This week we have been staying with Lydia's mum up in Caloundra, north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast.

Life is slow up here, even when spending the day writing papers and essays. The heat makes the middle of the day lazy, lounging around on the veranda, feeding the kookaburras scraps of kangaroo meat and watching the rainbow lorikeets squawk in the trees. Nightly we have been having huge tropical storms, with lightning flashing down followed by a slow rumble of thunder that echoes backwards and forwards off the clouds.

We also saw the movie Australia. It was rather clumsy in parts, but overall I thought it was fantastic, showing real emotion in places. Well worth people seeing, both for the magnificent scenery and for our national shame that it highlights. Aboriginals came to Australia at least 40,000 years ago and possibly 125,000 years ago, and since then they have developed in essentially complete isolation except for the last 200 years. Consider the advances that the Egyptians, Romans, Chinese, Arabs and Europeans made in short spurts of just hundreds of years and expand that over a hundred thousand years in the longest continuous human culture the planet has ever seen. Except, of course, Australia's resources do not conveniently jut out into the landscape, so this hundreds of thousands of years of cultural evolution focused not on industrial development but rather on social development. They developed the most complex set of familial relationships of any human culture and the elaborate Tjukurpa which we cheapen as a "creation myth" featuring animal spirits such as the rainbow serpent, but which in reality were a set of complex interwoven tales that contained the sum of all knowledge within the culture. Tales more complex than any celtic knot, which can be told at multiple different levels in order to impact knowledge on medicine, law, geography, hunting, weather and relationships. The same tale sung in a different way could contain directions on how to cross a desert or which plants to use to stem blood loss.

This amazing edifice of human culture was destroyed by Europeans in just a few decades. Where 250 languages once stood, now only 20 have any chance of survival. The stories that once contained such knowledge have now been stripped to the bare bones. Cultures have, quite frankly, been annihilated. And now these peoples, still manging to cling to an identity we tore away, are treated with patronising paternalism at best, and open racism at worst.

 We’ve been in Brisbane for a week now, doing our “health aspects of disasters” course in a city experiencing its own freak weather. Our jet lag is only just fading now, the rest of the week we’ve been waking up at five - partly because Brisbane doesn’t have daylight savings (it was beaten in a referendum on a campaign against the extra hour of sunlight on the grounds that it would “fade the curtains and confuse the cows”). I guess despite my grumbling about technology I am not really a Luddite any more, as the stagnant internet infrastructure in Australia, limiting me to two minutes of net access a day despite living in a wired hotel and working at a university all day, is driving me crazy.

We are certainly in an Australian setting again. Casual swearing in a professional setting, no formality or ceremony, skinny young things everywhere (actually, after thinking all week that the bubbly pretty things were young than me, I found out we were the same age - I guess I am just tired, worn-out and cynical for my age). Once again I was struck by how similar and yet fundamentally different Australia and America can be: both often exhibit a crude cultural superiority, and yet in Australia it is shrugged off as not being a big deal, while in America that particular segment of society is often militant about it. Likewise, I find certain Americans and Australians to be overly confident for their skill set, yet in Australia it is more often overlying a “she’ll be right, it doesn’t really matter anyway” idea, rather than in the supreme self-confidence some Americans develop.

Last night we walked into Queen Street mall, in the centre of the city. I was really impressed with how bustling it was. It has been six years since I was in Brisbane last, and the city centre is now really a night spot hub, far more active than night spots in bigger cities than Seattle. Maybe it is because it is the only hub in Brisbane, so people gather in the same place. Or the recent immigration expanding Brisbane has just given an excess of pretty young things. It was also a diverse crowd, with Friday night shopping bringing out all ages. Seeing the same old set of shops in every mall (A Myers Centre, Just Jeans, Dymocks, David Jones, Woolworths, Sportsgirl, Roger David, etc) certainly sparked familiarity, but no more, no deep seated sense that I had come home. In fact, it even felt slightly odd when, after watching Quantum of Solace, the audience didn’t applaud the screen (even though I always found that particular American habit slightly irritating).

