Hello from the Whitsundays! We are currently on the last day of our 3 day trip around the islands and whilst the rest of the boat sleeps and I watch the sunrise, I thought I would let you know what we have been up too.

So, just over 2 weeks ago we headed off from Sydney to start our adventure up the east coast, not really sure what to expect and with a fair bit of anxiety that as two 30 yr olds we wouldn't fit in with all the 18-21 travellers we would no doubt meet!

A couple of nights before, we had ventured up from Melbourne to Sydney on an overnight greyhound which was incredibly uncomfortable, mainly due to the old bus we were travelling on. However, when we did get to Sydney, we arrived just in time for One Direction fever, who had just landed at the airport for a series of gigs in Australia. Needless to say, when the greyhound stopped at the airport, the place was swarming with teenage girls, come to see the band. Australia seems to play something it likes to death, so all we have been hearing for the last few weeks has been "what makes you beautiful". Argh!!!

Our first stop up the East coast was the town of Byron Bay, which was full of hippies of all ages, along with plenty of surf shops and organic cafes. Byron had a great relaxed feel to it, and we had an incredibly chilled couple of days, even though we didn't make it to the nearby town of Nimbin to experience the true marijuana haven of oz! Sadly the torrential downpour which left us in Sydney followed us up the coast for the first week, so we couldn't do a great deal of sun bathing, however after another overnight bus ride to get here and our dire hostel, we weren't too bothered!

We then hopped on the Greyhound again for a shorter trip up to Surfers Paradise. After the really rundown hostel in Byron, we splashed out and stayed in a YHA here. I never thought before we started this trip that a night in a YHA could be classed as a luxury, but yes it truely is. That's how bad some of the hostels have been! Whilst we only had one day in Surfers, the morning showers thankfully disappeared and we managed to relax on the famous beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

We had planned to stay a few days in Brisbane so we could see the city and also for Holly to catch up with an old school friend, Caroline, who she hadn't seen for 12 years. One of the great things about this trip has been catching up with family and friends out here and we have even more of that to come in NZ. It was lovely to spend time with Caroline and meet her family and especially her children for the first time.

Brisbane was a lovely city, something we didn't really expect to be honest, and had a great mixture of the old colonial past and the modern skyscrapers. On our first day we visited some of the art galleries and museums the city had to offer and explored the city on foot. The next day we went green, relaxing in the parks along the river and soaking up the beautiful Roma Street Gardens, which were over run with massive water dragons basking in the sunshine.

One place we really wanted to visit over here was Australia Zoo, to see the home of the late Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. Holly's sister had bought us tickets to the zoo, along with a sneak peak at the on site animal hospital, for her 30th birthday, so our last stop in Brisbane was here. We had a fantastic day, the zoo is so different to many others as you could get really up close and personal with the animals, particularly to the kangaroos which you could pet and feed. Another highlight were the hand reared tigers which the keepers had trained to drink milk from right on top of them. It was a fantastic day, just a little sad to think the great man himself is no longer around.

Our next stop on the coast was Noosa, an hour north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast. Fortunately, we were blessed with great weather and spent our time here relaxing on the beautiful beaches and enjoying the upmarket seaside town.

The next stage of our east coast adventure was a series of 3 day trips we had booked in advance. Firstly, we were to do a 3 day 4wd safari to Fraser island, the largest sand island in the world. The hostel where we were staying and were to receive our briefing for the trip was in a tiny community on the coast called Rainbow Beach, famous for it's multi coloured sand cliffs. During our briefing we were told that not only would we have to carry and put up our own tents which would have been fun given the weather forecast but that also there would be no showers and only one portaloo! Fortunately, once we were sorted into our teams, we were told we were actually going to a different site (not quite sure how we managed that!) to stay in an Aboriginal camp where the tents had already been constructed for us and there were hot showers! Heaven after driving on beaches and rough tracks over the majority of the 70km length of Fraser Island getting bumped and bruised in the back of a 4x4.

Travelling up the East coast you do get to meet so many new and interesting people. Everyone also seems to be on the same travelling pattern, so people will spend 2 days here just like you and stop in the same destinations as they travel north. On our way to Rainbow Beach, we met Eamonn and Mirium who had stayed in the same dorm as us in Brisbane. We had discussed the Fraser Island trip there however it was a really nice surprise to find them on the same Greyhound bus as us. Little did we then expect that we would end up getting to know each other even better when we ended up being in the same Team on the island!

These kind of trips are made by the people you end up drawn with on your team, and we had an awesome team with our crazy Canadians Richard and Crista, the Irish couple, Eamonn and Mirium and then the English quartet of us and Heidi and Colette. We also happened to be on the same sailing trip around the Whitsundays with Heidi and Colette - See I told you its a small world!

