Well, this is the final update from Oz and we'll be glad to get out of here in one piece! (see pic of brians foot)

We headed off from fraser island up the coast to The Whitsundays and the great barrier reef. There we went sailing on an old timber tall ship called the 'alexander stewart', on a 3 days cruise around the great barrier reef and whitsunday islands. We snorkelled, went bush treking, sailed and slept under the stars and moon on the open top deck of the ship - how romantic! The colours of the fish, corals and water were absoulutely fantastic! We had to wear the most embarassing black "baby gro" lycra suits to protect us from the killer stinging jelly fish - very attractive, NOT! We meant to get a few photos of us in these, but convieniently didn't have time. We also met a great dutch couple on the boat from Amsterdam - he was some laugh and used to be a roady for the steriophonics & the rolling stones, so he had a few stories to tell. He was a great guitarist, singer and beatles fan - so we were all up till the small hours singing away - happy days!xx

Then a little bit of bad news - Brian been stung on the foot with a large flying swamp fly (at first the doc thought it had been a spider bite until she cut the swelling open and found the big sting) His foot and ankle is swollen and he is on antibiotics - though should be ok.It's been a bit of a downer to the end of Australia, though hopefully it'll get better soon. So we have had to cancel our diving trip and just chill for a few days, which is not hard to do out here. So it's off to Singapore we fly tomorrow and will stay there for a few days while brian recovers and rest his foot before we get the train up through Malaysia. That's where the real backpacking adventure and change in culture begins... only 5 weeks left !!!!

Love Brian & Marianne xx