It's been a busy few weeks since I last wrote, in fact I can't beleive how the time is flying now.

Since leaving Sydney I've progressed up the east coast and am currently en route to Hervey Bay, from where I will take a 3 day 4x4 tour of Fraser Island. Along the way I stopped off at Byron Bay for a few days, which was my first real taste of staying by the sea. I dabbled with surfing which I'm pleased to say went suprisingly well, even with my lack of balance! Byron was a really chilled out place, passing the time sitting on the beach. I visited the lighthouse there, which is the most easterly point of australia. I declined to join a group sitting up there all night to watch the sun rise though!

It was a shame to leave Byron after just a few days, if I had more time I think I would have liked to stay there. It seemed there were alot of backpackers working there so it would be a good place to set up base for a while. The beach was gorgeous and the surf was friendly.

From Byron I headed up to Brisbane, stopping off at Surfers paradise along the way. I only stayed for 1 night and wasn't all that thrilled with it, the beach was nice but the place is incredibly commercialised, with high rise resort hotels spoiling the length of the coastline. So without hanging around I continued to Brisbane for the weekend, where I met up with Matt and Megan who I'd met in Singapore. Matt's rugby team had a trial game on the saturday, so having tracked down some boots and a pair of slightly short rugby shorts I had a run out with them. I'd been itching to play since watching super 14 games in Canberra and Sydney so it was good to get on the field, but wow it was hard work! Playing on a saturday afternoon in 32C heat on the gold coast is a different world to wet and windy games back home. Also, the team that we played mainly consisted of Maori's and Samoans who were massive and didn't hold back. We got a hiding, losing 60-5 but it was suprisingly enjoyable even though it was frustrating to be so unfit. Again, a shame I'm not hanging around too long as it would be good to have a few games.

That evening was Megan's birthday celebration in Brisbane, a good opportunity for Matt and I to have some beers to ease the aches and pains from the game. We ate sushi before heading into town to sample brisbane's night life. Although I was only in Brisbane for the weekend but there was a really nice atmosphere about the place compared to Sydney and Melbourne.

From Brisbane I carried on north to visit Australia Zoo, the home of Steve Irwin. The weather put a bit of a dampner on the day as Cyclone Hamish approached, but the crocodile show was pretty impressive - I certainly wouldn't like to meet a Saltwater croc in the wild!

continuing up to the sunshine coast, the intention was to try some more surfing, however the cyclone put pay to that. I think it's time for me to leave Australia - in the time I've been here there's been bushfires, shark attacks in sydney harbour, a cyclone and a resulting oil spill which has covered beaches along the sunny coast! Instead I stayed with Janelle, another member of the Asia tour group, and saw some of the sights along the coast. This included a visit to underwater world aquarium, where i was able to scuba dive in the shark tank! this was my first scuba experience so was quite nerve racking for a start, let alone the prospect of submerging into a tank with killer sharks! But once I mastered the regulator it was a great experience.

For the past 4 days I've stayed at Gagju bush camp, a camp and canoe centre in the queensland bush, sleeping in wood huts and tents. In a group of 15, we canoed first for a day trip then overnight stop along the Noosa everglades. Staying in the bush was a welcome break from hostels and the atmosphere at the camp was great. We made the mistake of leaving the tents open when we went to the pub, not anticipating the huge storm that hit while we sat on the veranda. Managing to salvage 3 tents out of 5, 11 of us squeezed into these for a friendly night's sleep! Unfortunately the wet weather seems to have laid claim to my camera so I'm currently considering purchasing camera number 3! Last night I opted to stay at the camp for an extra night in order to celebrate St Patrick's Day. This included a gagaju tradition of cane toad racing - you have to see it to believe it. A great night had by all in plenty of Irish spirit.

So now as I write this I'm waiting to meet the group I will tour Fraser Island, a sand island just off the east coast. We drive around in 4x4's and camp on the island for 2 nights. Trips like this are proving a good opportunity to meet people.

More photo's to follow when I can get on the web for long enough!