Not quite sure what to say about the time there as so much happened. On the first day after packing up our 4x4 we started the drive over to the island. On the ferry over we spotted dolphins just off the island and once there we embarked onto the sand. In this tag along tour, you all get the chance if you wish to drive the 4x4's in a convoy behind the group leaders car. Sadly, we were drawn in this front car with the guide/driver so we weren't allowed to drive - a shame, but after one 4x4 in another convoy lost control on the wet sand and clipped the front wheel arch on a tree causing a few thousand dollars of damage, we were pretty happy if only for our bank accounts sake that we were in the lead car!

Unfortunately, as inviting as the sea looks, you are not allowed to swim in it, due to the sharks and incredibly dangerous rips, but the fresh water lakes and creeks on the island make up for it. On the first day, the highlight was visiting Lake Mackensie with its crystal clear water. We had never seen water so clear before and were blessed with beautiful weather to enjoy it. After a swim and a few ball games in the lake, we then returned to camp for dinner. Our camp was all set up for us when we eventually made it back, and after finding a tent and leaving our bags we headed off to cook as a group. However, we sadly had left a bar of chocolate in hollys bag! Now we had been warned a pack of dingos were active in the area and not to go out alone, especially to the toilets as a number of attacks has happened recently, however I think so much had been made of this threat we forgot we had left some food in our bag. Venturing over to the tent in the dark after dinner, Holly discovered that not only had our tent been moved about 6 feet away, but somehow it had opened up the tent, gone through her bag without ripping the zips and dragged out the chocolate, leaving just the wrapping behind! It was as if a human had done it and tried to cover it up as a dingo! That was until it happened the night after to another tent, but this time the dingo chased the person around the outside of his tent!!

On day 2, we spent the morning at Champagne Pools, so called because the waves coming in from the sea create enormous amounts of foam. It was like swimming in an enormous spa bath! Next we headed to Indian Head, one of the highest points on the island which is supposed to give spectacular views of the coast and out to sea. Unfortunately, those views were spoilt by the downpour we received on the journey up which soaked us to the bone! There are not many times in life you can say you've floated down a creek on a rubber tube in the pouring rain. However that's how we ended day 2 by coming very sedately down Eli Creek! A very surreal experience and one not to forget and probably won't be repeated!

On our final day we visited Lake Wabi. After a 40 minute trek through forest we eventually arrived at a massive sand dune with no lake in sight. Continuing over the dune you eventually come to this very steep embankment and at the bottom, the lake itself. Due to the wind pattern here this inland lake drops 3m per year and will in around 20 years no longer exist.

We had an awesome few days and a vast amount of goon (incredibly cheap, poor tasting wine substitute!) was drunk by all! The 3rd day hangovers were pretty intense - that and the many mossie bites all over our legs and arms meant we couldnt wait to get back to our hostel, even though we had been moaning about the state of it before we left. The hostel, which ironically was called 'Dingo's', did have hot showers that worked after those at the camp failed on the final day, plus a proper bed, even if it was in a 10 person dorm, which made it seem like a 5 star resort! Strange how your perceptions on a place can change so much!

And so we arrive at the Whitsundays, the group of 74 islands just off Australia and west of the start of the Barrier Reef. The boat we have been sailing on is called Apollo and has in the past won the Sydney-Hobart yacht race, however now caters for backpackers for 3 day cruises. So far we have been snorkelling lots and Holly has completed a scuba dive this morning. As we are still in the period when jellyfish are present we had to wear very fetching stingersuits when in the water to make sure we didn't get any unwelcome surprises!

The coral here in places is stunning however you can already see areas where the coral has died from misuse and bleached from global warming. Unlike Western Australia, the fish seem so much more comfortable with humans being around them so you can literally swim amongst a shoal of fish and hear the grinding of the fishes teeth against the coral as they eat. We also visited Whitehaven Beach, which has the purest sand in the world and is made from 99% silica. One of the boat crew informed us the fine for removing sand from Whitehaven is actually more than the fine you receive for possessing cocaine over here! Only NASA apparently can legally remove the sand which they use to clean its telescopes.

We head back to Airlie Beach tonight for a couple of days to recover before our final part of the trip up to Cairns. We now only have less than 2 weeks before we fly to NZ and just 12 weeks before we land back in the uk! Crazy how time flies! We will try and upload some photos soon however a friend here just lost all her photos whilst uploading them at an Internet cafe so we are a little wary .... Trust me it's stunning!

T&h x