Currently in Airlie Beach, about to go on my two day sailing trip of the Whitsundays, which I'm looking forward to providing my seasickness tablets work ok. It feels like I'm squeezing in so many activities on my way up the East Coast and the time is flying; I fly to Alice Springs from Cairns a week today.

Finally it's hot - I think I achieved a bit of classy sunburn yesterday. Unfortunately I spent the past few days mainly on a coach looking at the sun out of the window which was not ideal but at least we managed to cover a lot of miles and get North to this beautiful weather as quick as possible. My trip to Fraser Island certainly wasn't warm but it was brilliant anyway, and I was very smug to be able to have a comfortable bed to go to at night in our resort, rather than camping in the cold as most people opt to do. I'm definitely earning my flashpacker label! So a bit of info on Fraser Island: it's the biggest sand island in the world, but you can't really lie on the beaches because you'd get run over by one of the many four-by-fours driving around and you can't swim in the sea because of the sharks (other dangerous creatures on the island include dingos and many poisonous varieties of snake and spider) but there are beautiful lakes to bathe in instead. We also saw some incredible sand blows, the only rainforest in the world to grow on sand and a 70 year old shipwreck. All in all, it was a great trip despite the wind, rain and cold.

After Fraser Island I had a couple of spare days in Rainbow Beach, which lived up to its name; the poor weather was cheered by some stunning rainbows! I then headed off on the epic road trip to Airlie Beach. Our first night was spent in Agnes Water and the Town of 1770 where we had a champagne and barbecue dinner on the beach organised by our bus driver which was pretty special. That night was the World Cup final which led to some clashing moods amongst the Dutch and Spanish the next day on our bus as we drove to Kroombit Cattle Station!

The cattle station was a pretty random place to stay but turned out to be an absolutely fantastic and hilarious experience. The staff got us into the outback spirit providing cowboy hats and bandanas and getting us to participate in goat mustering on horseback (I feel a new career coming on ...) which had me looking out for Hugh Jackman (if you've seen the film 'Australia' you'll understand, it was just like that but less skilled), lassooing, clay pigeon-shooting and a race to grab a goat, tip it and brand it. The evening involved a wonderful dinner of roast beef (what else) and a few unsuccessful rides on a mechanical bull!

The next day we were up at the crack of dawn, or in fact before dawn as it's winter here and the days are short, ready to take the long journey to Airlie Beach. We stopped in a couple of places along the way to break the day up, having another barbecue for lunch and then playing a few games of lawn bowls in the afternoon! Sadly, not yet having my bus pass, I was pretty rubbish at the bowls, but made a great spectator. Since I arrived in Airlie Beach I've mainly been hanging around the lagoon (despite the name, there isn't really a beach in Airlie) enjoying the weather; it's pretty perfect, hot enough to wear a bikini but not so hot you frazzle in the sun! Hope the nice temperatures are continuing at home as well - can you keep them going until I get home? Only about five weeks now!