Hi everyone!!

We are now in Townsville (Queenslands third largest city), which is quite funny because it's really just a normal sized town!

I left you last at the end of Brisbane, where we did manage to hug a koala and also hand fed some kangaroo's. One of which had a joey in her pouch!! Too cute! We then made our way up to Noosa, for Australia Zoo. It was an amzing day out, but also a bit sad as I loved Steve Irwin. We fed an asian elephant, and then watched the show at the crocoseum. It was such a great show, with birds, snakes and ofcourse a croc (Graham). We were on our way looking around the rest of the zoo, when we saw the Irwin family arrive to do some filming. So we ended up having our picture with Terri Irwin!

We then took the bus up to Hervey Bay, where we did a trip to Fraser Island. The world's largest sand island. It was a really interesting day. We had a swim in Lake Mackenzie (the most beautiful place on Earth) and walked through some tropical rainforest. We also drove along 75 mile beach to get to the wreck of the SS Maheno and Eli creek. I think this was one of my favourite days of the whole trip so far! The only thing we didn't see was a dingo, but we did see a massive python that had just had a feast on a fruit bat! Nice.

From Hervey Bay we had a 13 hour overnight bus to Airlie Beach! It was from here that we took a sailing trip to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. Once again it was gorgeous, with white sands and crystal clear water. We went for a swim, and looked quite attractive in the all in one stinger suits they gave us. It has just come to the end of the killer jellyfish season here. So rather than risk getting stung by a rogue, we both decided we'd rather wear the suits! The sailing was fun too, I didn't realise our boat was a former racing yacht. So I was a bit surprised when we started tipping on our side into the water!

That brings us back to Townsville. We have had fun here, and took the ferry over to Magnetic Island yesterday. We visited a couple of the bays (Horseshoe Bay is pictured), and took a walk through part of the bush. We have had beautiful weather since we have travelled north, so hopefully that will continue. We are off to Mission Beach tomorrow, where we will be for Kayleigh's birthday. Then Cairns, for the Great Barrier Reef and my birthday!

I will write again before we leave for Asia (a bit daunting).

Sarah xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx