ehayward1981

When I got to the airport at 8.15pm Andy's flight had landed early, I thought he would still be going through Customs as it took Claire & I forever when we arrived. I could not believe it when I walked into the Arrivals Hall & he was already sat there waiting, I felt really bad, he had even brought me some perfume! It was really nice but also strange to see him. We went back to our apartment & had Champagne & Strawberries & watched TV & talked; it was so nice to be able to have a conversation face to face. On Friday we got up, had breakfast, got ready & said a quick hello to Claire & Mike before heading to Darling Harbour to the Aquarium which was great. We had a late lunch ... read more

We arrived in Byron Bay late Tuesday morning & headed to the Arts Factory where Rich told us to go & stay, (it must have been ok for him to spend eight weeks there!) We got the shuttle bus there & checked in, we got the bus back into Byron as the Arts Factory was a little walk away from town. Claire had to get a few things sorted for Michael's arrival so I had a walk around the shops & then went & took some photos of the beach & sat in the sun reading my book. I got chatting to a lady who had travelled to 170 countries & was saying how much I would love New Zealand & the Cook Islands. I met Claire & we went to a nice little cafe & ... read more

We arrived in Noosa on Thursday at 3.30pm & checked into the YHA there. James, Claire & I headed to an internet cafe for an hour or so before going to a meet & greet in the hostel where you got a free glass of wine, (travellers will do anything for free booze!) We then went to the supermarket & cooked tea, which was it for Thursday, we weren't supposed to drink in the YHA but we sneaked our case of Goon in & had a few glasses. Friday we had planned to get surf boards from the hostel & teach ourselves to surf or at least have a go but unfortunately they were all booked out. We had a walk on the beach & sat on the sand, although it was sunny there was a ... read more

The overnight bus to Town 1770 wasn't too bad & I think because it had been such a long day hanging around that we were shattered & managed to get some sleep. It was quite a relaxed atmosphere at 1770, (named after the year Captain James Cook discovered it), & not as commercial as Airlie or Cairns which was a refreshing change. On Friday we had a lazy day, we did a tour that the hostel provided free of charge, driving round the two small towns & highlighting the activities & things we could see & do during our stay. We had some lunch & a lazy afternoon lying in hammocks, reading our books & nosing around town, it was nice & relaxing. We had a bit of wine & a civilised evening. On Saturday morning ... read more

We got the first ferry to Magnetic Island at 6.10am on Wednesday morning & when we got there we had to sit & wait until 8.30am to sort out accommodation & for the buses to start running. We got the bus up to the north of the island to Horseshoe Bay & stayed in a place called Bungalow Bay with lots of little wooden huts, attached to a Koala Sanctuary. When we arrived we had to wait for the hut to be cleaned so we got changed & headed straight to the beach to get bronzed, we came back & had an afternoon nap as we were exhausted after the overnight journey which we didn't get to sleep on much as we got kicked off at about 3.30am for the bus to refuel. We got ... read more