We picked Spring Hill Terraces because it was close to the UQ Herston campus and downtown Brisbane. The place was really overrated. They said they had free WiFi - but it was broken the entire two weeks we stayed there. The air-conditioner barely worked. Worst of all, and this is the only time it has ever happened to me anywhere in the world, we had items stolen from our room - and the manager didn't care. Avoid this hotel if you possibly can. Edit: I found out today that the item wasn't actually stolen - it was accidentally taken out with the bedclothes. They found it at the laundry a week later and posted it to us - at our cost. So I'll amend my review to say they are negligent rather than criminal.

Amaroo at Trinity beach provides attractive holiday packages as well as travel information on traveling, destinations, tourist attractions including holiday apartments & resorts with variety of restaurants and entertainment.
Amaroo at Trinity beach provides attractive holiday packages with information on traveling, destinations, tourist attractions and visitor information.
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Tittle pretty much sums it up, as the time differences made the 21st of nov the longest day ever. Just involved lotsa sitting around airports, a 2hr delay which i was not to fussed about as i knew it was just eating into the mammoth 15hrs of time i had to kill in LA and also got me an upgrade to first class on my next fight, copious amounts of lining up and a few new friends!!!

So, the farmstay we were most excited about had arrived!

We caught the bus from Southport to Gympie (no comments please!). It was a fairly long way, we got on at 9.50am and arrived at 6pm. We were excited about this farm stay as it was a lady who rescues and rears kangaroo & wallaby joeys. She then releases them onto the 300 acres of land which she owns.

Anne Marie met us at the bus station as her place was a 45 minute drive for Gympie. She had brought along her dog Maeve, a Chiauhua/Papion mix. We chatted on the journey back, all polite chit chat to try and gain the measure of each other and by the time we arrived we had established that we would get on fine. It turns out that Anne-Marie had just had two American girls stay that had been rubbish, they got drunk every night, played loud music, didnt do any work and left dirty plates everywhere so it was understandable that she was slighlty wary about taking in another two girls.

We arrived back at her house at 7pm and had dinner. Anne Marie is a vegetarian who is trying hard to be vegan so we dindnt have to worry about my 'dietary peculiarities'. After dinner we came the highlight of the day, being introduced to the 6 joeys she currently has in care. There are two reds and four Eastern greys. They are between the ages of ten months and a year. They are being bottle fed four times a day on a very specific lactose free formula. The joeys spend the night in a small pen in Anne Marie's back garden. She has built a wood shelter which houses their 'pouches'. Joeys at this age would still be spending some time inside their mothers pouch, coming out during the day to explore their surroundings so Anne Marie has made replica pouches out of cloth which hang from poles. The four smaller joeys love their pouches, with one little guy, Jaffa, going straight back to bed as soon as bottle time was over.

Once bottles were done all the joeys were put to bed, with each getting enough grass placed outside their pouch to last them all night. We were then shown how to wash the bottles and teats properly, anything less than perfect could cause the joeys to get sick. After that we headed for bed, it was only a little past 9pm but first feed in the mornings is 5.30am so we thought it best to retire early. It was actually easier than we thought to get up at such an inhuman hour, the sun was already up and it was nice and warm. We dragged ourselves downstairs at 5am and got some breakfast so that we were ready to go at half past. Anne Marie appeared at dead on half past and got the bottle ready (just like you would for a baby) and we headed out to greet the kids. They were already up and eager for their bottles, their little hands reaching out and holding ours steady while they drank. It was such an amazing feeling.

After breakfast Anne Marie takes the joeys down to the big pen, a two acre fenced in area where they spend the day. Each morning she spends an hour in the big pen wth them so that they can graze. Because the four smaller joeys would still be with their mother, ready to bolt back into her pouch at the first sign of danger, they wont spend any time outside unless she is with them. Kangaroos are such an unique animal, their physiology is unlike anything else in the world (of course I include wallabies in this category) and the name for the group is called Macropods. The word Macropod means 'big toe', and it sure is correct! Macropods have one huge toe, with two smaller 'grooming toes' on one side and a single small toe on the other. They have incredably powerful hind legs, being more economically efficient on two legs than any animal on four. Their front legs in comparison look rather spindly, but have huge claws for grooming and digging in the earth.

