Greeting From Tropical(Aka Rainy) North Queensland

Hey Everybody,

It's been a while since my last message, and we've had a very busy time!
We were gonna go snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef today, but the weather is bad so we're doing that later in the week. So now I've got some time (and free Internet :D:D) to update my site.

In my last message we were about to go to Noosa. When we got there the bus to our hostel just left, and we then found out it was the last one of the day. We phoned a taxi and when we got in the driver told us the hostel was on the other side of the water and it would cost us a lot to get there. So he drove us around to find another hostel, they were all fully booked, so we searched for a motel for the night. The whole thing cost us a lot of money and we're even more cautious with trusting brochures now that say "centrally located".

The next morning we left to go on a 3 days/2 night canoe safari on the Noosa Everglades. It was a bit too much canoeing for my liking, but jumping into the river for a morning shower was great! Especially after sleeping in a tent on a very thin mat for the night. The second day we hiked up to a giant sand pitch, a very strange but beautiful sight. On the third day we paddled our way back to the pickup place and relaxed at a different hostel for the rest of the day.

After Noosa we went to Rainbow Beach for our Fraser Island safari. But our tour wouldn't go because there weren't enough people so we had to wait, did get us free accommodation though :) Rainbow Beach itself was pretty boring so we just played monopoly and watched movies.

Eventually we did go to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is a sand island with lots of lakes. We drove around the island in a four-wheel drive. We saw Lake McKenzie on the first day and then camped for the night. The next morning we had a mud bath at Lake Birrabeen. We drove up the beach the rest of the day and saw the famous shipwreck and searched for sharks at Indian Head. Camped in the wilderness at night with dingoes waiting for forgotten food scraps. Had another swim at lake Wabby the next morning before returning to Rainbow beach. The island was beautiful and the lakes were very refreshing!

Went to Hervey bay for two nights. We spend most of our time in the shopping centre there. We found out the only thing to do in Hervey bay is go to Fraser Island. :p

Time to get back on the good old Greyhound bus (I know I'll probably miss that bus in Asia, but now I'm glad I won't have to get on it anymore) and spend a night in Bundaberg so the bus ride up to Airlie beach wouldn't be so long. The only bus available to Airlie beach was the night bus, so we drove all night to Airlie beach, arrived at six in the morning....

...And then boarded our Whitsunday sailing boat. It had been raining in Airlie beach for two weeks straight, but it stopped the day we arrived. So we were pretty lucky and had a great trip on the Whitsundays. We sailed for a few hours the first day and anchored next to Whitehaven Beach for the night. We had cabins in the boat, but I slept on deck under the stars instead. Had a swim at Whitehaven beach the next morning and then we sailed the rest of the day stopping at good spots for snorkelling. I saw loads of different fish in every colour pecking away at the coral in search of food, an amazing sight! At night we had a toga party on the boat, and we all looked really silly in our togas made out of sheets. We got back to Airlie beach the next morning and at night we had a very drunken after party.

The next day we took the bus up to Townsville (very boring town, zzzzzzzzzz) and left for Magnetic island the day after. The only thing to do at night in Magnetic Island is drinking, so that's what we did :p. The next day we went for a walk along all the bays and saw some beautiful beaches. Had another night, then back for a night in Townville and on to Mission beach the next morning.

In Mission Beach we caught up on some much needed sleep, chilled by the pool and went for a rainforest walk. The rain started pouring down when we left for Cairns.

And here we are, in Cairns. We have gotten to the tropics and the weather won't let us forget that. Hopefully we'll have a sunny day for snorkelling.

We're planning to go to Cape Tribulation at the end of the week. After that we fly to Darwin for a week and then it's time for Asia!

Ciao Ciao,
Laura