So its been 4 weeks since we left Sydney..."what have you been up to" we hear you all ask.... We headed up to the Blue Mountains in our Camper van and spent a couple of days up there wandering around the sights and looking at the Three Sisters. We were pretty impressed with the place as we didn't expect it so close to Sydney. After that we went to the Hunter Valley and did some wine tasting on a day tour, so we didn't have to drive. We visited about 5 boutique wineries and tasted everything they had to offer. It was great and the vineyards are on the hillsides...beautiful. We then headed towards the coast and stayed at a place called South West Rocks which was a really pretty seaside town. On the way there we stopped off for lunch on the side of a lake and a Kookaburra swooped down and took the food out of Simone's mouth. Jim thought it was hilarious...it put an end to dining al fresco for us!!! We then drove to a little place called Ballina for a couple of nights and then onto the Gold Coast. Stayed at Surfers Paradise which is like the Benidorm of Australia, big highrise hotel blocks everywhere. Spent some time lazing on the beach and watching the kite Surfers. We headed to Toowoomba after that and visited Kim and Darren (we met them on our Trip around Canada). They cooked us a lovely meal on the evening and then we met for lunch the next day. It was really great to be able to catch up again. We then went to Australia Zoo which was owned by late great Steve Irwin, it was fab, we saw Kangaroos, Koalas, Massive Crocs, and loads of other animals native to Australia. Headed to Hervey Bay next via Noosa Heads which was beautiful, we could defintely have spent more time there. Went whale watching which was absolutely AMAZING. The humpback whales come right up to the boat and stick their heads out to have a look at what is going on. Brilliant - we would go back and do it again any day of the week it was that good. We then headed up the coast to Airlie Beach and went snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, which was ace. Saw Nemo and his friends and saw a couple of turtles as well. The following day we went island hopping on the Whitsundays and spent some time at Hamilton Island and Whitehaven Beach which was spectacular, we have never seen a beach like it, pure white sand...beautiful. Drove to Mission beach after that and visited Dunk island for the day and did a lot of relaxing on the beaches there. We had to get a water taxi there and back which was interesting, and very wet.... So now we are in Cairns...having a catch up day, and then heading off into the rainforest tomorrow on the scenic railway and sky rail and then we might go to Port Douglas in Saturday. We head off to Bali on Sunday for a couple of weeks and then to Koh Samui for about 3 weeks.