So, I have just left Emelie at Brisbane airport (and Josef and Gemma), and this time I didn’t cry - haha! What a time we have had. . . Yeah, it’s been emotional!

I think it is actually gonna be quite difficult to remember everything that we have done. . . It’s been a crazy week in and around Brisbane! Firstly though, I would like to just say that Josef and Gemma were awesome. What a great couple, they put us up (or put up with us – which ever way you wanna look at it), fed us and just were great! They had arranged for us to go out to Fraser Island (again for me) for 3 days, as they have a Jeep 4x4 vehicle and said that we could use the car when they went back to work. So yeah, thanks guys, you’re awesome!

Anyway. . . We landed at the airport and got a taxi to our new home for a few days. Josef met us at their flat and let us in, showed us around and then legged it again. We just chilled out for the afternoon, firstly by going down to their pool spa area, hmmmm very posh. . . . We had a bit of a swim and sunbathed for a bit, before heading out for a coffee and a nosey round. . . We got some champagne and beers and got back to the flat as Gemma was making us all some food. . . . We didn’t do much in the evening, as we were heading off early to Fraser Island. . . .

In the morning we left for the 3 hour drive up to Rainbow Beach, hmmm, that place rings a bell. . . . Of course, I was there few weeks ago. . . . ! We had some food at Rainbow, before mozying over to the ferry! This all looks familiar. . . . Now although I had been there and done that (Fraser Island), I was really looking forward to doing it again. . . As this time it would be different, We were not camping and I knew what to expect with the roads and the beach, etc. Plus I could enjoy the views a bit more, as I wouldn’t be driving. . . .

We took the ferry across and hit the beach with some serious 4x4 power, a lot more than I had when driving here! The Jeep seemed really steady and comfortable on the beach, so it was a pleasant ride. We decided to head straight towards where we were staying for the night, Kingfisher Resort, where Gemma had booked us 2 nights accommodation in a cabin / chalet thingy. . . . The roads were coolio on the way an Emelie seemed to be enjoying it too, she had a similar look on her face as I probably did when I first did Fraser Island. We got to Kingfisher and checked in and drove up to our shed (I call it a shed because that’s what me and my parents always called these kind of places). . . .

Blimey, wow, this was nice, we thought and it was. It was huge. . . only 2 bedrooms, but it was great. Big kitchen, dining, lounge area, large veranda, etc, etc.. . . . Very comfortable. But without further a due, we headed down to the pool area, for a dip and a few beers. After the dip in the pool, we walked back to the shed via the beach and sunset. . . Very nice pictures.

The resort offered a number of options for food, but that evening we chose the more chilled out bar to eat and drink. We had some food and a few more beers and me and Josef then sneaked off to play pool. . . . We were both awful, but still played best of 3. It was 1 – 1 and I was getting thrashed in the last game, until a moment of genius. . . . I potted 6 balls in a row. . . . Now I know you are thinking wow, well done dude. . . . ?! Slight problem though. I potted my last 4 colours, then potted a great black, however the god damn white went in off the black, so after the spectacular finish, I still lost . . . . . Doh!

After that, we all decided to leg it as we were all tired after the long day, so headed back, but before we did, we saw a football table. . . . Now I am a big fan of football tables, as Steve my old boss and very good friend from when I worked at the garage had a football table. No, not at home, but in the garage, so we used to play a lot. . . In the morning before work, at lunch and after work. . . .

So there’s the history of me liking football tables, and now here we were ready to have a game. Me and Em against Josef and Gemma. . . . Now I was feeling quietly confident. . . . . Until. . . . . Wait for it. . . . . Josef spun the players and scored. . . . . Now I immediately protested and tried to explain that you can’t spin and that it takes the skill out of the game, but unfortunately I was over ruled by all. . . . . Needless to say, we lost and that’s all I wanna say about that. . . . CHEATS!!!!! Only kidding, love ya really. . . . .

