Well hello again,

I've left Brisbane and started travelling again. I decided that I'd travel south and drive to Melbourne and then fly to Cairns, as I heard that it was very hard to sell a car in Cairns as there are so many travelers trying to get rid of their cars before flying overseas, and a lot of them end up leaving their cars behind.

First I had to drive to Noosa to do the canoe safari I'd previously booked to do at Easter. We were taken across a lake where we got split up into groups of 2 & 3 and given a canoe and tent. We paddled for about 2 hours to the camp site up the Noosa River.

We then set up the tents and I found out that I had received a broken tent, but I set it up as best I could and tried to sleep in the tent that night.

The next morning we canoed further up the river for 1.5h and then walked up a mountain for 6km to a big patch of sand. It looked unreal; it was like being in the middle of a dessert.

We then returned to the camp site to camp out for a second night. It was freezing cold at night so we didn't get much sleep. The next morning we packed up the camp and paddled back down the river to the lake. We cleaned the camping equipment and then I got in the car and drove for about 2 hours back to Brisbane.

When I arrived in Brisbane it was Just after 4 o'clock and I was feeling very tired. I needed to book flights from Melbourne to Cairns so I parked the car in a parking space close to the travel agent, and went in to book my flights at 4.05 and back out at 4.20. During this time a parking Inspector had come around at 4.07 and booked me with a $120 fine for parking on a freeway, as after 4 o'clock the parking spaces turned into another lane for the freeway. A few minutes later a tow truck came to take my car away. I came out of the travel agents to see my car on the tow truck and the driver getting back in. I ran over to him and told him that I didn't know that the parking spaces turned into a lane after 4 o'clock and that I'd only been parked for 15 minutes. He told me that there was nothing I could do now, but that I could sit in the passenger seat as he takes the car to the pound. When we arrived at the car pound I went into the office to reclaim my car. I had to pay another $202 for the tow fee.

I started my journey to Sydney where I was to meet some friends that had left Brisbane to drive to Melbourne earlier in the week. I drove about 500km to Coff's Harbour and spent the night. The following morning I'd planned to drive the remaining 500km to Sydney. I drove about 150km from when I got a call form my friends asking where I was. I told them that I didn't know the name of the area. They asked me if I'd come through a village called Nambucca, about 70km south of Coff's Harbour. I said that I must have, and asked why? They told me that they had stopped to eat there, and that they had forgotten one of their bags, and that it had been turned into the police. As it wasn't that far back I said I'd turn and collect it for them and then meet them later in Sydney.

I drove back till I got to Nambucca. I had just arrived in the village when the car engine died and I rolled to a stop on the hard shoulder. I felt annoyed that the car had broken down but relieved that it had broken down were it did as about 97% of the journey between Brisbane and Sydney is on a highway where there would have been no-one to asked for help. As it was I'd broken down beside a Tourism Information Center. I asked them if there was any mechanics in the area, and they directed me to one about half a kilometer away, and gave me a map of the area.

I walked to the mechanics and told them where I'd broken down. They came out and towed my car back to the garage and found the problem and replaced the part within and hour. I then went to the police station and collected the bag and made my way to Sydney, and met up with my friends.

We booked ourselves into a hostel for the night and got something to eat. Then I used my laptop to go on the internet.

The next morning we drove down to Canberra and camped out in the campervan. We then continued the journey to Melbourne. We stopped at a McDonnell's along the way to get some food and to use the wifi internet. I went to the car to get my laptop to find that I'd left it in the hostel in Sydney, which at this stage was about 1000km back. I decided it was too far to travel back to get the laptop, and that I'd leave it there. We then continued to Melbourne.

In Melbourne now and it's not half as good of city Brisbane is. Its just too busy to drive in. With people walking out in front of you, lanes that disappear without warning and having to share a lane with the trams.

I have to sell the car this week before I fly to Cairns on the 28th July. That all for now, hopefully my luck will begin to change and I'll see all in 6 weeks time.