The East Coast

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Ok, so it has been a long time, oops!

After Darwin I flew to Cairns where it was raining the majority of the time I spent there. It was just a town really with not a lot to do other than visit areas of natural beauty surrounding so I headed off to Cape Tribulation for a day trip. This is where the rainforest meets the beach/ocean-its pretty cool up there, we did a boardwalk through the rainforest and stopped at Port Douglas on the way back as well as a few other little stops. Port Douglas is a very quaint little seaside town, beautiful views and it would be nice to stay there again. The nightlife in Cairns was quite fun, although in the space of just a few hours I met people from Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley!!!

Then I headed down the coast to Magnetic Island. It was a beautiful island with lots of lovely little bays which I walked to. While there some of the people I met included a girl from Chorley and 2 girls based in Manchester who I ended up travelling down to Airlie beach with and sailing on the Whitsundays! We had a really good group of people on the boat, we enjoyed sailing, snorkelling on the great barrier reef which was lovely, saw some amazing fish as well as turtles, sting rays and a sea eagle. We had to wear stinger suits whenever we went into the water which were very flattering! The only time we stepped on dry land over the 2days/2nights was to Whitsunday Island where we walked to a look out over Whitehaven beach and then had a few hours to relax there. It was just amazing, paradise is what we called it and it does rank in the top 4 most beautiful beaches in the world, I just can't imagine what they look like because Whitehaven was fantastic, neither my pics or even the postcards do it justice. The sand was whiter than white and like flour it was so soft and the water was a beautiful crystal colour! After our few days sailing and a fun night out when we returned it was really sad to be saying bye to everyone but after the nightbus to 1770 I met lots more people.

1770 is a very small beach town where Cook first claimed Australia, in 1770 funnily enough. Here I went on a motorbike tour which was fun and had a surf lesson, also fun but physically hardwork. I did manage to stand up very briefly but with practice who knows! :-)

Then it was time to say goodbye to everyone again as I moved on to stay a night in Hervey Bay before a 3 day trip to Fraser Island. Hervey Bay was not great, in fact I don't recommend it all however it was a neccessary stepping stone to Fraser Island which was great. I went on a guided tour which meant I stayed at a nice resort making a change from the hostels which had been mainly good so far but hey. We also had amazing guides who had some interesing ideas about lots of things and were very knowledgable not just about the island itself. They had lived there for 14years+ which I think would make anyone a bit crazy but they were really nice and good fun. One of our guides is a professional photographer and its his photos on most of the postcards of the island, etc which was pretty cool. The island itself has no real roads just sandy tracks which require 4WD. The island is the largest sand island in the world and contains very unique environments. There are freshwater lakes, rainforests and sand dunes within a short distance from the sea! Lake Mc Kenzie was beautiful with very white sand and crystal clear water, 75mile beach was great as well and there were a couple of shipwrecks to see amongst many other things. From a cliff called Indian head looking down into the water we saw rays, turtles, tuna and sharks!!!

I travelled south with Lorna and John(both English) who had been on Fraser Is with me to Noosa where we watch the Melbourne Cup which was fun but the people here go a bit mad, they all get properly dressed up in posh dresses and hats as if they were actually going to the race and then just go to the local bar to watch it, although some of them did have parties arranged it was still biazzare seeing people walk round like that, a few thousand kms from the event! Everyone in Victoria gets the day off but it appears that most other people across the country take it as a holiday. Noosa also has a lovely beach, lots of lovely shops and nice restuarants and even though it is more expensive than most places, I def recommend it!

The following day I left and went to Brisbane where I spent my afternoon wandering around a few shops, 2 cathedrals, botanical gardens, Southbank and The Queensland museum. Then I stayed on southbank and relaxed, it was lovely down there with a lagoon and lots of restuarants, museums, theatres, etc. I met up with Nicola and Carrie from Mag Island and Whitsundays until I met my family from Melbourne for dinner that evening. After dinner we drove back to where they were staying at a resort near Hinter Dam not far from Surfers Paradise! The next day we went to surfers for a quick look at the beach and shops and then that afternoon all 5 of us went on a trail ride (pony trek) which was funny to see the boys ride. That evening there was a huge thunder storm with lightening like I have never seen before and we lost power but that made it even more exciting! The next day we set off back to Melbourne and it was a long drive, 21 hours, but we made it and are now back into normal routine of birthday parties, horses, school, etc. Although there is a koala living in the garden which is very exciting! Expect I won't have much to report for a while now either as I am on the job search!

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Comments

[baz pegs n joe]

rainy wales
Good to read your report. Don't hold back on the people stories though will you.Request for next report ; Give three adjectives/adverbs which describe your surfing experience. Darkness wind and rain feature highly here at present so the beach photos were just the thing.Isnt there a Whitehaven in Cumbria? Man u 12' Derby Co 2 ; u 11s evening fixture - class ! Any jobs news?Any love interests? As I am going off the idea of a scottish estate and quite fancy a aussie vineyard. Keep having a great time. Love The Tesco Slave xxx