Hi again! Sorry for the delay in updating, we've been either been very busy or slightly in the wilderness recently and it's been quite hard to get hold of a computer for any length of time! We reluntanctly left Brisbane a week or so ago and headed up to a little town called Noosa. Was very pretty but extremely touristy so we decided to stay at this bushcamp in the outback for a few days to escape the crowds, tourist offices and relentless sell you get in all the tourist areas here. Despite being quite basic, it was definitlely a highlight of the trip. We went out in canoes down the river every day, firstly to an almost deserted beach and then to an Aussie pub where we enjoyed the most fantastic BBQ luch ever! It felt a very authentic experience, but I imagine our canoes were considerably lower in the water on our return! Another feature of staying here was the wonderful campfire in the evening. We managed to get hold of some marshmallows the second night and had a wonderful time toasting them and singing (badly) or either enjoying the absolute silence and amazing star-filled night sky...
Once again, it was very reluctantly that we left Noosa to head up to Hervey Bay and the world famous Fraser Island. We spent 3 days here camping, again, and being driven around the island to all the various amazing landmarks. The weather wasn't great (I think I wore at least three pairs of pyjama trousers and all my jumpers both nights!) but the place's uniqueness more than made up for it! Fraser is the largest sand island in the world and has no roads, only sandy (and very, very bumpy) tracks and then the main highway - a seventyfive mile long beach up its east coast. As well as all the lakes, sand dunes, rainforest and amazing beaches, the wildlife was also fantastic with lots of dingos, sea eagles, whales and a few snakes thrown in for good measure. Despite it being an amazing place, after five nights camping, it was a very well needed hot shower we had!
Next stop was town 1770. This was great as it still has a very small town feel and isn't nearly as developed as most tourist towns. It's also home to the East Coast's northern most surf beach, so that occupied an afternoon and we then we also managed to squeeze in a little bit of motorbiking round the area in the morning. The engines may have been a little pathetic (probably no bad thing) but it was great to ride around the area and see many kangeroos grazing by the side of the road. The hostel was also great and the free BBQ was a great end to our stay there :)
Anyways, after all that, we're currently in Airlie Beach having just finished our three day tour of the Whitsunday Islands. These are beautiful islands with amazing beaches and snorkeling I will never forget. The boat was also great to stay on with awesome food (five meals a day.. yumm) it was just a shame that, given she's an 82 ft old racing yaght, there was almost no wind so sailing opportunites were somewhat limited.
So, once again, that's us so far. It's just begun to hit how little time we have left, but we think we've managed to pack everything in... This weeks highlights inlclude white water rafting, skidiving and a tour to go and see the crocodiles. If we're still standing at the end of all that, I'll let you know how it goes!!
xxx