Wednesday 19th September 2007

We had another lazy morning today. We woke up at about 9.30am and then just lay in bed until we could be bothered to get up. After breakfast we put our suncream on and went and led by the pool. Nikki has turned into a right little book-worm - she's managed to read a whole Dean Koontz book, The Mask, in two days!

This afternoon we spent our time getting in and out of the pool - me especially, because they have a log that crosses it and I was trying to walk back and forth. Nikki did it first time, but then wouldn't do it again. Even when i'd mastered it, I kept going back for more!

This evening, we caught the hostel bus to the shops and back (we've given up on walking anywhere for a few days) to get some shopping. When we got back to the hostel I, yes I, cooked us some tea. Admittedly it wasn't much (chicken & sweet-corn patties, boiled potatoes and salad), but I did have to boil the potatoes and fry the chicken & sweet-corn patties... all at the same time!

Wow, I cooked for Nikki... I feel all grown up now!

Tuesday 18th September 2007

We slept in this morning until about 10am, and when we went outside it was already boiling hot. Straight away we decided that we couldn't be bothered to do anything - and so, after breakfast, spent the day laying by the pool either reading and snoozing, or in the pool cooling down.

This afternoon we went for a nice walk along Mission Beach (or *** Beach) and stopped in the supermarket to get something to eat for tonight's tea. We then caught the bus back to the hostel and sat outside our room chilling out and chatting.

How were going to get back to work after all this, i'll never know!

Monday 17th September 2007

We were up nice and early this morning, so that we could get ready, have some breakfast and get back onto the mainland in time to catch the 11.30am Greyhound. Despite having 3 hours to do very little - we still ended up rushing round like mad 'uns! First, we somehow managed to read the ferry times wrong. Then, when Hazel told us the correct times - we missed the bus! Luckily Nikki managed to flag down a taxi and he managed to get us to the ferry port just as the last people were boarding. The ferry got us back to shore at just after 10.30am, so we had an hour to relax before catching the bus.

The Greyhound arrived on time and the journey to Mission Beach took around 4-5 hours. We did stop on the way (after about 3 hours) and me and Nikki had fish & chips in a small road-side café before getting back on the bus.

We finally got to Mission Beach and jumped in the mini-bus for the hostel called Scotty's. There were a couple of other buses there - but we'd heard from other travelers heading South that the hostels weren't very good. Scotty's is very cool though! We've got a pretty big double room and outside there are a couple of chairs for us to relax in - and also a big pool. We think today was probably the hottest it's been since we've come away - Nikki said she seen one thermometer which read 31° - so this was a great excuse to go for a swim.

After cooling down in the pool and then doing some reading, we went out for a walk to the local shops. The walk took about 15 minutes and we couldn't be bothered to walk back, so we caught the hostel bus instead. When we got back we rang my Mum at work - because she's going on holiday soon and this was probably the last chance i'd get to speak to her before she went. It was nice because we've not spoken in what seems like ages - so we had lots to talk about. She also spoke with Nikki for about 10 minutes. When Nikki gave me the phone back my Mum cried... again (bless her)! Tonight, we went on the internet for a while and then had a sandwich for our tea - it was still way too hot to eat something cooked!

31° - I guess Winter's over then!

Sunday 16th September 2007

When we were out tearing up Magnetic Island in our pink car yesterday, we spotted a golf course and me and Nikki thought that today we'd head down to check it out. We got up, had some breakfast and said goodbye to Glen, Jade, Jenny and Hannah (who were leaving today) before going out to catch the bus.

We got to the course at about 10.30am and it was wicked! We spent about 3-and-a-half hours playing in the sunshine and it did get to be a bit of a struggle in the end - because of the heat, but it was still really good fun! We finished the game in a draw - we both went round in 75, which was appalling for 9 holes!

After our exhausting round of golf, we came back to the hostel and first had some lunch and then chilled out by one of the pools. We started to read our books, but there were children playing who were slashing us so we moved around to the other, smaller pool. It was now so hot we just had to jump in!

This evening me, Nikki and Hazel all left our room together and went and had some pasta for our tea, before going round to the bar for some beers. As it was quiet, the sports bar wasn't open - so I couldn't watch any footie tonight. We sat chatting for a while and then me and Nikki came back to pack our bags and have an early night before moving on tomorrow.

You'd better watch your back Tiger Woods - Ben and Nikki are on your tail!

Saturday 15th September 2007

Yesterday me, Nikki, Glen and Jade arranged to hire a 'Topless Car' and do a tour of the island today. So we were all up nice and early so that we could get the car as soon as the company opened at 9am. We had some breakfast and then, because we're over 25 - and are the only ones allowed to drive, me and Nikki went off to collect it. We were back at Magnums by about 9.45am to pick up Glen and Jade and then set off for the day.

Our car was pretty cool... for girls! It was white with BRIGHT pink bumpers, wing mirrors, seats and even had a fluffy steering wheel cover. I think, because we've been away for so long, Nikki had forgotten how to drive - she was all over the place. She eventually got us to a place called Horseshoe Bay, where we got out and went for a walk. After spending about an hour on the beach the four of us stopped for milkshakes and ice creams before getting back in the car.

Magnetic Island is mostly National Park and there is only one main road you can drive along. So, when we got back in the car, we headed back down the island - stopping at Radical Bay, Arthur Bay and then Picnic Bay. Afterwards we went and did some shopping and then went back to our hostel for some lunch.

This afternoon we went to look for more Rock Wallabies, round at Alma Bay and sat looking at all the fish in the sea - well, the others sat looking - I went rock climbing... in my flip-flops! When we'd finishes we jumped back in our little 1-litre 'thing' and went for another burn around then island. Before we had to return the car, we stopped in some animal place and just missed the feeding time - I still got poo'd on by a bird though!

We dropped Jade off at the hostel and then me, Nikki and Glen took the car back. The walk back was crazy - it took us right up into the hills, and was more like rock climbing than it was a bush walk - it was a good job we all had flip-flops on... not!

This evening, our little group all sat and ate tea together. Jenny and Hannah had one meal, Glen and Jade another, and me, Nikki and Hazel shared some pasta and pesto. Afterwards we all went into the sports bar for some beers. At about 10pm they put on the Liverpool vs Portsmouth footie match, so some of us watched that - and the others went off to bad not long afterwards. When that had finished, we watched the Wales vs Australia rugby match and then some of West Ham vs Boro game. At about 1.30am I went off to bed - happy, because Nikki's Dad had text me saying that Bristol City were 1-0 up against Coventry... come on!

If I learnt one thing today, it was flip-flops ARE NOT ideal for climbing!

Friday 14th September 2007

We decided that we'd move on to Magnetic Island today, so we were up bright and early and checked out before 10am. Before we left the hostel, Nikki thought she would use the facilities and did some washing. When we were on the bus, over to the ferry port, we bumped into some of the girls from the Habibi, Jenny and Hannah, and they were also going to the island. We tried to convince them to do a sky dive when they get to Mission Beach - Nikki even said she'd do another!

The Ferry over to Magnetic Island took about 25 minutes, and when we got there we caught the bus over to Magnums - our hostel. As the next two nights are free as part of our tour, we were put in a dorm. We were put in one with a girl we'd met on the bus over called Hazel. When we dumped our bags we went out and also bumped into two people we met on the Greyhound yesterday - a guy called Glen and his fiancée Jade.

This afternoon we went out for a walk around the area and did a bit of shopping before walking back along the beach. Afterwards we went down to a nearby bay and spotted some Rock Wallabies. Magnetic Island is lush! When we got back to the hostel it was still really hot so we sat by the pool and lay chatting and reading. Glen and Jade came out after a while and we all arranged to hang out later.

After getting ready me, Nikki, Glen, Jade, Jenni, Hannah and Hazel all went and had some food and the went for some drinks in the sports bar. We watched a bit of an AFL match but didn't really understand what was going on - so just laughed at all the Aussies who, for some reason, were going absolutely wild!

Nikki doing another sky dive? Watch this space!

Thursday 13th September 2007

The alarm went off at about 8am this morning, because we were leaving Airlie Beach for Townsville and the Greyhound was leaving at just after 9am. We had already packed our bags last night, so we got ready, went to have some breakfast and then took a walk round to the bus-stop.

Our journey to Townsville took nearly 5 hours - and we arrived not long after 2pm. The trip wasn't too bad because we did have a break after about an hour-and-a-half, which gave us a chance to stretch our legs. The view out of the window was pretty cool all the way here. The sun was really bright, the sky really blue and one minute everywhere would look lush and green, the next huge rivers would be all dried-up because of the heat.

When we arrived at the bus station, there was a mini-bus from Globetrotters Hostel, which Nikki had already mentioned staying in, so we jumped in their van and shortly after checked in to a double room... yippee! The room was nice, but it has the worst bed in the world... d'oh!

We dumped our bags and then went out to explore Townsville. We took a nice slow walk into the centre and then went for some lunch in a place called The Brewery. Afterwards we went to Tourist Information and they told us things we could see - both here and on Magnetic Island, which is 8km off the coast. When we left we walked along the edge of the beach, on a street called The Strand, where there was some sort of art exhibition going on - with exhibits dotted around, and we had to try and find them.

In total, we were out walking for about 4 hours and Townsville is really nice. We got back to our hostel at just after 8pm and had a snack before chilling out.

Boy, it's hot... but we're not complaining!

Wednesday 12th September 2007

We were up quite early this morning - not because of 'dirty shaggers', but because of some Irish lads - who thought it was appropriate to sing the theme tune to Postman Pat... at about 9am. The sun was shining through the window, so we thought there was little point in staying in bed any longer - and got up for another day in the sun. It's starting to get REALLY hot now!

The first job of the day was to text Wilksi. It's his birthday today (it'd just turned midnight at home) and we wanted to be the first to wish him a Happy Birthday! Afterwards we had showers, got ready, put our sun cream on and left.

Today was spent wandering around Airlie Beach. We looked in all the shops and... NIKKI FINALLY SPENT THE LAST OF HER BIRTHDAY MONEY - 131 days after her birthday. Afterwards we had a smoothie and then we went down to the Lagoon where we lay in the sun for a few hours and did some reading.

We headed back to the hostel at about 6pm. We'd arranged with some of the girls from the Habibi to meet up for some drinks and possibly food tonight at 6.30pm. Before we went to meet them we went to phone Wilksi. I think we woke him and Vicky up. Vicky wasn't too bad but Wilksi sounded half-asleep. It was good to speak to them both though - it was the first time in nearly 5 months - Nikki even sang him Happy Birthday! When we'd finished the call, we went back to the bar and met the girls. They were eating pizza, but me and Nikki didn't fancy any - so we shared a jug of beer instead. After about an hour 3 of the girls left to catch their bus, and we sat with another 2 for a little while longer - sharing traveling stories, before going out for some food.

We went to try and get an indian, but when we got the restaurant they said they were doing take-away only... d'oh! Instead, we had... pizza - but from Domino's, not our hostel.

Oh, the joy of hostels - i've been bitten loads, and have been scratching all day!

Happy Birthday Wilksi!

Tuesday 11th September 2007

Ha ha, Nikki had trouble sleeping last night. Apparently some of the people from the drinking game had got a little frisky in the bunk beds outside our room and woke her up with their 'noise'. She said that she woke me up to tell me, but I just fell straight back to sleep. She wasn't impressed and when we were talking to the others on the boat about them, we referred to them as 'The Dirty Shaggers'.

When the skipper blasted out the music at 6.30am again this morning I was straight out of bed because I couldn't wait to get in the water. It was funny when we left the room because the lovers had woken up - and the alcohol had obviously warn off because the awkward atmosphere was really obvious.

After breakfast, I had my stinger suit on and was soon diving into the water - from the roof of the boat this time. Nikki didn't bother - she thought that seeing as the sun was only just rising (it was still only about 7am), then the water would be cold - but it wasn't! I loved it and spent about an hour swimming about - I even came face to face with a jellyfish, but left him well alone. In the end, one of the crew had to come out in the smaller boat and drag us back! When everyone was safely back on board, the crew raised the anchor and we started sailing back to Airlie Beach.

When we were safely back on dry land we walked back into town and checked into Magnums - our new hostel. We collected our bags from the luggage lock-up and found our room... a 10 bed dorm! We spent the afternoon looking around Airlie, and then came back about 5pm to get ready for a night out. Everyone from the Habibi was meeting in the Magnums bar for some food and drinks.

This evening we met everyone in the bar - and quite a few people turned up. For every 4 people, we were given a free jug of beer - so that was ok. I bought a pizza for my tea, and Nikki had a few slices - but she didn't eat much. Afterwards we went into the Magnum's nightclub, where they were having a wet t-shirt competition. 3 girls entered and one of the crew from the Habibi eventually won it! We stayed out for a while, but the music in the club was pants (no 80's cheese to dance to), so we left and came to bed.

Sailing was fun... When I grow up, I wanna be a pirate!

Monday 10th September 2007

Our Skipper thought it would be a good idea to wake everyone up this morning at about 6.30am - by blasting music out over the speakers. Some people didn't like it, but me and Nikki didn't mind because we'd woke up at 6am anyway. When everyone was up and had had breakfast we were taken in a smaller boat over to Whitsunday Island, which is the biggest of the Whitsundays'.

We landed on a small pebble beach and took a short bush walk to a look-out. The view was AMAZING! It was of Whitehaven beach, which is 99% pure silica and the sand is so fine there that you can polish your jewellery with it. The sea around the beach was a beautiful turquoise colour and against the brilliant white sand looked stunning! Whitehaven beach is regarded as one of the Top 3 beaches in the world - the others being in Thailand and Hawaii (which we went to on our honeymoon). After spending a couple of minutes taking pictures of the beautiful view we walked back through the bush to make our way down to the beach.

After walking for about 5 minutes we made it to the beach and it was even prettier than it looked from the look-out. Me and Nikki took a walk down to the sea and the first thing we did was clean our wedding rings - people were right - it really makes the jewellery sparkle! We spent a couple of hours lazing on the beach and playing in the sea and then made our way back to the Habibi.

When everyone was eventually back on board we set sail again - this time to a place called Mantaray Bay - it was here that we were going to be snorkeling! Everyone was given a stinger-suit (apparently there are millions of jellyfish in the water here), flippers and a snorkel and then we all jumped off the back of the boat into the clear water. Almost immediately we were surrounded by thousands of fish - and when the crew started throwing bits of bread at us in the water, the fish started swimming up really close. We were told it's possible to see over 150 species of fish around the Whitsundays' - and even some Tiger Sharks! We didn't see anything like that, but we did see a fish, called 'Elvis', who was about 3 feet long - he was HUGE! Although it's not classed as the Great Barrier Reef around the islands, it's the same coral - and it was amazing. There was every colour imaginable under the sea - and even some bright neon coral that looked like the inside of a nightclub. I had an amazing time and loved snorkeling. Nikki gave it a go - but didn't stay in the water as long as me - she was worried about being stung by jellyfish or eaten by a shark, so she got into the small boat that was in the water and looked at the fish from there.

After an hour or so we moved on again, this time to Caves Cove. On the way the crew gave us coffee or tea and doughnuts to warm us up. The girls were all moaning that they were cold after getting out of the water - but the sun shining and it was lovely really. When we reached Caves Cove, the skipper dropped the anchor and said that this was where we'd be spending the night. He said that anyone that wanted to, could do more snorkeling here - but because he said we could also do it in the morning, I gave it a miss and had a snooze instead (I think my sea-sickness tablets are making me drowsy). Nikki also sat it out.

For tea tonight the crew made us a pasta bolognese and then afterwards we watched the sun set over the ocean and had a game of International Twister. I got to the semi-finals and the game was eventually won by an American girl. Because I couldn't be bothered to learn everyone's name, I was giving them nicknames instead. A French guy, who I called Frenchy, then took to calling me 'Husband' (or 'Usband with his accent) and pretty soon that was what everyone on board was calling me.

When the sun had finally gone down and Twister had been won, we sat around drinking and chatting. Some of the guys played a drinking game, but me and Nikki didn't join in because we'd ran out of beer! After a couple of hours, me and Nikki went up to the front to look for shooting stars again and then came to bed.

I looked everywhere - but had no luck Finding Nemo... maybe tomorrow!

Sunday 9th September 2007

We were up nice and early this morning because we had to pack our bags for our Whitsunday's Sailing trip, go to a checking in meeting and check-in to our next hostel - Magnums. We won't be staying there for 2 days, because we'll sleeping on the boat, but we will need somewhere to keep our bags whilst we're away. We had breakfast and then checked out before walking up to the shop Destination Whitsundays. After our meeting, we walked along to Magnums and explained our situation to them - they were happy to look after our bags... for $10. We packed the things we wouldn't need away (laptop etc) and left.

Our boat, the Habibi, was leaving at around 2pm - so we had to meet the rest of our group down at the marina at about 1.30pm. As it was still only about 11am we had a look around Airlie Beach for a few hours. Airlie doesn't have much of a beach (for some reason), but it does have a huge lagoon-type pool where people relax. So we shared a Subway sarnie and then chilled out there for a while.

We took the nice walk along the shore to the marina and got there in plenty of time. We met everyone else who would be sailing with us (there are 26 in total - plus 3 crew) and boarded the boat. At first we had to check ourselves in so that they could find out how many were in each group, and how many people were planning on going snorkeling etc. I made a point of telling Dan, one of the crew, that we were married - and i'm glad I did, because we were given our own private room - with double bed. Everyone else had to sleep around the boat on tiny bunks - some in the corridors with only curtains for privacy!

Pretty soon the Habibi had set sail and we were sailing from Airlie up through the Whitsunday Islands (there a 74 islands in total - and have been voted the second most beautiful set of islands in the world). Not long after setting off we had afternoon tea and then after a couple of hours sailing we stopped at a place called Tongue Bay - there were a few boats there, so I guess it was quite a good spot.

This evening we had a bbq for our tea and then we sat around drinking and chatting. When the sun had completely set the skipper took us to the front of the boat, where there were no lights, and showed us some things in the night sky. Being so far from land - with no bright lights about, the view was stunning! He showed us where the Milky Way was, where Scorpio was and pointed out some other things. Afterwards a few of us lay on the benches around the deck and were spotting shooting stars. Me and Nikki saw about 10 in total.

Aye Aye Captain... Whitsunday's straight ahead!

Saturday 8th September 2007

We woke up way before the alarm this morning and, after laying in bed chatting, we got up and got ready for breakfast. We had some raison toast and a cuppa and then checked out of our room. We didn't have to catch our Greyhound until 12.15pm, so we figured we'd hang around the hostel and use the internet instead. Nikki went on one computer and I managed to plug in my laptop - which meant I could update the blog... yippee!

After about an hour on the internet, we collected our bags and took the short walk round to the bus stop. The sun was high in the sky again - which made us happy because of the sailing trip we're supposed to be having this week. The Greyhound arrived right on time and we got to Airlie Beach at just after 2pm.

Some of the hostels were asking for $88 for a double room. I'm sure they were nice hostels, but seeing as our daily budget is about $100 there was no way we could pay that much. Luckily, one of them - Backpackers By The Bay - were only asking for $60, so we went with them. We jumped in the van and they brought us back. The hostel is actually pretty cool - and it overlooks the... well, Bay!

We only booked in for one night, and after finishing off the thai green vegetable curry from yesterday, for our lunch we went out into town. Airlie Beach seems really nice - with loads of shops and things to do.

As we were walking through town we came across the shop with whom we're going on our Whitsunday's trip. We went in to make enquiries and they said they could fit us on tomorrow's trip - woohoo! We left the shop and went to Magnums, which is a hostel in which we get 2 nights free accommodation, to check if we could stay with them when we got back - and they said yes, so for the next 4 nights we don't have to spend anything on accommodation... come on!

With our Whitsunday's sailing trip sorted we went and bought ourselves ice-creams and walked through the bicentinial park to the sea where we sat and ate them. Afterwards we had a look round the shops, then came back to the hostel.

This evening we said we'd take part in a quiz the hostel was having - in which you could win a bottle of champagne. When we got there at 7pm (the time it was supposed to start) the guys had already started drinking it - they said they didn't think anyone was gonna turn up. We did the quiz anyway, and our team - me, Nikki and an American girl called Jen won! Because the champagne had gone (they even gave us a glass) we got to have a free round of beer instead, which suited me just fine. Afterwards, when we were speaking to Jen about what she was doing in Australia (she's here studying), a guy sat next to us introduced himself and we found that he's from England - and he lives in Bristol - he was even born in Keynsham, but grew up in St. George...

Boy, what a small world!

Friday 7th September 2007

With no cows to milk, or buses to catch, we slept in this morning and woke up about 10.30am. Once we were up we walked to the local Coles supermarket to get some shopping for our breakfast. When we got back we had some raison toast and then went for for a walk.

The sun was shining and we had a nice walk along the Pioneer River. At the end we stumbled across a shopping mall, so went in and had a look around the shops for a couple of hours.

When we got back this afternoon, we hung around the hostel, using the internet to try and sort some accommodation for when we're in Perth at Christmas. We rang one hostel and managed to book a triple room (for me, Nikki and Emma) for the first few days of her stay - so at least she won't be sleeping on the beach for the entire time.

This evening we had a thai green vegetable curry for our tea and then just chilled out - we were exhausted! Plus, were moving on again tomorrow - so we did some washing. Mackay seems ok, but we think it would be better for someone with a car - so they could get out an explore. Instead, we're going to move on to Airlie Beach and are booked on to a Greyhound at 12.15pm tomorrow.

I miss being a farmer! Oh well, in the Whitsunday's - we're gonna be sailors!

Thursday 6th September 2007

We were up at 7am this morning, because we had to go out and milk the dairy cow - if we didn't, then nobody would have milk for their cuppas and cereal. We both had a go and were really surprised at how hard you had to squeeze on the cow's udder - to which she took absolutely no notice! Afterwards Nikki went into the chicken coop to collect some eggs, but came out with only one because all the chickens started pecking her. I went in to see how I could do, and managed to get another four - but had to leave one behind - it was in a hole, right by the bum of an evil looking chicken and he flashed me a 'try it' look... so I left, hands in one piece. Lyn, the manager of the farm, went in and managed to get it - but not without getting pecked first!

Me and Nikki used the eggs we'd collected to have egg on toast for our breakfast. We cooked it all in a pan on the open fire. After breakfast, we took a walk up to the horse stables to see if we could have another go on the horses (well, another go for me) - it wasn't raining today, so Nikki thought she'd give it a go too. There were about 6 of us riding around the yard, getting to know our horses, when something spooked one of them and they all starting galloping - we all stopped safely, but Nikki was terrified (she already had a fear of horses) and got off - so I got off with her.

After the horse riding drama, Nikki went and made us a cuppa and I went to speak to the farm mechanic about perhaps learning to ride the motorbikes (off-road scrambler things). He said he would teach us, but first I had to help him remove the engine from one... so I did.

Nikki was a bit worried about the motorbikes, because they had gears - and were nothing like the choppers we rode the other day, so Shane (the mechanic) gave her a restricted one to ride. She got on brilliantly - the speed limit on the farm was 35kmph anyway - so she didn't have to go too fast. Once she knew how to ride she went back to the farm house and me and Shane went for a ride. We rode to the outer edges of the farm and saw more kangaroos and some wild pigs that were just wandering about.

After lunch, Shane said i'd done well on the bikes and that I could go out on my own if I liked. Nikki didn't fancy it, so I went for a quick blast around the farm. When I got back, Nikki had decided she did want another go and had grabbed a helmet - and I managed to convince her to come out with me. She didn't really want to, because the tracks weren't easy and there were big hills etc, but once she was out - she was great.

When we got back, I said I was gonna go out again. Nikki said she was going to have a shower because we were leaving at 4.30pm (it was about 3.00pm) and said for me to be careful. I said that the course usually takes about 10 minutes, so if i'm not back in half-an-hour, then panic... and shot off. I did get back to the farm in the 10 minutes, but when I did, Shane was about to take a group out and asked me to come with him. I went and because they were still learning, we took about half-an-hour to get round. As I was returning to the farm house, Lyn and Nikki skidded to a halt in a 4x4, and Nikki jumped out to give me a whack. She didn't know about the ride with Shane and, as i'd been about 45 minutes, had asked Lyn to go look for my body with her. She was mad at first, but saw the funny side when she knew I was ok... ooppps!

As a punishment for scaring Nikki, she made me polish her boots before we gave them back (everyone has to do it - but Nikki obviously didn't want to). When i'd finished I had a shower and then Shane brought us back to Rockhampton. He dropped us off at about 6.30pm and our Greyhound was booked for 7.50pm - so we said goodbye and then went and had a burger in McDonalds. We got on the bus on time and arrived in our next stop, Mackay, at about 12.30am.

What am I gonna have for breakfast tomorrow... eggs from a shop?

Wednesday 5th September 2007

The alarm woke us up at 6am this morning. The people from the Myella Farm stay were picking us up at 6.30am, and we had to pack our bags. After that we gulped down a cup of coffee and the woman was waiting at the door... oh, it was still hammering down with rain too.

The journey to the farm took about an-hour-and-a-half and it rained the whole way! We got to the farm and the first thing we did, after dumping our bags, was to change into some farm clothes and boots. Nikki wore a checkered shirt, with jeans and boots and I managed to find a Ralph Lauren shirt - so I had that! With us now looking the part, we went and had some breakfast. We made ourselves some toast on these metal things that dangle the bread over an open fire - it's done in about 20 seconds... brilliant for someone as greedy as me!

After breakfast we were taken up to the stables because we were being taken horse riding. The weather seemed to be getting worse and the guys from the farm thought that if we didn't go right away, then we'd never go. Nikki didn't come, because the horses were acting strange and we were told they could get worse (because of the rain), so I went out with one of the guys from the farm and two other guests. We were out riding for over an hour, and got on fine. We rode for miles - out onto the farm and saw loads of cattle, and some wild kangaroos.

This afternoon, we were taught how to crack a whip - which Nikki was really good at (!) and then we had to help do some work around the farm. We started by collecting some eggs from the chicken coop and then we went inside and made beer! First I added a spoonful of sugar to all the bottles and then passed it to Nikki who filled them with the beer mixture. She then handed it back and I 'capped it'. In total we did 8 crates, all of which will be ready in a month. With that job finished, I had to go and round up two of the cows that were out in the field.

Tonight, all the guest hung around the fire (which has been burning for ELEVEN years) and drank the beer that was made last month. A couple of us played cards - we played Blackjack and Poker. Nikki did really well at both and came runner-up in the Poker. Afterwards we all had a roast lamb dinner - which was nice, but for some reason they didn't give us gravy!

This farming lark is fun - i've got the accent nailed!

Tuesday 4th September 2007

It was good to wake up in a double-bed again this morning, one in a private room come to that - some of the other travelers make some strange noises in their sleep. In Cool Bananas there was a girl who snored all the time, and in Kookaburra's there was a girl who started shouting out in the middle of the night (it's always the women!).

We got up, had some breakfast and then took a walk into the centre of Rockhampton. It looked really cloudy when we opened the curtains this morning, so we came out wearing long trousers. What a mistake that was - it was absolutely boiling!

The centre of Rockhampton was quite interesting. We found ourselves walking down the main high-street with normal looking buildings on one side and buildings that looked like they'd been stolen from the set of a Western on the other - they were really cool, old buildings. One old building we found was called The Heritage Hotel, and as we were walking past we decided that we'd go in for some drinks.

When we'd finished our drinks, we walked back towards our hostel and into a newer part of town. We found a shopping centre, where we had a look around and then we went to the cinema - to watch the Bourne Ultimatum... it was quality and well worth a watch!

This evening, we came back to our hostel and booked a trip for the next two days - to a place called Myella Farm. Afterwards we thought, seeing as we were in the 'Beef Capital', we'd go out for a steak. We'd heard of one place called The Ascot Stonegrill, where you cook the food on a 400° slab of stone (like on our anniversary) - so we went there. I had a a Porterhouse and Nikki had fillet. They were both really nice (and huge) - although mine was much better than Nikki's. The place was also quite odd - with no atmosphere.

On our walk back to the hostel it started to rain - which was typical seeing as we had something planned for tomorrow... hopefully it'll clear up!

Yippee! Private room!

Monday 3rd September 2007

When we woke up this morning, the sky looked pretty grey - but it wasn't raining, so we thought we'd give the surfing another go - Nikki really wanted to be able to stand up, like she did in Hawaii. We got dressed and then went for some breakfast. Nikki made herself egg on toast, whist I used up the last of the pancake mix... mmmmm!

We checked out of our room and took a walk up to the surf shop. On the way we booked our place on this evenings Greyhound, which was getting into town at 7.50pm. We decided that we'd stop at Rockhampton - other people were going to Airlie Beach or Cairns - which was going to take over 7 hours, so we didn't fancy that. Plus, Rockhampton is the 'Beef Capital of Australia' - so we thought we'd go out for a nice steak (brilliant, food now dictates where we stop!).

With our surf lesson booked we collected out wetsuits and walked down to the beach. We couldn't believe it - the waves looked huge, and were coming in really thick and fast. As we'd already had a surf lesson, the guy gave us a quick talk and then let us go into the water, whilst he chatted to the others in the group. The waves we're crazy - much worse than Saturday and we were having trouble getting out into the sea, let alone surfing back in. We tried our best to surf, I managed to stand up a few times, but poor Nikki had a nasty accident. When she was trying to get out a huge wave crashed down on her, wiping her out, and the surf board hit her in the neck - after that we decided to call it a day.

Nikki was in a lot of pain, and so when we got back to the hostel this afternoon, we decided to chill out. We had some egg on toast for our lunch (Nikki's second lot of the day), had showers then did some reading before resuming our Scrabble battle... I won 2-1.

This evening, the hostel cooked a meal of 'Grandpa's Stew' - me and Nikki had a plate each before we left for the bus. We had to catch a smaller shuttle-bus out of town and then board the Greyhound from there. By the time we finally got on the bus, I was exhausted so I slept most of the way to Rockhampton. When we got off the coach, two other people were staying at the YHA, so we shared a taxi with them.

Stupid surfing...!

Sunday 2nd September 2007

We woke up this morning and after getting dressed fancied something different for our breakfast. We helped ourselves to the free coffee and then I made some pancakes. Nikki let me do them - it was using a pancake mix, but she stood back and let me work my magic - I remembered everything Mummy June had taught me. When i'd made them, we sat outside in the sunshine and ate them. Whilst we were eating them, we were joined by Sabine, one of the German girls from our Fraser Island 4x4.

When we were done with breakfast, we gathered our things and headed for the beach. We spent a couple of hours sitting in the sun - reading and watching the surfers. The waves seemed pretty high today and we were both quite jealous - I think we might give it another try tomorrow.

We came back to the hostel at about 1pm because we had something booked for 2.30pm and wanted to have some lunch first. We had egg on toast and then got ready for our afternoon out...

A guy from a company called Scooteroo picked us up (about 7 people from Cool Bananas) and took us out of town to the shop where we were going to be hiring our motorbikes - Choppers to be exact. When everyone was signed in (by now there were about 20 riders), we were taken outside to choose our bikes. Nikki was given a mini Harley Davidson type bike painted with the Australian flag and I was given one painted with the Stars & Stripes... complete with 'Easy Rider' style handlebars. With that done, we hit the road.

We rode around the towns of Agnes Water and 1770 for about an hour - sometimes reaching speeds of 80kmph - we were having a blast. We stopped every now and again for pictures and also to look for wild kangaroos and wallabies. Just before the sun was getting ready to go down, we took a ride to the coast and got some drinks from a pub, which we drank outside as it set. Some of the guys bought wedgies - but me and Nikki didn't bother - we still got to have some though - the leader of the pack let us share his! After the sun had gone down, we jumped back on our bikes and rode back to the shop. We had an amazing time and will definitely recommend it to everyone.

The guy dropped us back at the hostel just in time for tea. The hostel were cooking Japanese fried rice with meat and vegetables. We had a plate each and then went into the TV room where everyone was watching a film. It was the Life of David Gale, which me and Nikki have seen before - so we sat on the edge of the room and played Scrabble... I won 2-0!

Hells Angels watch out - the Scooteroo's are in town!

Saturday 1st September 2007

Wow! The 1st of September - I can't believe we've been away since the 16th of April. We're having so much fun - and we've still got nearly 8 months left... Rock on!

We woke this morning and went to fix ourselves some breakfast in the kitchen. We had some toast and then went around the road to see about doing a surf lesson. We've heard from different people along the way that 1770 is the cheapest place on the East Coast for surfing - and the company are also pretty cool, so we thought we'd check it out!

The travelers were right - the surfing was a bargain! For $16.50 we got a 3 HOUR surf lesson and free wetsuit. Me and Nikki signed up and after being sized up for our suit, took a walk down to the beach with the other 'surfers'.

For the first half-an-hour, our instructor taught us things he thought we should know about surfing in 1770 and then let us loose in the water. We had great fun - I think I enjoyed it more than Nikki. She was getting really frustrated because when we had a lesson in Hawaii she could do it no problems, but here she was having trouble standing up. We had 14 people in our group and only 12 boards, which meant after a while we were supposed to give someone else a turn. In about 2-and-a-half hours, I managed to stand up about 10 times - and managed to surf all the way into the beach about twice... not bad I 'spose!

This afternoon, when our surf lesson was over, we did some food shopping and then hung around the hostel - we were exhausted! We had sausage and egg sarnies and then took a walk into the small town for a look around.

For tea this evening, the hostel was cooking spaghetti bolognese - and we thought we'd give it a try because the guy had been cooking it since about 11am this morning! Afterwards we just chilled out in this very cool hostel!

Catching waves... catching a cold more like!

Friday 31st August 2007

We woke up this morning in our nice comfy bed and had to get straight up because we were checking out of Beaches and hoping to catch the Greyhound to the Town of 1770. We got up, got dressed and went into town to buy something for our breakfast. We decided to have strawberries, bananas and cream - it was lovely!

After booking our seats on the bus we went down to the beach for a couple of hours to read and chill out on the sand. At about 1.30pm we came back to the hostel to collect our bags and caught the shuttle to the bus station.

The journey to 1770 took about 4 hours and when we arrived we crossed straight over the road to a hostel called Cool Bananas - loads of people had recommended it, so we figured we'd give it a try. They don't have double rooms, which is a bit of a pain - because as much fun as it is to be in a dorm with other travelers, I do miss cuddling my wife!

As it was quite late when we arrived, and because we didn't have any food, it was quite lucky for us that the hostel was offering a vegetable curry with rice for $5. So we had a plate of that each and then Nikki had a crêpe filled with a fresh strawberry sauce and cream for her afters. Afterwards we hung around the hostel and then had showers before coming to bed.

Town of 1770!? What kind of a name is that?

Thursday 30th August 2007

At about 7am this morning we were woken to the sound of Patty shouting in German. Me and Nikki stayed in our tent, but when the others went to investigate we heard that our camp had been invaded by a couple of dingoes - who were raiding our food supplies (even though they were packed away in huge cool boxes (or eskies)) and even made off with some crisps and a pack of bread rolls! Patty managed to eventually scare them off by throwing her flip-flops at them.

After everyone had gotten over the shock of being rudely awaken by the screaming German, we packed up the 4x4 and set off. Just as we were pulling onto the beach, we noticed that the a Ranger had pulled in to speak to the guys who had started last nights fire... boy were they gonna be in trouble. You're only allowed fires in controlled areas - theirs was not, and you're not allowed to sleep on the dunes next the beach (only behind them) - they were... ooopps!

Because it was our last day on Fraser Island we wanted to try and get everything on the itinerary done, so we drove to our first stop, which was Lake Wabby and had our breakfast in the carpark. We didn't want to send ANY food back, so some people had cereal, some had sausage sarnies and some had scrambled egg. We shouldn't have had any eggs left but we discovered that, when we'd used the Aussie's bbq yesterday and it came to packing up, Nikki had 'accidently' stolen their plate of eggs. D'oh! We hope they had more!

The walk from the car, through the forest, to Lake Wabby took about half-an-hour but was well worth it - the lake was STUNNING! Three sides of it were a lush green colour with trees and bushes and the forth was a huge sand dune that we had to walk across to get the water. The lake itself was a deep green colour, but the edge were clear and you could see fishes swimming about. It wasn't long before most of us had dived in to cool off. Not long after we'd arrived, another group turned up with a body-board and after a while they invited us to slide down the dune and into the water at the bottom... brilliant!

After a couple of hours laying in the sun or swimming in the lake it was time to leave. Our barge back to the mainland left at 2.15pm - but we weren't sure how long it would take us to get back so we set off at just after 1pm. We made it in plenty of time and sat in the car-park eating whatever food was left.

Back on the mainland, we met Shane from the 4 Wheel Drive company and followed him back to the workshop where we cleared out the van and washed the dishes. Afterwards we went back to Kookaburras and then me and Nikki made our way back to Beaches.

We were supposed to meet up with the guys from our group for some food tonight, but after getting ready no-one could be bothered to go out (plus it was further for me and Nikki to walk - and they only wanted MacDonalds anyway), so we had some pasta and hung around our hostel before coming to bed at about 10.30pm... we were exhausted!

Fraser Island was AWESOME - we're definitely buying a tent when we get home!

Wednesday 29th August 2007

I was the first one in our camp to wake this morning - I was so excited about the fact that we were camping - so I jumped out of my sleeping bag, got dressed and gave Nikki a kiss, before rushing outside to do last nights dishes. The Australian guys were already up, so they said I could use their water to wash them. As I was doing them with Dunger, the rest of our group started to slowly rise and we eventually used the guys bbq to cook a fry-up for our breakfast.

Our replacement 4x4 was supposed to be arriving at 10am - which still meant we were 4 hours behind (our itinerary said our day should start at 6am). It finally turned up at about 11.30am. We'd already unloaded the broken one and I don't think the mechanic had barely stepped out of the new one before we'd started loading it up with our gear. We didn't hang around to find out what the problem was, we just said our goodbyes to 'The Rescuers' and sped off down the beach.

The first stop of the day was a place called Indian Head, which is a huge rock formation that looks over the sea. It's really high and if you're lucky you can sometimes see whales, sharks and turtles... we didn't see any! After a while we walked back to the car and took a short drive along the beach to a place called Champagne Pools. According to our itinerary we were supposed to leave the car at Indian Head and walk to the pools, but seeing as we'd been given a duff car and had lost a few hours we drove anyway - we were rebels, plus we didn't really mind about starting the day later - we all appreciated the lie-in!

The Champagne Pools were great. We set up our towels on the small beach and then swam in the pools. They are created by waves that crash into the rocks and the spray (like that of champagne) splashes onto the other side - creating pools of warm water, some of which are about 7' deep. Dunger, Big Kev' and Wayne all turned up at the pools too, which was cool because we shared a few beers, had some group photos and had a few laughs before saying our goodbyes again.

Indian Head and Champagne Pools are on the Northern end of Fraser Island and we were supposed to be camping in a place called Cornwells tonight, which is quite a few km's South - so we reloaded the car and set off - giving us plenty of time before the tides came in. En-route we stopped at the shipwreck of an old vessel called the Maheno, which was blown ashore by a cyclone in 1935 - and has sat there ever since! We all posed for pictures and then took off again.

We managed to get to the camping area of Cornwells just in time - the sun was setting and the tides were almost right in, so we pulled the car in just behind the sand dunes and set up our tents. As we'd missed lunch, we decided to cook everything we should have eaten today all in one go. We had... chicken drumsticks, nachos with salsa, spaghetti bolognese, tinned peaches, fruit cake and custard... all washed down with beer! Whilst some of the group were preparing the food, the rest of us went off to build a toilet - or dig a deep hole in the sand. Me and Sylvan dug two - one for the men and another for the women (which we decorated with shells).

Not far from our spot, we noticed that another group of travelers had started a camp fire, so when we'd tidied up we took a walk along to the beach to join them. At first there were about 10 people sat around the fire, some singing to a guy playing guitar and the rest chatting, and after about 15 minutes there were about 30, all from different groups. One girl even started fire dancing... the nutter!

