Hmm, we thought we had written this postcard ages ago but as it happens we hadn't. We will do our best to remember what we did all that time ago but we make no guarantees, sorry! Right, yes, um...we left Hervey Bay and headed for Noosa but decided to take a liitle break enroute at a stunning little spot called Rainbow Beach where the bay extends out in the shape of a (unsurpringly) rainbow. Cheryl even spotted a rainbow comming into the town so all was very appropriate! This little pitstop confused the poor bus drivers something chronic causing them to muck up Cheryl's itinery to the extent that we had to argue with them for a full hour to persude them to let her back on the bus back to Sydney! Despite this, it was well worth it and laden with our gigantic backpacks we climbed and ran down sand dunes much to the ammusement of the locals some of who filmed us - look out Hollywood! Noosa too was a pretty place and the weather being nice (i.e. not raining) we embarked on the costal walk accompanied by a girl from Korea. We were promised koalas, dolphins and whales but us being us there was not a sausage to be seen and believe us it was not from lack of looking! Onwards we went to Brisbane. Now apparently they have had a 10 year drought and the weather 99% of the time is glorious. Yes, well I think we officially ended the 10 year drought, Cheryl even had to buy herself an umbrella! It rained and rained and rained. We did see some sights assisted by Neil, our friend who you may remember from Thailand and Sydney photos, the man made beach for example and the museum which was very informative, every day's a school day in the land of travelling! We even took the boat up the river and saw the numerous bridges through the raindrops - check us out. Trying desperately to remember what Liz's uncle looked like we lingered outside a prearranged meeting place. Fortunately for us John recognised Liz and took us on a mini tour back to his appartment where his wife Lilly had prepared kangaroo for dinner - yum! We had a delightful evening and were even sent packing with heaps and heaps of supplies much to John's disgust at the disappearance of his favourite cereal bars - thanks Lilly! Surfers Paradise, a neon lit cross between Blackpool and Butlins was also rather damp so surfing was definitely off the agenda. Instead, after 10 minutes of arriving we were persuaded to join the inter-hostel pub crawl. The clientelle was a bit young but we befriended (yes you guessed it) another Neil - we only make friends with people called Neil! The final club was an RnB club where we were lapping it up on the dancefloor, a good night had by all. Next stop Byron Bay where.......yes it rained!!!! so much so that we did a 3k walk with Neil across the beach (river) up lots of stairs (waterfall) to the lighthouse to check out the whales who sensibly stayed at home out of the rain unlike fools like ourselves! Do not fear, Cheryl had her giant poncho which she could fit a whole army under with the added bonus that she was convinced that she looked really hot in it. They were just jealous!!!!!!!!!!! At the top we had to wait in the lighthouse porch for the 'shower' to pass. It didn't and an hour and a half later we had gathered a group of randoms and to pass the time out came the cards. Eventually we had to face the fact that it was never going to stop, so it was back to the hostel to try and dry out our clothes with the hairdryer. We had arranged a night out with the random selection of men we had collected so we partied the night away dancing on the tables at Cheeky Monkeys. This is getting rather long but we packed so much into our trip! Our next and final stop was Port Macquarie. Here the sun came out proplerly and we took some bikes out early to catch breakfast time at the koala hospital. The pictures speak for themselves but we shall say that WE LOVED THEM! Another failed attempt at whale watching we were becoming disheartened but all was not over........ Back in Sydney we were warmly welcomed home by Cheryl's dad, Faye and Julie and quite frankly spoilt rotten all week! To make life even better Julie drove us out to Kurnel and guess what? We saw whales and lots of them! They were everywhere swimming in groups of 3 and 4. It was so much fun we came back the day after too! To top off our Oz trip we were taken out to Star City for dinner and cocktails and a go on the pokies in the casino - Cheryl won a whole $5 and for those of you who are wondering no, her 2p machine addiction is not coming back! A sad and tearful farewell we had to leave for pastures new but don't worry Les and Julie we'll be back Ha Ha Ha!