Firstly, sorry we haven't written anything for ages! oops!

We've been having too much fun to find time to get on the internet. The truth is to save money we have been camping! Last time we wrote this we were landscapers so we'll just fill you in on what we've been upto since.

We'll firstly we got to go to the wedding that we'd been preparing the gardens for, free gourmet food and bottomless glasses of booze made it a very fun night!

Myall Lakes: Bush and beach safari. We did sandboarding (fun going down hard to get back up), surfing (Unsuccessfully! Tish got bumped on the head by her board), snorkelling, saw dingo's on the beach and dolphins in the sea while we got driven along the beach in a jeep. Also kayaked on a lake by a big pelican.

Port Macquarie: Camel riding on the beach. A few camels facts we learnt, the hump is fat not water! they conserve energy on sand by their back feet using their front feets frontprints! and getting on and off them is an experience! Also went to a koala hospital and saw 1 of them getting weighed on the scales, very cute!

Bellingen: Visited the rainforest, learnt about trees that strangle other ones and they have giant stinging trees that put our little nettles to shame. Theres also lots of wild black turkeys running around, bit random! Floated down the river in a tyre innertube and relaxed in hammocks and looked around the old town. We spent 2 weeks Wwoofing (willing workers on organic farms) for the guys who ran a canoe adventure company. They had a really nice house and gardens, we stayed in a rusty caravan playing with the TV aerial trying to get a picture. We did things like cracking macadamia nuts and painting window frames. We got to go canoeing whenever we wanted so we went most days! Often hunting for elusive koalas in the trees, but never saw any.

Coffs Harbour: Went to the Pet Porpoise pool and got kissed by a seal (bit fishy) and a dolphin and had a photo with a huge python.

Ballina: We bought a car! and it rained a lot, thats about it. Didn't fancy a swim in the sea as a week before a shark had killed someone there! Saw our frist wild snake, Tish stayed calm...not, she screamed and ran! It was only a tree snake we found out afterwards.

Byron Bay: Walked up to cape byron, which is Australias most easterly point and looked at the lighthouse. saw another snake, only a little one though. Relaxed on the nice beaches, got to keep the tan up you know!

Murwillumbah: Climbed Mount Warning, the summit is supposed to be the first place in Australia to get sun each day. The Tweed art gallery is really good, some amazing portrait paintings. Joined in with the dawn Anzac day march and played 2-up in the pub afterwards. (its a game involving betting on the outcome of 3 coins and the ycan only play it on Anzac day because the soldiers used to play it). Really nice hostel and the guy in charge gives out free ice cream every night, we also had a camp fire with marshmallows and he took us to a very country-fied music event which was fun.

NSW-Queensland border National Parks: 3 nights of camping in our "pea-sized" tent and plenty of walking, and a fair bit of driving on some dodgy roads. Saw lots of waterfalls, viewed mount Warning from every possible angle, fed lots of rosellas (parrot-like birds) out of our hands. They even land on your head which freaked Tish out! (Jo would have loved it). We saw a python by the natural Arch waterfall. Getting used to seeing them, and have stopped screaming at them!

Brisbane, well Kilcoy actually: Stayed on a farm with a horse vet and his wife. His son is a friend of the landscaper we worked for in Dungog. We lived in a luxury annex, especially after camping. We rode quad bikes around most of the 150-acre property. We got paid to help out, one of the jobs was to help muster cattle and brand them, and hold the boy calves still while they got de-sexed! Quite an expeience. We went to the trots (horse racing with carts behind the horses) in Brisbane and won some money. We also found time to go to Australia zoo (former home of Steve Irwin) and fed elephants, stroked koalas, and fed kangaroos amongst other things.

Noosa Heads: A couple of relaxing days by the beach eating ice cream. We did find time to explore the national park and saw our first koala in the wild, they are hard to spot!

Rainbow Beach: Looked at the different coloured sand and a giant sand blow.

Tin Can Bay: Fed a wild dolphin. (indo-pacific humpback dolphin to be precise)

Bundaberg: Visited the ginger beer factory and more importantly the rum factory. Saw all the machines and bottling plant etc, but more importantly got to try lots! (although we don't really like the rum that much). Tish was driving, so Gaz got to try lots and was tipsy by lunch!

Rockhampton: Lots of plastic cows litter the town so Tish obviously climbed on one for a photo! It is the beef capital of Oz so did the honourable thing and went out for steak!

Great Keppel Island: Beautiful Island, only problem was all the resorts were closed down. So we just camped on the beach which was actually really nice. (Apart from Tish fearing (irrationally) that she might drown in the middle of the night because of the tide coming in). Had our very own beach.

Airlee Beach/ Whitsunday Islands: Stayed with the vets wifes sister! Connections working out pretty good! Went on a raft to look at aboriginal caves on an island, snorkelled by an island. We bought an underwater camera and took photos of all the colourful fish. Also popped across to the whitest beach in the world (maybe?) Whitehaven beach. A few days later we did a scenic flight over the islands and out to the great barrier reef. Got our postcard pic as we flew over the heart shape reef. Landed in the sea, jumped onto a glass bottom boat then snorkelled around the coral (loads of cool fish) before relaxing on the boat sipping champagne with cheese and biscuits! While in the town we had a quick didgeridoo lesson, we got a noise out of it but not a tune!

Bowen: Stopped at a really nice beach, had a swim in the nice warm sea. Looked at lots of murals around the town. Also the town was used to film the new movie: "Australia", if any of you watch it we've been there.

Magnetic Island: Stayed at a hostel with a Koala Sanctuary. We held a crocodile, black Cockatoo, and a python. We also stroked an Echidna (google it!) and an array of lizards. The main event was getting a photo cuddling a Koala. We had a bush tucker breakfast the next day and had a crocodile on our table while we ate yum food! We went on a walk on the island and saw our second wild koala lazing in a tree! By the way the beaches on the island were really nice, even if one was nudist!

Mission Beach: It rained and we didn't see any of the famous Cassowaries (again, google it!) that are in the area.

Atherton Tablelands: A bit like Devon but with the odd palm tree thrown in. Lots of Dairy farms, tea plantations, coffee growing and the like. Looked at lots of waterfalls. Went to a coffee factory which has a crazy amount of tastings: 21 coffees and 12 chocolates and 3 liquers. If thats not enough they also have 4 teas! It was unlimited so we made the most of it, we don't recommend having 20 expressos in a morning! Felt rough for the rest of the day. They also had a museum filled with loads of interseting coffee things! It was so good we went back the next day because you can revisit for free!

Cairns (yep don't worry you can resume your lives soon): Only a quick visit before we head inland towards Darwin. It takes about 3 days of constant driving to ge there! We're going to go fossicking in the outback to try and find a diamond or fossil or something, yes money is that tight!

If you've managed to read all this, give yourselves a big pat on the back!

Watch this space for an update soon... (well maybe if past form is anything to go by)

From,

A tanned Tish and Gaz!x