SO for those eagal eyed among you, you would note two things, firstly the last blog refered to a Friday night out when it was actually Thursday and I have not wrote in a while, why? BECAUSE IM HAVING TOO MUCH FUN!!

So back to Rockhampton and the bull, well I hated it with a passion! We had a whole lecture on the bus about how the bulls are bred to do that and la di dar, but my issue was with the humans! Humans aren't bred to do that! And there were kids, some as young as 4 doing it and they all came off limping and well, totally not me! But we did have fun dressing up in checked shirts and bunches so we looked the part (or more like tourists who wanted to try and fit in!). We had fun shopping for the shirts too, we went to a shopping mall and suddenly a song came on that we all started to dance to, I found this really amusing!

We also had a little situation on the bus after buying the shirts. This is going to forever be known as the 'Emu incident'. There we were driving along the bus when Rusty (our driver) suddenly slamed the breaks on, there was a group of rare birds on the side of the road. So most of the group took photos (I of course didn't - did not think it was a memory for me, birds - ew!). Then off we go again, having a lovely journey when there are 5 Emus on the side of the road. Que another rare sighting and another emergency stop. However the group decided we wanted better photos so Rusty did a turn in the road and off we went back to the Emu's. We figured it was a family of birds, with two big ones and three babies. As everyone was getting off the bus (not me with a camera - I was staying on the bus) the Emu's started crossing the road (imagine that beatles album cover).....then a lorry came up behind us...... lots of high pitched screaming as we were all about to witness an Emu massacre but fortunately the lorry slammed on the breaks, swerved and missed them. So back on the bus again and another 3 point turn and off we went. We were driving maybe 20 minutes when we stopped at road works and I yell out 'ooooh is that the naughty lorry' I was fully intent on getting off the bus and marching over to the driver to tell him to be more careful about Emus (when I dont even like birds) when the wholoe bus fell apart laughing at my complete stupidity. Im sure you can work out why this was so funny if you remember the 3 point turn we did.

Anyway, more hilarity in the journey occured when I got extreemly (and I mean extreemly) excited about a wide load coming along the road. This was one where we actually had to go on the hard shoulder to let it go past - so I decided that instead of birds I wanted a photo of the lorry, so we stopped I got out and then the police cars, the 3 lorries and more police cars all waved and tooted there horns - it made my day! Then they radioed our driver to say they enjoyed being a tourist attraction - woohoo! Everybody's happy!

So back to Rockhampton and after the Rodeo, we went to the hotel bar and had a couple of lovely drinks, Alice (on the tour) found out she had just got into Sheffield Uni and so a little celebration before we went to bed in a very nice hotel. For breakfast the next morning we also had pancakes, yum yummy! fresh pancakes, they were delicious.

Then off we went to Fraser Island. We got to watch Crocodile Dundee on the bus (my childhood is now complete) because I got a bruise on my leg from the boat and Kate (our guide) poked it to see my reaction - so this was her apologising! We also got to watch the Kimberly DVD. Now this DVD has defined the whole tour so far. Rusty is usually a tour guide/driver/cook for the Kimberly, in Western Australia and he LOVED to talk about it. He brought the promotional DVD for us all to watch, and that was such a treat. We loved it - it had Andre on it. Andre was the 'excited enthusiastic tour guide' who had the personality of a frozen pea and liked to stand is catalogue poses.... it was hillarious. (now fast forward about 8 days and I have the DVD for us all to enjoy when I get back, more of that later!)

When we got to Fraser Island across a ferry we all went for a nice dip in the pool and soak in the jacuzzi - just what you need when you have had a hard day sitting on a bus. The next day we were doing a tour of the Island. The tour of the Island was another highlight of the trip. We all got on a 4WD with a load of American tourists and on came Jarred the tour guide who did the obligatory 'how we all doing today?' when all of us on topdeck all whooped and clapped and he got a little scared. (I should of mentioned I have transformed the bus into a 'whopping, oooh' bus when anything remotely exciting may occur). And off we went on bus number 10 to the first stop, ely creek. Then there was a little bang, a bit of hissing, some smoke and the bus had blown up - ok not really but something 'blew' and we think it was a fire hazzard when the door flung open and wouldnt close. So we were stuck half up this hill, with a broken bus, and no radio reception. We were all told to get out the bus and not panic, Jarrad was panicking but we were all so amused by this addede on extra, we were worried if they would charge us more! So we all got off and there was an over enthusiastic woman who tried to take over from me as the most excitable person but it didnt work as I definately won the battle by the end of the day as I believe I got very excited about a rock. Any way we got off the bus and were standing by the side, poor Michelle (from Sommerset) decided she was not at one with nature that day and so was not happy when we had one of the 'how good are mums' chat. When we were all praising the advice that our Mums gave us before coming, about packing plasters, needing one more pair of leggings/shorts/socks/knickers and how Mums are generally the most fantasic people in the world. This amused many of our fellow Americal tourists (I think they were on a saga holiday) who thought us 'young'uns' were all sweet. Jarrad meanwhile all made us a cup of tea, we are so English, we sorted the whole crisis out with a cup of tea (and a new bus that came about 10 mins after we got a cuppa).

So on we went on the bus to Ely creek and when we got there we were a bit bored of our usual poses where we just stand there and smile, so we did 'Andre poses' (remember the Kimberly DVD guy) which we found highly amusing. After Ely creek we went on the 75 mile beach (which is 58 miles long - at least Im not the only one with no logic or common sense around here). And the beach is actually the 'highway' on the island with all motorway rules. But there are no road markings (thank god I wasnt driving) when we got to the shipwrek from 1901. I LOVED the shipwreck, it was just so amazing, a little rusty but still, wearing well for its age! Then we took a scenic flight ont he island with Tim our pilot. Tim was very funny, again he wasnt sure what to do with a load of girls who were taking the mick out of his uniform - he had to wear knee high white socks for no reason, come on! The flight was lovely, we took off and landed on the beach (Im sure it was in the middle of the highway but never mind) and we went over the island and sea, saw a pond/lake thing which was in the shape of a butterfly and then went for a buffet dinner.

After dinner we were asked if we would like to go for a scenic walk through the rainforest that takes about 30 mins. Michelle was a definate no and I wasnt too bothered about it, I had seen enough rainforest so I opted out. We drove with the bus round to the end point and then Jarred asked if we wanted to go and see a tree which was about 200 meters down the track. What is it about trees? I had to be really careful not to point to a tree which we were stood by and say 'does it look like that'?! I DONT GET WHAT IT IS ABOUT TREES? THEY ARE GREEN AND TALL. FULL STOP. I enjoyed the cup of tea we had though.

Finally on this tri[ went to Lake MacKenzie which has been my favourite thing so far - it was simply amazing. Fresh water, made your hair feel amazingly soft, the sand was like pearls that you could exfoliate your skin with and the water was just like a big bath that was as clear as anything. Some lovely random people on the beach took some amazing photos of me and my new travel mates (which are my favourite from the trip so far) before we went back to where we were staying.

That night we watched the sunset over the harbour, had an obligatory ice cream (they call the wooden sticks, paddle pops, I think thats really funny) then we went off to get ready for a few quiet drinks on the island. Now I think I may have had far too much fun as we got back I had a shower and when waiting for everyone else was reading my book....then fell asleep (it was about 7.30) and the next thing I knew it was the next day and we were getting ready for breakfast. Party outfit still on - but never mind, apparently I didnt miss anything, apart from more Emu talk!