Today I left Airlie and took a 5 hour bus ride to Townsville where I caught a ferry for 20 mins to Magnetic Island and a quick bus ride to my next hostel Bungalow Bay in Horseshoe bay. Its an award winning hostel thats in a national park and consists of A shaped little cabins, I'm in a 6 berth and top bunk, which is a pain to get in and out of - sepecially with an aching back !!! went for a 5 min walk to the beach that looks lovely, it has an area sectioned off for safe swimming ( ie stinger proof) bought the obligatory pinta for my tea and back for a swing in a hammock and book time. Stayed in our place for pizza with a girl from Birmingham (less the ... read more

I was the first to get up and go on deck at 5.30am - it was just getting light and i sat and watched the sunrise - it was so peacefull and the colours were beautiful, pinks and lilacs, it was quite magical. The rest of the crew got up at about 7am - 7.30 so i had a couple of hours all alone to read my book and day dream :) Kenny made the most magnificent brekkie and just to add to the perfct picture a turtle popped his head up and said hello !!!! Off we sailed to Whitsunday Tongue bay and again pure white sand, rob took us on a walk through lots of forrest type areas to see lots of anmals and creepy crawlies. Fisrt stop was at a tree where he ... read more

So I was all set for my 10 hour bus ride that would take me to Airlie beach, the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands . Well surprise surprise it wasn't that too bad the sleeping tablet probably had a huge factor, me thinks!! So here I am outside McDonalds using their free wi fi on my iPod touch, the sun is shining, I've already showered, bought vital provisions, and bought a long maxi summer dress and it's still 9.30 am !!. Ok so I can't get into my room till 1 o'clock, so it's the beach for this early "liverbird" Catch ya later, pity I haven't found many McDonalds in the small towns before, this free wi-fi is great !!! XXXXXXXX So I've spent the day sittitg beside the beach, there's still lots of debris on ... read more

hello from Agnes Beach , its a lovely little town 3 1/2 hours north from Fraser Island. The hostel is called Southern Cross and its really cool. No locks on the dorms, very laid back place. I arrived last evening and just ate pasta (of course) and had a gossip with the girls in my dorm, 3 girls from Canada and a girl from Yorkshire. Early night then lots of zzzzzzzzz Woke to glorious sunshine so it was pool time, about 10 yards outside the dorm so it was a treck !! lots of lotion application and turning of pages as well as turning over to get an even tan. Then the Yorkshire lass (Vicky) said that a new business was starting up with electric bicyles and they were filming a promotion and did I want ... read more

today was the overnight trip to Fraser Island, its the biggest sand island in the world, and a world heritage site to boot, so lots to live up to, and it didn't disappoint :) It was a 2 day tour with a guide called Carl, great old guy full of fun and tales. The Island is made totally of sand, so no roads only sand tracks, therefore 4 wheel drive only. We arrived by ferry on a gloriously sunny morning. We drove up the 75 mile highway, which is the beach. The highway is shared with drivers, people fishing, sunbathers, and anyone strolling along, all with equal rights. Funny thing is there are road signs saying 80km speed limit, which seems so odd, it being a beach. Our first stop was a walk through the rain ... read more