Day 147 : Whitehaven beach and diving

• Up at sunrise to go to Whitehaven beach which was amazing. Saw stingrays and lemon sharks in the shallow water and sand balls made by little crabs.
• Went scuba diving and snorkelling at Luncheon bay. Snorkelling was better to see fish – giant parrot fish, maori wrass and bat fish. Also saw a green turtle lift its head out of the water. Diving was better to see the coral.

Day 145-146 : Whitsunday Islands

• Arrived at Airlie beach.
• Checked in with our boat company - Oz Sail - and because we said it was our honeymoon we get a double instead of dorm room  for the same price at our hostel when we get back to dry land yey!
• Set sail on “Spank Me”, a slightly battered 82ft racing yacht. Had a nice group of 22 people on our boat plus 3 crew. Had a bed under one of the hatches so could look at the stars.
• Sailed to Hook island did some snorkelling saw some honeycomb stone cod.

Day 144 : Myella Farm and bumping into a friend

• Got picked up early from Rockhampton YHA to go to Myella farm stay in the outback
• Had some breakfast then collected eggs and cuddled chickens
• Learnt another style of riding similar to western (not that we needed to steer really) then went on a 2 hour ride on the farm. The landscape is beautiful. We saw lots of grey kangaroos and one with a large joey in its pouch so cute! Saw a dingo too
• Had lunch and met two birds - dirty harry a cockatoo with no feathers due to an illness and pink floyd the gala. Both birds landed in the farm injured and have adopted it as their home. They can talk and everything!
• Had a motorbike lesson, herded some horses (on the bikes) and went for a bike around the farm. The horses are gorgeous.
• Had a go at milking a cow. They are really tame and beautiful cows. They have a variety of fresians and jerseys etc but they are interbred with the brahman cow which comes from India so they are more suited to the conditions.
• Got back and the yha offered to drop people off at the rodeo practice at the great western in Rockhampton. We walked in and bumped into a good friend of mine from school - Lizzy Durman (and her husband James) who I’d not seen for about 10 years! It was the most random thing in the most random place! They were waiting for a greyhound night bus to travel south. Still cant believe it!

Thomas harassed by marsh fly at Lake McKenzie

Day 143 : Hervey Bay to Rockhampton

Spent the morning trying to use the internet in a McDonalds near the Hervey Bay Greyhound station. The laptop wouldn’t turn on so I had to dismantle it in McDonalds using a penknife screwdriver – turned out to be a loose cable but a bunch of screws were missing from the inside and after a sweaty run around the nearby shops I couldn’t locate any replacements. Sellotape had to do for now.

After a 6 hour bus journey along the Queensland coastal bush we arrived in Rockhampton; the meat capitol of Australia. We’re staying in the YHA for a couple of days. It’s pretty basic, but we were lucky to get an upgrade from our dorm to a double room because they were so busy. Tomorrow we’re going on a day trip to a farm in the outback, so another early start.

Day 142 : Fraser Island day 3

Not such an early start today as we managed to pack in so much in the previous two days that there wasn’t much more to see! After a breakfast of pancakes on the bbq we drove to a beach resort at Eurong – a large complex with a bakery, store and apartments. Rango showed us some of the private houses in Eurong as we drove up to Lake McKenzie and then had a few hours of swimming and relaxing on the beach.

In the afternoon we drove over to the Kingfisher resort on the other side of the island which is where our ferry back to the mainland departed. Before we left, we managed to have a cheeky swim in the pool and the cold(!) jacuzzi.

A lazy evening back at the hostel as people go their separate ways. Most of the group are in the hostel tonight and we’re off on a greyhound to Rockhampton around lunchtime tomorrow.

Day 141 : Fraser Island day 2

Another early start – we were up for sunrise over the beach at 0445 and then straight on the road (or rather, beach) after a quick breakfast. There are lots of marsh flies about around the camp so you don’t want to hang around!

First stop was the Kirrar sandblow or Rainbow Gorge – lots of multicoloured sand and sandblasted trees. We drove up to Eli creek and Rango arranged for us to go on a 20 minute flight on one of the 8 seater planes run by Air Fraser. It felt very similar to the plane we went skydiving from, but we didn’t go very high this time – we got some great views of the island and shipwreck further up the beach. After a quick dip in Eli creek, we drove up to the wreck of the Maheno and then on to the Pinnacles, Red canyon and all the way up to the Champagne Pools. I was driving the last part and, after 3 attempts, failed to get our land trooper through a large patch of soft sand, so we had to abandon it - our guide, Rango, obviously didn’t fancy his chances of taking it through either!

After a swim in the champagne pools, we walked up to Indian Head – one of the 3 rocky outcrops that caused Fraser Island to form. We saw some dolphins playing in the surf, a large turtle and huge manta rays from the cliff top. Heading back down the beach towards camp, we stopped over at Cathedral Beach for an ice cream at the petrol station / general store. We were stopped by a dingo running in front of the lead car to beg for food – it had a really bulky tracking collar which seemed a bit cruel.

We had a final wash at Eli creek (no showers / toilets at camp) and then another massive bbq back at the camp (we were a little overstocked with food!) with plenty of goon!