Australia

First, i want to set out that when i woke up this morning, i decided that Maggie Island (as the aussies call it) is actually an absolutely beautiful place that i could easily spent a week in.

However, yesterday my impressions were slightly different...i'll rewind...

I left Airlie Beach at around 2pm after having a late breakfast with gemma and richard (to cure our mild hangovers from australia day where we managed to go to every bar along the main strip in airlie beach) and got on the greyhound for Maggie Island. A few girls that i met on the whitsundays (susie, charlotte and pippa) were also on my bus and staying at the same hostel which was very convenient as it was quite a mission to get there. We arrived into Townsville (Queensland's 2nd biggest city after Brissy) at around 7pm and went straight to the ferry terminal to get our boat to the island. This was about a 20 min ferry ride. Once we got off the ferry we then had to get another bus to the hostel (first time the hostel has not picked me up!). When we arrived we were absolutely exhausted to be fair!

Anyway, we were starving and there was a cafe in the hostel. We arrived at 8pm on the dot and they said that they stopped serving at 8pm so we were none to happy as this hostel is in the middle of nowhere!!!!! We checked into our room which was basic, but it was fine, and decided that we would have to get a taxi to find some dinner.

Being complete 'flash packers' (backpackers dont do taxis - but we had no choice) we called a taxi and this complete wierdo turned up to pick us up. with 4 of us against 1 of him, we decided that he would have to do. Anyway, he started singing to us in the taxi and making us join in - was so bizzare. Think he was probably drunk. Nonetheless he got us to Horsehoe Bay in one piece. Although there were 5 or so restaurants there, they were all closed bar one that sold pizza. Apparantly, in Maggie Island, all kitchens everywhere shut at 8pm! Its now 9:30pm and the 4 of us are sitting in a local pub eating pizza, in the middle of nowhere. We thought we would have to wait until the last bus at midnight to take us back (no more crazy taxis for us) but the woman who worked in the pub offered us a lift home - think she felt sorry for us cause we were moaning so much about the lack of life after 8pm in this place.

Upon arriving back, we decided to go straight to bed, convinced that things would be better in the morning (i've learned not to judge places when you arrive there in the dark). When we walked into our room we realised that it had been infested with all sorts of insects - i'm not talking a few little bugs here and there, but hundreds upon hundreds of ants, spiders, maggots, cockroaches...it was absolutely disgusting.

Raging, we stormed to reception (which was obviosuly closed, cause of our luck) and found someone to change our rooms for us. After about a 20 minute fight that we either wanted new rooms or our money back,. he eventually upgraded us to better rooms in the hostel that were bug free.

Finally got to sleep around 1am. Crazy day.
Alright - enough ranting.

Today, though, i realise that the island is absolutely beautiful...never seen so much greenery in my life. The hostel has a big swimming pool, so i'm just going to chill out here today, as i leave tomorrow for mission beach.

hope everyone is well

love danielle
xxx

Hey everyone!

I've just had a great few days...

Tuesday i spent the day in Airlie Beach just relaxing and sorting myself out..i.e. booking hosltes and buses etc, and I had an early night in preparation for the Whitsundays.

On Wednesday, our boat 'The Pride of Airlie' departed from Airlie Beach for a 3 day 2 night excursion around the 70 or so islands that make up the Whitsundays. Despite our fears for thunderstoms and rain (it is the monsoon season here) it was glorious sunshine for the entire trip, reaching temperatures of 37 degrees!

The first day we (around 70 of us) just sailed around some of the islands, taking in the scenery, before making our way to the resort on South Molle Island. The resort was so luxurious, with golf, tennis, a spa...sheer decadence for any backpacker! Had a great night as they put on a disco and there was cheap alcohol so a good time was had by all!

We were up at 6am the next day to set sail and we went to Whitehaven Island to go snorkelling and to sunbathe on the pure white beach there. Absolutely stunning! We then sailed around for a while more before heading back to the resort where we had some extra time to enjoy all the resort had to offer. AFter dinner and a few drinks, we all headed to bed as it had been a very very long day in the sun.

On our final day we went snorkelling and saw some amazing coral and fish..was fantastic. We got back to Airlie Beach at around 2pm.

Today is Australia Day so there are big parties everywhere, and everyone from my boat is staying in the same hostel so it looks like we'll all be partying together!

Tomorrow i head up to Magnetic Island to relax for a few days - its been very hectic with Fraser Island and the Whitsundays!

Hope everyone is well at home
love danielle xxx

I spent my last day in Noosa going to the markets at Eumundi which was amazing...much bigger and a better variety of produce than a normal market. We spent around 3 hours there before heading back to Noosa and hitting the beach. It was my last night with Jo, so went out to the hostel club with some guys we met there the night before(ben, ben and Rod). Little did i know that these guys would end up on my fraser island bus (but thats for later).I also got Jo to give me a haircut (shes a hairdresser) so that was nice and cheap!

Anyway, I left Noosa and headed up the coast to Hervey Bay which is where you go to get onto Fraser Island. I spent the day just relaxing and catching up on some much needed sleep, so not much to report there.

FRASER ISLAND
WOW - what can i say...just amazing. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, and what they do is get a group of 11 people together, throw them into a 4x4 jeep with some tents and food and a map, and then they get to go and explore this island.

Thats the basic gist...here's how it went for me...

