Weds 12th - Sat 16th August - Sindy, the Last Greyhound and a Lagoon

Wednesday 12th August

Still on Magnetic Lsland. We got up and had our complementary english breakfast - yum! Then I went to go pick up our little topless Moke car (Barbie Jeep). It was really fun to drive! Felt so good to drive a car again too! Mokes are allowed around the whole island - too hilly they'd get stuck! But the whole island was only 12kms bottom to top, so it was easy to zoom around! Me and lil both drove but as Rachel lost her purse back in Agnes Water (whoops! - the hostel found it though and are posting it to her family in brisbane!) she didnt have her license! We hired out some snokel gear and stinger suits and headed up to Florence Bay. We are up in the north now so the sea is full of sting rays and jelly fish - they are out of season but still a risk! We parked up and it was a 2km walk to the bay - all up and down hill as well! I managed to fall out of my flip flops and get a black pinch on each big toe! The Bay was lovely tho and we got our snokel kit straight on and got in the sea. We were a bit spoilt with the tropical Whitsundays, the water here was a bit murky. However in the end we did manage to find a bit of reef, we also saw some stingrays lurking at the bottom! Lil and Rachel then saw some little jellys, so we quickly swam away from that bit! We then walked back to the Moke, 2km in the heat again was not too fun! Although we did see a koala in a tree with a little baby on it's back - was so cute! and amazing to see in the wild! That evening we drove to the top of the Island to Horseshoe Bay and watched the sunset on the beach (with a bottle of cider in hand). We have so many sunset photos it's ridiculous, we could publish a book 'Sunsets of the Eastern Coast of Australia'! We then took Sindy (that's what we named our car) back to the hostel, it took us a good 10minutes to work out how to turn our lights on! We covered her up for the night and had the hostel's BBQ. We stayed up for a bit and watched a drag competition - very funny! Then we went to bed.

Me and Sindy

A lookout on the way back from our snokelling

Me and Rach in Sindy

Thursday 13th August

We had an explore round the island, stopping at the little shops and sights along the way. I then took Sindy back, expecting a ride back to the hostel, and they wouldn't give me a lift! So I had to walk half an hour in the heat back to Base! We then had some lunch (Humous, Carrots and Crisps!), and hired Kayaks for an hour. The sea in the bay by the hostel was so calm it was like being on a lake! We paddled around for a bit and enjoyed bobbing along! Was different thing to do, did hurt our arms a bit! We then made some dinner and had an early night.

Us saying goodbye to Sindy!

Friday 14th August


We got up and checked out of our room. We got a shuttle to the Port, A ferry to Townsville and then a 6 hour Greyhound bus ride to Cairns. Our last Greyhound bus :o( . When we got to Cairns we could already feel the heat even though it was late, it's a tropical heat beacause of the rainforest. We had to wait ages for our hostel (BeachHouse) to pick us up, but we finally got there and got settled. We then got a voucher for a free dinner in Rhino Bar, I had Chicken Satay, it was quite a small protion as it was free - but perfect size for me!! We checked out the town for a bit, found a live band at one bar which was really good, and then headed back.

Our last Greyhound bus!

Listening to the band in Gilligans.

Saturday 15th August

We explored Cairns a bit and then booked some rainforest trips and hostels in Peterpans. We also managed to collect some more free dinner vouchers! Cairns is a real backpacker town so the bars compete with free meals - brilliant! We then lazed by the lagoon - a big outdoor swimming pool, with fountains, a beach and big grass sunbathe area, right on the sea front. You can't swim in the sea here because of the Crocodiles!! So you have to swim in the lagoon! The beach is pretty marshy anyway so you wouldnt want to sit there even if you wouldnt get eaten by crocs! There was a market at the Lagoon which we had a browse around, there was also bands playing which was really nice as you're sitting around the water! We then went in hunt of a supermarket to stock up on our supplies. We ended up walking for ages only to find out it's right near our hostel - idiots! We then got ready to go out and waited for the shuttle to take us back into town - we wern't walking again! We went to Gilligans, a really big hostel with a bar and club etc. We're moving there next week. There was a happy hour with 2-4-1 drinks so we took advantage by getting 3 drinks each - and 3 free! We nearly got chucked out as it's meant to be only 1 and 1 free per person! They lasted us for ages though! There was a famous Aussie DJ in, not my kind of thing but lil and rachel seemed to really like it, so i just bobbed along to the music! We had a good night and got back about 3am.

