Hello there everyone!

Thought it was about time that i let you know we're still alive.......sorry it's been so long since my last blog - it's just been go go go!!

We spent Christmas and New Year in Sydney which was a lot of fun! Christmas day we took a picnic down to Coogee beach and devoured our chicken and cranberry sandwiches as we played games by the sea. Obviously it was no match for our traditional english christmas dinner but it was certainly a different experience which we all enjoyed. New year was even better!!.....we set up camp on Mrs Macquaries Point (which is in the Botanical Gardens) early in the morning and basically spent the day soaking up the sun until it was firework time! We had a perfect view of everything. It was the most spectacular show i have ever seen! They even started coming off the top of skyscrapers which surrounded the harbour bridge! On boxing day it was the most beautiful day since we'd been travelling and we made the most of the sunshine by going to the races at Royal Randwick.....i didnt win anything sadly :(

After Sydney we went to Manly and Coffs Harbour for a few days and then moved on to Byron Bay which was fab! We stayed there for quite a while as the atmosphere was so chilled out. We relaxed on the beach, had a few drinks at the bars on the beach whilst listening to reggae bands and saw a fireshow. The fireshow was at the Arts factory hostel which is "alternative" accommodation. They have teepees, island huts on the edge of a swamp as well as a bus converted into rooms. We slept in an island hut but didnt stay there for long as there was a rat in our room!! It kept coming in at night and eating its way through our stuff! On our last day in Byron we got up at 5am to watch the sunrise by the lighthouse which is the most easterly point in Australia.

After Byron bay we had a quick stop in Surfers Paradise where we met up with some people from new year, then it was on to Brisbane. Here we stayed with some of Frans family which was bliss as we got to indulge in a few home comforts.....proper beds, clean showers and a great big roast dinner to name a few! They also gave us the keys to their beach apartment in Caloundra on the sunshine coast where we spent a few days lazing in the sunshine on the beach and chilling by the complex pool. We also visited Steve Irwins zoo from here which was cool - we saw all sorts including crocs getting fed, wombats, kangaroos, koalas, tazmanian devils, elephants, tigers, snakes, spiders etc etc!

After Caloundra we moved on to Noosa where we met some great people. However we all got eaten alive by bed bugs :( We are now in Rainbow beach just biding our time as the weather is not so great at the min and our next stop is Fraser Island. We are going with a group of around 7 other people and doing a self drive safari and camping on the island which should be fun!! There's all sorts to do on the island......sandboarding down the huge dunes, swimming through eli creek and the freshwater lakes (Wabby and McKenzie) but ill tell you more about that in the next installment. Sorry this has been so rushed! Hope everyone at home is well.

Speak to you in the not so distant future (if im not devoured by sharks on Fraser that is ;))

Ames xx