After Anne Marie had settled the joeys into their pouches for the morning we came back up to the house and got down to work. Our tasks for the day were, Rachel to cook lunch and dinner while I helped Anne Marie sort out some boxes in the upstairs storage room. It was pretty easy work, Rachel made a gorgeous lentil and bean soup for lunch and we got to feed the joeys again at 11am. As we worked we got to know Anne Marie a bit better. She has been rescuing animals for 6 years, she has been living at this house for 3 years, she moved as she wanted a large property with somewhere she could release the animals she raised, before she was on 35 acres and mainly looked after possums and small animals as she would have to pass on any macropods to another carer where they got to a certain size. Throughout the day, anywhere we looked around the house we could see kangaroos and wallabies just wandering around. As Anne Marie has been releasing animals for a couple of years now she has adults she raised coming back with their babies.

Over the next few days we did various jobs around the place, cleaning out the pantry & cupboards, clearing creeper from the carport, weeding the flower beds, redigging the earth steps leading down to the big pen, spread compost on the fruit trees, and lots of baking (I even made a vegan cake!). We accompanied Anne Marie on every bottle feed, gradually getting to know each of the joeys, and letting them get used to us. It took us a while to be able to tell them apart but we started noticing differences in them, physically and personality wise. Pearl and Earl, the two Reds were distinctive because of their colouring, and Pearl had a stumpy tail. Their mums were victims of road accidents, birds of prey had tried to drag Pearl out of her mothers pouch by her tail before she was rescued. They were found by two sisters who were travelling in a camper van. They first wanted to keep them as 'pets' (not so practical when you think a full grown male can reach 7 foot) but reluctantly gave them up to Anne when they started to get sick. Anne didnt realise they were Reds, the women told her they were Eastern greys when she agreed to take them, as she will not be able to release them in her property. Reds are not native to this area so will have to be taken back to a suitable location. Kangaroos are very stress prone animals, any stress (like a long journey or lots of noise) can send them into illness and even kill them.

We had most difficulty telling the difference between the four greys. Willow, the only girl of the four is the biggest, but that only useful if shes standing next to the other three. Jarrah is close friends with Willow and can always be found next to her. Jaffa is always first back into bed and has a very cute habit of sucking on his fingers, just like a baby sucks it's thumb. Hugo, the smallest of the group, has softer fur, and a very elfin like face. Needless to say we developed favourites, Rachel's was Jaffa and mine was Hugo, but we adored them all. Pearl and Earl were very sooky (needy) and no one but Anne would do for them. Willow and Jarrah were quite independent as they stayed in the big pen over night and were the only ones that didnt go in pouches any more.

Each night, at the 8pm feeding the shelter in both pens needed to be inspected for snakes. little poisonous ones werent a real threat as they would one bite if accidently trod on, it was pythons that were the real threat. Anne said that two weeks ago she removed a python that was close to 8 foot long, single handedly, from the shelter!! She bundled it into a sack and took it for a drive, releasing it a long way from the house so it wouldnt find its way back. A python like that would make an easy meal out of a joey as they would be helpless in their pouch. Goannas are also a problem, a large goanna will take a joey no problem. We found one in the small pen (thankfuly the joeys were in the big pen at the time) and did try to catch it but it was too quick and managed to bolt out into the bush. We heard it later in the day as it was trying to catch a bird.

