A camping adventure and some cities

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So, Fraser Island was an experience. I left Tom in Noosa and travelled to Hervey Bay where I was introduced to the rest of my group who i would be travelling with for the next few days. We werent shown a video on how to avoid being attacked by a dingo (all of which I forgot in my dingo encounter, more of which later!) and how to drive on sand. The next morning at some unearthly hour we were given a 4WD, a load of camping gear and were seen off with a wave, a smile and a warning that we would be charged if we did anything to damage the vehicles in any way, which did also seem to include just driving them. Anyway we set off and spent three days exploring the forests, crystal clear lakes and white sand beaches of the island. I think everyone knows my opinionof camping, which isnt really favourable, but even that was bearable and i got into it by barbequing on the beach and washing up in the sea. The stars were also amazing there, the milkiy way being visible as a massive cloudy streak across the sky. The wildlife was also amazing, from a 100m high cliff at the top of the island we saw sharks, dolphins, turtles and rays and on the way back down saw a whale going crazy with his tail in the air. He kept slapping the water with his tail over and over again which really was one of the most amazing things i have seen. Oh and the dingo encounter, while we were walking back from one of the beaches we saw a dingo coming straight towards us. We all froze like wed been told while we sniffed around in the bushes next to us but then he headed straight towards me, so i started walking away, got screamed at by the rest of the group while the dingo went and sniffed the legs of one of the women in the group. Quite exciting really, its not until afterwards you realise quite how dangerous they are because they look just like dogs.

Anyway after Fraser Island, i met Tom back in Brisbane and after a night there we flew to Adelaide. We spent a few nights there, meeting up with my cousin and his family, exploring the city and spending a really pleasant day in the Barossa valley, winetasting (well pleasant for me, we had hired a car and Tom was driving). We then headed out on the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne, stopping first at the Grampians, which is a mountain range with some amazing views. We went to loads of lookouts for photo opportunities and hiked up Mt William. On the way back down of which we met a snake on the path. We first thought it was a brown snake (on the account of it being brown) but after close inspection of the specimens in the Melbourne Museum now think it may have been a tiger snake. Im afraid you'll have to go to Toms blog to see the pics (search under TomH) as i was busy running in the opposite direction. The mountians were amazing though, they were burnt in a bush fire a couple of years ago and are now covered in blackened trees which are slowly recovering. We then headed along the Great Ocean Road, seeing the Twelve Apostles at sunset (well nearly, we missed it by about 5 minutes), the Bay of Islands and all the other amazing rock formations that have been carved out by the sea. After a day travelling along the ocean road we arrived in Melbourne, to spend a few more days drinking coffee at the hundreds of cafes, eating food at the dozens of restaurants around the city and dragging tom to a couple of museums for some culture and to escape the gluttony. We also met up with a few of toms friends who are now living there for a good night out. After that it was a horrendous 12 hour bus journey to Sydney where we are now staying at toms brothers flat again, with the amazing ocean views. Now we just have to get ourselves ready for Asia, we are heading to Bagkok in a couple of days.

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