On Thursday I flew from Sydney to Bribane with Tiger Airways. Mmmmm classy. the plane was rather grubby and the air hostesses particularly unattractive and blunt. can't complain though for an hour and a half flight with a very budget airline!

By the time I got to my stop on the train from the airport it was late afternoon. I wondered down to my hostel then out again to the supermarket. On the millionth day of pasta and sauce teas I can confirm that the mushroom and garlic one really isn't great! I had another early night as I had another early start.
Friday morning I was up at 6 to get my things together and walk to the bus station. I caught the bus up to Rainbow Beach, one of the guys from the hostel here took us on a walk through the bush to the beach. here we found out why this place is called rainbow beach; the path opens out on to a huge stretch of golden sand. if you move it round with your foot you can see beneath there is white, brown and yellow sand. apparently there's orange too but we didn't find that bit. geologists reckon that there are 70 different colours there!?! we were also shown how to throw a boomerang. we were all rubbish, only one catch was made! we then headed over to the other side of the beach to watch the sunset. beautiful.
On Saturday everyone was up for a 7.30 start to begin our 3 day trip to Fraser Island. One land cruiser sat 8 people. each group had a an esky for drinks, one for food and a crate of dry ingredients. Taking it turns to drive we first went to the ferry, it was only a 10 minute crossing to the island. we drove along the beach and down an off road track through the trees til we reached lake Mckenzie. It was such a relief to cool off in fresh water. the water had natural oils in it from the trees such as tea tree and eucalyptus so my hair felt lovely when I got out. a nice change from salt and sand! this didn't last long though as when we got back in the truck we drove with the windows down so my hair just ended up a knotted mess!
We stayed at a campsite during the trip. there was a kitchen area for a million people to squeeze in to. for tea the first night we had a chicken stir fry followed by wine and beer!

Breakfast took an absolute age. I had a stonking headache the night before so didn't drink much and sloped off to bed hence I was ready about an hour before everyone else. many of you will know that I hate waiting, I think this is why I'm always late!! 90% of the group were European. they are a different breed. I'd made friends with an Irish guy and a kiwi guy who were both farmers. we all loaded up the trailer and seemed to be the only ones doing something useful. one of the cars was full of blonde Danish and Swedish people; every time we stopped to look at something we always had to wait for them to finish grooming themselves and pouting before going anywhere. no exaggeration!
In the morning we stopped at a place called Indian Head which was an awesome view point. unfortunately we didn't see any turtles or sharks. our next stop was to Champagne Rocks. we soon found out the reason for its name; every time a wave broke over the rocks the frothy bit looked like a champagne fountain. very pretty. not so tasty though. we had been warned about how easy it is to cut your feet here though, my leg came victim to this!
Because everyone had been so slow that morning Geoff our guide decided to chuck all the food in together so we could share and save time. error. Europeans, especially the younger ones, are rubbish at sharing!
exhibit a: on the first day Steffan and I were a bit peckish mid morning so had a slice of bread each. hanna the swede comes over to inform us with her evil eyes that the bread is for breakfast and lunch. we told her that we'd counted and had 11 slices each for the 3 days. touché.
exhibit b: at lunch on day 1 I had an apple. at lunch on day 2 I put my hand in the apple bag when hanna pops up like Mr Ben to remind me that I had an apple yesterday. and what?
...I digress. for lunch on two day to we stopped at a picnic spot and the farmers carried the crates to a bench. the other 30 Europeans stand there firstly looking shocked that the food will have to be shared then start grabbing stuff. baring in mind we had one knife hence it would take an age to get through lunch, mother steps in. chopping 50 tomatoes and a load of cucumber and getting everything out the crates nicely we got through lunch. only a few thanked me for organising everyone.
After lunch we went to a fresh water creek. once you get over the cold water you can float down the river through the trees to a pool at the end. very relaxing!
back at camp it was time for another meal. streuth.
I was quite looking forward to my steak. until I noticed that one of the Swiss guys in my group had finished cooking the steaks before the potato water had even boiled.
I decided to drown my misery in my bag of red wine. feeling much more merry after a few glasses a small group of us wondered down to the beach. the stars were incredible. we could see the Milky Way (I think!!!) it was so bright though that you could see all the stars reflecting in the wet sand. also, when you scraped your feet through the sand really quickly it glowed. had I not been so merry I could tell you why!!!
having had enough of Eurovision I wondered to the camp next door and stumbled across a group of Yorkshires. I don't think I've ever been so excited to be with a bunch of Yorkshires!! turns out one of them, Jemma, is one of emma catons friends from home. can't go anywhere!!

day 3 breakfast. hungover. AND surrounded by dithering Europeans. tragic!
On our last day we went to Lake Wabby. we had to walk 45mins to get there and then tread down a massive steep sand dune. but again it was nice to cool off.
At lunch we'd got the hang of sharing. someone else did the cutting today although I think one whole cucumber stretched around 3 people the slices were so thick. honestly!
this travelling lark really can bring out the worst in you!!
on our way back to the ferry we stopped at a shipwreck. the boat was built in Scotland in 1905 and used during WW1. Martin will fill you on on the rest of its history once he's done his homework. I can't remember it all but it was very interesting! The kiwis named it 'Maheno'. enjoy!

When we got back to Rainbow Beach I decided to put myself at the back of the shower queue and go to the travel agents to sort out my plans for tomorrow. i decided to check my Facebook first as the Internet was free (extremely rare out here!) error. 2hours later I still hadn't booked my bus or hostel. I managed to do that 10 mins before closing then headed up to the supermarket to get a light, cheap tea. however en route I bumped in to Jemma, they were going out for tea and invited me along. we went to a small restaurant and had delicious pizza. ...it wasn't until I was in the company of others that I realised how grubby I was. white was a bad choice!!
I got back to the hostel about 9, had a shower and headed out for a drink where there was live music. the drummer was AMAZING. the locals however weren't so inviting. and they had weird piercings and haircuts but that's by the by!

It's now Tuesday. this morning I bought a banana and a carrot for breakfast. I started to walk back to rainbow beach so I could take some pictures as I didn't have my camera before but decided that it was just to hot to be out in the sun (imagine that eh!). so instead I wrote a postcard for grandma and grandpa and had one of the best ice creams ever!

I'm now sat on a bus going up to Agnes water, 1770 beach to do nothing. lovely! I'm sat at the very front, I've worked out that people always get on and head straight for the middle. so by sitting at the front I don't have to share my seat. I'm not unsociable. I just like to spread out :-)
the bus driver waves at every other bus, lorry and roadman that we pass. bone of them wave back, it's getting a little embarrassing now!