We started our day with a quick trip to the dive shop to buy some new snorkels. Ours had been slowly giving up the more we used them and even full of tie wraps they’d started to leak again so we’d felt it was time to invest in some new ones. It was quite a novelty to have proper snorkels with the drains to stop you swallowing water and we were excited to try them out. We’d had to check out of our motorpark by 10am but we had decided to pay to store our van there while we were on [View Full Entry]

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The night was unbearably hot and we kept getting up to put the aircon on and turn it off at intervals. You know how it feels at home when it’s been hot for a few days (think back!) and a storm is coming. Here it feels like that times ten. The air feels thick and being outside for a matter of minutes is uncomfortable and sticky. This morning was the first time in my life that I chose to have a cold shower as the shower block was just silly hot - the windows were all open but the air outside [View Full Entry]

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The temperature in the van was unbearable when we woke up just before 8am, so much so that I’d got one of those heat headaches that make you feel like your head is being slowly crushed by the humidity. It quickly vanished once the air con kicked in and within five minutes I was freezing. You can’t win. Today was all about the drive. Despite it being perfect kite flying weather and our campsite being right next to a wide, empty beach, we had to get started as we’d been warned the drive to Airlie Beach was likely to take about [View Full Entry]

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Our plan for the day was to drive a few hours up the coast. There was nothing we wanted to see in between Town of 1770 and Airlie Beach, so our planned stopping point was literally just that - somewhere to rest during the long journey. Strangely enough, the South Queensland and New South Wales coasts were dotted with motor parks every few miles, with plenty of them centred around the towns and good beaches, but on this stretch of the coast they became much more infrequent. We’d chosen a place called Yeppoon for our break as once we’d passed there [View Full Entry]

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It was another 6am start ready for our cruise. By 7.30am we’d been to the marina office to pay up and boarded the small boat which took us to the larger vessel around the corner. The trip was to Lady Musgrave Island, one of the most southern islands in the Great Barrier Reef, for a day of snorkelling, swimming and coral viewing. I’d been worried about Matt doing the journey as the leaflet advertising the trip made reference to seasickness. We’d tried to find some ‘Sealegs’ tablets which were the ones he took in Fiji and NZ which actually seemed to [View Full Entry]

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It was ironic that as soon as we arrived back in Hervey Bay the weather cleared up. In fact we were woken up by the sun shining through the gaps in our curtains, making the air in the van feel hot and dense even at 7am. It felt good to be able to get the aircon on and go back to sleep, knowing that we didn’t have to be anywhere. We set off just before check out time at 10am, with the intention of driving straight to our next destination, Town of 1770. On the way, however, we got lured into [View Full Entry]

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It was spitting with rain when we woke up, and the sky was gloomy. It was the sort of day where you wanted to roll over and go back to sleep rather than getting up at 6am to go on a tour. Matt tried to tempt me to cancel the trip and lose the £30 deposit we’d paid but I really wanted to see Fraser Island and was trying my best to be optimistic about the weather clearing up, so I dragged him out of bed. Our tour bus was waiting for us when we arrived at reception. Our guide for [View Full Entry]

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It rained heavily all night and was still dull when we woke up. We’d planned today to be a relaxed one with a drive a few hours north, booking our tour and accommodation on the way for Fraser Island. Just outside the campsite we stopped at a service station to make the phonecalls and I popped into a commercial visitors centre just to take a quick look at a few more brochures. Even though we’d already made our decision about the Fraser Island tour I thought I’d just ask the the staff for their opinion to make sure we’d made the [View Full Entry]

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I woke up feeling like I was melting. The sun was beaming down right through the curtains even though it was only 7am. Pleased that we had an air conned cabin I got up and turned it to full. When I went outside I saw the sun was already high up in the sky and the heat felt more like midday than early morning. I guess that’s the trade off for it getting dark early. We’d been planning on having a quick stop at Surfers Paradise, but changed our minds when we saw that the traffic was manic and there were [View Full Entry]

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After breakfast we drove to a nearby beach at Coolangatta. Again it was near deserted, so Matt saw the opportunity for a bit of kite flying, while I lay and read my book in the sand. Once he was bored of flying it (having almost killed me when it dive bombed to the ground) we decided to go to the Currumbin Wildlife Park a few minutes away. A few people had recommended it to us as one of the best wildlife parks in the country so we had been looking forward to it. It cost about £16 each to get in [View Full Entry]

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