Finally, the adventure continues...(Apologies to all for the delay!) Got back on the bus, yet again with Foggy. Knew better this time, and we all headed straight for the back of the bus, not that it made too much difference, her jokes still reached our ears. First stop on the way, was Nimbin - Drug Capital of OZ. Started as a small hippy commune before slowly becoming the town that stands today - a very interesting community! Its home to the annual mardigrass! We went to the local cinema and watched a short video on the history of the town. It was rather amusing, especially the bloke whose dream in life was to get government funding to plant fruit trees along all the major roads, so everyone could enjoy the wonders of fruit whenever they wanted. We then got the opportunity to wander round the town at our leisure for a couple of hours. From here we headed off for a walk, which promised waterfalls and scenic views - instead we got a watering can type drip and dense woodland. We did see though the 13th deadliest snake and played a rather amusing game of 'Would you Rather...' which filled in the time and helped us ingore Foggy (if only the snake had been quicker...) In the afternoon, we stopped off at Surfer's Paradise for a couple of hours, where we said goodbye to Katherine and played some frisbee on the beach. Finally arrived in Brisvegas late evening (why its called Brisvegas, I'll never know. It is so different from Vegas, bar the one casino.) We stayed at the Palace, which was home to the 2nd oldest lift in OZ. Was quite an experience, especially trying to open the cast iron sliding shutter doors, whilst weaing a backpack. We checked into a room with Nat and Georgie, and instantly made it our own by emptying all of our junk onto the floor. We then went and found Tom, Dom and Andy who were staying on the same floor; attempted to get some goon and have a big night out, but Brisbane shuts down at around 5 (definitely not like Vegas!) Not a single offie was open - give me an Unwins anyday! Checked out the 'Down Under' bar, but the lack of alcohol in the system, and having been physically and mentally drained by being around Foggy all day resulted in an early night. The next day we decided to head down to the 'fake beach' - was quite surreal! Somebody, some day, decided that what Brisbane needed was a peaceful haven to escape the stresses of city life, so on the edge of the city, across the river they placed a 25m stretch of sand and built a large irregular swimming pool next to it. We heard if your lucky you get to see the Hobos washing in it! Was absolutely packed when we went though, so we joined the masses and spent the day pretending we were actually on a real beach. That night after playing some drinking games (we bought the goon nice and early this time!) we decided to check out a bar called Underground. Was a good night, bar one incident which we won't go into! Next day, spent the day chilling out - all felt a little worse for wear. Decided the next day though that we needed some exercise, so took the football to the park. Before we knew it, we had a full on game with 20 or so lads from all over the world. Was great fun and slept really well that night! Next couple of days was spent lazing about the hostel, shopping and booking our trips to Fraser and the Whitsunday's. Andy decided to go to Dreamworld Theme Park with Leah, Lauren and Tom, and in the evening, as everyone was moving on again, we had a proper Ozzie style BBQ on the roof of the hostel. We were joined by a very strange old lady too, who seemed to live in the hostel. Next day, everyone moved on again; we weren't on our own though - Matt, Hanky and Claire had caught up and spent a few nights with them. Had one great last evening, where Andy and myself met up with my Dad's Cousins - Kevin and Caroline. They were both so nice, and we were treated to a lovely meal and real Stella from belgium, at the Hilton Hotel (If your reading this - thank you again for everything!) Was great to get to know some more of the family, and get some helpful tips for travelling. On the last day, I decided to go to Steve Irwin's Zoo! Got a bit of a surprise on the way to the train station - coming out of my hostel still half asleep, I bumped into Gareth Mitchell and Andy Bone, two lads from my school. Really is a small world, full of coincidences! The zoo was awesome, got the opportunity to hold crocodiles and koalas, feed elephants and kangaroos, and see a huge selection of other animals, including tigers, close up! Was well worth visiting and a good end to Brisbane. The next day we got back on the bus - and headed for Hervey Bay and Fraser Island! Matt (and Andy)