The lagoon area with market and live band.

Making the most of 2-4-1 drinks!

In the club

Sunday 16th August

We checked out and moved hostels, we booked one more in town. We're now at Global Palace. The rooms are ok, the hallways are a weird combination of a museum, an old boat and a law firm - very strange! But they have cheap internet and quite fast computers so im happy! We had a walk around the town, much easier now we're already in the town! Lil bought another pair of sunglasses - about her 4th pair - she keeps breaking them!! And I got some sandals as my flipflops are about to fall to pieces! We sat by the lagoon again which was nice, plus there was a band again too, this time a jazz band. We got a free meal voucher for P.J. O'Brians, so we all had a bit of Spag Bol. Tonight we're having quite an early night. Getting picked up at 7am tomorrow for a 2 day trip to Cape Tribulation. Right in the rainforest, we're doing some walks, jungle swinging (looks terrifying), a midnight bush walk (again looks terrifying), and the girls are doing a horse ride (I dont do horses!). Should be good fun...or terrifying!

Will write again soon. Only 2 weeks to go, looking forward to seeing everyone!

H xx

Weds 5th - Tues 11th August - Scooters, Islands and a Birthday!

Wednesday 5th August

In the morning Lil got her hair coloured, with some of her bday money! We had fruit and bananabread for breakfast, yum! We sat round the pool for a bit nd then me and lil went on the ScooterRoo tour. It's this bloke, that looks like a skinny Hulk Hogan, who has loads of scooter bikes but all done up too look like proper hogs! We went and got our leather jackets and helmets, n then got our bikes. There was about 25 people on the tour, we all rode in convoy was so good! At the start you get a bit scard doing 20kph but by the end we were doing over 70 kph, it was so much fun!! We went round the little town of Agnes Water and Town 1770, we stopped to see some kangaroos on the way, and take pics of ourselves on the bikes, of course! Then we watched the sunset over Town 1770, whilst eating wedges. A few of the girls fell off so were riding with the guides, but dont think they hurt themselves that much, luckily they are such little towns there arent many cars! We went to ride back after the sunset, and my battery was dead! So I had to ride alongside the guide as I had no lights in the dark! Lil was behind me being very careful in case I hit the brakes! We had such a good time, it was a really different way to see the towns. I sang 'Wild Thing' full volume a few times whilst zooming along at 70! I don't think anyone heard me over the scooters! They would definately think i was a loon! We then went back to the hostel and had some $5 Spag Bol, and got ready for our bus ride. The bus came at 9pm and we began our 10 hour journey!

Getting ready for our ride!

Me on my hog!

Thursday 6th August


We arrived in Airlie beach at 7am, at least we saved paying for a night in a hostel! I had a bad headache from the bikes so I didnt have a great trip, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, we all had 2 seats so we could spread out a bit! Luckily our Hostel in Airlie Beach - Magnums, let us check in at that time. I went straight to sleep for a couple of hours! We then sat around the lagoon, big man made pool in the town, where everyone sits round, really picturesque! The hostel was also very nice, a bit like our favourite hostel in Byron Bay. We had an 8bed cabin with own bathroom. There was little pathways through tropical trees to each part, and it had it's own outdoor bar area and restaurants etc. It ended up all girls in our dorm and they were all really nice, we went out for a few drinks with them and ended up all dancing in a club (Mama Africa) until 2am!

At Airlie Beach Lagoon!

Girly Dorm night out!

Friday 7th August

The whole dorm room slept in till about 11am! We spent a lazy day by the lagoon reading our books (We are all addicted to reading the twilight books! But we have to take it in turns so gets frustrating sometimes!) We then made sure we were ready for our Whitsunday Islands sailing tour the next day! No zipped bags allowed (because of bed bugs apparently!) so I had to buy a fabric carrier bag thing. We then went to 'Opal's' for a free didgeridoo lesson, was really funny! We were rubbish! Then we packed up for the boat and had and early night.

Me trying to play a didgeridoo and failing miserably!

Saturday 8th August


Lil's birthday! We got up and checked out. Me and Rachel gave lil cards and then Rach took Lil to the Lagoon while I got the rest of her pressies and sat on some random steps wrapping them up! She was really chuffed, loved them! We got her loads of her favourite sweets, two vest tops and a voucher for CityBeach (cool shop we like). She loved it, even tho it was a low budget Backpacker Birthday! I also had to make her a sash to wear on the boat, the post office only had 30th, 50th, happy retirement or merry christmas! We stored our backpacks, went and got some goon (we got 2 boxes for $16, that works out a pound a litre!), and headed for the marina. We boarded our boat - The Atlantic Clipper, at 2:30pm. It was a lovely boat, about 50 people on it and no shoes allowed so we all had barefoot! As we were getting on I didnt think there would be enough room for all of us, but there was lots of space in there! We sat around on the top deck as we pulled out of the marina (me fully stocked up with travel sick tablets!) and had a talke about what we do etc. We then got designated cabins, we got the one right next to the crew! It was a seperate bit to all the other passengers and we had to walk through the cockpit to get there! Felt very special! We decorated lil up with her makeshift sash and Rachel wrote on her arms in eyelinet 'It's my birthday 23 today!'. Everyone was really friendly and she got lots of birthday wishes! The crew even bought out a cake with candles after dinner! We anchored in between Hook Island and Whitsunday Island for the night. We then played some drinking games and chatted to people. I even watched a bit of Oceans 13 with some of the crew! Was really good night, although one scottish bloke threw up down some stairs! Luckily I didnt see it!! Us three then squeezed in our special little cabin and went to sleep!

On the Atlantic Clipper (with birthday decorated Lil)

Sunday 9th August



I woke up early to take a travel tablet! Unfortunately I couldnt eat much breakfast as I felt a bit sick! We then anchored up again and got taken on little speed boats to an island. We did a little bush walk and got to a lookout point over Whitehaven beach, It was beautiful, the sand was white with bright turquoise water, and islands of green in the distance, it was amazing! We then went down to the beach, had a walk and then went in the sea! It was so clear it was lovely, bit chilly, I got in quite quick! We then got back on the boat and headed to Blue Pearl Bay. We squeezed into some stinger suits and did some snokelling. The coral was a mazing, so colourful, and the fish came really close. At one point one of the crew was throwing fish food at me so they were right in my face, theat freaked me out a bit buit it was funny squealing through a snorkel! We were really lucky and saw loads of fish. I had a little waterproof disposable camera, so I hope some of the photos come out! Rach and Lil then did a scuba dive, I didnt fancy it so I went to the boat and had a hot shower. Plus when the dive instructor knew I had asthma he assumed I wasnt doing it, so I took that as a bad sign! They said it was brilliant, they went about 5 metres down, although lil said she kept floating to the top! They got to stroke a big grey fish that the crew called Elvis! When they got back I was sitting with a group of girls chatting and stuffing my face with cake and cookies! (What else would I be doing?! haha!) We then had another good night, drinking goon and chatting. The crew then started the bite the box game (Where you have to pick up a box from the floor with no hands, every round it gets smaller) the twist was that if you couldnt do it you got smacked on the arse with a diver's flipper! The girls got out on the 2nd round and had to hit each other, I got one futher but then face planted the floor, I had the sick scottish guy hit me with the flipper. It hurt so much I can't even explain it! It was like a teatowel whip x 10! It was a really funny game though, and everyone was it stitches for most of it! Later a few of us were below deck in the saloon/eating area. And the crew bought out some ballons, so we made balloon animals!

Lookout point - Whitehaven beach

In the clear sea at Whitehaven

Ready for snokelling at Blue Pearl Bay. The beach was all hard coral rock - hurt your feet soo much! Also I look like a giant in this photo - not sure why!

Monday 10th August

They woke us up at 7am again (they like you to have full days which is good!). And I found I had a massive bruise accross my left bum cheek from the flipper! (It has since got darker and is currently nearly black!) We were due to go to a different bay for some snorkelling/diving but the weather was bad and the sea was too rough so we went back to blue pearl bay. Most of us were too chicken to got out in the cold so we sat on the top deck chatting and looking at the amazing scenery! We had hotdogs for lunch and got back to land at around midday. We spent the afternoon getting our backpacks back to normal and chilling out at Magnums backpackers again. We then met up with the boat passengers and crew in Pheonix bar and had a few drinks, we then went onto Mama Africa again and had a dance. Was a good night, althoI think I had a few too many!

Group pic on the boat - we are over to the left kneeling.

Tuesday 11th August

We got up to check out (my head thumping), and got our Greyhound bus at 9:40am. We were on the bus about 5 hours and then arrived in Townsville, then we hopped on a ferry and came to Magnetic Island. We are staying at Base Backpackers, it seems really nice and we have little cabins again, although these arent as nice as our ones at Magnums! We walked to the shop and then made jacket potatoes, went into our room! And our friend from magums was in there! Tal was in our dorm for our girly night out and now shes in our dorm again! It's really weird, everyone is doing the same trip! We've hired our a little Moke buggy car (Lil and Rachel requested it in pink so it looks like a little barbie jeep!) for tomorrow, we'll explore the island and maybe do a bit of snokelling again!