During our afternoons we relaxed by reading, Anne lent me a book she thought I would be interested in called Kangaroos: myths and realities. It was interesting reading alright, not not enjoyable. It listed the sorry state of affairs the mighty kangaroo, national symbol of Australia and loved icon to the world, finds itself in. Despite the fact that the kangaroo is a 'protected' species it is deemed a pest. The government has licenced shooters to kill millons each year, stating that its 'to protect crops' and 'the culling is for the kangaroos own good'. Culling is by definition to 'weed out the infirm, sick and undersize' but this isnt what is happening. Shooters are targeting the biggest males as they will provide the most meat and hide to sell. This is allowing weaker, smaller males to mate, thus diluting the gene pool. Shooters also target large females. A brief overview of female kangaroos breeding cycle: A joey will stay with its mother, completely dependant on her, for almost a full year. when it is an 'out of pouch' joey (no longer allowed into pouch at any time) it will still continue to feed from her as it cannot survive on grass alone. At this time she will also be nursing an 'in pouch' joey, so will have two babies on the go at the same time. The 'humane way' to dispose of the in pouch joey is to decapitate it or bash its head in, very humane huh. Oh, and there is no regulations on how to deal with the out of pouch joey, it is simply left to starve. These babies are not in the 'quotas' so three deaths are counted as one.

There is also a growing consumer base for its meat and skin. A full grown kangaroo will provide around 6kg of useable meat, this is in comparison to 200kg a single cow produces. It would also take 5-6 years for that kangaroo to reach full size, compared to the 1-2 years for a cow. The meat industry is trying to sell kangaroo meat as a 'healthy and sustainable' alternative to livestock produce. The flaws in this are: 1, it would take the entire population of 'roos in Australia several times over to equal the amount of livestock eaten each year. 2, 'roos are shot and butchered in the bush, there is no quality controls as it is classed as game meat (ie eat it at your own risk. 3, Because they are so prone to stress it is not possible to farm them in any way. 4, 'roo populations grow by 6-8% each year (in a good year, not counting drought, bush fires etc), quotas are set at 21%+ no matter what theclimate is doing.

Kangaroos icons are everywhere here, they are on flags, names of rugby teams, pubs, and they are on the state seal. Yet the general opinion is 'its just a bloody 'roo'.

So, next stop, Brea's place.

From Byron we caught the early bus and arrived in Surfers Paradise around 1pm. Brea, who used to share a flat with Rachel, came to pick us up from the bus terminal. Brea lives in Southport which is just outside Surfers so is much quieter. We were looking forward to seeing (in my case meeting) Brea, plus the added bonus of spending a week in an actual house, rather than a hostel. Brea had even borrowed a mattress so we didnt have to sleep on the sofas, we could have a bed for the duration.

We spent a the first few days chilling out and relaxing, dvd watching, a decent shower and enjoying the benefits of a properly stocked kitchen were among the highlights. Brea was working nights so we didnt get to see much of her the first couple of days but on her days off she took us around and showed us the sights. The beach at surfers was lovely, but swimming strictly controlled. The tide is so dangerous that people are only allowed to swim in certain sections, to keep between flags posted on the beach and are sternly told off by the lifeguards if they stray outside. On one of our days on the beach we ventured into the water, there were quite a few people in the water so we figured it was ok. We managed to get to midthigh before the powerful waves took our feet from under us, pulling us under the water as yet another wave pounded us even deeper. We scuttled back out onto the beach, coughing up

water and feeling like half drowned rats but with a new appreciation for the power of the sea.

On Wednesday night we met up with a few of Brea's friends and went out to the pub for dinner. It ended up being quite a late night and I had to escort a rather intoxicated Miss Spencer and Miss Jewson to the taxi rank in the rain. Rachel fell asleep as soon as we got home, Brea soon after. Needless to say there were a few bleary eyes and raging headaches in the morning! I was chief tea maker for much of the day, had to keep the tv low and only said 'its your own fault' once (or twice).

Brea also took us out to Burley Heads for a picnic. We stopped at the supermarket and filled up with all sorts of goodies but back in the car the radio warned of storms and hail. We decided to plow ahead with our plans and kept our fingers crossed. We managed to get to Burley ahead of the rain (just) and quckly started eating. We, being British, outlasted everyone else and were the last ones sitting out in the rain. Just a typical English picnic to us!!