Camping on Fraser Island rocks!

Tuesday 28th August 2007

There are 3 French guys in our dorm and they've been really noisy the last two nights... so when my alarm went off at 5.50am this morning - I made no effort to be especially quiet (ha ha). We picked up our small backpacks (the big ones were locked away in storage) and went to catch the bus. It dropped us off at the bus station at about 6.30am and then we walked down to Kookaburras for 6.45am.

Our group was Group 1, so we were loaded into the van and driven to the 4x4 hire company to check in. When we got there, we were shown our 4x4 - a big Toyota Land Cruiser, and were each given a little task. Me and a German guy, called Hendrik, had to check over to car for dents and scratches, whilst the others did things like check the tents, check the food, check to camping equipment etc. With everything done, we went to fill out our paper-work and I was made Chief Driver! Everyone over 21, who'd had a license for 2 years, could drive on the island - but only I could drive on the mainland... yippee! With all our bags loaded on top, the others jumped in the back and me, Nikki and a French guy called Sylvan jumped in the front. When the other two cars were ready we set off to the catch the ferry.

The barge to Fraser Island took about half hour, and when we got off the other side I had to put the car into 4-wheel drive and 'lock' the wheels - there are no roads on Fraser Island - only sandy tracks... it's the largest sand island in the world!

The first stop of the day was a place called Lake McKenzie - which is a huge, fresh water, lake. With the sun high in the sky - the guys did the only sensible thing - we ran and took a jump into the lake... it was awesome! The water was a beautiful crystal blue and it when I got some in my mouth - it was just like drinking bottled water (which made a nice change from the salty sea water). We hung around Lake McKenzie for just over an hour. The girls were getting to know each other on the sand, and the guys swam out to a small sandy island.

When we decided to move on, we drove through the thick forest and then out onto the beach. After driving for close to an hour we stopped at a place called Eli Creek with another of the 4x4's (we don't know what happened to the third). Getting right into the camping spirit, we cracked open the beers and fired up our little stove to cook some lunch. We were supposed to be having chicken drumsticks, but they were frozen - so we had hot-dogs instead. Eli Creek was really busy with loads of other campers and we were having a really good time - listening to music, swimming and playing cricket - one guy even came out to play in a 'Borat' swimming costume - to huge cheers from the crowd. I'd finished my driving for the day - so was well away on the beer (although, it doesn't seem to matter here - we were told the limit is 2 drinks in the first hour, and then 1 an hour from then on!).

On Fraser Island the tides can be really dangerous, (you're not allowed to swim in the sea), so at about 4.30pm we decided to move on to where we were going to be setting up camp. The other 4x4 took off (we still hadn't seen number 3) and when we tried to start our car - we couldn't get it to fire-up! Within minutes we had loads of drunk Australians looking under the bonnet - trying to diagnose the problem... all with no luck. A guy from the group, called Yanou, went off to phone for help (there's no mobile signal on the island) and came back with the news that a mechanic would be out... in the morning! Luckily, some of the 'not-so-drunk' Australians offered to tow us back to their camp, and said we could stay with them for the night.

We got the car back to their camp just in time - no sooner was it off the beach, the salt water came in (which is VERY bad for the cars - and could loose us our $1000 bond if it gets on the engine). We were introduced to our 'rescuers' and they were all great guys. There was Big Kev' (Mark), Dunger (Keith) and Wayne. They were on the island fishing, but because of the storm were not having much luck - so they were spending their time drinking instead... as well as rescuing stranded 4x4's (like an Aussie Baywatch). Their camp had everything - they had a huge tent with proper beds, they had a toilet, a shower, a huge bbq, and a huge stack of beer in the corner!

Our group set up our tents before it got too dark and then started to cook our dinner. Tonight we were having roast beef, mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was actually pretty good and afterwards we sat around chatting. Our group is really cool. There's me and Nikki (English), Hendrik, Paty, Maren and Sabine (German), Sylvan (French), Yanou (French Canadian), Gaiton (Belgian), Katarina (Swedish) and Liz (Dutch).

After a while, it was pitch black and after chatting and admiring the moon (which was really full and bright) and the stars - me and Nikki came to bed and I prepared for my first ever night in a tent (the only other time i've even been in one, was when I climbed into a display one in Blacks Outdoor Store in Bristol).

Here's to Mark, Dunger and Wayne... our heros!

Monday 27th August 2007

When we woke up this morning we figured that as long as the storm had definitely passed, then there would be a good chance we'd be going to Fraser Island at some point this week - so we thought it would be a good idea to book the hostel a day at a time. Just before 10am we booked in for tonight and then went to the phone-box to ring Kookaburras... It was good news - the Fraser Island trips were back on - and we could go tomorrow... yippee!

Happy with the good news, we had some breakfast and then got our things together (towel, book, iPod, suncream etc), and hit the beach. It was absolutely boiling on the beach and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We spent a couple of hours sunbathing and reading and then came back to the hostel.

This afternoon we went out for a walk and found a shopping centre, so we went in for a look around and bought some things for our camping trip... sweets! Nikki found a really cool Billabong visor - so she bought that too (the birthday money is ALMOST gone).

We came back to our hostel to drop off our shopping and had to immediately turn round because we had to be at Kookaburras for a Fraser Island safety briefing - on things to be aware of on the island, which was at 6pm. We got there in plenty of time and had our meeting - plus we got to meet the other 9 people would be in our 4x4 (there were 3 4x4's in total - and 32 people). When the meeting was finally over, we walked back to our new hostel and Nikki cooked us pasta for our tea. All the other travelers were having some sort of pasta, but none of them had the same dessert as us... strawberries and cream - and I could tell they were jealous. By now is was about 10pm, so we watched a bit of the 40 Year Old Virgin with another girl and then came to our room to pack.

Finally, we're going to Fraser Island tomorrow... unless we're hit by another storm!

Sunday 26th August 2007

We were up in time to check out this morning, because after yesterdays events - there was no way we wanted to stay. We got ready, had some breakfast (this time in bowls that looked like they were purchased in the last 20 years) and then caught the hostel bus to the bus station. We still didn't have a plan - we figured we'd work it out when we got to the Greyhound...

... When we did arrive at the bus station we found that the Greyhound Ticket Office was shut (because it was Sunday (we've lost track of the days)), so Nikki rang Travel Bugs (the company we booked our trip through) to see what they could do for us. When she explained about our problems with Kookaburras and that we'd still like to go to Fraser Island, they said they understood why we didn't want to stay any longer and arranged for us to have a free night in another hostel in town - this time, one called Beaches.

As soon as the courtesy bus pulled up outside, we knew we'd be 'safer' at Beaches. We dumped our bags in a spotless dorm room (hey, at least it was free) and then checked out the hostel... it was fantastic - it had a huge, clean kitchen too!