I havent got long now, we're here for 3 nights, then we have 2 weeks in Cairns. Looking forward to seeing you all but will be sad to leave here, I think coming back to the real world will be a big slap in the face! From a sailing boat to the smelly tube!


Will try and upate again soon! Miss you all!

H xxx

25th July - 4th August - Noosa, Fraser Island and Whales!

Saturday 25th July

We spent the day looking around Noosa town...and got wet! Me and lil randomly saw a woman we spoke to in Alice Springs airport - that was weird! We also went to PeterPans (Backpacker booking office) and booked up tours, hostels and buses, for the next 2 weeks! I got into a bit of trouble when my credit card wouldnt work, but Lil and Mum helped me out - phew! But for the next 2 weeks all we have to buy is food and drink, so thats brilliant! That night we went out and had a couple of cocktails, I had a Mango daqueri which was disgusting! Then we went onto the Rolling Rock club, and they were showing the F1 qualifying! So I was very happy! Sat and watched most of it! The DJ was rubbish but after a while a new one came on who was much better so we danced for a while! We had some weird wobbly legged people try and dance with us, but we managed to get away! We then got hot salad wraps (they were lovely!) and went back to Dave and Jill's.

Us in the Rolling Rock

Me excited about seeing F1!

Sunday 26th July

Quite hungover we got up early and went to Austrlia Zoo (I got up even earlier and spoke to Mark on Skype!). It's the Zoo that was run by Steve Irwin, and it was great! Dave nd Jill came with us and we managed to get in on a family of 5 ticket - no idea how! Very different looking triplets?! But it was a great day, we sa an amazing show with paradise birds and crocs. We also fed elephants and had photos taken. Then Me and Lil had a photo with a baby Alligator and Rach had a python. There was no way I was touching that snake! It was a really good day and we saw so many things. In the evening we chilled out and watched a film - Dirty Dancing.

Us with a Croc statue!

Me with Elephant saliva on my hand after feeding an elephant!

Me holding the baby Alligator

Monday 27th July

Me and Rach went to PeterPans to pick up all our details, we then found a book exchange where I got a new beach book to read! Lil had to sort out her bank but then met us on the beach for our packed tuna sandwichs! And then we were off to our surf lesson! We squeezed into wetsuits and lugged out boards down to the shore. There was about 15 of us and we had one teacher and 2 helpers, it was so good! We all mastered the bodyboard technique of catching wave, and then he called up in for the big lesson of standing up! You have to kind of balance on 1 leg with your bum in the air to get two feet on the board - all whilst riding a wave! All 3 of us managed to do it at least once, which was brilliant! I did one really good run where I stood up all the way to the shore - I was so proud of myself! But it went very down hill as I got more and more tired! That night we cooked Fajitas for Dave and Jill to say thanks! (well Rach did most of the cooking!) and then we had popcorn and watched Love Actually, worn out and tired on the couch!

Us in our wetsuits!

Tuesday 28th July


We caught a bus this morning to Rainbow beach, about 3 hours, and we are waiting to start our Fraser Island tour tomorrow. Iwrote this bit of blog - nut not allowed to put photos on so I will add to this when I can! We spent the day having a look around the town, laying on the green outside the hostel, and then in the evening we had a xouple of drinks with a group o irish lads that were sharing our dorm. Rachel is doing the Self drive tour - About 10 people are given a 4WD truck and are left to look round the island, they have to camp and cook on a gas stove. Me and Lil are doing the guided tour - We go around in a group of about 15 on a big monster truck type bus, we have a hostel on the island and we get led around the island by a guide. ( We were a bit scarred from our Uluru camping to camp again! Plus we wanna know what we're looking at!)