So, after our helpx came to an end we headed north again.

Jen drove us to the train station where we parted ways regretfully. Jen was a great laugh, as nutty as a fruit cake and a really nice person to boot. Our destination now was Byron Bay, around two hours south of Brisbane. The train journey was ok, and we got to see brief glimpses of a mob of 'roos as we passed wooded areas. Our train terminated at Casino and we had to change onto a coach for the final leg to Byron.

We arrived and found our hostel without too much trouble, though we had to book into a dorm again as Byron is an expensive place to stay. Our dorm was a 12 bed female, and we quickly realised we would not beable to hold much interesting conversation with any of its occupants. The conversations we overheard “This dress is really nice but its a Saturday dress and we never go out on a Saturday” told us that the girls here were not very smart, very insipid and only interested in partying with the boys. After only one day I found myself wanting to throttle the lot of them!

We only had a few days in Byron which we found was enough, it was too much of a 'trendy' town for us. Everyone wanted to see and be seen, thinking their the bee's knees. We spent some time on the beach but the weather wasnt that great so on the second day we decided to walk up to Cape Byron, the most Easterly point of Australia (without getting wet that is). We wandered along the walking track, which took us up and down the cliff facing the beach, passing a group of older surfers that were having some sort of competition. It was nice to see that you dont need to be in perfect physique to enjoy surfing. It took us almost an hour to get up to Cape Byron (named after Captain Cook's Grandfather) but the view was incredible, and we even saw a pod of dolphins. On the way back down we got to see an even more incredible sight, the pod of dolphins began to wave surf, riding the crest of the waves into shore like a surfer (but far more elegantly!). We were stunned by the obvious fun they were having, just larking about in the surf like a group of kids, it was really beautiful to see and for that reason we have no photos as neither of us wanted to miss a second by hunting for the camera.

As of 03/12/2008, there will be a free bus that takes travellers from Circular Quay to Central. It will run every 10 mins along George and Elizabeth St during off peak times. It is bus 555 which will be hard to miss as its bright green. It will run from 9.30am to 3.30pm during the week, while on Thursdays it will finish at 9pm. It will run on weekends between 9.30am and 6pm. This is a CBD shuttle service that will benefit commuters. It will benefit shoppers. It will benefit those people working in the CBD and of course tourists.

Hey, from Rockhampton we made our way to Airlie Beach for our Trip to the Whitsundays. The weather was terrible, the rain hadn't stopped all Morning. The 3 of us were all having second thoughts about the Trip, I couldn't imagine being stuck on a boat in the pouring rain. Once we arrived, we checked in to a nearby Campsite and confirmed our booking.

Later on that Evening the rain decided to stop and the sky was a lot clearer, things were looking up plus I was very happy because I got to watch the F.A. Cup Final and what a Final it was.

The next morning we had to wake up really early, the sky was a bit cloudy but no rain so that wasn't going to stop us. We had to meet at 7.45am at the boat so we left Bertha in a nearby Carpark. Once we all met at the boat, we gave our alcohol to the staff and filled in a bit of paperwork. After this the staff introduced themselves to us all, the group consisted of 29 people. We were told 45 people but I think this was better because of the lack of room.

We all boarded the boat and the Captain explained where we would be sailing to and what would be included on the Trip. Soon as we set sail, we all cracked open a few tins, I knew this would be a bad idea especially for hangovers on boats, what could be worse? We sailed for a couple of hours and stopped off for a bit of lunch, after lunch we were all allowed to have a swim. Me not being a very good swimmer wasn't that fussed but after a couple of beers my confidence rises. Before we were allowed to get into the water we all had to wear stinger suits, it was very strange wearing one and I looked stupid, me and my fat arse, lol. The 3 of us decided to jump off the top deck, stupid really. As I surfaced I could hardly breathe, in shock from the cold water and the tide was taking me away from the boat. I panicked and tried to swim breast stroke, a bad idea, I was getting nowhere, luckily I managed to reach the back part of the boat where the steps where and hung on, lol. I thought to myself, I'm not doing that again in a hurry.