This afternoon we walked back down to the Esplanade and strolled all the way along the beach to a famous place called Urangan Pier, which stretches right out into the sea - and was once used to transport cargo to-and-from big ships. We had a look around the shops in that side of town and then took a nice slow walk back. On our way we stopped in one of the pubs for a drink - and they had two guys playing music, so we thought we'd stay for some lunch and shared some wedges with sour cream and chilli... then some more beer!

When we got back to the hostel this evening, Nikki was pretty tired from all the walking we'd done - so she had a nap whilst I read my book (the Gazza biography). When she woke up later, we figured we'd go out for more beer and perhaps some food - so we took a walk down to Hoolihans where, at 9pm, it was buy-one-get-one-free on certain meals. Nikki ordered our food at about 9.05pm, and for some reason - as soon as she did, the pub called last orders! It was crazy, as we were eating the staff were putting chairs on tables! We finished our food nice and slow and then came back to the hostel.

Beaches Hostel: 1 Kookaburras Hostel: 0!

Saturday 25th August 2007

The storm finally looked like it had almost gone when we woke up this morning - it was still raining on and off - but only slight drizzle. It didn't matter though, our Fraser Island trip had been cancelled (well, delayed) and we'd have to find something else to do. We were told we could use the second of our free nights at the hostel, which was cool - but if it hadn't have been free - there'd have been no way we'd have stayed.

After getting ready, we had some breakfast - mine was in a bowl so dirty, it looked like the girl had dug it out of the front garden before giving it to me - and then went for a nice long walk along the Esplanade (I think we were sub-conciously trying to get as far away from the hostel as we could). We were starting to really dislike Hervey Bay, but I think it's probably to do with the weather more than anything because it wasn't actually that bad today (it would start to rain, but then stop after about a minute).

When we'd walked far enough (we were knackered) we headed back and stopped in an Irish pub, called Hoolihans, for some lunch - I had a chicken sarnie and Nikki had barrimundi & chips. When we got back to the hostel we were told that all trips to Fraser Island had been cancelled until at least Wednesday - apparently the Island was in a real state, and because it's all sand (there are no roads) it would be suicide to try and drive there before the rangers have had a chance to clear it up.

We were really unhappy - we didn't want to have to hang around until Wednesday, only to be told that the trip might be cancelled again - and there was NO WAY we were staying in hell (Kookaburras), so we thought we'd sleep on it, check out in the morning and go from there (where, we didn't know). After the nightmares everyone was having in the kitchen, we refused to cook in there, so we went and got a pizza instead. When we got back to our hostel we packed our bags and talked with Claire and Emma (the English girls in our room). When we were just climbing into bed, a cockroach climbed into Claire's rucksack... we will definitely be leaving in the morning.

Boy did it rain: the Coast has had a months rain - in one day... and the places we'd left (Noosa, Rainbow Beach etc) are under water - d'oh!

Friday 24th August 2007

When we came out of our room this morning, the rain had stopped - but it was still quite cloudy, so we crossed our fingers that the storm had passed. We had some breakfast, and then checked out of the hostel before hanging around to catch a lift to our next place. Whilst we were waiting, the rain started... bad!

On our way to our new hostel, Kookaburras, we noticed that Hervey Bay was really being battered - there were huge trees that had fallen down (some onto buildings) and there were smaller trees scattered all over the place.

When we got to the new hostel, they wouldn't let us check in until we paid some non-refundable extras for the Fraser Island tour. We argued that the trip would probably get cancelled, so what was the point? but they said, if we didn't like it - we could stand in the rain! Already we didn't like the place!

While we waited for the storm to die down a little, we watched Shallow Hal in the TV room of the hostel, and when it did - we went out for some food. We found a really nice café just around the corner and had a huge 'gourmet' burger and chips - it was gert lush - and just what we needed to cheer us up.

Tonight, back at the hostel, we sat with the other travelers and it seemed nobody was having a good time in the hostel. Apparently one girl found cockroaches living in the microwave - and when someone from reception tried to take it away, the manager told her to put it back! We watched Bridget Jones Diary on the TV and then went to our dorm, where us and two other English girls had a good old moan about the place.

I hope the Fraser Island trip DOES go ahead - we can't stay in this 'hovel' for too long!

Thursday 23rd August 2007

We woke up this morning to find that we were in the middle of one of the biggest storms to hit Hervey Bay in about 100 years! Apparently, the drouth has been so bad here that there are some children who have never seen rain! We got dressed and then made a run for the kitchen to make ourselves some breakfast.

When we were eating our food we got chatting to some guys (one from England and the other from Germany), who were hoping that the rain would stop pretty soon because they were booked to go out to Fraser Island on a camping tour (like the one we're supposed to be doing this weekend) - but because of the storm, trips were being called off.

We took a walk around Hervey Bay this afternoon, but the rain was really coming down - and we got soaked, so we decided to head back and have some lunch. We stopped in the shops and bought some bits and then Nikki made us steak fajitas. We couldn't be bothered to go back out in the rain so we lay on our bed and watched The Karate Kid on the laptop.

Tonight, we went back to the bar a few doors down for a couple of beers and a bowl of chips. When we were coming back it looked like the rain was stopping (well, we hoped it was - we're supposed to be going to Fraser Island on Saturday). When we got back to the hostel, we had showers, did some washing and then packed our bags before we change hostels tomorrow (we're moving to another of our free ones).

All it ever does is rain (well, that's how it seems anyway)!

Wednesday 22nd August 2007

As expected the severe weather, we were warned about yesterday, had arrived! We woke up this morning to find that the wind was really blowing and it was hammering down with rain - but we didn't care... we were still on a high from our skydive.

After getting ready and making sure our bags were all packed up, we went out to get some breakfast. We stopped in a little café, just round the corner from our hostel and shared a fry-up. When we were finished, we walked back to our hostel and waited for our Greyhound to arrive. We were talking with some of the girls we'd met the night before, and they asked to see our skydive DVD. When we showed it to them - one almost started to cry!

At about 12.30pm our Greyhound pulled up and we ran across to the bus stop. The weather looked like it was starting to clear up, but we didn't get too happy, because we'd heard it was heading North - the same direction as us. The Greyhound took a couple of hours and we arrived in Hervey Bay just before 3pm. We rang some places and then jumped in the van of one, Koala Resort, which took us back to the hostel.

We dumped our bags and had a quick look around Hervey Bay - but it looked like the bad weather was on its way, so we spent a couple of minutes walking along the beach and then checked out the shops near our hostel.

This evening, the rain was coming and we'd been sat in for a couple of hours so, we went to a bar a few doors down from our hostel and had a couple of beers... still talking about our skydive! We still couldn't believe that Nikki had done it with me, and she was so proud of herself - so she rang Nicola to tell her!

Well, I suppose it had to rain sooner or later!