Wednesday 29th July

We end up leaving at the same time as Rachel - even though she was up 2 hours earlier than us haing talks and loading up the truck (hehe!). We ended up on boats next to each other, waving accross the water! We got to Fraser Island - It is beautiful. The worlds largest sand island - it is 92% sand, and also has the worlds largest above sea level fresh-water lake. (That's right we learnt things on the tour!) The beach runs as far as you can see (it's 125km long - thought I'd throw another fact in there), the sea is beautifully clear and it's full of tropical plants and animals. The first day we drove off the beach and through the road - I say road I mean pathways of sand through the trees, going up and down and feeling like the bus could fall over at any minute, trees bashing against the windows, how I didnt throw up I will never know! We went to Lake Birrabean, It was beautiful, crystal clear and surrounded by the whitest sand I have ever seen! It was beautiful. We sat there for quite a while, getting to know the other people on our tour and taking photos. Some people swam but it wasn't very hot that day! I did paddle quite a way in and saw some tiny little greem fish that looked like tadpoles. We then went back over the gutwrenching 'roads' and to 'central station'. This is where all the loggers used to be stationed on the island - nly 2 run down huts left now. We did a walk through the rainforest, it was so pretty the trees were so tall it was quite dark. There was also a strem running through but it was silent, it ran through the sand and you couldnt hear it, it was also so clear alot of the time you had to look for it! After that we headed back to our hostel and had a shower - it was like a running tap! We have to be back at the hostel by 4ish beacause of the high tides! The beach is used as the road to get to most of the island so if you're not there by 4pm you're screwed! That night we had a BBQ and we tried Kangaroo, it was lovely so sot and a bit like tangy beef! We had a few drinks in the bar with our group then went off to bed!

Me in Lake Birrabean

Me and Lil on the Rainforest walk

At the bar with some of our group!

Thursday 30th July

We spent most of the day driving on the beach - thank goodness - not sure I could face a long stint on the 'roads' again! We went to The Pinnacles - to see over 50 shades of sand, I could only see about 4 to be honest! But it was very pretty. We then went to Indian Head, a cliff looking out to the sea, we climbed up the roack and it was an amazing view. We saw some manta rays from up there and some whales in the distance. We also saw the Irish lads from our dorm before ( We actually kept seeing them all day - it was weird! Especially as they were on self drive like Rach!). We then went to the Champagne Pools, natural pools by the sea, filled by the waves. Unfortunately a german guy rom our tour stod a bit close to the edge and got soaked including his camera! But the pools were lovely we got in for a bit but it was ice cold so we wern't brave enought to actually swim like some people! We have discovered by now that most of our tour group is Irish! 9 out of 14! The Irish are everywhere!! Our guide then showed us Pippy racing. You find a lump in the sand and then dig until you find a Pippy - small shell fish thing. You then all walk to the sea and put the pippy's in, once a wave comes in and gets them wet, the sea goes back out and a weird little tongue/fin pokes out of the shell, and it slowly drags itself back under the sand, was so weird! Mine beat lil's one! Although they got mixed up a few times in the waves so bit hard to tell! We then went to Eli Creek where we saw Rachel and her group we sat and chatted to them for a bit, Rach said they were freezing at night mwahahaha! Then Me, Lil and our friend from our tour Katrina, walked down the creek - it was so pretty, beatifully clear and surrounded by amazing plants! We then went back to the hostel, on the way stopping to get photos of a shipwreck thats been on the island for years - very pretty, just on the beach slowly rusting, got some great photos! We got back and had some spag bol. Me and lil then walked down to the beach and saw a dingo, was so cute! Was scared Lil was gonna try and stroke it but she managed to control herself! We then went back and got on the goon! We played drinking games with Katrina, Jen and Cat ( al irish!) and a german couple called Matius and Ena. They were so funny! Me and Lil learned a few more drinking games too that I shall be bringing home! After our drinking games marathon we headed down to the bar with everyone else (A walk along the dingo fence in the pitch black!). We had a good dance like crazy people, and even learned some dances from the australian locals! Was a really good night!

Me and Lil with Rachel at Eli Creek

Me and Lil with Jen, Cat and Katrina...at the bar after drinking games!

Friday 31st July

Back into the bus with a hungover groan from everyone! Also forgot to mention there was a lady on the tour called Carol who we met at Alice Springs airport and at Noosa, what are the chances! Anyway... We had a 2km walk to Lake Wabby. Again very pretty but this was a lot bigger and was more a greeny pond colour. We spent a few hours there. We had a paddle and saw some cat fish in there. Lil was brave and went in but it was freezing so I only went to the knee! The guide was then showing us how to sand board down a sand dune! Me. Lil, Katrina, Jen and Cat decided to give it a go! When we got up there we nearly chickened out! It was really steep and you went straight into the lake, but we did it and it as a lot of fun! We then sunbathed and played 'I went to lake wabby and I bought a ...' very funny game and in the end the whole group was helpi ng us remember! We then headed back to the boat and back to Rainbow beach. The girls were in the same hostel as us on Rainbow beach -'Dingo's' so the 5 of us went our for some pizza, was really nice. We met up with Rachel again and exchanged stories! That night we had some drinks at our hostel, then went over to next door for some cheap cocktails, played some drinking games. We ended up at a beach party with a big group of 30 or so people from a mixture of fraser island tours. We all sat around the fire chatting and playing drinking games with goon! It was really good! We got in about 3am and nearly got chucked out by security for making too much noise!

