Hey everyone, hope you're all really well. I left the last blog as we were heading to Agnes Water.

Before we left airlie beach we had a a quick walk down to where Paul used to work. We were very disappointed to find that the bar is now used as fridge and tv storage. Very disappointing, but we got some pictures outside of it non the less.

When we arrived at Agnes Water bus station we could see a petrol station and supermarket. We were soon to discover that that was about it for Agnes Water. We'd heard it was a small place but we had no idea just how small it was. Luckily we ended up staying in a really great hostel. It was called Southern Cross and it had its own lake, volley ball court and pool. We headed straight to the pool to do some sun bathing as we'd had a long bus journey. We'd just applied our sun cream and were ready to relax when we got thrown into the pool by some of the people who worked at the hostel. It was very irritating at the time but was really a fun start to our stay there i suppose. The first night there was a geek party. So we had a few hours to get a geeky costume together. We ended up looking more like golfers but at least we tried. At the party hannah won 2 tickets to go surfing so we did that the next day. I have to say i was pretty poor. I coukd catch a wave but standing up on the board proved extremely difficult. I managed it once in the whole 3 hours. I think i'll stick to body boarding - much less strenuous. We loved southern cross so much that we ended up staying an extra night than planned. This turned out to be a good move as our next stop was Rainbow Beach. Again this is a tiny town with nothing going on. Our reason for stopping here was to go on the Fraser Island tour.

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. For the trip we were put into groups of 8 and given a huge 4x4. We then followed our guide all around the island taking it in turns to drive and stopping off at beautiful lakes and sites along the way. I couldnt believe they were actually allowing me to drive this beast! From a Nissan Micra to that thing was quite a big change. By chance i also had one of the hardest drives. It was along the bumpiest dirt track iv ever seen. I felt sorry for the guys in the back. Lets just say there were quite a few screams of pain is i bumped my way along. We survived though, and driving along the beach with our music on loud (mine and hannah's choice because everyone else forgot their ipods!) was just amazing! There isn't much accommodation on the island and so we were camping in a site with no toilets or showers. I felt at one with nature! We had to cook all our own food as well which was really fun. The island is full of dingos (sort of wild dogs). They can be pretty aggressive if you upset them so we had to make sure we didnt leave any food around. However despite our best efforts they were everywhere both nights. Stealing tea towels and bins. The boys in our group loved chasing them so they provided some entertainment.

The next stop down the east coast was Noosa. We'd heard there was a lovely beach here however we never actually saw it. The first day we arrived it was pouring with rain so we headed to the cinema and watched the other guys. A pretty pour film so i wouldnt bother. The next day we went to the Australia Zoo - home of the crockodile hunter. We had a really good day out here, and it was my first sight of a crockodile and a kangaroo! The whole place seemed like a shrine to Steve Irwin. There were pictures of him everywhere and the word "crikey" was used in everything!! You gotta love him though so I embraced it. Having pictures taken stood by the statue of him and his family etc..

We left Noosa and headed to Brisbane. We were definately ready for a city and we weren't disappointed. Its a really lovely place. We arrived on a Sunday and headed straight down to the South Bank. Its just a nice area of bars and cafes next to the river. Aussie's are famous for their Sunday Sessions so we thought we may as well join in. I sent hannah off to get us a cheap bottle of wine and she came back with a $40 bottle by accident! Thats about 25 pounds. I've never spent that on wine. But we certainly enjoyed it. We felt very civilised sat with a glass of wine watching the sun go down over the city. We soon came back to reality though when we arrived back at our backpacker hostel! We spent the next few days in brisbane looking around the art gallery and museum. The modern art gallery had a really cool exibition on. It was photography by a man who'd worked with A list celebs such as Maralyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Audrey Hapburn, Frank Sinatra, Coco Channel etc. So there were loads of photos of them going about their work. For example he had photos of MJ on the set of thriller getting his make up done and Kate Winslet on the set of Titanic. Anyway it was really cool and free! We also went to see Mamma Mia one night. We really enjoyed it, however there could have been a bit more atmosphere. There wasnt much dancing in the isles! The last night was karaoke night at our hostel. Me and hannah signed ourselves up for "Save Tonight" and absolutely butchered it. But hey we had a go.

Next on our agenda was Surfers Paradice. There's not too much to say about this place as we spent less than 24 hours here. It is such a strange place. Really built up with massive sky scrapers lining the beach. Some areas seemed really run down and tacky but then you'd come across a street with Channel and Gucci shops on it. We were glad to leave anyway. Especially as our dorm room was filthy. Hannah had a suspect stain on her bed and our friend Rachel had some crusty boxers left under her bed. The next day the three of us headed to Byron Bay which is where I am now. We were recommended to stay at a place called "The Arts Factory" by everyone we met so we did as we were told and were'nt disappointed. Its such a quirky place. You can camp there, stay in a dorm or stay in a tippee tent. We opted for the standard dorm option. The place also has its own cinema and does activities such as yoga, didgeridoo lessons and talent competitions. Basically its a total hippie place. I can just sit in the lounge and people watch because there's some very funny characters around. It made me laugh yesterdat, I was in the toilets straightening my hair (even though there's signs up everywhere forbidding hair straightners) and the girl next to me was putting dreadlocks into her hair. I just thought to myself - i dont belong here! Unfortunately we've had really bad weather here. But we have been on a day trip to Nimbin which is a totally hippie town. Very amusing! We have also done a nice wlak up to the easter most point of Australia and looked around the lighthouse there. Lat night was the talent contest i mentioned. It was actually amazing! There were so many good singers and guitar players. Very impressive. One guy played his guitar like a drum and a guitar all at the same time. Hard to describe but very cool!

Anyway thats about it now. We're getting the night bus to Sydney in a few hours and then we have Melbourne and that's it for Australia. It's getting really cold now so we're going to have to go shopping for warm clothes. Very depressing as I can see my tan fading already.

Bye for now everyone x x x x x x