I caught the bus up to Surfers after Byron, this time staying in a place called Surf N Sun as opposed to the gay place (literally) I stayed in here before. Excellent choice too, it turned out to be probably the best hostel I've stayed in in Oz. Caught up with some friends from Byron - John and George, it was early afternoon when I arrived so the three of us went down to the beach with a football. It was a bit too windy so we didn't stay long and on the way back me and George decided to get a box of goon (wine in case you forgot) for that evening. We got back to the hostel and decided to just have one glass... then one more... and so on and so on! Until we'd drunk the whole thing (4l) by the early evening and were both in bed by 9! But it was okay to get a good nights sleep because I had told two Swedish girls from my room that I would go to Wet N Wild with them the next morning. And that's just what we did; a little hungover at first. Had a really good day, with rides including races on mats, a vertical drop, the black hole, but all of our favourite being one where you get 'dropped' into a giant cone and go up and down its sides like a half pipe. The girls were good company and we had a really fun day.

On Saturday 18th I made my way up to Brisbane for the Rugby League game between Britain and Australia. I had high hopes with us having won the previous match but Australia came out on top this time. It was great fun and a bargain at only a tenner. The plan was to then continue north, but I really wanted to go back to Surfers. So I woke up early and changed my flights and other things I'd booked and was on the next train back down - everyone was suprised to see me back! We then all had a few days of relaxing by the pool and nights partying 'go hard or go home' style. On Wednesday we also all went on the 'Backpackers Big Night Out' with about 200 other backpackers which was great fun. I than really wanted to go to the Ashes (another reason I changed my plane ticket) but tickets and accommodation in Brisbane were scarce and very expensive so I ended up having to skip it out and head straight on up to Noosa. But this meant I was going up with 2 friends...

I just spent one full day there and 2 nights. Both nights we spent in the hostel's bar which featured the local legend Jimmy who danced like crazy on his own! I managed to win 3 jugs of beer from some games they played :-D In the day I went with Roy to the National Park where we walked for around 4 hours, spotting several lizards and 2 koalas and walking along the beaches etc.

Next stop was Rainbow Beach as a gateway to the infamous Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. And the trip didn't disappoint. We were put into our groups of 11, I was with 2 couples and some German girls who were really quiet but it was still a good group of people. We were up early to load up the 4x4's and set off at around 10 to the ferry. We had to drive across the beach to get to the ferry and the first car managed to get stuck on the first bit of sand! So we showed them how it was done and drove past them as they tried to push start. There was a couple of hours driving on the first day, both on the beach and inland tracks which led us to Lake Mackenzie - the most beautiful lake I've ever seen. Unfortunately we only got an hour to spend them, swimming in the freshwater that you can see in perfectly. Then we were back in the 4x4's heading down the beach to set up camp for the night. As the sun set I climbed onto the roof and opened the esky to crack open the first beers of the night. We set up camp with the other 5 groups opposite the Maheno Wreck just before dark then myself and James starting cooking up a feast for everyone. After dinner the drinking games began including my ladder climbing game which I won! We were all tired after a long day however and in bed by midnight. Good job too as it was near impossible to sleep after sunrise the next morning at 5.

So we got an early start with our breakfast before being slapped with camping fines for being somewhere we weren't supposed to be. But we were clearly told in our brief to stay there so complained when we got back and the company covered it. We drove up to the top of the island where there was a lookout hill. From there we saw several giant turtles and a group of dolphins. They weren't jumping though, just swimming along a little way in the distance. It was again soon time to climb the roof for the beers! This night we set up camp with just one of the other groups on a real camp spot. As dinner was ready the dingo's turned up wanting some for themselves so we had to scare them away, they can be really vicious.

On the final morning we drove then walked our way to Lake Wabby, set in the desert among the rainforest. On our toilet break we found a massive spider (see picture). It was great fun running down the sand dunes at full pace into the lake at the bottom! As we left I shook off my towel, forgetting I had put my camera in the middle and it flew straight into the lake. SH*T! I left it until the evening before trying to turn it on so it had a chance to dry out and it didn't work. On the way back to the ferry I got a chance at driving along the beach! So much fun and I hadn't forgotten how to drive! Then we had to floor it on the bumpy inland track to get back in time because we were going to miss the ferry and ended up breaking a spring and having the exhaust fall off in the process. I left that evening and on the bus was sat next to a guy I had met in my room. It was an overnighter and in the morning he told me I had been trying to sleep on him - oops!

I checked in for my boat on arrival then met up with some friends who were still there that I had met in Surfers with Mat a couple of months ago (remember the Canadian and Irish guys Mat?) I'm actually still sat next to the Irish guy now up in Cairns! One of them was working in a travel shop there so he gave me free internet and burnt me 2 CD's for free - it's not what you know, it's who you know! I spent the rest of the day hanging out at their van and went out with them that evening.

The next afternoon I was setting out on my sailing trip around the Whitsundays. Just before I checked out I decided to give my camera another shot at working because I desperately needed it to for this trip... and it did! 3 days later and it just started working, I was so happy jumping around the room. I guess Canon can now advertise their camera's as being waterproof! I got on the pick-up bus and who was the first person I should see but the guy from the last hostel and bus ride! We hadn't even realised we were on the same boat. We sailed for the whole afternoon on the first day, all getting involved to help out lifting the masts etc. We were given nacho's as a snack and they were really nice, as was all the food the the rest of the trip. That evening we had steak and mashed potato, mmm.

On the second day we were already parked up just off the Whitsunday Island so we went across onto the island and walked up to the lookout. Amazing views, just a shame it was really cloudy. We then made our way down to Whitehaven Beach where myself and some of the lads had a good game of football. Then we put on our stinger suits and went swimming with the stingrays! Only little ones though and they were all scared of us. We also saw 4 baby tiger sharks which were also scared of us! Back on the boat cruising along before stopping for 2 snorkels in different spots. Did a couple of swim-throughs and saw some cool fish. We also saw a turtle pop up when in the boat but by the time we had jumped off and swam over in that direction it was nowhere to be found. We then watched the sunset before being treated to some more delicious food and sitting around drinking and chatting. Everyone on the boat was really cool and we all got along. That night I dreamt that on the third day I woke up and started drinking straight away and when I told a couple of the English and Scottish guys it was decided it had to be done, there was quite a bit of beer still in the esky anyway so we started drinking at 8am! (Mum, Dad, grandparents etc... don't worry, I'm on holiday - ok!) We got off the boat at 11am (after all mooning another boat under the skippers strict instructions!) and me and 2 others made our way to the pub where we sat for the rest of the afternoon watching the cricket (and of course carrying on drinking). Then at 7.30 everyone from the boat (and no-one let us down, the whole crew of 28 turned up, just shows how good a group it was) met at a bar in town and we all had a brilliant night out. Some other boat crews had also met in that bar and we were the loudest of the lot! I will write the rest next time as I have to go now!