Our tour, with Guide Cameron at the front

Beach Party!

Saturday 1st August

We spent the day recovering on the green in front of the hostel 'Dingo's', with Katrina too! We then got our bus at 3:30pm to Hervey Bay. We arrived at 6ish and had a look around, we were staying at a place called Koalas, didn't have much atmousphere but we got our own room and bathroom for the 3 of us! We saw a possum in the dark and me and rachel screamed our heads off, made us jump! He was cute but not as good as George from Brisbane! We had jacket potatoes and an early night to recover from Fraser Island!

Sunday 2nd August

Me and Rachel had booked a Whale watching tour or today. Lil has already done hale watching before so she had a chilled day. We got a shuttle there at about 1:30pm and waited by our boat. We saw the irish lads again at the dock- everyone seems to be doing the same route! The company told us that there as ony one pod of whales in the bay and that they had left, we could have got our money back btu they said if we didnt see any we could go back the next day! About a third of us decided we still wanted to go! And luckily they let us! I had my travel tablets and they semed to work -didnt really get sea sick at all! On the way out to the place they whales might be, we saw about 3 dolphins all swimming alon with the boat, they stayed with us for a while, everyone leaning over the edge trying to take loads of photos. We got a great view as it wasnt a full boat. Me and Rach then had a free tea and cakes! Then luckily we saw some whales! A pod of 3! They were massive, one came right up to the boat at one point, it was quite scary! Got a few good pics of their tails flicking up and rach got some great videos on her camera. We had some noodles back at our hostel and then met up with the Irish lads for a drink - one of them was in hospital with apendicitis, ouch!

Me and Rach on the very windy boat!

Mr Whale

Monday 3rd August

We spent the morning on the beach, it was really hot! It's the first time we've hit heat that has been unbearable, it's definatelty getting hotter as we go north! We then got our bus in the Afternoon to Agnes Water. It was a 4hr drive, not too bad, mostly slept! We got to out hostel - Beachside Backpakers, had some lasagne, me and lil played some scrabble (nerds!) and went to bed.

Tuesday 4th August

We borrowed some bikes from the hostel, and rode into town (yes I actually rode a bike!). I wasnt feeling too good, so lil and Rach went off to do a bit of surfing and I meandered around the town and headed down to meet them on the beach. When I caught up with them (easy to find - pastiest ones on the beach!), the waves were so rough they had already given up! We spent a bit of time on the beach and then headed back, and now I'm writing and finally up to date! wohoo!! Plan is to get $5 dinner from the hostel tonight and wacth a film in the tv room. It's a really quiet town, so not much to do. Plus I'm not feeling too good, so welcoming a quiet night!

Got an overnight bus tomorro night, not looking forward to that. But in the day me and lil might do a motorbike tour of the town and Town 1770. They are proper old hogs that only go pretty slow apparently so were gonna go cheak that out! Then our Bus takes us to Airlie Beach. 22 days left now - it's going very quick! Miss you all xxx

Weds 22nd - Fri 24th July - Goon, Point Danger and Bus Chaos!

MISSED INFO: (some stuff I forget to put in - must be all the drinking!)

Monday 20th July:

Our first night in Byron Bay in the Art Factory Hostel. When we got back from having our noodles we found there was an open mic night. We sat outside under the stars on picnic benches and people (mainly hippies) played guitars and sang. We drank some beers and listened, was really nice. The atmousphere really summed up Byron and then laid back friendly hostel we were in.

Tuesday 21st July:

After our Pictionary game and cider. There was a man who works at the hostel (Cockatoo Paul - little plait out the back of his hair with 2 big white feathers attached), selling opals. He had all kinds from big expensive rare ones to ones with hundreds of glittering colours. He mostly had dark ones with flashes of colour in the light. But I spotted a little white one, it was just like the one from nannies ring, appart from it was smaller and in an almost smooth shark tooth shape. It was $80 but I fell in love with it, I had to have it. He also gave me a small round version of the stone too, I think as I was questioning buying for quite a while and he could sense I was a pauper! I will get the bigger stone made into a ring back home and the smaller one im not sure what to do with!

