The next day was our 6.5 hour drive back to Sydney. One the way down we stopped at one of the Hunter Valley Vineyards and had a tour on how to make wine, had lunch, and then the wine sampling began. Lets just say on the was to Sydney from Hunter Valley everyone was very merry. The wine supplied was endless, as much as you wanted they gave you. When we got to Sydney we drove to Macquarie Chair and has our Sydney Group Photo taken with a backdrop of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. After that it was [View Full Entry]

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Today we left surfers paradise and stopped at a wildlife sanctuary in Queensland. Here you got to feed kangaroo, cuddle and have photos taken with a Koala and heaps of other Aussie Wildlife. We were given several hours to explore there. Next stop was Byron Bay on the way down to Coffs Harbour. We were given quite a few hours here to shop and explore. We also stopped at a lighthouse over a cliff where you can see whales if you are there in the right season and also dolphins. We were not there the right time for whales but saw [View Full Entry]

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Today almost everyone signed up for the learn to surf option. I almost didn't go. Seriously hung over from the previous night been up for an 8:00 am surf was not high on the list of things I wanted to do. I'm so glad i did though. Most of us were in the same boat - struggling. We got the surfboards and has practice and theory first into the sand and then hit the water. It was really fun. I think everyone got up but everyone also went flying off too more times but it was fun and funny as. Totally [View Full Entry]

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This morning was a big breaky at the farm and then we were off to Gold Coast - Surfers Paradise. On the way down we stopped in Brisbane and had a chance to use Internet, get lunch and do some shopping for a few hours. We then went to Surfers Paradise. I love it here it was a big fun party night. I cant remember what we did for dinner but it was a big drinking night. We started our night at Melbas and were getting into the shots. Our Contiki guide got us some for free - not strong, mixed [View Full Entry]

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Today we travelled from Fraser to our Country Homestead Via Noosa. We had a few hours to explore Noosa at lunch and some time to shop. Noosa is a really nice little touristy beach town. After that we went to our country stay - Adora Downs. Apparently Contiki has changed the farm accomodation since then. I love it there i love being in the country. We had cabins boys in one girls in the other. The rooms were all different, some had one bed in a room other had 2, some 4 some 6. I scored a single room. Yay for [View Full Entry]

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Full day on Fraser Island I did the full day 4wd optional with several others. I'm not sure what those who didn't do an optional would do. The full day 4wd was quite expensive I think but it was so worth it. Not one of us regretted doing it and most of us thought it was the best, or one of the best, optionals all tour hands down. You get to see so much of the island and it is well worth it. Fraser Island stretches over 123 kilometres in length and 22 kilometres at its widest point. With an area [View Full Entry]

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We then travelled to Fraser Island via Harvey Bay where again we got to shop for food but no alco. I cant remember if it was today, or yesterday but one of our morning stops on our trip we went to Childers. Childers is a small farming town which is full of travellers who are there seasonally on the fruit picking trail around Australia. On June 23, 2000 the The Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel was deliberately put on fire. There was no where to escape the blaze and the fire killed 15 backpackers. Ten of the victims were sleeping in one [View Full Entry]

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Today we went to Rockhampton. I didn't end up witting anything today in the note book I had away with me but from what I remember it was a pretty quiet night. Not to much going on in Rockhampton. That night we had an optional dinner and excursion to a crocodile farm. We had a tour at night of the crocs and learnt how to spotlight there eyes. They have a big croc there with half a jaw as he was aggressive and kept attacking other crocs and one day - he lost that fight. I remember the guy who owned [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 Long Island Today i slept in until 10:45. Breakfast i just had noodles which I had brought over from the mainland. A group of us had books and magazines and spent most of the day sunbaking, reading, sleeping and swimming. Some people joined in on the water sports. There was waterskiing, jetskiing and donuts on offer. A few of us went on one of the hikes in late afternoon to "Humpty Rock". We thought there would be a look out at the other end of the island but it ended up just a big rock n that was it. [View Full Entry]

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Today was a long travel day. It was up early on the road by 6:30 am. It was about 700k to the wharf to get the boat to long island. This is a day where they will leave people behind if you are not ready in time as we have to make the last ferry of the day. No one on my tour was left behind but I know someone was on another tour last year. We stopped at Townsville for lunch for an hour or two where we could shop and stock up on supplies. We were unable to buy [View Full Entry]

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