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Sorry bout the fact that it has been a while since the last update. It seems every new update is taking longer and longer. Since my last bestseller, all our time has been spent in the land down under travelling down its east coast and it's definitely been good to us. We have done a fair bit so I will try not to go into too much detail to avoid you needing a strong coffee just to get through.
Having travelled all through the night with no sleep, we arrived into Cairns from Bali where we met up with Ro who had spent the previous couple months in Sydney. We happened to arrive in on Bens birthday and so despite the lack of sleep, we did the decent thing and had a nite out in the infamous wool shed. Cairns was great as we got to meet up with 5 folks who we had got to know while in Africa. We spent a few days catchin up with them before borrowing one of their cars and the 4 of us and another friend, who we also met in Africa, drove north up to Port Douglas. It didn't help that there
was 5 of us in the smallest car ever made that also had only one door that worked. Port D was a sleepy little town but it was set on a beach and surrounded by rainforest so it looked great. We also managed to get a day working on a building site there which was a bit odd (and probably not the smartest idea seeing as I had been on crutches until the day previous). We then returned south and picked up greyhound bus tickets which would take us as far as Brisbane with as many stops as we want. First stops were Mission beach followed by Townsville. From here we took a trip out to Magnetic island which would have been pretty great had it not rained the whole time.
We then moved down to Airlie beach which was a great little town that was wedged full of backpackers which meant that the place was always buzzing so we decided to stick around there a little longer. While we were there we spent a few days on a yaught sailing around the Whitsunday islands and snorkelling a little of the Barrier Reef seeing dolphins and turtles. We also
stopped off at Whitehaven beach which I hear is one of the best in the world. Only hassle was that the rain kept up for most of it.
We then moved onto Hervey Bay after a quick stop off in a town stupidly called 1770. From Hervey we set off for a 3 day trip out to the sand island of Fraser. This was great few days as 10 of us were basically handed a map, some tents and the keys to a huge 4 wheel drive jeep and told to go off exploring the island on our own. Unfortunately the day before we arrived, 2 backpackers were killed doing the same thing on the island so we had a big reminder to drive carefuly. Thankfuly we got through it ok but some of the driving was a bit hairy as we scaled over big rocks on 2 wheels, through rivers and across deep sand. While we were out walking we came across a snake on the grass and so we all got up close to within a couple of feet just assuming it was safe enough. Later it turned out to be a Brown snake which is the
2nd most venomous in the world!
We then moved onto Brisbane where all 4 of us did a skydive which was an amazing experience and I need to say a huge thanks to my beautiful siblings who kindly gave it to me as the best birthday present ever! At Brisbane we picked up a campervan which would take us to Sydney 11 days later. In the van we set off, stopping off wherever we fancied with a different view out the window every morning. We kinda tried to make the most of the last of the sun for the next couple months and so stopped off at Surfers Paradise and Byron Bay where we basically just beached and barbequed. We also called inland to Nimbin for their famous annual 'Mardi Grass' festival which is a big weekend where every hippy for miles around floods in and they fight for the legalization of cannabis. The streets are full of some very funny looking characters but they have parades and shows on and its all done in good spirits and so it was actually a bit of fun to watch.
We then made our way to Sydney via quick stops
at the cool Coff's Bay the dump that is Newcastle. In Sydney we dropped off the van and were kindly put up by a couple of Ro's mates and we spent nearly 5 days here just doing the touristy bits and catchin up with different friends either from home or from our travels down the coast.
We are now on our way down to Melbourne where we have another 5 days before we head to NZ.
Don't be shy with leaving a little comment and hope the 3 of you left who are still reading this are keepin well.
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omar
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skipped to the end
i am one of the three, but if truth be told i just skipped to the end!! ah no, sounds brilliant Mark - really hope we get to hook up in south America soon bro - your stories and photos are getting me very excited bout going travelling again..woohoo!!