Good morning everyone!

I have just reached a little town called Noosa Heads, which is rather pleasant, even though I am only stopping over for one night as my travels led me on to Byron Bay today where I will stop for a couple of nights before heading on to Coffs Harbour to see Scott. Am spending the weekend with him and his girlfriend Lou and have been looking forward to this reunion for a long time.

But so you know what has been happening since my last update from the Whitsundays, I had an overnight stop at Rockhampton (and I literally had something to eat, went to bed and packed my bag to leave early the next morning) and went to Hervey Bay afterwards. Hervey Bay was the jumping of point for my trip to FraserIsland. The hostel in Hervey Bay was so unorganised, you wouldn't believe it. Honest. For example, I booked a female dorm, confirmed the female dorm one day prior to my arrival and then double checked upon check-in. Only to discover after going to my Fraser Island briefing that there were two blokes in my room!!! So much to a female dorm. But I was lucky really, Ben and Marc were rather funny and nice and didn't snore at all, which was always my main concern. During the briefing I got bitten by something and I originally feared that it might have been bed bugs. But as it turned out the next morning, it was a spider bite and as I had survived the first 12 hours I had a good chance of surviving the rest! Glad to hear I have to admit. The bite was really quite nasty. My arm looked like I had a ping pong ball stuck in it with red fringes around the edges and it was quite hot. 5 days later, it still itches and I have to keep taking anti-histamines but it is much better now. On Saturday, we set over to FraserIsland, which surely must be one of the most beautiful places on earth. The island is absolutely stunning, Lake MacKenzie being one of the most beautiful fresh water lakes that I have ever seen (even on pictures)! The tour was a self-drive tour in a large 4WD vehicle. As my driving license got stolen in Malaysia, I was unfortunately not allowed to drive but even sitting in the back was good fun. But it also was a rather bumpy ride as there are no sealed roads on the entire island! The weather was also rather beautiful with three days of sunshine, we were really lucky. However, it is winter over here (would you believe it?) and it does get rather cold once the sun has gone in. And this is where my main criticism lies for the trip. Koala's (who organised the trip) didn't give us any insulation against the ground, just a thin sleeping bag! So I was freezing both nights on the island. Yes, I know, it doesn't take much for me to be cold but the others weren't warm either!!! But as soon as the sun came out, all the cold was forgotten and I was just standing there admiring the beauty of this island.

As you can see, I really liked it on FraserIsland. And should you ever get the chance to come here, it is such a must see... But every good thing must come to an end and we returned to Hervey Bay on Monday. And once again, the hostel proved how incapable they were. It took them nearly 1h to sort out our check-ins and deposit returns. And have a guess, do you think I got a female dorm? No, of course not. When I pointed out that I had booked one and reconfirmed 3 times by now they were going to transfer me into an empty room which would have suited me fine. However, they didn't have any keys, did I mind?!? So I ended up in a mixed dorm again but at least I was able to share the room with Janine, a girl who was in the same group as me. We immediately clicked and had a great time. We even treated ourselves to a Chinese All-you-can-eat buffet upon our return to HerveyBay. So nice, not having to have dinner on your own, you know.

And that is really everything. Ah well, almost. Went to the cinema last night and watched 'Sex and the City', which is hilarious and even if you are not a fan of the series it's well worth watching. There was a big group from the hostel going and we were lucky. It was 'couch potato Tuesday' and the entry was only $9. We all shared a cab home so that was an additional $2, what a great and cheap night out! Especially, when you take into consideration that the hostel had a pizza night offer on as well. $9 for a pizza of your choice plus a glass of wine, who could refuse that?Anyway, better get ready now and start packing my bag as my bus is leaving shortly to Byron Bay, the hippie capital of the East coast. Will keep you updated and also hopefully get the chance to upload the latest photos.

Until then, keep smiling everyone!
Yvonne
x