Hervey Bay is actually three seaside towns that have amalgamated into one over the years. This means that there are a few almost-towncentres but no real heart to the place. Most people come here for the reputably excellent whalewatching or to make the trip to Fraser Island. We did neither, seeing as we have done both before, and found that there was not a great deal else to do.

Luckily this suited us just fine; after camping we were wiped and just glad to be back in civilisation. Even three days later going to a proper flushing toilet was a novelty. We have divided our time here between going for walks, relaxing on the beach, paddling in the sea, eating and reading. Not a bad way to spend your days.

At one point we happened upon a free waterpark along the seafront that had hundreds of water fountains that you can run through and a giant bucket of water that empties itself periodically over the screaming heads below. Delicious when it's as hot as it is here. For some reason we were the only people over 8 there, which meant that we couldn't linger too long without looking like paedos/weirdos but it was fun while it lasted.

We also found a delicious Chinese restaurant on our second day and spent an hour munching happily away on curried chicken and sweet and sour pork whilst the huge ants marching around on the ground munched happily on us. We're starting to notice an increase in the variety and size of animals as we head north but have yet to see any man-eating spiders or crocodiles, thank god.

Today we are making a mammoth journey by bus up to Airlie Beach - 14 hours!! Luckily it's an overnight journey so we're hoping to sleep through most of it. Once we get to Airlie Beach we will be staying for one night in town then going off sailing in the Whitsundays for two nights. We are both very excited :-)