Shellharbour

It's so pretty here! We love it, this town is tiny but right by the coast and really sweet.

We treated ourselves to a night at the campsite for our final day with Cookie and had a foul bbq of all the stuff that we still had to eat before giving back the car. We'll stay in a hostel in Sydney, which will be a nice change - it will feel funny to be sleeping in a proper bed again, I think!

So we found the sports store and we picked up the rugby shirt for Phil and Neil. They look really good and now we're ready to go to the game.

Phil's been wearing his already and is getting loads of comments from the people on the street and all of them want to chat about how they had to be winning the game on Friday, etc. He looks very nice in his shirt, so I started telling everyone that he's their secret weapon for the match.

We also went to Kiama, a little town further south, that is famous for its 'blowholes'. Basically, where the sea crashes into the cliffs, it has worn it down into a cave and with the waves coming from different directions, the water pressure builds up and shoots through the rocks! It's really spectacular! Really liked Kiama, it's just a small town, but really sweet and very beautiful. Incidentally, we had some really good sandwiches there, too!

Gosford

It's Anzac Day and we're in Gosford, getting ready for our final leg of our journey to Sydney. It's not far now and we're sad to be leaving Cookie behind... she's been really good to us!

Gosford was a bit of a stop-gap really, as it got too late driving from the Hunter Valley yesterday and we were really tired. It's a nice enough town with the usual stuff around, but not too much to report.

We're of to Shellharbour next to pick up the rugby shirts and then make our way to Sydney.

Hunter Valley

We loved the Hunter Valley, Australia's prime wine growing region and we spent the day driving to different wineries and sampling their fares! Yum yum...

We visited Bimbadgens, Tyrell's, Blueberry Hill, Mistletoe and Tempus Two - the main grape varieties grown are Pinot Noir and Shiraz. So we drank a lot of Shiraz and Semillon. Because of the drought, the grape harvest was not as big as in usual wetter years, but instead, the berries were smaller and a lot sweeter, making a better wine, so the winemakers were happy enough still.

We really enjoyed the tour at Tyrell's as well, our guide was very funny and he talked us through the whole process, showing us the different machines and barrels.

After all that tasting though, we were glad when we made our way to a dairy there, that was renowned for its many cheeses. We bought this lovely yoghurt cheese marinated in olive oil there and at another cheese shop, we got some brie and blue cheese and crackers. These, together with the lovliest dessert wine was our dinner for that night! Wonderful!

The vineyards all looked a bit bare, because it is now coming to winter, but it was still very soothing to look at the rolling hills with the wine stocks. The countryside is really so beautiful there. Unfortunately, we had to get going, we would have liked to spend another day to visit some more wineries, but we have to get going to Sydney.

Leaving the valley was a bit difficult though - we meant to just go to the next village to spend the night there, but there was nowhere suitable, so we ended up driving again through hills and forests on narrow pitch dark roads. Deja vu scary night in national park, but this time, there was no one watching us, so that was good!

Mind you, the villages in the region were having a scarecrow festival I think, so there were all these scarecrows along the side of the street, dressed in normal clothes and ones dressed like children on tricycles and stuff and they were super duper creepy! I kept thinking they were real people trying to cross the road - so scary. Phil couldn't drive because he had too much wine - you can breath test yourself in the wineries! - so I had to drive and it was spooky.

Finally we made it to Gosford for Anzac Day.

Port Maquaire

We started the day from Coff's and visited a little town called Southwest Rocks (!) on our way to Port Maq. It's so cute and right by the sea with lovely cafes and shops and restaurants. Honestly, it's so pretty, all you want to do is have barbecues, picnics and swim in the sea or sunbathe.

What else would you want to do? There's the prettiest little beach called Horseshoe Bay and it has cliffs and big waves and more beaches than you can shake a stick at.

After having our picnic lunch down by the beach, we made our way to Port Maq. I liked it there, because we went on a little boat cruise to try and spot some dolphins. Hooray!

Except we didn't see any... boo... but we got to feed some fish and we saw oysters. Yay. The boat was really cool though and we cruised around for ages at quite high speeds sometimes and that was really good!

After that, we went to the Koala Hospital for a visit. How cute is that! It's a proper hospital just for koalas, who get brought in for various injuries or illnesses. They have a patient board and they name every koala that comes in. The first name is usually the name of the person who brought the koala in and the last name is the place where he or she was found. So you get some really interesting and cute names like Rose Ocean, etc.

We got to go on a tour and we saw the koalas being fed, as well as told what their trouble was and how they were being helped. Apparently, most koalas get this illness called 'Wet Bottom' which is basically a koala version of the STD chlamydia. How bizarre is that?! And they try to treat them with antibiotics, but unlike in humans, the chlamydia doesn't go away permanently, so all these koalas get wet botchies, poor them.

One of the guys in the group asked the guide lady how come the koalas got an STD that humans get too and is transmitted through intercourse and whether it is true that it all started from this chap who got drunk and mistook a koala for his missus!

The poor guide lady was so embarrassed and I had to laugh so much - how could you mistake a koala for your wife? I mean, if your wife looks like a koala normally, an STD would be the least of your problems...

The whole afternoon was really educational though and we learned lots about the way koalas live and what they require to be able to live independantly. They really do an excellent job at the koala hospital and they are always looking for donations and volunteers. Have a look: http://www.koalahospital.org.au/

Kempsey

Another very little town with not that much going on, but very pretty! It's defining feature is the river running through it, which is very clean and beautiful.

All the locals go out in their little boats in the morning before going to work or whatever and catch a couple of fish. I really like that kind of quality to life.

Things are not rushed and people chat to each other and compare fish sizes, I guess. I want to go fishing, too! We stayed by the river overnight and Phil got up really early to take pictures of yet another sunrise. Granted, it was sunrise over a river instead of over the sea, but I preferred staying warm in my lovely bed and squinting at it through the window.

Can somebody bring me a cup of coffee, please? I'm so sleepy ...

Coff's Harbour

Coff's Harbour is another pretty little beachside town with eternal sunshine and lots of people in their bikinis eating ice cream. It's a great life, I recommend it!

We didn't do too much there to be honest - had a look around the shops and stuff, but the real pretty thing there is the marina. They've done a great job with the refurbishing of the marina area and it's all nice restaurants and shops and sailing boats.

You can also walk from the marina to a bird sanctuary on Muttonbird island just off the coast, so we had a good ole walk there and enjoyed the views which were amazing!

We spent the night at a lovely camp site, with really good facilities and even a tennis court! Wow! We had a game in the morning and it was good fun. I'm improving! But when Phil was serving, I didn't dare go close to the ball - at one point he smashed it so hard it went straight through the fence!!!!! I'm too pretty to be disfigured by a tennis ball to the face - heheheheh... ahem... yes, well ...

It sounds really lame, but I don't really have much else to say on Coff's. Would recommend going there though!

Maclean

After our nightmare adventure with the crazy man, we felt like we could do with some TLC and nice things and so made sure to keep clear of anything that remotely smacked of adventure, at least for a little while. And guess what we found! We found Maclean. The Scottish Town. Oh yes, and it's also The Tidy Town. Apparently it won awards for both these things. They also have a big Highland Games on every year and are twinned with Portree on the Isle of Skye.

It's a very small town that was founded by Scottish settlers and many have never left, so there are generations of Scots in the town. It's all about tartans and the drink and the history of it. I think Maclean is actually becoming more Scottish than any of the actual Scottish towns.

Anyway, everyone was very nice and by way of decoration, they painted all the electricity poles in the town with different tartans of the clans who live in Maclean. We looked around and went to the information centre and lo and behold, we found the Munro Pole. Yeah! It's on the entrance to the village next to a sugar cane field. So that's where we took the pictures!

At the information centre, we met this really nice old lady, whose grandparents had come over from Scotland. She'd never been, but was going to go there in July for the first time with her daughter and grandaughter and she was so excited! It was very sweet.

She told us also about the canefields. Every year before they cut the cane, they set it on fire from all four sides of the field and it makes the biggest most spectacular blaze. They do it to drive out all the snakes and rats and spiders who make the field their home and then they go and cut the cane. After spending the night in one of the carparks in town, we strolled around a bit more and just enjoyed the peace and quiet of this tiny town.

Lennox Head

We're now making our way to Coff's Harbour, but while doing this, we got a bit sidetracked, as usual!

What happened was, we drove past this lookout and we saw loads of hangliders. They looked so pretty, like colourful birds or butterflies. We got to chatting with them and it was a beautiful day, so I sent Phil out to throw himself off a cliff. Attached to a hanglider.

It was so funny, watching him run along and the wind lifted him up straight away and his legs were going in the air like in a cartoon! It looked great though, he was flying like a bird! Hooray!

He loved it and it looked so relaxing. I wanted to do it too, but decided against it, because I'm holding out for kite-surfing lessons in Coff's Harbour, otherwise we'll be too broke. But I'm glad he did it! Very brave!

Something scary

Started our day setting off from Byron and making our way through some more amazing scenery and mountains to a town called Nimbim, which is meant to be a hippie haven with lots of ganja going around.

I wanted to see it and imagined some kind of chilled out interesting hippie place, but when we finally got there after several hours of driving through the hills, it was utterly boring. It's just a tiny road with rubbish shops along it and people hang out and try to sell you grass. Well, that's it. So we ended up having a milkshake (not a happy one) and it was very yum. So if you love your milkshakes, go to Nimbin. If you love grass, go to Nimbin. But other than that, don't bother.

So we left again pretty soon and decided to spend the night at Nightcap National Park. It's nice spending the nights in National Parks, because you can usually camp for free and it's very pretty. It was a bit of a trek to get there, our car was struggling and it wasn't much of a road really, more like a dirt track with lots of potholes and up hills and quite narrow. It all adds to the adventure though, so we merrily went along.

On our way through the forest, we spotted this man walking along, so we asked whether we were going the right way and he was helpful enough. He was going this way, too, so we ended up giving him a lift there and dropped him off and then got ourselves ready to make some dinner.

The park itself was like a rainforest and very misty and beautiful. The site itself was also nice enough with BBQ areas and toilets, but we were the only people about. Anyway, we're cooking our dinner and the fellow from before comes up and starts chatting to us about this that and the other, which was nice enough. All of a sudden though, this man becomes a freak. He started doing this bible thing, talking about the end of the world and how all's doomed and God is punishing us for our sins.

He then went on to explain to us that God speaks to him and told him to get away from the coast and into the mountains, because of the destruction that is to come and that it's all Ryan's fault. Huh? Who is Ryan? We still don't know... to be honest, in his opinion Ryan is a 'she' and she is infiltrating our minds and is the sun. OK. So we shouldn't go to church on a Sunday, because see Sunday comes from the sun, get it? and the sun is Ryan's symbol and a symbol of evil. Well and so it went on. For a long time.

We got increasingly uncomfortable... and ended up eating our dinner in the car and then we both admitted to each other to be too scared to stay. By this point it is of course pitch dark outside and all we can hear are the sounds of the forrest and seriously, I expected him to come peering through our window with an axe any minute to begin The Reckoning. Yowz!

A real Cape Fear and de Niro moment, I tell you. We packed up as quickly as possible and then drove for over two hours through this forest in the dark of night, freaked out just to get away as much as possible. We both kept thinking that he was somehow in the back of the van or clinging on to it in the back or something like that - so scared!!!!

The areas in Australia are just so remote and many people live in very isolated spots miles away from anyone and these great big national parks are wonderful but also real good hiding places for strange people if you're that way inclined. But it also takes a long time to get from one place to another and the roads are not always the best, plus there is a lot of wildlife to watch out for. The last thing we wanted on that night was for our car to conk out in the middle of the wilderness (I would have died with fright) or for us to run down a kangaroo or something.

In the end, we managed to pull up to a larger town and by that time we were so tired, we checked into a motel and fell into bed. The relief! Safe at last!

Byron Bay

Hooray, here we are, another beach capital, really close to New South Wales.

It's a pretty little town, with lots of tourists and shops and restaurants with the highlight being the lighthouse at the furthest eastern point of Australia. There you go. So we went there and took a picture. The lighthouse is pretty too and the beaches all along are amazing. No wonder everyone just spends all day long on the beach and gets brown.

We explored the town a bit and set out looking for surfboards, but sadly none were in our price range... never mind. We also visited this surf warehouse, where they make custom boards which are beautiful. And guess what they are called? Munro Surfboards! Hooray! Apparently the Munro's are great and talented surfboard makers and surfers.

Phil also dragged me to lighthouse for the sunrise, but to be honest, I stayed in bed. Not a chance that I'd get out of my nice warm bed for another cold sunrise. Have seen enough now... what a grumpy old woman I am! That night, we followed various recommendations and went to the chippy.

Apparently, they make the best fish & chips EVER! I must say, it was yum though I didn't like the chips too much - like wedges and not fluffy enough. But the fish was nice. And the best thing of all were the tempura vegetables - OMG! - so tasty I could eat them all day long. Really amazing! So really worth it - depends what you want, the fish, the chips or the veg, but it was all yummy.

We spent some of the nights in a campsite and the other nights for free in various car parks and reserves. It's really nice to spend the night right by the beach and when you wake up you just stumble into the sea for a swim or just enjoy the air and the view. So lucky!

Brisbane

I really liked Brisbane. Although at first we got horribly lost as it's a proper big city with highrises and fly-overs and ridiculous one way systems to rival London's. After getting stressed and finding nowhere to park, we took it easy and found somewhere to stay the night instead.

Unfortunately, it was a very pikey caravan site. It was very cheap and the facilities were sparkling clean, but there were a lot of people living there permanently and lots of families, too. Well, we regularly got things thrown at our van overnight, so the next day we decided we weren't going to take the bus into town and leave the car there, God knows how we'd find it upon coming back, and instead found ourselves somewhere else to stay.

Then into the city and wow, it was so busy! Very nice shops though and pretty CBD with lots of interesting sculptures dotted about. Even the flyovers are picturesque as they follow the curves of the river running through the centre of town. Very nice!

We went and watched 300 at the cinema that night and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Grabbed some food and drinks as well and just hung out around the South Bank area. It's like the South Bank in London with galleries, museums and such like and it was very pleasant and relaxing.

I think we could spend some more time here, but alas, Byron Bay is calling!

Noosa

Right, Noosa! Well, it's a lovely place. The whole area is beautiful, the sea is gorgeous, the people friendly and the town affluent and surrounded by National Park.

We knew the area was going to be nice but didn't know the town would be too, so we were pleasantly surprised by the scenery and the shops. The whole town is quite boutique-y and well maintained.

We drove up to the end of the road, i.e. there was nowhere else left to go except down a great big cliff and spent the night there in a carpark, watching the sun set. It was so peaceful and very beautiful. It was pretty uneventful all night, but the sunrise was spectacular (I'm taking Phil's word for it) and then we went off for a nice cold swim first thing. Ahh, this is the life!

Watched some kids learning to surf, older men coming out to fish and just people rocking up with kayaks and other stuff to just go and hang out. It's so natural and such a great life style. Would be great to be able to do the same stuff at home so easily.

We also went for a walk through the National Park and tried to spot some dolphins, but unfortunately, we weren't lucky. Just saw some splashes and a teasing fin, but that's it. Never mind, still beautiful.

Fraser Island

It's Easter Sunday and I got a chocolate bunny from Phil and he got some lovely Lindt choccies from me. Hooray!

And today we are off on our 3 day, 2 night 4 wheel drive adventure on Fraser Island. We went to the briefing where this guy scared the living day lights out of us by telling us "You will die, you will come back in a helicopter, there are 35 hidden dangers on the beach at Fraser and they are all invisible!" Great... what a start... so after we all peed our pants, we tried to pack our car...

Have you ever tried to get 11 people to pack all their gear onto a 4xWD roof, plus food and tents and other bits and bobs? Well, you can imagine that all this took a while. We piled in our bags, our handluggage, various bits and bobs and then the food and drink - most important of all!

Four of us had gone shopping the previous day for the whole group and we all put in $20 so we had $220 and you'd think you'd be able to buy quite a bit of food with that, right? Well no. Not really, though we went to the equivalent of Asda here. We bought lots of things we needed and then spent about an hour at the register putting things back because we were over by about $100. Turns out though we barely did have enough food for the three days, I think we should have made allowances for the fact that I was with 10 extremely hungry boys who eat a lot several times a day and will faint if they miss lunch!

Anyway, off we drive down the road after mincing about for a while longer and then finally all of us managing to squeeze into the backseats of this decrepit 4x4. The ferry was good, the crossing was good, we came off the ferry ok and then we were in the sand and the forest and the forest trail. It was really cool!

Stephan did the driving first, because he'd driven 4x4s before and he was really good at not jolting us too much around. We all still had the warnings ringing in our ears about the 35 invisible dangers, so we were all a bit nervous in the beginning. The mood did get lighter soon after though, because we made it to Lake Mackenzie, our first stop. The mood may have also been improved by the fact that one row of boys decided to moon a passing car. Yes, they did. But it truly was hilarious - I'm not really sure why, but probably because we had all been so tense and the car was leaking with holes in the roof and the floors and it was raining all through, it all provided welcome relief.

Lake Mackenzie is beautiful! Blue clear water and a perfect white beach - the water is so clean you can drink it. I did. It tasted normal. I'm glad I did it fairly soon after entering the water and swimming out quite far from the shore, because Will, one of our group later confessed he had done a wee. Nice. Three days with boys and I'm bound to turn into a farting, burping, smelly wreck! Not really.

So then we went down the main beach which is stunning, too. Of course. There isn't a single place that isn't amazingly beautiful to be honest. So the beach is the main road on Fraser and all the cars drive there and airplanes land on it, so you have to keep your eyes open. Also, the beach is where most of the 35 invisible dangers are - the main one being a wash out that's like a cliff drop in the sand you can't see and then you flip over in your car several times and get horrific injuries. Anyway, we managed to keep our eyes open and made it to an old ship wreck by the beach which was really cool. It's just there, rusting away and you're not meant to climb on it unless you've had a tetanus injection. No, I think you're not meant to climb on it, period, but of course everyone does. The pacific is amazing, thundering into the wreck and spraying us and it was all too beautiful to be true.

So we're driving along further and we see this plane parked on the beach, so all the guys get excited and we had to stop and everyone had to pretend to be the pilot and sit in the plane with the headphones on and their picture taken. So funny...

In the end, we made it to the camp, which was in an Aboriginal area and consisted of some kind of wooden pavillion, in which we were meant to sleep. Well, so we get there and the place is deserted. We find the pavillion and something that looks like a kitchen, maybe and everything is seriously minging! The toilets are nasty nasty nasty and the showers smell like they have been used instead of the toilet.

So we trek around trying to find our Aboriginal host, who is blatantly drunk and attempts to show us around at some point, though I'm not sure that would be necessary as there's nothing to see. So we get cooking in the pithole of a kitchen and get a fire going and then things are much better! But we didn't realise there would be another group coming to join us at the same camp - so when a truck of another 11 boys rock up and we are all meant to sleep in the pavillion together, some people are not very happy at all! All the boys were grumbling at each other and grumbling about the lack of girls, except for me who was a no-go because Phil was right there with me. At times I felt like a ham amongst some very hungry dogs! Anyway, Phil kept his eyes peeled the whole time - so funny! - but to be honest, I had a lovely time. Everyone was very nice to me and we all had a laugh and a drink, so no complaints from me.

Come night time, our drunk Aboriginal host sits down for a chat by the fire with another chap who is bored stiff. So then he gets us to all introduce ourselves to one another and say why we came to Australia and why we came to Fraser Island and what we were planning on finding and doing with our lives. Hmmm.... so he starts off and reluctantly one by one we start the intros but then he gets stuck on this poor Korean chap who doesn't speak English and he keeps asking him questions and asking him why he doesn't answer them and stuff like that and we were all cringing! After several attempts to convince our host of the fact that the poor guy doesn't speak English, we managed to continue the intros though half way round the circle he lost interest and started talking about some rubbish. Gosh we were relieved!

Then he got the other chap with him to play the didgeridoo which was pretty cool. Then we had a go on the didgeridoo and then we got drunk and went to bed as this was much easier.

Next day, we made our way to some truly amazing spots such as Indian Head, which is a big cliff face and the Champagne pools, which are rock pools right by the edge of the Pacific and the waves slam over the rocks and over you and you can swim and play. We had a great time there once we made it! We were told that we couldn't take the car down to the pools and we had to walk from Indian Head but didn't know how far it was! Luckily, I managed to get us a ride on some passing cars- hooray!

The pools were amazing and we kept balancing on the edges and getting knocked off by the big waves. At one point though I got a bit too enthusiastic and managed to get thrown and scraped all over the rocks by this massive wave. Am pretty banged up, but it's not so painful really, only noticed it more when I stood on the beach and the sand around my feet started to turn red from the blood dripping down my legs! R well.

We also went and saw the Pinnacles, which are coloured sand dunes which look like rocks - really interesting! - and the sand is so soft and fine, it's amazing. We also went down to the main creek where you can kind of float down the river and sunbathe on the beach and that was really pleasant, though there were too many people for our liking there. But really, it wasn't so bad, we thought it would be worse because of Easter!

Back to camp and guess what! We had another group join us there and it consisted of 10 girls and 1 boy! All the guys were so happy and immediately rushed to get showered, shaved and change their clothes! So funny! We all got on well and had a nice evening, until our man from the night before showed up again and wanted to get us to introduce ourselves again...

He had another friend with him this time and the bored guy from the night before, and it was a bit better, because then they showed us how to make a fire by rubbing sticks together and it came in really handy, because then the electricity conked out and we couldn't see a thing!

That night, Phil and I went to bed fairly early and chilled out - it was good to have some time for the two of us on Fraser. Not that we had privacy, we were still in a pavillion with 20 other people only tonight, there wasn't quite so much snoring and smelly stuff going on!

Day 3 came round too soon and there after all that love in the air from last night, I think the guys were quite pleased to be getting away as they now had their fill! So off we went to the sand dunes - it's like the desert and beautiful, felt like Lawrence of Arabia - and then went to Lake Wabi. It's surrounded by tea trees, where you get the tea tree oil from and it turns the water into a dark dark green. It's really beautiful!