We were all told in the briefing that we were all either aloud to do a free scuba dive or a free tube ride. The tube looked fun but I chose the scuba dive for the experience. They told us the scuba dive would take place on the last day. We had to wait for the others to do their tube ride before we sat down to lunch.

After lunch, we sailed for a couple more hours, carried on drinking and headed towards our Resort 'Hook Island'. This was our Hostel for the next 2 nights. We had our showers, dropped our bags off and where told to meet back at the boat where we would be having our dinner and later to play party games and get to know the group better.

Later on after our dinner everyone was in the mood for some party games so I asked if we could get the twister game out, this was hilarious especially whilst being on a boat drinking. Most people just part in this and the loser of every game had to down a drink through a snorkel, thankfully I never had to. After the twister game we played another game with a cardboard box, the idea of the game was to bend down and pick the box up with your teeth, was quite difficult, most of the girls found it easy, the smaller you were the easier it was I thought. Once you picked the box up you had to bite some away so the box became a lot less and lower. I was fairly good at this game and never had to do a snorkel but Chris had to do a couple and Dee did the most and was the best at it. He must have done about 5 in the night and he picked up the nickname 'Snorkel'.

After this crazy game we were all pretty hammered so the Captain took us all back to the Hostel.

The next Morning we all woke up fairly handy and made our way to Whitehaven Beach, meant to be one of the nicest beaches in the world. One we arrived there we took a little walk to a lookout point, amazing views of the beach, the only bad thing was on this day, the tide was on its way in so you couldn't quite get the view you would normally see but still worth the walk. After this we all headed on down to the beach for a dip, played Frisbee in the crystal clear water and later had a sunbathe. By about 2pm we all headed back to the boat for our lunch.

After lunch we sailed for another hour or so and stopped where we did our snorkeling, I was quite nervous but wanted to try it so we all got into our stinger suits. With the aid of a floating noodle under my arms I was more confident, the water was freezing and struggled to get my breath a few times but I was ok after a while. I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing under the water, the coral was really shallow in parts and we were told not to stand on them. I tried the snorkeling without my floating noodle and was surprised how easy it was to float. We snorkeled for about 30 mins because we were all getting cold. After this amazing experience my confidence in water has trebled now.

After the snorkeling we headed back to the Hostel for our showers. After our showers we headed back to the boat where we had our dinner. One this was over we took the remaining alcohol which wasn't a lot and brought it back to the Island. We played a few more party games after this and once all the beer ran out I decided to get an early night, most of the others stayed up and carried on so im not sure what actually happened.

The next Morning was cool, never felt like crap. We sailed for a couple of hours and where told we could either go for a snorkel or do the scuba dive. In the end I did both because the scuba experience was only 2 people at a time. My scuba experience wasn't what thought it would be like. I got all the gear on, felt like a really heavy rucksack. As I bent down onto my knees I get getting water in my mouth, was a strange feeling breathing in artifitial air but wasn't quite sure what I was doing wrong. I tried it a few times and the same thing was happening, I know I shouldn't have but I gave it up as a bad job. I told the instructor that I would give this a go again but maybe in a different environment like a pool. I'm still glad I gave it a go, just for the experience.

After everyone had finished the scuba and snorkeling we had our lunch on the boat and all headed back to Airlie Beach. To sum the whole trip up, it was an amazing experience, a brilliant group of people plus value for money. For both trips $299, a bargain!

Have posted some pics below, enjoy.

Take care and speak soon.

Just had a 2 night, 2 day sailing trip on the boat SV Whitehaven. There were 19 of us in total. On the first day we sailed (or rather motored as no wind) out to sea to a place where we could snorkel. Was great, quite a lot of fish and some huge sea turtles which you could swim down and touch. they were amazing, I had no idea they would be so big. After this it was tea and biscuits on board to warm up as we sailed to the place we would spend the night. Stopped in a nice calm bay which was good as everyone was definately finding there sea legs when we got on! Dinner cooked by the crew was spag bol which was very nice and then a couple of drinks with our fellow passengers before a very early night as we had got the overnight bus up to Airlie Beach the day before so pretty tired!

