Golden sands and sailing.

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G'day mates!

Thanks for all your comments - I've finally read them and approved them so everyone else can see them. Don't forget that it's difficult for me to get to a computer with internet, which is why there are big gaps in my responses! Yesterday, for example, I checked into my hotel and got out all my paperwork, ready to sit down and book the next few days of trips and accommodation, and none of the 3 computers were working - nightmare!!

Anyway, what is there to update you on? I should have read my last blog before starting, so I didn't repeat myself...well I have been to Noosa and chilled out on the beach (I say chilled out, I actually lay on the beach for about 1hr and then did a 5km walk around the coast)! I made some friends in the hostel and went out for dinner and drinks with them, which was nice, and then one of them was booked on the same Fraser Island tour as me so we hung around together. Fraser Island was 3 days and 2 nights camping on the beach (although we ended up in little 'huts' as the baby dingoes were too close to the camping ground!) and it was amazing. We swam in lots of freshwater lakes, floated down spring water creeks, drank Tea Tree lake water (??), saw the famous shipwreck, saw some dingoes, went to the beach of coloured sands, watched lots of whales playing in the ocean and many other things! The tour guide was great fun and there was a group of about 30 people so I made lots of friends. We were driving ourselves in 4 Range Rovers and I volunteered to do about a 1hr drive over soft sand that was pretty exciting! You have to go between 60-80kmph to keep up with the lead vehicle, and you splash through loads of little creeks and things - although the one rule is NO saltwater on the vehicle...which is quite tricky when on beach.

So, after that tour I got dropped in Hervey Bay (where I am now). It's a small coastal town with a few shops and not much else...the weather was gorgeous today though, so I spent all day lying on the beach! And I've booked a whale watching tour for tomorrow - it's about 6hrs, out near the Great Sandy National Park and the boat has a sea deck (a bit on the back that you stand on and they lower it down to the level of the water) so hopefully I'll get pretty close to some whales and dolphins or turtles! I'm not quite sure where to go after that...was going to break up my journey and stop in a town that is less popular, but I can't actually find any decent hostel reviews, so I may not bother! I might just go all the way up to Airlie Beach (12hrs away) where I'll stay for a few nights and get on a cruise around the Whitsunday Islands. After that, it's up to Townsville and Magnetic Island for a few days, then Cairns, then Brisbane and home! But there's so much more to squeeze in before then!

Right, I'm going to make a decision on the bus tickets for the next stage of my journey and book them now, then some friends have suggested a movie night (there's a cinema in this hostel) so that's where I'm headed... Keep reading and commenting, hopefully you're interested in my updates. Has anyone showed Dad how to read these?

Peace out dudes!

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