Hello everyone - i'm still alive.

I'm massively sorry for not having done a blog for sooooooooo looooooong! It's honestly because I haven't had a moment to do one - its a whirlwind of movement and activity and mostly DISTRACTIONS ;-) Which means that i'm having an amazing time.

Last time a did a blog I had arrived in Airlie Beach and was about to do the Whitsundays. I went on a boat called 'Powerplay' and was fortunate enough to be sharing it with a fabulous bunch of people for 3 days. We snorkelled in the reef and saw Angel fish, Clown Fish, Parrott Fish and all sorts of coral. We also saw a turtle whilst on the boat. It was an amazing time and I made some great friends. We also went on one of the islands and saw Whitehaven Beach, which we spent some time on. The most idyllic, beautiful beach i've been on :-) White sands and turquoise waters. Life on the boat was comfortable. We had a great crew looking after us. The food was scrummy and I was lucky enough to have a bed in the kitchen/eating area instead of a cabin, which was much less claustrophobic and better when waking up in the morning when the boat started moving. Also, less hot. There were times when the sea was a bit rough but I didn't get sea sick. Only once, when I went into the loo to get changed and realised that the space confinement + movement of the boat meant nausea. But a few girls, the ones who were all dolled up and tanned to impressed, got really sea sick and had to sit on the edge of the boat with bright white faces - so much for the tan girls haha! The skipper was hilarious, he spoke like Borat and occasionally popped his head upside down from his driving area and shouted something random. He also played a Flight of the Conchords song on the speakers and I was mightily pleased. One night, we all had a massive singalong in our pyjamas due to a girl who reminded me of an X Factor auditionee, who sang alot. We all sang Bohemian Rhapsody in its entirety as well as other hits, including the Grease Medley. Overall the experience was a really happy one and i'll never forget it.

I spent a day on my own at Airlie Beach which was awesome because it meant sitting around alot for a day. Then I got a Greyhound down to Hervey Bay, which is by Fraser Island. They put Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the DVD Screen but I didnt watch it because I only like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the older film.

Hostel was quite nice at Hervey Bay - alot of the Whitsundays lot were there also, doing the same thing. We all had to get up very early the next morning to be put in our groups for the Fraser Island 4x4 camping experience. I decided to say i'd rather not drive, so volunteered to sort food out. I got paired up with a girl called Eliane, who's belgian/spanish and we had to collect all the money, figure out what to get using a guide and then we were dropped off at a supermarket and given 40 minutes to get all the food! It was mental! We were running through the aisles like mad supermarket sweep contestants. I felt I should be getting paid to do it it was such hard work! But we did it with about 50 cents left - how good is that? (although we had to get rid of a few things at the check out) - but at least we didnt underspend - things are looking good for the project manager career route!!!! We all packed up the 4x4 and headed to the island on the ferry. The group ended up being 10 girls and 1 guy, the poor sod. But it ended up being yet another great group, I really enjoyed their company. Being in the vehicle was a bit of an ordeal at times because the island is all sand. So on the sand roads its very very very bumpy. People were flying into the air even with the seat belts on! If you were tall, you would bump your head on the roof (not me haha!). Sometimes I got a bit scared at the driving and felt we might topple over but we only got stuck about 2 times which is actually amazing. I think looking back that everyone drove brilliantly and we were an amazing group. There were also times when we'd have to stop and remove trees from the road! We all got a bit overexcited on the first day and started drinking at about 2 pm. So by 4:30 we were all singing loudly in the 4x4 (the driver was annoyed coz she had to wait till we got back to the campsite bless her) and when we were driving into the site we were all singing 'I've Got a Feeling' by the Black Eye Peas really loudly so everyone could hear. We got some disapproving looks. Then we all headed down to the beach and just ran around and there were loads of cars pulling up full of Aussie men who wanted to join in - it was hilarious!!!! We all kept on it till about 10 pm, when we had to all basically pass out in out tents. We learnt our lesson the next day when we all felt RUFF AS. Never get drunk and pass out in a tent without water and without undoing the ventilation flaps in hot weather. I shared my tent with 3 Northern Irish girls who were Fabularse!

On Fraser Island we went to a lake that had tiny little turtles in, saw some lovely views from above the beach and also some dolphins in the sea, we also saw a beached Humpback Whale, which was sad. It's tail was half eaten by the sharks already. We also went to a lake called Lake McKenzie which was stunning beyond anything. It was as stunning as Whitehaven Beach. I blimming forgot my camera, what a Melon. The campsite wasnt the most comfortable of experiences. The flies really annoyed us and the sand made us filthy. But mostly there were loads of spiders. When I was lying on the tent trying to get air out of it after we'd taken it down, one of the Irish girls shouted "Emily theres a massive spider trying to get on you!". My natural reaction was to shout "F**K OOOOOOOOFFFFFF!" in her face and then jump up and run around. Don't worry, we all laughed. Then the spider ended up on a another girls hip! She was jumping around like mad but it would shake off. It was so funny. Anyway, overall, looking back, Fraser Island was a good experience and more challenging than the Whitsundays.

The next day, I got the Greyhound again and headed down to Brisbane where I was only going to stay one night because I was due to get a flight to Darwin. Nothing to say about that.

Well, arrived in Darwin, very hot but nothing compared to what was to come. Ended up making a few major changes to my last week in Oz which i'll reveal further on. Hostel I stayed in was not good and i'll tell you for why. When I woke up in the morning, I had been bitten all over my arms. By bedbugs. It was horrible and I wanted to cry. I told the reception and she could tell I was not a happy bunny. Anyway, Sam the tour guide arrived soon after and the tour began. The most memorable tour and tour guide had entered my life!!!!!!

