Gidday,

Let me start by saying that Fraser Island was just awesome! For those of you that don't know, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. To get around, you need a 4 wheel drive as there is no tarseal and the barge drops you off onto the beach. Our superb planning meant that we got to Fraser Island right on high tide, meaning that we got dropped off in the nice soft stuff. There was no way we were stopping for a look around - we just buried the boot and bounced our way 200m up the beach on the lookout for the inland track. Just another 100m of soft stuff though the trees and.....

It's just amazing the sort of punishment that you can deal to a toyota surf. Little did we know that half way between the beach and the inland track was a massive dip. Surprisingly we didn't get too much air, and the seat belts kept us from smacking our heads against the roof (our packs weren't so lucky). We made the inland track without getting bogged and stopped for a breather, a local passed us wondering what all the fuss was about, whilst we contemplated what had happened to the German tourists that followed us off the boat.

For the next three days we had a great time touring the island, doing a spot of fishing, some walks through the forest, swimming in the lakes. We even made it all the way to Kingfisher Bay on the other side of the island to catch the barge back to the mainland without getting bogged. We were even 45 minutes early for the barge (some of you may find that hard to believe - but it's true!). If only I hadn't left the digital camera in the middle of the bush! Damn!

You see, we were catching the first ferry of the day (8:30am), meaning an early start and a 14km sand track to drive. Trouble is, we were the first to drive the track that day, and due to the winds that night, meant that we had to clear the track of all the fallen branches. One rather large branch deserved a photo... duh!

Still, we were 45 minutes early which should have been enough time to go back and get the camera, if it wasn't for the fact that we got bogged in the sand. Damn! That's the last time I'm gonna make a special effort to get up early. The ensuing 10 car traffic jam was finally cleared 40 minutes later - the only vehicle that could shift us was an old Land Cruiser that looked like it was built in the fifties. We got through on the second attempt (this time in low ratio), somehow managed to find the camera, and made it back to Kingfisher Bay for lunch and the 1:30pm sailing.

Next stop Queensland, where we camped our first night in the tiny coastal town of 1770 (that's it's name). I've got to say that Queensland has more than it's fair share of weird people, and it would take someone rather different to name a town the year it was first settled. An early start saw us to Rockhampton by lunchtime. Rocky claims to be the beef capital of the world, so figured that the chilly bin was looking low on steaks. We barbied them in Mackay where we stopped for the night. Give me Kiwi beef any day - that Aussie stuff is as tough as old boots.

Arlie beach, a short distance up the coast, has a Maccas (Golden Arches), so it must be a real town, although we never met a local whilst we were there. The main street was a constant strip of pubs, tour offices and internet cafe's. Still, we managed to have a good time there, and it was also the departure point for our 3 day sailing and snorkelling cruise of the Whitsunday islands. Talk about a relaxing few days - all our meals were prepared for us, no washing up, just 3 days of relaxing, a few short walks, snorkelling, and a few quiet beers. Deirdre even overcame her initial fears to examine the wonders beneath the surface.

The next major port of call was Townsville and Magnetic Island, where we hired a Moke to cruise about in for half a day. We really enjoyed a couple of hours at Reef HQ where they have an enormous coral in a huge tank, then a quick squiz at Mission Beach was all we had time for as were anxious to get to Cairns, which we then decided to skip and go further north to Port Douglas.

Port Douglas is last coastal town before the Daintree River , which has some magnificent rainforest around it. We did a cruise to see some crocks in the wild, then set off for Cape Tribulation. It's a really beautiful place, although a bit overcrowded with tourists, so we headed north along the 4WD only Bloomfield Track to Cooktown. The track involved some creek bed crossings and some madly steep hills, but was great fun. It was only when we got to Cooktown that we really felt like we were getting off the beaten track, which was a shame, since we only had time to stay the night before heading back to Cairns to drop off the Surf.

Oh the joys of walking. Having feet as our only means of getting around was a bit of a shock, so we hopped on a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef for a day's snorkelling. We both did a 40 minute introductory dive (our first time!) which was just awesome. We only went down about 5 metres, but that was enough, and we were escorted around the coral by this massive Maori Wrass called Wallie.

No time now to relax - the next day we flew to Alice Springs where we were going to do a 3 day tour. After finding that we'd booked into a really crappy hostel called Melanka, we decided that the trip looked just as bad, so we flagged it and hired a Britz campervan and set off ourselves. The next 3 days was spent swatting flies in 30 degree hot dry days, driving around the Red Centre of Aussie, looking at large rocks (I think one of the big ones was called Ayers Rock), and doing a few walks. A highlight was the night we spent at Kings Canyon where we did a 4 hour walk. It was simply awesome.

We only just managed to make our flight from Alice to Darwin, where we're slowly getting used to the heat and humidity (but no flies). We've picked up our new set of wheels - a 4WD Land Cruiser Troopie which has been kitted out as a Bush Camper. It's got some grunt this time - 4.2L diesel. We'll spend a day or two here, then head off to Kakadu, The Kimberley, Broome, and down to Perth.

Now we're really gonna go bush!

Cheers,

Rik & Deirdre

PS: One of the things I forgot to mention in the last update was that we did manage to find somewhere in Aussie that is as cold as anywhere in the UK, if not colder. The place was the Nation's capital - Canberra. Damn it was cold. The night we were there was -5, and the bouncers are as wanky as they are anywhere else in the world since they made us queue 30 minutes outside in the cold to get into a bar, only to find there was plenty of room inside! That just really peeves me.