relaxing couple of days we moved onto Cairns! on the way we had a stop at a croc farm, which wasso out of this world! the guy 'Mick' showed us aroudn the farm with his massive limp (gained from a croc) and did a bit of a steve erwin show. however its not so much about saving crocs, its actually a farm! and then we got to hold baby crocs whihc i loved and then snakes which i was not overjoyed about, it was on me long enough for the picture, in which my smile looks vaguely convincing adn then its head came towards mine as it was squirming and wraping and i screamed! but it wasfun. so then greg got bit by a snake...sorry i had to say it thatway jsut for the emphisis! it was NOT poisionous and actually one of the activities you can do at crazy micks croc farm. and greg was quiteexcited about the stories of ' i got bit by a snake it oz' so a couple of them lined up to prod a little snake til it bit them! bless the littel vicous thing.

So then we moved onto Cairns to our swanky hotel room! and get this..it had a sofa! and the shower curtian was acually there and not mouldy! and a bath!and itwas CLEAN! YAY! theres was a lovely pool and the lady at reception actually had a uniform, id forgotten what ujniforms lookedliek! we havnt seen one of them anywhere apart form planes! We went and had a nice drink with our bus driver and bus people and a nice cheap dinner and then had a nice look around the night markets. then saw some old firends in the street. then i went to bed for the last time as an 18 year old!!

So we had a nice lie in and i had some lovely texts from my mummy and daddy which was so nice! and then...I had my first abth in 4 months!!!!!! and spare thejokes about not washing cos they do have showers outside of the uk. but this was a bath!! (there werent any bubbles but it was a BATH!) then i spoke to both my mummy and daddy! which was very exciting and had some gorgoeus pressies including an amazing saphire neckalce from greggy :)

We went out and had an enormous all day breakfast from a very grumpy waitress but she didnt ruin my day! we had a potter aroundt he town, walked down to the lagoona adn looked around some really nice shops. I bourght a pair oftrainers and some uggs (obviously only for the cold of New zealand!) and we sat in the sun, and ate ice creams andhad such a lovely lazy day, wandering and eating and sitting in the sun! then i got a little dressed up and went to a lovely restaurant for an amazing meal with THREE courses! id forgotten meals could be thatgraet! and we had champagne! it was so exciting! and lovely to be 19! iread all youre birhtday messages too! and they confirmed the insanity of the cariou-keens but also made me smile SO much and i loved them all! so thank you everyone! and thank you so much mummy for my amazing room and thank you so much daddy for all the wine and champagne and yummy scrummy food, and obviously greg made my day really lovely. After dinner we went to the 'lively backpacker bar' which turned out to be a few old men having a pint. so mike greg and i played some aggressive games of pool whihc were very fun but even on my birthday neither of them let me win!! the cheek of it!hehe!

So i had a great birhtday and the next day we woke a little earlier than we would have liked andpacked up and went to the airport for our day of travelling to New Zealand! after telling the taxi driver the wrong terminal, we got there in the end, hadsome dramas with greg admitting he had his poi soaked in lighterfuel but after some tense minutes of the lady sniffing away after each wash she let us have them. she was prob high by that point anyway!

had a nice flight, got to brisbane and were put near the drunk guy forthe next flight, but he provided some amusement, and was always getting beers for everyone, so wasnt a problem! when we got to the airport spent AGES in custems checkeing our boots for seeds..which was tedious but them through the other side fi and liv were waiting for us!! it was SO good to see them! felt exactly the same! and eventually collapsed in bed very late but in a nice guest room!