The journey towards Sydney

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Ok so Townsville was good for recharging the batteries but didn't really have much on offer. The rain came and it lasted for 2 days so apart from sitting and reading my book and ventured off to explore the aquarium.

After Townsville came the small town of Airlie Beach which is basically the place where all of the sail boats depart from for The Whitsundays. Initially the sailing had to be put on hold due to a bad storm that brought lots of rain and gail force winds but once the storm passed i was able to get out on the water on a magnificent tall ship that would venture around the Whitsunday Islands for 3 days. Sailing the Whitsundays for my birthday was definately something i cannot forget. The boat was beautiful and the people onboard were great so we all had a wonderful time. Stopping off at Whitehaven beach was a highlight of the trip as it is renowned for its extemely fine white sand that stretches out for miles.
It was here that we had the opportunity to climb up to the viewpoint to get a great view of the bay with its swirls of sand that gives the bay its unique qualities.

After a few days in Airlie i headed south with the Oz Experience Bus and we stayed overnight in a ranch in the middle of nowhere. It was strange to think that the due to the from civilisation the local children are unable to attend a school therefore they have to do all of their schoolwork on the internet!

The Ranch was another unique experience...on arrival we tried some pot-roasted goat and afterwards we had a go cracking a whip and riding a mechanical bull. I was absolutely rubbish at staying on it but it was loads of fun. The next day we were up at 6am and by 7am we were out in the bush on a self-guided bush walk. That was closely followed by having a go at lasooing, clay pigeon shooting and catching a goat (don't ask!). I did manage to get 2 out of 5 of the targets when clay pigeon shooting and was able to lasoo once to my utter amazement!

After the ranch came Fraser Island...this was a unique and truly team building experience that was loads of fun. Basically you hire a 4WD 11 seater jeep and the camping equipment. Some people were allocated to go off to buy the food required for 3 days and once it was all loaded up onto the roof of the jeep we drove the jeep onto the boat to get to Fraser island. From that point onwards we were left to our own devices to navigate our way around to the island using the beach (which is a road when the tide is out) and the sand roads covered in pot holes and tree roots. We were also responsible for setting up our tents and for cooking our food along the way. We only got lost once thankfully!
It was a very memorable and unique experience to be able to drive a vehicle along a beach! The trip was brilliant and despite one very odd guy in our group we all got along really well and had loads of fun.

From Fraser Island i went south to Brisbane. The main intention of being in Brisbane was to catch up with my friends who live her so i have really enjoyed seeing them.

Next stop is Byron Bay for 4 days then a brief overnight stop in Surf Camp before hitting Sydney for a few days. After that its off to New Zealand and the colder climate!!!

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