So, yeah, anyway, after my little rant we headed back and drank some more beers and chatted for ages in the shed, listening to music, etc before hitting the sack. . . In the morning we got up earlyish and had some brekky, before going to Lake McKenzie for the morning. After the bumpy drive up there we walked down to the white sands and although I had been here before it still hit me with a wow. It is one of the most beautiful places ever. . . We stayed here for most of the morning, then went back to the car and to a picnic area to have some lunch, before heading off up to the north of the Island to Indian Head. Although Josef and Gemma had also been to Fraser before they hadn’t been that far north, so I recommended they did.

We got to Indian Head as the tide had turned and was coming in. we knew we didn’t have long, as we needed to get back before we got caught out by the tide, so we took a quick march up to the top to see the fantastic views. It was quite windy today, so the sea was very choppy and therefore we didn’t see any Manta Rays or sharks. We did however see an eagle flying around with a big fish in its grasp. . . . . We also saw a Dingo on the pathway up!

We didn’t stay long and legged it back towards Kingfisher, this time taking a different track, which was fun! We got back and chilled out for a bit before heading back to the same bar as the night before as the food and atmosphere suited our needs! We had some food and played some pool again, this time a few doubles games. . . . I was dreadful though, think it was because I could see the football table in the corner and it was putting me off. . . . ?? Only kidding, I was just crap! We had an earlyish night again, as we were all knackered and wanted to make the most of the last day!

So, the last day on Fraser. . . . . Me and Em got up early and headed to the bakery to get some bread and stuff. We had breaky and decided on the plan of attack for the last day, checked out and headed back to Lake McKenzie for the morning. It was still as gorgeous, the water crystal clear and fresh and the sun beaming down!

Now I’m not sure if I can remember exactly what we did, so I will be honest and tell you that I am going to make it up. . . . Now we did Eli Creek at some stage, now thinking about it, I am not sure if that was on the last day or on the second day on the way back??? Arrggghhhh. . . I am confused now. . . So to be honest I am gonna leave it there for Fraser Island. . . In summary, it was awesome. . . . I got lots of photos this time and was very pleased to have done it again and been able to share the experience with Emelie! Happy days. . .

So, after all the other good stuff, we eventually headed back homeward, over the ferry and back through Noosa, a very nice seaside town. We stopped here and chilled on the beach for a few hours and rumour has it, I fell asleep and snored?!?!?!? Hmmmm, can’t see it myself?!? Hehehehe

After Noosa, we went home and decided on the way home that Indian takeaway was on the cards for food. . . . We had that, then went for a very nice evening stroll around Brisbane, up the river and around the up and coming developments of the city, including a very nice lagoon area with lots of fountains, etc. . . . We were all tired, but I seemed to lag behind more than anyone. . . I was feeling it. . . . ! Needless to say, I slept well that night!

The next day, unfortunately Josef and Gemma had to go back to work, so me and Em went down to the pool area. . . .Em did 40 lengths, I managed about 4, then read my book. . . . We then headed into the city to do some shopping and stuff and met Gemma for lunch. Later in the afternoon we jumped on a bus and headed to the local Koala sanctuary as it was Em’s mission to hug a koala. . . . The place was like a mini zoo, so had other animals, but the main focus was on Koalas. . . And yes, Em got to hug a Koala, aaaaaarrrrrrrrr ! hehehe. We also had a wander around the kangaroo enclosure and fed some of the roos, which was fun. . . . !

We headed back home as we were having a BBQ tea, which was very nice. Gotta have a BBQ while in Australia. . . . We then chilled for the evening and booked our accommodation for the following evening as me and Em were taking a trip down the coast to Byron Bay for the night.

So early in the morning, we got in the Jeep and hit the road again. Took a nice steady 2 hour drive down to Byron and found our beach house. Wow, how gorgeous was this place. . . . Put it this way, I would have absolutely no problem living there! Em fell in love with the place. We got settled, then headed to Clarks beach. This was just up from the main beach and the centre, opposite where we were staying. . . Very nice and quiet. Apart from a little rain as we walked across to the beach, the weather wa awesome, very hot and sunny. . . The waves were not as forceful, so Em didn’t get bowled over this time. We didn’t talk much, just chilled and read our books and listened to music. It was a very chilled out day. We decided late afternoon to head back and take a walk up to the lighthouse, so went back to the beach house to drop our stuff off, but got sucked into it’s chilled atmosphere and sat in the lounge area and had a coffee. . .