Photo of Byron Bay I took with big camera but didnt put on before

Back to normal blog:

Wednesday 22nd July

After our walk up the lighthouse, our pasta dinner and starting on the 'Goon' (cheap boxed wine). I wrote my blog - mug of goon in hand! Then we saw our Pictionary buddys from the night before. We got some drinking games going, and it was really funny! Altho the goon was disgusting and tasted of feet! We even got shushed at one point because we got so caught up in the game we were screaming! We were playing 21's and couldnt get to 21!! After a while we decided to go out, me and Rach randomly couldn't find Lil! We found her...curled up around the toilet bowl! We still don't know how she got quite so affected by the goon compared to us! We think becasue she was still a bit ill and hadnt had a big drink for a while it just disagreed with her....quite badly! She told us to still go out and that she would crawl into bed in a bit. I felt very guilty but there was nothing we could do, she told us to go so we grabbed our bags. The other were holding the shuttle bus for us and then...I managed to lock my locker key inside the locker...doh! Luckily Tyler (from Tennessee) went and grabbed some scissors and prised it open! Then we were off on the shuttle into town. We went to Cheeky Monkeys, a strange bar which is all about dancing on tables! There is no dancefloor, just 3 rows of like metal picnic benches - which you have to dance on! People had to give each other hands to get up and there was only a small galley to get through to the bar! But it was a good night, me and rach danced away with our new pictionary friends! They played a good range of music, altho I nearly fell off the table several times! We then walked back with Sam, Tyler and Brian, getting a pie on the way! Was really good night, when we got back Lil was tucked up in bed snoring away!

Photo of Lighthouse taken with big camera

Me with a mug of goon!

Me and Rach with some of our Pictionary Pals

Me and Rach in Cheeky Monkeys with some stolen hats!

Thursday 23rd July

We got up with very heavy heads! Lil had to have a cold shower as she was still dizzy - nutter! We then gathered up our stuff and dragged ourselves downstairs, I had a bit of toast and we chatted to some people. We then got on the shuttle into the town and jumped on our coach to Coolangatta. Coolangatta is a nice town, it's a bit like Surfers Paradise but more for families and oldies (no offence readers!). We walked around the town a bit, got some hangover food and sat on the beach. Rach had seen whales before from Point Danger, we walked up there but no luck! That night we cooked jacket potatoes - I managed to find some 'English Version' baked beans! Others were beans in Ham sauce or Spaghetti sauce - urgh! The receptionist told us there was an R n B night but we just groaned at her! We had showers, read books and went to sleep! It was a weird hostel - Gold Sands Hotel. There was a hotel bit and a backpackers bit - it was cold, long beige hallways and no atmousphere - we were glad we were only there for a night! Only saw 3 people!


Friday 24th July

We got up and headed to the bus stop. We had a stop over in Brisbane, but were just prepared for a travel day - it would take about 5 hours in all to get to Noosa. Unfortunately when we got to Brisbane, we wandered off and got a wrap for lunch, only to realise the time was 2:05pm, the bus left at 2! We legged it up the escalators, me chucking my half eaten wrap in the bin on route! We got to the desk and 'It's gone' say the toure operator. We all gape out of the glass doors at the missing bus, which had all our backpacks on...crap! Luckily the bus driver who drove us was still there, he managed to get us onto another bus for free but we were still missing 3 very large backpacks! Luckily we were going to stay with Lil's family friends - Dave and Jill, Dave very kindly went and waited for the bus with our luggage on! What a drama! He then picked us up from the bus stop and brought us back to the house! Reunited with our bags and over the panic we were then given a massive dinner - lovely! Like roast dinner but cooked on the barbie!
What a day! I then took advantage of the free internet and thought I would catch up the blog!

Hopefully not as much drama over the next few days! In Noosa until tuesday and then we are hoping to do a Fraser Island 3 day tour! Will write again soon! H x

Thurs 16th - Weds 22nd July - Cougars, Sickies and Hippies

Thursday 16th July

After spending about 3 hours holed up in an internet cafe (geek!), I rushed back, changed my trousers, ate a pot noodle (most of which i ate on the way to the bus stop), and we got a bus into town. Backpackers get a lot of deal in surfers - if we got to 'Cocktails and Dreams' by 10:30pm we got free entry and a free drink. So we rushed down there! We had a good night, we got chatted up by 18-yr olds, they were so funny bless them! Lil got us some cheap drinks out of one of them, who worked there! We nick named ourselves the Cougars after that! haha! We then had a dance for a bit and headed back to the hostel. The hostel is really cool, little pool and really friendly, plus rach managed to get us a cheap deal with just 3 of us in the room, sweet!