There is one steep dune leading down to the waters' edge and people run, slide or fling themselves down it into the water. Great fun! We all had a splash and then got ready for another round of Lake Mackenzie, as last time it was raining so much when we got there.

Now at this point, I have to emphasize that we all had a go at driving the car and it was really cool doing the 4x4 action hero thing, but the car wasn't in a very good shape at all. It really hadn't been in great shape before, but now after being with us for a while, it really wasn't in good shape at all... everytime you drove, it was banging away and making howling noises. It sounded like there was someone knocking the whole time and intermittently there were some explosions. I don't know... but anyway, we knew we were on the last day by now and it had been ok until now, so we reckoned as long as we made it to the ferry, it was fine.

So after our final swim, we pile in and guess what, yes, the car will not start. At all. Our ferry is in 45 minutes and we can't get the car going at all. So we all have a go at starting it and poke under the hood and we're all a bit puzzled. Another group of guys didn't have any bright ideas either and so we decide to push start it at least. So Andy gets in and we all push - no, not me - there are about 20 strong lads about, like I would make a difference pushing? But nothing, the engine won't do it and we don't have any space anymore other than push start this massive car by rolling it up a hill! And so I get to be at the wheel while all the boys push again and HOORAY! the girl got the car to start. YES!!!!

Too scared that it will stop again, we're all jumping in the car now, things flying about and us roaring down those tight roads, bouncing all over the place and the engine howling like a werewolf ready for the kill! Oh man, I was driving so fast to try and make the ferry and as we pull in - AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! - it's just moving off and we've missed it.

Luckily we got a space on the next one and so sat on the roof and had some beers and nuts. We were starving, but that was all that was left from our food box, except a jar of mayo. I think one of the guys tried to even eat that by itself... so we made it back in one piece and we all agreed how lucky we've been to have been in a group together!

We truly had a great time and it was so much fun, really good! Would recommend it to anyone and all our mishaps added to our adventure and made it even better. To round the trip off, we then hit an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in town and emptied it. Hooray!

Harvey Bay

So we made it to Harvey Bay and it's Good Friday. We're ready to go off to Fraser Island on Easter Sunday and we're just using the time to a) eat fish & chips and b) scrape parrot poo off our camper van.

As predicted, the place is absolutely packed with people, as everyone goes to the beach and stays in campsites over Easter. So we had a bit of trouble finding somewhere to stay but resourceful as we are, we managed to persuade this guy at the campsite to let us into what must have been their last space and was indeed very small. Not too bothered about the size of the space as long as we can fit the camper in, but unfortunately, it was also under a big group of trees and one tree in particular that all the local parrots use to congregate and sleep in.

Didn't think too much of it in the beginning but as soon as the sun started setting, these swarms of parrots descended on the place and on that ONE tree and they LOVE to talk! Jabber jabber jabber all through and shouting at each other - Yo Oscar, how's it going? Fine mate, let's get a beer! Nah, my missus is well upset so gotta lay low. Fair dinkum mate! - and so on. Then they begin to poo. Well, I'm sure they poo even as they talk to each other and not just at night, but anyway from dusk till dawn, seriously, those birds poo'd on our camper van! It was covered!

We would lay in bed and we could hear these things landing on the roof and window and it was noisy, man! So the next day, we spent doing some serious scraping and cleaning and then we had to do it again the next day. No escape! I got some poo on my arm... I was a bit traumatised... and I think I got poo'd on my cheek too... YUCK!

But it's all good fun really - and what's a bit of poo between friends?

St Lawrence

On our way to Harvey Bay and with Easter looming around the corner, we decided to take it easy and enjoy whilst the roads are still empty.

Apparently, Australians go to the beach at easter, so it will be mayhem on the roads and it will be nigh impossible to get accommodation... am sure we'll be fine though really.

So we stopped at the sleepy town of St Lawrence. There's only one road and a church. A post office / general store and we heard there's a pub. That's it.

But it's got a great free campsite - how cool is that? With BBQ's, really nice bathrooms and hot showers - amazing! I'm really appreciating my hot showers again, like back in SEA...

Agnes Water and Town of 1770

After the excitement of the Whitsundays, we decided we needed a bit of R&R before embarking on our next adventure - Fraser Island.

So we went down to Agnes Water and the Town of 1770. both of these are two very small towns and are basically so close together that they are almost just the one town. They are very quiet beach places and the scenery is absolutely amazing. We stayed in the cutest little camping ground and got woken up everyday by some funny birds whistling really badly and some kokaburras laughing their feathers off. Very funny!