The day before i was due to go on the island, i met with teh rest of the group, and lo and behold, 3 of the guys in my group i had already met in noosa. This was good cause they are nice people, so all was going well. Then there were 3 couples in the group (all lovely) (Kelly and Ollie, Jennie and Russell, and Gemma and Richard) and one annoying guy who got on my nerves every 2 minutes (Chris). We all went to the supermarket to buy our food for the 3 days, and then the next dat at 6am we were up organising everything together. Packing the car was intersting and took about 2 hours! Anyway, we got to the ferry on time to make it to the island and then the fun began. On day 1 we went to an amazing fresh water lake where the water is so pure you can actually drink it! (Lake Birabeen). After some time relaxing in the water we attempted to drive to another fresh water lake only to realise that after an hour we had been going round in circles and were lost. Great! We decided then to go and visit teh Maheno wreck, which is a massive chip wreck on teh sand in the island, and after that we headed to teh camp site. By the time we had put up the tents and made dinner, it was 8pm (that took 3 hours btw) and then we sat around with one of the other groups (where i ran into my friend Dean again from Byron Bay, and met another really nice couple - Simon and Kate) playing drinking games till about 11pm before we hit the sack.

Day 2 - up at 5am (because of the tides, you can only drive on the beach at certain times of the day) to drive to Indian Head. This is a massive rock formation with amazing marine life surrounding it - saw some sharks and stingrays and dolphins! after that we walked to the Champagne Pools but because of the tides, it was quite dangerous to swim there, so we did not stay for long. A trip to Happy Valley (little village on the island) was our final port of call for the day before setting up camp. I had a go at driving on this day and its actually extremely difficult to drive on sand and through rainforests...the tyre pressures are brought right down, so you feel as though you are driving with flat tyres. ALso, it hadnt rained for a really long time, so the sand was very soft. This meant that we got bogged into the sand quite a lot. Lucky for us, there were 7 guys in our group so lots of man power to push teh vehicle out of the sand! (and beleive me, this happened quite a few times). That night we camped alongside 2 other groups, and we saw dingoes for the first time as well. Disngoes are wild dogs that are really dangerous as they have ben known to kill humans. we were given strict instructuions what to do in case of seeing any, and luckily for us, there were 33 of us against 1 of them so he backed away quickly. Had an amazing BBQ and more drinks that night.

Day 3 - up at 5am again (really exhausted by this point as have had minianl sleep for teh past 2 nights) to drive toLake Mackenzie - this is one of the highlights of the trip. It is a massive fresh water lake (about 3 times the size of the one on day 1), with a bright white sand beach surrounding it. We spend the day sunbathing and swimming in the lake before we had to catch our ferry back that afternoon.
When we got back to the hostel we had to do an inspection of teh car - they check that you have not been throuhg sea water cause that can damage the vehicle and they check that you have not lost anything. we lost a couple of small things but the guy in charge said he would let us off it the guys gave him a couple of their beers - excellent!

After sorting everything out and having a well deserved shower, i had to dash to get my night bus up to Airlie Beach (where i am just now) to do teh Whitsunday Islands. The night bus was as fun as usual - mininal sleep and interruptions every few hours to get off the bus. lets just say, i'm very excitied to sleep in a bed tonight!

Thats all the news for now, I'll update soon

xxx

Hey

Spent my 1 and only day in brisbane taking in the sights (didnt take me long!). I walked down to Southbank which is an area by the river with loads of market stalls and a man made beach. Was a nice walk there, through the botanical gardens, and i got the ferry back along the brisbane river. I went for a wander around fortitude valley (The night before i had met some people including someone from brisbane, so we all went out to some bars there)and bumped into my friend Jo, who i met in Surfers Paradise. She was staying at the same hostel as me, so we just chilled out together in the hostel bar at night, before goignt o china town at around 11pm for a late dinner.

I got up really early the next day to catch my bus to Noosa. Noosa is a gorgeous wee town, set amongst a national park. My hostel is about a 10 minute walk to the beach and park, which is not too bad, and the hostel itself is basic but has a good atmosphere. Noosa is quite an upmarket place...loads of nice restaurants along the seafront and very upmarket shops. I had a wander around teh main street (Hastings St) yesterday afternoon, before coming back to the hostel. Last night there was a mexican night at the hostel - $7 for a big slap-up mexican feast which is pretty good going (around 3 pounds) - and i had a few drinks with some of my room mates before getting an early night.

Today i went for a walk through the national park which was absolutely beautiful but its sooo hot today so it was hard work!
Going to go to the beach this afternoon, and I think i'll hit the Australia Zoo tomorrow for some croc shows!

Hope everyone is well at home
Love Danielle xxx

Hey everyone!

So, I've left Surfers Paradise and am now in Brisbane. I really didnt like surfers p. that much, but there was a nice beach so i managed to spend most of my time there. I stayed in the 2nd night there, as i was so tired and desperately needed to catch up on sleep. Last night was another good night though - met a few people, and one of them happened to be a chef, so he cooked us up a massive BBQ which tased amazing. Then we headed out to a few bars which was fun. Hopefully i;m going to be meeting up with one of the girls, when i get to Noosa.

I got the bus to brisbane this morning. The city is very like Glasgow...seems like a nice place to live but there is not that much to do/see. I only have today and tomorro here and that is plenty! I went for a walk around the city and chinatown and I'm probably just going to spend some time at the hostel tonight. The hostel is massive!-its got a restaurant, bar, 5 floors of rooms - feels like a hotel (even has air con which is a huge luxury!). Its really clean, but seems to be a bit clinical...i prefer the more homely, small hostels as they are better for meeting people. Anyway, i met a girl in Surfers called Jo (from Wales)and she is joining me in brisbane for my second night and possibly up the coast for a bit.

Anyway, thats all the news for now

xxx