I can't go into details at this stage because it would go on forever. So i'll just launch right in. Group was mostly Germans, with a smattering of other Northern European countries. (Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland...) and 3 Australians. There were 3 who were English, myself, Keira and Shaun. Sam (Sharpy) is from Tasmania and a full on surfer and bushman. The group got on really well overall, only a few issues with people not understanding the tour guide's strong Australian accent (not a problem for the English & Aussies) but I think it was a really good group dynamic. It took a while for us all to get to know each other properly.

Our first night was at a place called Lake Victoria. It was a campsite with facilities but felt like I was in the bush already. It was all our first night in a swag, which is a canvas sleeping bag that protects from all weathers. You sleep in your sleeping bag inside it. However, by the end of the tour we were nearly all sleeping on top of our swags due to the heat! I was a bit nervous because of the obvious: snakes, spiders etc. But it was actually OK. The only thing I had to contend with was the sound of snoring, which was mightily irritating. After the first night we had a night at a rather nice campsite that had a pool etc. This was a bit luxurious for the tour but was nice! Then we went to a similar campsite for 2 nights at a place called El Questro due to the Bungle Bungles having been closed off due to fires. Therefore we were unable to see them which was a shame. But alot of the group ended up going in a plane and saw them from the air. I didn't do this however due to the cost but saw some excellent photos afterwards. From these first 4 days I mainly remember going on a hike through El Questro Gorge. It was an experience! The first part was easy and we ended up at a nice watering hole. Then it got more challenging. To start the second part of the hike we had to climb a difficult rock after wading through the water. I basically ended up being hoisted up the last bit by Shaun, which i'm very grateful for! Sam was there giving moral support "Be like a snake darlin'" - brilliant. Then we climbed over lots of rocks for what felt like ages before reaching a very beautiful watering hole with a waterfall. Then we had to go back! It was a good day and we were all quite tired at the end of it. We also went to a place called Zebedee Hot Springs, which was like paradise. We just sat in the hot springs for hours and went wrinkly. Around this time I also saw Kununurra, which is one of the major towns in the area. We made our last shopping trip here before heading for the bush camping phase of the trip. We were all really geared up and ready for it by this time.

Bush camping was excellent. It was the same as what we'd been doing before except no facilities and we just found places in the middle of nowhere and set up. It was much better and more exciting. We would collect wood during the day and always have a camp fire. One night however, we arrived at a location and started the fire. Then suddenly the wind picked up and the fire started blowing into the trees!!!!! It was really scary and myself and Keira were like "ummmm, the fire - look at the fire". After a few seconds, Sam was putting it out with a fire extinguisher!! Job done. He revealed to me and a couple pf others on the last night that he was "s***ting himself" when that happened. Haha!

Whilst bush camping we went to a couple of watering holes to swim (and wash) which was lovely. Towards the last day we went to some caves which were incredible and Sam told us about why the sky is blue and the geological history of the Earth etc. Then he said we might as well have a sleep to pass some time, so we all just lay about in the cave and Keira went out like a light whilst we all fidgeted about (she sleeps really well!). We then went to a gorge where we were told something cool would happen at sunset. We were all sitting by a freshwater lake that had crocs in. We were all joking that the crocs would come out of the water and sing and dance for us at sunset, or that it would rain skittles. However, when it got to a certain point someone said "look up!" and there were hundreds of bats coming out of some caves flying through the air towards the sunset. Hundreds became thousands after a couple of minutes and we were all spellbound. It was AMAZING.

I was very fortunate to have a tour guide who was sympathetic to me being veggie and he provided me with some awesome food. He'd always say - yours is over here Bubs! Or somesuch name. Even called me 'Mini' one night! But one night he decided that some of us (the younger people who were not in our swags yet) should play games around the fire. It was a great night. We did the limbo, then a game called 'cardboard box', where each person had to bend over without bending their knees and pick up a cardboard box with their teeth and then tear a bit off so it got smaller. When I did it he started the ongoing nickname of 'Pocket Rocket', which I was called many a time from there on for the rest of the tour! We also did a thing where we'd spin round holding a broom and then fall over and then we all played 'I Have Never' - needless to say we found out alot about Sam haha! And each other!!!!!! :-D Another thing that was great was every morning we would all have to get in a circle and link arms. Sam would talk a bit then we would all sway and sing the chorus to All You Need Is Love by The Beatles. This was something that we all loved and really brought the group together!

At the end of the tour we arrived in Broom and we'd all bonded (most of us!!!). So we had a night out. Well, Sam was hammered by 6 pm (he doesn't drink on tour so was letting go a bit) and it was hilarious. We were dancing on tables and kept hearing him shout "WORK for your money! WORK for your money!". We have been shouting this at each other for the rest of the tour. We ended up on the beach, where Sam passed out and myself and some others just went back to the hostel to sleep coz we were so tired.

Broom was a nice town but the humidity made me go a bit Troppo (means mad from the bush heat). However myself, Keira and Lisa from Brisbane went to a bar called Matsos where we had the best alcoholic ginger beer in the world. I would seriously consider having some shipped over!

I've decided to leave this blog because there's still so much to say and it would be better to have another session later this week to bring it up to date.

I've been in Perth for 2 days and am flying to Adelaide tomorrow to stay with Kris for a week before flying to Sydney to fly to Auckland. I met Kris at the Wake Up! hostel in Sydney. I can't wait to get to Adelaide!

I hope everyone is OK and I miss people.

All you need is love, love you all

Emily xx