Cairns to Brisbane in our van

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Eventually we set off on our journey down the east coast in our campervan.

First stop was Mission Beach which was covered in branches and seaweed thanks to the cyclone. Not quite the image we had of it! We did however see a wild Cassowary (large dinosaur like bird) which is quite rare.

Next we journeyed through Ingham to Bowen where we visited Horseshoe and Rose Bays, both beautiful and pretty much deserted as Bowen is not very touristic. We found the locals very friendly (well, most Aussies are keen for a chat).

From Bowen we drove to Airlie Beach to visit the Whitsundays. We took a boat trip to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. It is often voted the world's best beach and we could see why! We then snorkelled off Hook Island and almost swam into a box jellyfish (extremely venomous).

The next stop we made was at Hervey Bay where we went on a day trip to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. We had a great day, visiting 75 Mile Beach, the Maheno Shipwreck and the Coloured Sands. We didn't see any dingos but we had fun swimming in the creek and the lake. In Hervey Bay itself we saw the sky blacken at night with bats, thousands of them!

After Hervey Bay we drove to Noosa for a couple of nights. It has a nice beach and town, although it is quite a touristic town. We had a relaxing time there before setting off to Brisbane to meet Lorna's Mum & Dad.

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