Hello civilisation!!!

I have just arrived back from Fraser Island this afternoon, am now de-sandified and smelling normal again, so felt like it was an appropriate time to get down to the internet cafe and update you all!

Cant even remember when i last wrote and what i said, but lots has happened since. I am no longer feeling so lost and sorry for myself as i've managed to make some friends and latch onto them...whether they like it or not. I think they like it. Tough sh*t if they don't! I arrived in Byron with the lads i had met in Bellingen and straight away loved the place. Such a laid back vibe...so laid back that the 3/4 German girls in my dorm slept approximately 12hours a night! I would go in about 8.30/9, just getting ready to go out, and they would all be fast asleep, until about 8/8.30 the following morn. Another of the joys of dorm rooms - feeling like you cant turn the light on or breath too loudly for fear of waking up angry Germans! To be fair they were all quite nice but i did feel just sliiiightly outnumbered when i realised 3 out of the 4 other girls in the dorm (it was a 9 bed) were also Germans. They're bloody everywhere! Thankfully there was also lots of other nationalities there and i met some of the BEST people while i was in Byron - some awesome French dudes who barely left the hostel and looked pretty monged the majority of the time, but were so so nice, a great Dutch guy (Jasper) who i ended up travelling on to Brisbane, Noosa and then here to Hervey Bay/Fraser with and a beautiful Danish girl called Mathilde. We (Mathilde and I) hit it off straight away in Byron, we just got on instantly which was sooo so refreshing after having been travelling with two stinky boys for a while, and we talked about moving on and spending some time on the road together. I just about managed to tear myself away from Byron to move onto Brisbane but she was working there so couldnt come with me. She did however end up leaving earlier than planned and we met again in Noosa and have been together since. We have such a good laugh, she is flipping mental but is keeping me sane and smiling so its all going well. Jasper is also still with us so we make a nice little trio!

I wasnt expecting much from Brisbane as everyone in Byron seemed pretty down on the place, but it was actually quite cool - slightly quirky city with cool architecture and random sculptures and paintings/grafitti around the place. Also met up with Kate and Nicci who Joe and I met in Laos which was so nice - they took us to a student bar where you can get 4 of ANY drink you like for $11 - bargainous, i was so excited because i didnt realise places like that existed in Oz, it seems nothing comes cheap here. Apart from Woolies own brand of course, which i am coming to really love! Brisbane also pleasantly suprised me as the girls in my dorm room were all totally nocturnal, which meant i could come and go freely without 'the fear' - just so you know, 'the fear' has resulted from my first Oz dorm experience; the nasty Austrians (you all know the story by now)!

So on from Brisbane Jasper and I hit Noosa which was the best fun i've probably had since i've been here - Mathilde came up and met us there on our second night and we also met a couple of northern lads Tim & Gaz, and another two English guys Michael & Danny, plus a load of other cool people. A group of us went out on the first night, the guys hot on the tails of a group of Aussie girls dressed up as fairies, Dorothy and other teeny-tiny-skirted outfits, though i was turned away from the club for wearing my BEAUTIFUL NEW havainas!!! I think i would have been fine if the group of tutu's hadn't out-outfitted me! So my havainas and I strolled back happily and joined some other people back at the hostel to enjoy a few glasses of beautiful red goon! This is the life! So on the second night, with a bigger group and now with Mathilde having joined us, we just sat around outside the hostel drinking, chatting away, listening to the northern lads joke marathon and then playing games - was brilliant fun, we all got on so well and most of us are meeting up in our next stop - Town of 1770.

Mathilde, Jasper, Michael, Danny & I all went to Steve Irwin's Zoo the next day where we got to hold mini crocs, cower underneath the bird show for fear of being pooped on, stroke monged out koala's bots and spoon roo's!!!.......should i explain? They had a large area for the Kangaroo's and Wallabies at the zoo where they were all just chillaxing in the sun and so we thought we would lay down next to this particular cool dude and get a group pic. Well, i cosied on up to him for our group pic and it wasnt until we looked at them that we realised i was spooning the think.....unintentional but hey, it was nice to get up close and personal!

We were so sad to leave Noosa as we'd had so much fun in our big group but we got up to Hervey Bay to head off on our Fraser trips so also really excited about that. Mathilde and I were going with a company which i had heard not such great things about...only after i had booked though which was helpful! We rocked up to the hostel, after an unpromising pick up from two seriously grumpy guys who worked there, to be told that there werent enough people on the trip yet so our's was postpones until the following day. Now Hervey is FAR FAR from interesting and we had booked onward travel to 1770 and accomodation there so were really gutted. We stressed around for the whole afternoon, complaining about the company and feelin g sorry for ourselves, until Jasper called to say that another girl had rocked up at the same company to be told she could still go on schedule but with another company. THE CHEEK that we werent offered the same! We marched back to the hostel and got sorted with the same so thankfully are now still on schedule. HOWEVER we were stuck with a pretty dire group - it was like a family, but not as much fun; a Scottish lady of about 40/50, an English girl of 23 who acted like she was 40/50 (Mum & Dad), a German couple who were loads of fun with a couple of drinks inside them but pretty quiet the rest of the time and Mathilde and I who took up the role of the naughty children! The other car load was a really great group, including Jasper, but they were reluctant to ever wait for us so we didnt get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked. All the same, despite the deafening silence and tension in our car, driving was BRILLIANT fun and the island is beautiful. Camping was great also, even with sand EVERYWHERE, dingo's strolling the camp while we were sleeping at night, huge spiders, several snakes (which made finding a secluded patch for the toilet a pretty terrifying experience) and an oven for a tent........it was GREAT fun! I had a nightmare experience the first nights camping though - woke up only about an hour or so after id fallen asleep and couldnt feel my foot. Im not talking pins and needles here, i literally couldnt feel it, from the ankle down. I had to sit up and lift my foot with my hands as i couldnt move it at all, and start working some blood back into it - i was soooooooooooo terrified id lost my foot (bit like the girl in my surf class who lost the tip of her finger to the waves.....did i tell you all about that?!) it was the strangest sensation ever, holding my foot in my hands but not being able to feel it.....weird weird weird. Anyhow, im still here, all in one piece, both feet still attached!

Right ho folks, best get on with some other bits and pieces - put a load of pics up also so hope you enjoy those. Sun is getting hotter each day, sunsets here seem to just get better and better also as you'll see from the Noosa pics, and im making lots of friends - whooooo! No more Vicky no mates! Trying to arrange a farmstay up the coast after 1770, which is affiliated with the YHA, 2days 1night staying on a family farm helping out, horseriding & motorbike riding....sounds like so much fun, so im hoping to do that before heading up to Airlie to sail the Whitsundays - will need to relax i guess after mucking in a bit. SUCH a tough life - camping, 4 wheel driving, farming, sailing.....phew!!!!!

Take care all, lots of love and hopefully speak soon - if i havent already been in contact i have a new Oz mobile number which you can also contact me on - 0414784265. Thinking of you all,

Vic xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx