Ooh, this feels like such a chore!

Being the geek I am I worry that I've let this get so far behind so time for some real catching up!! Firstly we hope everyone at home is well and we encourgae you to get in touch, just over a month to go and we want to come home to some friend! hehe

Ok, After Hervey Bay and Fraser Island (eugh) we got a bus up to Bundaberg (where they make the famous rum which we sampled throughout OZ)! Our bus got in at 3pm and our bus through to Airlie Beach eparted at 2am. We had planned this because at Bundaberg you can go to a conservation beach at night and see the giant turtles crawling up the beach to lay their eggs. This was amazing, we had quite a wait, and of course with nature there is never a gaurantee but we got lucky. Sadly the loggerhead turtle we saw wasn't very well. Her back flipper was damaged from a boats propeller and she had suspected brain damage. It was the tenth consecutive night she had tried to lay her eggs but couldn't dig her hole. Even when the rangers helped. In the end they brought an ultrasound machine down and we could see all the eggs inside her. When the turtles come out of the water they excrete sea water through their eyes, making it look like she was crying. It was sad. The rangers said she'd probably lay her eggs in the water and they'd all die :o(.

We got our 2AM bus to commence the 12 hr journey upto Airlie Beach where we did a spot of Crimbo shopping for each other before getting on our sailing yacht early Christmas Eve. We were a group of 12, made up of couples(French Canadian, German, Italian, English, Irish and Ozzie). And me and Ruth - how romantic! haha.

Our 3 days sailing around The Whitsunday Islands was fantastic. All our food was inculded which was excellent (although for Crimbo lunch we had chicken curry and tea we had spag bol)! I think we both felt a little home sick over Christmas so it was good to not be stuck in a dirty hostel attending the "Orphans Dinner".

Christmas Eve was apent on Whithaven Beach - the second best beach in the world and I can believe it. To swim you have to wear a stinger suit (a thin wetsuit) because the jellyfish kill you in northern OZ. Day 2 (Christmas Day) Ruth went scuba diving for the first time - she did very well. I snorkelled (I can't dive because I am chlaustrophobic). When we snorkelled there was a loggerhead turtle swimming with us eating a jellyfish. We swam with it for half an hour and it was amazing. The Great Barrier Reef is unbelievable - a different world. The coralis a variety of colours and sometimes even glows neon. There are so many fish and White tipped reef sharks and jelly fish! Christmas Day felt like any other day other than myself and Ruth exchanging gifts.

On Christmas Day eve we were on the boat in the middle of the ocean (you couldn't see land). A storm blew up in the night and sailing back to Cook Island on boxing day was exhilerating but scary - there were times we thought we would sink. The main sail tore, the boat was almost tipped on one side with 8 metre waves, the crew were panicking and there was an alarm going off! This lasted 5 hours. Needless to say many were seasick. Including Ruth who was soooo ill. And there was nothing we could do for them. That evening when we got back to dry land (airlie Beach) we went out for a celebratory beer! We got some amazing pics too but I haven't put them on here yet (I'll try soon). Also our hostel there had bed bugs. NOT FUN!

We then spent a few days on Magnetic Island where we chilled out, hired a little Barbie car with our friend Jean. We saw wild Koalas (they're very dangerous) and rock wallabies. We went to Bungalow Bay and held a snake, baby croc, eagle etc. Our room had a lizard in which disturbed us slightly!

Next stop.....Cairns. To be honest it was nothing special. Ruth went mental and got ANOTHER tattoo done on her ankle. She nearly fainted! And we went out on New Yrs Eve with our 2 Swedish roommates. Ruth wasn't very well and all 3 of them looked a bit suicidal which was nice! We went to the lagoon (man made beach where it is safe to swim) watched some bands and the fireworks at midnight then home for our 6AM start for Cape Tribulation.

We spent just 1 night in Cape Trib and that was enough! We went on a river cruise on New Yrs Day and saw lots of crocs. We were by the island where Steve Irwin was killed. When we got to our hostel it was horrible and the bugs and wildlife was so intense I was so far out of my comfort zone. However I decided to go on an organised night trek through the jungle. We had got talking to some Ozzie guys and they were blatantly setting me and Zak up(hmm), and he came with me. It was interesting, seeing lots of killers spiders and stuff and being bitten by some huge insect on my arm and waiting to see if I died! What a relief to get outta there the next day and back to Cairns!

Myself and Ruth had decided to spend a week apart. I had hoped to go back to Melbourne and Ruth was thinking of staying in Cairns. Mainly because I had some friends I wanted to ctach up with and to give us a week off before we killed each other. Sadly these plans fell through and thats why Ruth hasn't written the blog (haha just kidding - she's sat behind me)!

One last night in Cairns and then off to Singapore! We were both glad to leave, Oz just didn't do it for me, the Ozzies are friendly but quite racist, especially towards aborigines (not sure if thats spelt right). To be fair a lot of them were drunk and begging but even so. And the culture is too similar to England - maybe thats because we were doing the backpackers East coast route. Ruth felt the same. But it is a beautiful country with a lot to offer, but I regret not having gone to Ularu (Ayers Rock) and West coast.

However the next Continent was calling.....