We did drag ourselves away eventually and headed off up the road to the lighthouse, taking the track around the coastal headland. There were some great views, including watching the sunset! We got to the lighthouse just as it was dropping dark and had a great view over to Byron. We walked back a different way down the road and eventually got back to the beach house. The whole walk was a little more than I had been expecting.

I had another coffee, then we got ready and headed out into the town for the evening. We had decided that we wanted some Thai food, so found a very nice small place called Joe’s Noodles. . . . Blimey, it was really nice food, really enjoyed it!

After eating and sinking a few beers and a bottle of wine, we took a walk around the hippy streets (lots of chilled out hippys here). Looked in a few shops, one of which sold these Thai fisherman’s pants, now if you are not sure what they are, they are really thin baggy pants that sort wrap round you (Sorry – Pants meaning trousers, if your unsure). Now I have always wanted some of these for dosing around in. . . . So the very friendly guy in the shop showed us how to wear them and that was it, I was having some. . . . Easy! Now then, Emelie however was a little tipsy and tried some on herself. She decided that she also liked them and wanted some, oh she says though, my sister would really like some, oh and my mum, oh my other sister. . . . . Cut a long crazy story short, she bought 5 pairs, (then in the morning 2 more pairs!) Crazy chick!

So after our little shopping spree, we went for a few beers at a big outdoor bar, however I think the over excitement of the shopping took its toll on Em as she went really tired, so we headed home and she crashed for the night. I stayed up for a bit and read my book before crashing out myself!

In the morning we got up and had breaky, some homemade muesli with yogurt and fruit, before packing up and heading off. . . . The weather didn’t look that sparkling, so we decided to head back towards Brisbane down the coast road and look for a nice small beach somewhere halfway.

We found a really nice small surfer beach, which also happened to be a great sun trap. We stayed here for a few hours, had a swim, I took I walk up to a lookout point and did some climbing on the rocks, before we headed off again to find another place where would could stop for lunch. We found a strange place (can’t for the life of me remember what it was called) but stopped here, had some lunch, a walk down to the beach and then legged it again towards Surfers Paradise. Now Surfers Paradise is the Blackpool or Vegas of the east coast. High rise hotels, etc, etc. Now this is by no means my cup of tea, but, I think you have to see it to then be able to say, god this place is aweful! Needless to say we stopped here for an hour or so and caught the last of the sun on the beach before heading back to Brisbane.

Back in Brisbane, we got home, showered and changed and headed out again with Josef and Gemma for a meal. It was my last night and they had broken up for a long weekend for Easter. We went to a very nice restaurant called the ‘Gunshop café’, followed by a few drinks around the area called the West End. Well to be honest we had quite a few drinks. . . We ended up in a late bar type club we lots of young people on drugs. . . hmmm was funny to watch, but not, if you know what I mean?!?! We then headed home as we didn’t want a really really late night. In the morning we were going to try and make the most of the day and head up to Tambourine Mountain for a walk before dropping me at the airport.

Well, following the beers the night before, we missed most of the morning, as we were all slow getting ready and having breakfast. We did however make it to Tambourines Mountain and had a walk around a few shops before having a spot of lunch. We then did a really nice walk through the rain forest on the mountain before heading to Brisbane airport. . . . Felt all a bit quick and surreal actually. Me and Em had been pretty much joined at the hip for 2 and half weeks and now I was going. . . After some quick goodbyes, that was it, I was on my own again. . . Bye Em, it has been an absolute pleasure!

I got checked in at the airport and they managed to get me on an earlier flight, good job as mine was delayed. . . . So that was it, through security and literally boarding the plane 5 minutes later, happy days! Sydney here I come, again! Hello Xanthe. . . .

So that was it guys. . . . I may have made a bit of it up, but I think it’s all about there or there abouts!