Went on some drives around the area and had long walks on the beach, watching people surfing and paddling about. It was so hot, seriously it was frying your brain! Whilst there, we met two Swiss brothers who were quite funny - they went out for a snorkel trip and the weather was bad so they both were throwing up amongst all the other passengers who were also ill. Apparently even some of the crew were feeling it - how about that?

After our Whitsunday experience, we did feel for them. The whole area is just protected National Parks and Marine Parks, so everything around is so pristine and wild and really interesting. We went for a walk to the cliff edges as well and it's really amazing to watch the powerful South Pacific waves crash into the rocks.

We were planning on going to for a motorbike ride, but in the end decided against it and just went for walks talking about everything under the sun and enjoying each other's company. After two days of Agnes and 1770 though, we are ready for a bit more action, so we will make our way down to Harvey Bay via some country stops!

Whitsunday Islands

We're in Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef and have just booked ourselves on an outrageously expensive 3 day 2 night Sailing and Diving Adventure. I'm so excited!

Well, it's easy to get a cheap deal to go sailing around, but because we knew we wanted to get some proper diving in as well as not stumble about drunkenly on a party boat with 200 other people (no kidding, it's true!), we upgraded on ye ole boat and got the Kiana.

And very pretty she is too! Crewed by three and 12 of us passengers - almost all of them girls bar Phil and a fun Finnish bloke named Mikko! So the boys kept getting a bit of an eyeful of all these girls sunbathing on deck with little bikinis on. :-D

There were lots of German girls on the boat too which was great as my German was getting a bit rusty - tee hee - and we all got on really well with each other. Our cabin was tiny!!! It six of us in a cabin the size of a normal toilet - so funny and we had a double bunk at the bottom with a single bunk on top on both sides of the room. We all had to clamber over each other to get anywhere and that's without our luggage! Mind you, we were told not to bring anything really, so that wasn't too much of a problem.

Day 1 was fantastic! We sailed out and the wind was good so we made good time to the Outer Barrier Reef where we went for a dive straight away. Wow, it was great! The viz wasn't that great apparently, a bit of sediment and stuff, so the colours weren't as vibrant, but frankly after Vietnam, any viz above one metre is going to set my heart rate bouncing! Saw a ginourmous sea cucumber and got to stroke it, very funny and squishy! The water was warm but we had to be careful of the jellyfish, so we wore full body stinger suits and special hoods, so your exposure area was as minimal as possible.

We all looked very funny - it was six of us diving together and Scott, our guide. He was very funny and he took some pics of us down there, too. We did the dive off a dinghy and we all went in doing a backward roll so in the end we looked like some secret super SAS commando! Hooray!

We saw lots of different colour fish, angelfish, clownfish, rainbow fish, swear I saw a giant tuna - yum yum! - and those giant fish that have Angelina Jolie's lips, only in blue and they are very curious. I'll include a picture so you'll know what I mean - anyway, there was one that kept coming really close to us and so we got to stroke it - very soft and kind of squishy! We called him Gay Albert in the end. He really like Scott and kept coming up to him for a cuddle, so really that gives it away, doesn't it? ^^

Day 2 began by getting up really early and going for a dive straight away and this time, we saw a turtle and a shark! Yay! Hooray! I really wanted to see a turtle and I really wanted to see a shark - both were brilliant! The turtle was so cute, you just want to play with it, but you're not allowed of course. We just watched it and it's so graceful and pretty and looks so wise - amazing. The shark was not really interested in us - just kind of went by and was like "Yeah, whatever, LOSERS!"

So then, we went back to the boat and had lunch, went for some snorkelling on top and tow snorkelling and it all was great - well and then it was time to move on, and that's when it all went a bit awry... the weather kind of turned a bit and the tide was coming in and our boat is just a little sailboat trying to move against the tide... yes, so we were being tossed around quite mercilessly and the bow kept rising and slapping into the waves like some giant rollercoaster. This was great fun for about 30 seconds and then I got very very ill... in fact we all got a bit ill but I think I was probably the worst of them all - just my luck! I was clinging to the railing on the deck, trying to somehow rest my head and cover my ears - it seemed to help - and to hold on so I wouldn't get pitched all over the place, while trying not to throw up. I'd like to report that I did NOT throw up - for the whole five hours we spent in this condition.

I did however manage to bruise my arms, legs and my head in several places, as well as crick my neck and dig my nails into my palms permanently. Ouch. I also learnt that I'm very good at holding on to a rail and pole even whilst a) trying to fall asleep and b) sleeping - I guess my monkey gene is very much tuned up, so I never fell off my seat or lost my grip. At least something I guess.

