Hello!!

We are now in to our third week in the camper... I smell... We have done some washing today though so we should be smelling like super market washing powder in no time and people will stop to talk to us again soon!!

We made collected our camper from Brisbane on the 5th of Jan and we are about one third of the way to Cairns so we need to start getting a move on really! We have found a couple of really picturesque beaches along the way and we have found it hard to tear ourselves away. Our first stop was in a carpark in a lovelly seaside town called REDCLIFFE very quiet and we were just off the beach so we were woken by the crashing waves early in the morning! We also found a place called SANDGATE just down the road where Greg managed to get in a spot of Kitesurfing which gave him a little fix!

We were up early the next morning to head fpr Australia Zoo... the home of the Irwin Familly. This was probably the best Zoo that I have been to, actually getting up close and stroking a Kangaroo (without getting a kickin!!). There was also a show put on by Terri Irwin and Wes.. with the Crocodiles threatening to eat people! After a full day at the Zoo and a catch up on some sleep in their car park we headed off to a place called CALOUNDRA to settle down for the night however when we got there it was hard to find somewhere discreet enough to park the camper (which is stickered up in illuminous colours!) so we headed on to find a bech a little more quiet. We found one called MOOLOOLABA (no we haven't made that up).

Mooloolaba was close to a place called MAROOCHYDORE (haven't made that one up either) and we were in and out of there regularly as they had a massive shopping complex and a Hunngry Jacks (burger king) where we have found the bet thing ever!! $1 chocolate ice creams!! We had a couple of days in the area just laying on the beach and chilling out. It was at this point we realised that 5 weeks in a camper may not be as easy as we thought. The thing heats up like an oven and cooks you from the inside out... My insides feel like haggis at the moment!

After a couple of sweltering hot days our next stop was NOOSA. This is the posh part of the journey and was worth a visit. We parked up in the national park in Noosa only to be woken up at 7.30 am by a big Australian Ranger (socks up to his knees and everything) he had a disaproving look on his face and pointed to the no camping sign just two feet away. He made us move on as there is no free camping areas in Noosa you have to pay. If he found us again we would be charged $750! We liked staying in the Noosa area for a bit so the following night we headed outside of town and slept in a place called TEWANTIN. It was only 5 mins from Noosa so we travelled in and out. On one cloudy day we decided to make the most of it and bought two wheeled skateboards. We had seen kids on these and they looked like they were having fun doin something so simlpe so me and Greg bought one each. We went down to the promenade and gathered quite a crowd as a few people stopped to see what it was all about. Two grown ups on two wheeled skate boards is obviously not something they see everyday!! After about 5 minutes the innevetable happened.... I fell off... Spectacullarly.... Painfully and with an audience!! My knee is still bruised two weeks later and my wounds are still sore. If there wasn't so many people there who saw me fly about 4 foot in to the air I would have cried right there and then like a baby but i could feel everyone looking and the shame was bad enough!! To add to my shame Greg was whizzing around making it look easy!!

After Noosa we had decided that RAINBOW BEACH was the nect stop. A lot had been said about this place so we took the oportunity to visit. We took a pit stop at GYMPIE as there was a hungry Jacks which means $1 ice cream! Once we got to Rainbow beach we left quite soon after as guess what?? it's just a beach..... Not much happening there at all!! We cooked up our Spag Bol and decided to sleep further up the coast in MARYBOTOUGH.

Driving through Maryborough was nice because it wa a bit oldy worldy and was the birthplace of Mayr Poppings auther. We parked up and prepared the back of the camper in to our bedroom and Greg dropped off to sleep and I stayed awake because I wanted to finish my book.. The light was still on when I finished and just as I looked over Gregs head to turn it off I was met by the most biggest spider I have ever seen! THis thing was huge, bigger than my hand and it was looking right at me... i swear it was considering how i wuold taste with sauce!!! Of course I didn't want to be scared on my own so I woke Greg up who had much of the same reaction as me... we were quite frankly bricking it!!! Then it moved.... and so did we... quickly to the other side of the van. Luckily it was on the door so with movements fasther than lighting Greg opened the door and I pushed him out with the book... We sat there for a moment feeling like it was still on us and getting them horrible quivers. After that incident we called short our Maryborough trip and decided to drive straight on to our next destination that night HERVEY BAY. I know we were complete wusses being chased out of a villiage by a big spider but seriously this thing was big... and he probably had bigger friends!

On the way to Hervey Bay we had an encounter with a trucker. Imagine The kind of big trucks you see in horror movies. Now imagine one sat right up your arse of your camper van at 1 in the morning. We have bothe seen Wolfe Creek and this truck was starting to remind us a little of the film. Still shaken up from our Arachnaphobia film experience we decided to pull over and let the truck go past.

We arrived in Hervey Bay within the hour and parked up on the beach fron (away from trees) just as we were calming down there was a loud knock on the window. For an unrealistic moment we though it might be the horror trucker.... or worse the spider! Luckily though it was just another ranger telling us we couldn't sleep here. He was nice enough though and told us to tuck ourselves out the way in one of the side streets. We finally got some sllep after jumping at everything that touched our skinand woke up at 6 am in the morning by the familiar cooking feeling!

We stayed in Hervey Bay for a few more days. There was as always a lovely beach with crystal clear waters and shopping malls close by that we could dive in to and cool ourselves down. It was also another spot for kitesurfing and Greg took full advantake of that. Most importantly though we found 'Aimee Drive' which we had to visit... We also took a visit to Exeter Street to have our photos taken like propper tourists!

Next stop was BUNDABURG which is backpacker fruit picking capital. We were sleeping just outside of the town near the beach at a place called BAGARA. we bought goggles and went for an explore in the sea. Bugara is close to the edge of the Great Barrier reef so we managed to see a few tropical fish. Around Bunderberg was another beach called ELLIOT HEADS which was spectacular.. The photos say it all. This was another kitesurfing area and Greg spent hours out there popping jumps. We liked it so much we stayed there for a night and got some kiteing done in the morning. It was a propper postcard beach with white sands and turquiose waters.

We are now at Tannem Sands and headed up to Gladstone for the night. Campervanning in Australia is so catered for as everywhere we have stopped they have public BBQ's toilets and showers. We also have a gas burner in the camper whioch we are also using to cook our meals. The facilities out here are awesome and we are really having a good laugh!

A few photos are up but trying to find computers that are free is a bit of a nightmare... we are stopping in public libraries as we are on a budget!!

Hope everyone is okay at home... miss you all very much.

Lots of love

Aimee and Greg