Life on the ocean wave.

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G'day folks,

Hope you are all well. We have travelled south to a little place called Noosa but I am just going to continue from where we left of on our last entry.

We went on our nature walk in Magnetic Island and it was fab. We bumped into someone we had met in Cairns which was really cool. It happens all the time here because people are mostly travelling in the same direction and its always nice to see a familiar face. Anyway, we did hold a baby croc and I felt really guilty when I commented that is was really soft and the girl told us it had been rescued from a farm where it was going to be made into something else. I did my best surprised face as if to say "Do people really do that?" I hope she was convinced. We also held a big snake, lizards and I held a koala. They may look cute and cuddly but he was a little git and scratched my shoulders. They apparently spend 20 hrs a day sleeping so I think he was slightly put out that he had visitors. Later on that day we went on a walk to some WW2 ruins in the hills. It seemed like a great idea but in 34 C it wasn't quite as fun as we thought. However we did see a little koala in the wild which was great. That evening we witnessed probably the wierdest and kitschest sight ever. We went along to the local toad racing event. It was totally hilarious. The village eccentric turned up with a bin full of toads with different coloured ribbons around their necks. Then there was a bidding frenzy to get the toad you wanted. I got one with a pink ribbon who looked really promising but I think he was drugged because when the race started he went in the wrong direction!!!! It was so funny and everyone was really into it, including me and Marky. I think it would go down a storm in the Newliston.

Next day we headed down to Airlie Beach which is the gate way to the Whitsundays. After our hostel in Cairns we have sort of given up the backpacker life for the time being and have booked into a motel. The owner was really nice and told us about this gorgeous beach about 45 mins from Airlie. It was mega peaceful, had miles and miles of golden sands and served great lunches. Paradise! Its funny because we have been on loads of trips and done some amazing things but sometimes its the relaxed days that are the best. The real reason we came to Airlie was to go on a three day three night catamaran trip of the Whitsundays and the Outer Barrier Reef. I was really nervous never having slept on a small boat before but it turned out to be amazing (well after the first night when I didn't sleep a wink and was out on deck from 3am onwards while my lovely new husband slept like a baby till 7am). We spent a night out on the reef which was unbelievable. It was a full moon so we hung out on deck with everyone and enjoyed the sound of the waves and the peacefullness of it all. Mark went scuba diving loads and I did a bit of snorkelling. There was 21 people onboard and most of them were really friendly. You kind of had to be because there wasn't a huge amount of room but it was great to get to know everyone. On the 2nd night we sailed into the Whitsundays and spent a night moored at Tongue Inlet then in the morning we sailed to Whitsunday Island and visited the most perfect beach you could ever imagine. The sand is white and made of silica. Because of this it doesn't get hot to walk on and it's so fine you can polish your jewellery with it. We will have to show you all the pics because I am not doing a good job of describing it but honestly it was a sight to see. On the way home we sailed around some of the other islands and it was so beautiful. We often saw turtles coming up for a breath of air and flying fish jumping out of the water. That evening (back on dry land) we met up with everyone for a drink and recounted our big adventure. It was alot of fun.

From Airlie we headed down to Hervey Bay where we visited Fraser Island. It's the largest sand island in the world. Usually people spend a few nights there but we are starting to run a little short of time now so decided to do just a day tour. It was really interesting. We spent the day racing around in a 4WD bus, taking in the sights and listening to our driver who had endless tales of the island. We spent the whole day looking for dingos and just as we were about to get on the ferry to go back to the mainland a little dingo wandered on to the beach. That evening we caught up with a few of the people we had met on the boat trip.

Now we are in a cute little place called Noosa. It's a bit posh so I am loving it. Imagine all the bars and restaurants from George Street but in the sun. We are going to Surf School this afternoon so hopefully I will be a pro the next time we go to Newquay. We are just off to have a couple of snags for our brekkie.

Thats it for now everyone. Take care all of you. Much love to you all.

Lianne and Mark - the intrepid adventurers

No worries!!!

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Comments

[les x]

wow!
hiya, you sound like your having great time, dont you be worrying about us now!!!! plz tryn upload some pics as I think you are making this up and are sat in a dodgy log cabin somewhere reading Michael Palin's adventures !!! love to you both les x