Australia

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I can't believe I've not done my blog for my entire time in Australia - sorry folks, been having rather a good time! I arrived in Melbourne at the end of April and stayed there for almost a week. I was staying in St Kildas which was a really nice area and the hostel was always buzzing which meant I met lots of awesome people. I had a day trip along the Great Ocean road which was fun and got to see lots of cool sights including a short helicopter ride over the twelve apostles. From Melbourne I got the over night bus to Sydney where I stayed in a hostel called 'Wakeup'. It was another lively hostel and I was lucky to be sharing a room with some awesome people. From Sydney I took the boat to Manly and had a little explore there. It seemed nice but was actually a little chilly when I was there so was lacking in atmosphere. As a dorm, we also went on a day trip to Bondi which I loved, and to an Aussie rules game. I went for a day trip to the Blue Mountains which were quite spectacular, but still didn't compare to New Zealand! I crammed a lot in to my time in Sydney and had a real laugh. One of the guys from my dorm then travelled up to Byron Bay with me which was nice, and I've met up with some of the others since. I really liked Byron Bay, it was very chilled and the beach was fantastic. I was ill for most of my time there, but it was nice just to chill out for a couple of nights and recover from manic Sydney! From Byron I went on with some other friends to Surfers Paradise which was nothing special. It's meant to be good for nights out, but I was still ill so saved some money staying in. It was very touristy, but I did enjoy a trip to wet and wild water park with the boys which was awesome. From there I went to Brisbane for a couple of nights. Again, I was ill so didn't get up to much, but did make it to Lone Pine sanctuary for a day. There I got to hold a koala, feed kangaroos and meet some other native animals. It was quite an experience, the kangaroos were rather keen on the food which got a bit intimidating, but I held my own! From Brisbane I went to Noosa for a night. I wish I could've stayed longer in Noosa, I hate being on such a strict timetable. It had a nice beach, super hostel and wasn't too touristy. However, I hopped on the bus to Rainbow Beach the next day to get ready for Fraser Island. On the bus I met some guys from Harpenden which was quite funny, and I got on well with them so spent time at the beach and the hostel with them. It was unfortunate that they weren't on my Fraser Island trip, but I met some people from Cambridge who were! What a small world! Fraser Island was fantastic. We were put into groups of eleven and given a jeep, a map, some food and let loose on the big sand island. The weather was pretty good for us and the group got on really well which helped! We were on the island for 3 days and 2 nights and it was just so much fun. On the first day we went to lake McKenzie which was absolutely stunning, and we also visited Lake Wabbe and Indian Head. From Indian Head we could see a pod of dolphins, stingrays and even turtles, amazing! There were wild dingoes all over the place so going to the loo in the bush was always fun - luckily we didn't have any incidences! From Rainbow Beach I then went to 1770 which was a sleepy little town where I went on a 'scooteroo' tour. This involved about thrity of us on choppers (a kind of motor bike) being taken along the coast. I never

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Photos

Melbourne
With Bex and Sarah in Melbourne

Sydney
me and Amy in Sydney

Aussie Rules
Steve, Amy and me at the aussie rules game.

Fraser Island
Lake Mackenzie