On day 2 we were up early for breakfast and the boat set off for Whitehaven beach. Spent about 3 hours on the beach, was absolutely beautiful. Had such fine sand that was apparently used for the Hubble telescope. Got to the beach on the dingy and there were only a few of us in ours so we did some James Bond esq swoops in the water. Played a bit of beach rounders and introduced the rest of the group to our version of frisbee. After the beach a spot of lunch on board before hoisting the sails and heading to our next snorkling destination. Jumped off the boat. All wearing very fetching stinger suits incase of jellyfish- catwomen here we come! Was a really pretty reef and saw some huge fish, some such electric colours. Also saw a giant clam which was funny looking. Then we sailed again to where we sleep for the night. Green curry for dinner (memories of thailand) and a few drinks and games with everyone. Played some boat olympics which were funny. Slept well again, getting used to the rocking.

Day 3 and early rise for the last snorkel. Out of bed and straight into the sea after a hastily swallowed cup of tea. Similar to yesterday but when we came back to the boat they fed the fish around us and these big Bat fish were eating all around us, one tried my arm- not quite as nice as bread!

Back on land we had a day chilling out (still rocking as though on the boat) before meeting with the rest of our crew for a night out. Was lots of fun. Went to an Irish bar with a great liv band where some of us stayed dancing all night!

The second day we were up early for breakfast and then as soon as we had our stuff together we were taken out in small groups in the tender to a nearby beach, where we walked for 15 minutes over to 'Acquaintance Beach' or something like that. It's one of the most famous and most well-liked of the Whitsunday beaches, but it is also the 2nd of the biggest tidal beaches in the world, meaning that it is only really accessible at low tide. We walked first to the look-out over it, and then to the beach itself, having to walk quite a long way to reach the water. The water was beautifully clear, though the current strong, and the scenery gorgeous. I swam for quite a time against the current, and then sat out on the sand reading. After an hour or so the tide started coming in fast and we found we had to move our towels and bags every 10 mins to stop our things floating away.

Back on the boat we set off for Tongue Bay and after an hour or so journey we were equipped with stinger suits, masks and flippers for snorkelling. It isn't quite stinger (jellyfish) season yet but we had to be careful anyway, especially as Fire Coral is also common in these areas, not to mention sting rays and other poisonous fish. The snorkel was excellent and I saw many fish there I recognised as well as many new ones. We were very close to the shore, unlike the dive/snorkels I have done before in open ocean so it's not surprising the species were different. The tide was up so we were quite far above the corals and could pass over the whole reef easily, going back and forth parallel with the beach before cold finally got the better of me and the thin stinger suit and I set off back. Under the boat was a huge Maori Wrasse hiding which was cool to see.

After the snorkel we moved to another bay where some people did a second snorkel, and then afterwards were all enlisted into a Twister tournament on the top of the boat, which sadly I was knocked out of by the natural rocking motion of the boat! After Twister we ate dinner and chatted over some wine. Earlier, the captain, Greg had been asking loudly who had a banana on board and he finally told us why. Apparently in the days of ship trade bananas would be used to conceal rice cargo to stop water getting to it and causing it to expand. But if a boat was seen carrying bananas that meant it was worth looting and pirating, so sailors seeing bananas on board a ship wouldn't get on it, so it came about that bananas on board a boat were unlucky. The deck hand Katy had been hurt twice that day which was an unusual occurance which is why the captain had been asking who had one and insisted when the culprit banana was found (which it was) it was thrown overboard. In fact he only kept the tradition alive for fun but he could cite a few examples where finding a banana on a bad day and throwing it overboard changed their luck dramatically. It wasn't long before we all called it an early night from all the fresh air. Unfortunately because we hadn't drunk much I didn't get a lot of sleep owing to the extreme temperature in the cabin. I wished I could sleep on deck but didn't want to go crashing through the boat only to find it was too cold to sleep out in a sheet!

