G'day peeps! Just a quick update from us here in Oz so you know where we've been the last couple of days and also where we're heading as we'll probably be unreachable for about 3 days, which I will explain the reason why in a minute.

Saturday we spent a fair portion of the day taking a tour around the Bundaberg Rum factory, which was pretty interesting especially when it came to the testing session where we got 2 full drinks of the lovely stuff. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking off our giddy heads around the town, then filled up our gas bottle so we could cook something to eat, before heading off on the road again.

Sunday we drove into the quaint little town of Agnes Water and booked a surfing lesson with the local instructor. There ended up being quite a big group of people being taught but we still managed to get 3 solid hours of surfing in. The first part of the lesson was beach bound as we were taught how to properly catch a wave and get standing on the board, so as you can imagine we all looked like a bunch of idiots pretending to paddle along the beach! After that we were sent out into the water where we both spent the first hour just falling off but then all of a sudden we both got the hang of it and managed to ride a couple of decent waves into the beach. Kerry looked like a proper surfer chick by the end of the lesson! We've both fell in love with the sport now and would love to take it up although back in England we might have to invest in a dry suit each to cope with the water temperature!

After the tiring surfing lesson we chilled out for the rest of the afternoon at a beautiful little town called Town Of 1770 (really!!) and had a little picnic by a stunning little bay. We didn't go for a paddle though as the water is inhabited by stone fish, which resemble stones found in the shallow waters (funnily enough). A bite from one of these nasty fish could take anything up to nine months to recover from.

Most of yesterday was spent driving all the way up to Rockhampton where we briefly stopped to do our weekly shop of provisions. We then continued on the road eventually reaching the town of Mackay, which is pretty much positioned in a sea of sugar cane! There wasn't a great deal to see in the town although the main town centre was fairly attractive, with palm trees down the middle of each road. As the sun was setting we drove just outside of town to a place called Eimeo. We went to the Eimeo Motel, a famous pub which is perched on a cliff over looking the stunning Coral Sea and local islands, and enjoyed a Schooner of Castlemaine XXXX.

This morning we drove to Cape Hillsborough National Park, 80km North of Mackay, with the hope of seeing Wallabies on the beach at sunrise but unfortunately we arrived a little too late (typical us) and there were no Wallabies to be seen. The sights there were amazing though and we had a nice walk along the quiet beach, where the fringe of the rainforest met the sand. One of our favourite places so far in Australia! We then drove past 90km of more sugar cane up to a town called Prosperine where we have booked a 3 day/2night sailing tour of the Whitsunday Islands! It was a bit pricey but from what we have heard we would be silly not to go.

We will be sailing around the 74 islands on a 28 berth ship called Boomerang, that was used for international racing until 2001. We will get the opportunity to do some snorkelling on the barrier reef and also visit the famous Whitehaven Beach, considered to be Australias most beautiful beach. Both of us are very excited and Kerry has purchased some more batteries for her camera so expect to see 1000 photos from the Whitsunday Islands sometime soon! We're now going to spend the rest of the day looking around Airlie Beach, which is the departure point for tomorrow's adventure!

Take care and we will speak to you in a couple of days to let you know how the sailing went!