Maybe it's because we haven't seen a 'city' since we arrived in Australia and Perth over 6 weeks ago (and when I say 'city' I mean in the European sense ie - buildings over 3 stories high and a mix of influences - not the 'small town America' feel that Cairns and other so-called cities in Northern Queensland have). But arriving in Brisbane was a well needed shock to the system. Arrival at the closest campsite to the city (4km) was as typical as ever, especially when I booked us in and the headmistress of a campsite manager told me off for not having neat enough handwriting or knowing exactly how long Martha's electrical connecting cable is "I think it's about 3m and is orange if that helps??...." An early night off the grog, during which ... read more

Another day, another campsite, another town, another blog. This time: Hervey Bay Another gateway destination, this time to Fraser Island - the World's biggest sandbank. First impressions are pretty good, a little more English riviera than American backwater - so much so that we end up staying at Torquay Beach Caravan Park. The town and campsite have a much younger clientel than some recent stops, which is almost a shame as I had got quite used to chatting to couples named Alisa and Bob about gas cylinders, water tanks and retirement plans. We are really into the groove of this campervan thing now, it's a little isolating and Martha has had her teething problems but hanging out with kangaroos, pelicans, pensioners and possums is pretty good for the soul and it will make us appreciate the ... read more

Gordonvale...Babinda...Innisfail...Tully...Ingham. The small towns we drove through on our escape from Cairns along the Bruce Highway all seemed to display similar traits, ie unattractive residents, most still displaying their Christmas decorations (10th of Feb!!!) and all having a big corner pub with attached 'drive thru' bottle shop named 'The Victoria'. If you are a resident of one of these towns I apologise (although I doubt you can read) as I am sure they are all great places to live, but alas we passed them by. Fading light forced a stop over 250km south of Cairns on a camp site so dated that it was almost coming back in fashion and home to so many tree frogs that Carla mistook one for a light switch in the ladies shower block and touched it on its head, and ... read more

A Brief History of the Rock About 20,000 years ago, an Aboriginal tribe of people named the Anangu stumbled upon a huge 30 million year old fossilised mountain in the middle of nowhere. They named this 'puli' (literally meaning 'the rock') and set about living off the land around Puli and practising their customs and simple ways of life. About 19,850 years later a strange pale creature turned up on the back of a camel and the Anangus named him and all his friends 'the white fellas'. The white fella decided to name the huge rock he found after the white fella who had funded his expedition, and so 'Ayers Rock' was born. White fella then decided to give the Anangu lollipops, booze, diabates and a major alcohol problem - and take most of their land, ... read more

Leaving Koh Samui left me with only relief and none of the slight sadness that almost every other of our previous 26 destinations has left me with. Of course Jungle Club will be a standout of our whole trip, but the island itself is best left for those who think Thailand is all about beer, beaches, bartering and boys (who want to be girls) - and having spent nearly 3 months in this crazy country, I can assure you it has a lot more to offer than that. We are nearing the end of the Asian leg of the trip now and when we planned our assault on the Thai islands we purposefully left what we hoped would be the best until last; and so island number 6 and our last stop before returning to catch ... read more