In Cocktails and Dreams

Friday 17th July

We spent most of the day on the beach, I read my book. It's not really hot as it is winter but hot enough to lie on the beach! Lil started to feel a bit ill, shes got a bad cough. So Rach and Lil had a nap and I wandered the nearby little town - Southport. Southport's only about 20 minute walk to Surfers Paradise and a bit more in the quiet, so it was great location. We had arranged to meet somepne me and lil went to school with - Lorna Peters, she's a rep at another backpackers in Southport. We had a drink and a catch up in an Irish bar, she told us about the crazy life as a rep! She then got us free entry to 'The Bedroom' club and $50 worth of drinks at the bar! She kept going up and using the $50 rep crard to get drinks, was brilliant! Unfiortunately lil felt like she needed to catch up on sleep as she was pretty ill, so she went home early. But me and Rachel got very merry with Lornas free drinks and had a good ol'dance. Mostly taking the mick out of a bloke that constantly punched the air - that was his dancing!! We got the bus back and stumbled into bed!

Me and Rach with Lorna in 'The bedroom'

Saturday 18th July


Another chilled day, me and rach went shopping in the local Southport mall, got lunch and dinner. Then we all chilled by the pool for a bit, and we made Fajitas for dinner! That night was the Backpackers Big Night Out! About 4 hostels - 120ish people, free drink and entry to 4 clubs, we all went around together, it was madness! We spent about an hour in each club, and before we went we had punch in the hostel and was given a big straw hat and a glow stick. Was a very bizarre night! We didnt make it to the last club but we had a lot of fun!

On the Backpackers Big night out

Sunday 19th July

We got up and sat by the pool for a bit. Lil was still poorly and Rach was starting to feel rough too! I then went into Southport and saw Harry Potter 6 film - was brilliant! I went by myself and had a big box of popcorn (altho it was salt as they dont have sweet here - mad!), i kept seeing other people by themselves and we gave each other little nods, was funny! That evening we went to the beach and watched the sunset, was really pretty altho unfortunately the big skyscrapers of Surfers kind of blocked most of it out! We then ate a little cheap Thai restaurant and went back.

Sunset at Surfers Paradise

In the town

Under the surfers Paradise sign - bit blurry which is a shame!

Monday 20th July

We packed up and got a bus to Byron Bay. It was just over an hour. Byron Bay is a weird quaint little hippy town. We are staying at a big hostel called The Arts Factory, full of hippies, surfers and people playing guitars. We are in a normal down but you can also sleep in theme rooms, camp or dorm teepees! We looked around the town, had noodles in a box and then went to bed (early night for the poorly ones - I'm now reading lil's book).

On Byron Bay beach

Tuesday 21st July

Spent the day on the beach and looking around the town. In the evening we had dinner, bought some drinks from the bottle shop ( I had cider) and then played Pictionary with some people from the hostel! Rachel and the Irish guy won (we decided to split up as it might be easier as we knew each other), me and Tyler (american) came second! Was a good evening, really funny as we started to take it really seriously. The sickies got to bed early and I read till 2:30am (loser!).

Wednesday 22nd July

Today we walked up to the lighthouse, it was quite a long walk but really picturesque! Across the beach and up and down a trail through trees, we got some great views. I got some amazing photos on my big camera. We had an Ice cream at the top then walked back, we then went to the Bead Shop - where you can make your own jewellery. We all made a bracelet and then headed to the supermarket. We cooked pasta and then had some goon (cheap boxed wine - it's gross). Now here I am typing up this!

On the walk to the Lighthouse

..and with a sign

Our names in the sand!

Not too bad catching up as we've been relaxing most days. We're off to small town Coolangatta tomorrow for one night and then up to Noosa. We're booking up some more tours soon for up the coast - Fraser Island and the Whitsundays, looking forward to them! Not many photos as I've only bought Lils camera to the computer. Most of the pics are split between rach ands lils cameras now (and big pics on my beast camera), so i will make sure i bring hers too next time.

Miss u all lots Hxx