So after said five hours, we pulled into a sheltered spot, where we all quickly chirped up - everyone except the crew was feeling unwell - and we had our dinner and pretty much went straight to bed. Day 3 began with pretty bad weather - it rained almost non stop, but we still went to Whitehaven Beach and took pics and went on a little hike to see the views. It really is a stunning place - unbelievable really. The beach is beautiful and the sand it amazing. We all went for a swim in our stinger suits again - no points for looking cool - and had a bit of a play, when it was time to go back to the boat and yes, you guessed it, start our way home in high winds and pretty bad conditions.

This time, I knew what to do, though by that time I had not a single shred of dry clothing on me, so I huddled into a towel, got my head into position and clung on, as we got tossed around on the big bad sea! Wow! The waves were pretty high and came at us sideways all the way through so we went up and down and up and down at strange angles and we all got thoroughly wet (unintentionally). Again, everyone except the crew was seasick, but none of us threw up - Hooray! - and we slowly chugged our way back into Airlie Beach.

When we got back, I was ready to do a Pope and kiss some kind of earth / jetty, but in the end I didn't bother - I won't go back on a sailboat ever again! Unless it's on the Britannia with the Queen on a special invite and I couldn't turn HM down. Oh yeah, and I think I'll give a really big cruise ship a go or anything with stabilisers. Thing is, I've been on boats before and never got sick, but then again, I was never in such bad weather before either. I shan't be a sailor or a pirate, that's for sure.

But really, it was a great trip and I did enjoy it loads and Phill did too of course! We got fed so well on the boat, it was a bit unreal, we had breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus mid morning snacks and afternoon snacks and pre-dinner snacks with cookies inbetween. Don't know where we put it all - though I didn't eat much on Day 2 and 3, it was nice to know it was there and at least Phill got to eat it all!

And another bit of exciting news, while we were out in the Barrier Reef, we saw Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman with his family and kids go for a dive. Well, that's what we were told was in the dinghy and we tried to get as close as poss without being rude. Then some of the girls on the boat shouted "Nicole!" and she turned around and to be fair, it really looked like her from the back and the split second she turned around. So that was exciting.

We spent the evening getting rid of the dried seawater from our clothes and bodies and then hit the pub for some beers and food. Hooray!

Lots of towns and cities pass us by ...

Carried on with our route, stopping where we please and staying for as long, too. It's a great feeling - am feeling so free and easy!

After our rain fest in the north of Queensland, I got ready for action on our smelly van! We found a laundrette and there we stripped the bedding and mattresses and gave everything a really good wash! It was super hot that day, too, so we grabbed the mattresses and put them in the sun to bake and boy, after about an hour of the sun treatment, it was all hunky-dory!

Set to fixing our various leaks in the van, too and discovered that the main leak was due not to the door sealant being old, but there actually being a hole in the roof! Not big, but big enough! Anyway, some joker had stuffed a bit of tissue in it - yeah, that will keep the rain out... I fixed in a most expertly manner though. I used two big pieces of ductape and put it on crosswise. Hooray! No more rain! Yay! Also found that they had used a glue gun to fix some other leaks in the back - I didn't know you could actually do that... hmmm...

We're on our way to Townsville now, which looks really big on the map but when we get there, we realise that it's not really. It's only bigger than its neighbours which doesn't count for much. We just end up picking up supplies and having a bit of a stroll around which is cool. Managed to spend a couple of nights free of charge in various rest areas and yes, we did pick the one that had the most mosquitoes in the world!

It all began so well and ended so badly ... the rest area was fine, really easy and so we cooked up a nice dinner and settled in for the night. It began with just a few mozzies, but that soon escalated into a major attack! It was so hot and we were sat in the van boiling! At one point I couldn't stand it anymore and we opened the door for a while to get fresh air and then closed it again.

As soon as we did that, we could hear all the mozzies in the van humming away! We went on the hunt and as soon as we had squished one, we could hear another and another and another and another!!! We killed so many of them and squished so many against the ceiling, it's now covered in yucky spots... so satisfying! We spent about an hour squishing them all.

I like being on the road - it's really good fun and very liberating, too. If we see a sign that we like the sound of, we just bumble along until we get there and everywhere is an adventure. It's so easy to drive here too as the roads are all fairly big and very empty for most of it. Totally used to the van now too and we really adore the Cookie Monster. It's great and very good to us. We've gotten used to the space as well and now that we're settled in it, it's the best thing in the world to know you got all your bits and bobs with you whenever you might decide you need them - let me tell you girls, a handbag is nothing compared to a camper! heheheheh ...