After leaving Magnetic Island we drove down to Airlie Beach, where we had hoped to do a tour of the Whitsunday Islands, and hopefully do some snorkelling and see the barrier reef. This was where our plan was thwarted as there was torrential rain all the way down to Airlie Beach, and for about 5 days after, all the way down the coast! It was quite annoying and disappointing, and we felt quite frustrated that we had come all this way and couldn't see what we had lo...

Hi Everyone, It's been a while since the last blog update, but we've done a lot, and also not done a lot! Over the past 2 weeks Australia has had an incredible amount of rain and flooding, the worst for a long time, and it has unfortunately hindered what we have been able to do along the east coast, but we have tried to make the most of the experience nonetheless! We left Cairns for Magnetic Island, just off the coast near Townsville, and stopped off at Mission ...

Okay, so the first thing we can say about Cairns and the tropical north is that it rains, a lot!!! We arrived in Oz on Monday night, after a changeover in Sydney, and immediately it started raining! The next day we woke up, and it rained! And the next day, and the next day! But this is quite normal! The humidity, especially after it rains is quite intense! To keep us amused for our first day we visited the Cairns biodome, which had interesting wildlife housed in ...

The day we drove to Mount Cook began with news that Prince William and Kate Middleton had got engaged. The news was all over the tv and newspapers. We drove north to Mt Cook expecting bad weather but instead we got hot sunshine! The drive up to the mountain was amazing,with Lake Pukaki alongside the road for part of the journey, and in the distance, Mt Cook, New Zealand's largest mountain. We were staying in a backpacker lodge, which was alright, and had magnifi...

Queenstown was a busy town, with a nice water setting, and lots to see and do, though the majority of it was extreme activities. So that we didn't feel left out we did the Shotover Jet, a jet boat experience down the Shotover River and its canyons, which does 360 degree spins, and goes really close to the edge. Jeff got very wet, which is quite normal, it was great fun! We spent the next day looking around the markets by the lake, which were mainly selling jewel...