On the third morning we got up for an early breakfast as before and snorkelled the reef we had anchored beside. I hadn't gone the night before as I'd got pretty cold on the first dive and the sun had been setting on the second, but the early morning cool water was just what I needed to wake me up. The visibility was low but I saw plenty more fish though I did get a little panicky as the current was strong and pulled me close to the coral which was much higher in the water at this tide level, so I headed back pretty quickly.

Back on the boat we just set sail for Airlie beach and back to civilisation. It had been just what we needed to relax after 2 weeks of constant hostel-moving and hard exercise though it gave me more time to think than I had had before and that affected me a bit, on the whole I think I would like to do more sailing! Back on Airlie beach we booked into Beaches hostel and set about cleaning up again. At first it was frustrating having endless sand sticking to your skin and grit everywhere, but now we have got used to the black under our fingernails and grimy feet, plus the endless sand in every nook and cranny of your body and luggage. Getting back from a 3 day excursion after no showering and wearing the same clothes always makes that first shower heavenly!

When we first crashed into the hostel we hadn't noticed the bloke napping in the top bunk of one bed and the other out on the balcony. It was only when they coughed that we spun round in surprise and introduced ourselves. One was Jack, an 18 yr old kid fro, Yamba and the other an obviously British bloke, Richard. You can always tell a British bloke by the shaved head and the slightly-too-pink tan, and as it turned out he was Geordie. We sat chatting on the balcony for an hour or so before Jack suggested we smuggle a crate of beer into the hostel, so they were sent out to buy it and then passed it up from a parked Ute (utility truck) below the balcony. We sat drinking all afternoon and before long we joined by the rest of the room, Doug, a Canadian, Levi, an Australian and 2 Essex girls. We snuck in another crate of beer before being quietly sent by the hostel inspector off to the beach as we were violating hostel rules.

Down at the beach the sun had already set but the Reef Festival was in full swing with live music in the streets. We sat, bathed in the warm lights and balmy air and had one of those 'I'm in Australia!' moments! After an hour or so Megha and I set off for Magnums for a post-boat party and we had a few sangrias with some of our crew before I recieved a call from my friend Karen and wandered off for an hour long chat. Back at the hostel I meant to head out to find the hostel gang again but since we'd been drinking all day after some early boat mornings, I fell into some well-needed sleep.

De boot ligt nu stil. Ik heb de eerste dag overleefd. We moesten onze schoenen uittrekken toen we aan boord gingen, we mogen alleen op onze blote voeten lopen. De rockmuziek van Joe's ipod is te horen op het schip. Ik ben de enige Nederlandse aan boord. Er zijn 5 Canadese vriendinnen, 4 Duitsers en 5 Engelsen. Ik had misschien wel meer Nederlanders verwacht. Duiters kom je echt overal tegen in Australie. Morgen gaan we snorkelen en naar heaven beach. De zon zit net achter de bergen. We liggen in een inham. We mogen ook meehelpen met zeilen. Deze boot is heel anders dan de boot waarmee ik zeilde bij de Franse eilanden en Kanaaleilanden. Dit is echt een raceboot. Hij heet de Mandrake en is 15 meter lang. Ik heb weer echt zin gekregen in zeilen.

Ik slaap in het bovenste bed, maar het lijkt mij niet zo heel hoog en als ik val, val ik voor een deel op het lagere bed. Toilet en douche zijn tegenover mijn bed. De toilet is super klein. Daar kun je letterlijk je kont niet keren. Ze hebben net hapjes (toastjes, kaas, wortels, bleekselderij en wat dipsaus) op het dek gezet. De bemanning is erg aardig. Het begint nu fris te worden. Vandaag regende het behoorlijk. Ik vond dat niet zo erg; het is hier zo warm.

Today we started our journey down the coast to the Whitsunday Islands.  It was a long day but I'm happy we're finally here!  The resort is huge and beautiful.  Walabys roam around and will let you pet them.  It's great.