Ahoy me Land lovers!

Sorry, I am still in boat mode, after literally just got off the dive boat from the Great Barrier Reef (complete with computer screen swaying too and fro!). I hope you are all fantablytastic, I was great until about 2 seconds ago. When I was writing 'fantably' Tom came in and informed me that our campervan battery is dead...great! Hopefully by the end of this blog I will be able to tell you what has happened (he is trying to sort it out now!). AAAANYWAY, we have made it to Cairns in the camper...I was going to say without any mishaps! I hope you have all taken a look at the new photos and seen 'Cool Runnings' in all his brilliant glory! Complete with sink...fancy that!

So, we started off by heading though Brisbane to collect ze camper and headed up to the beautiful Noosa which is an upmarket surfing town, with gorgeous beaches and gorgeous weather.We soaked up the sun here and headed up towards Rainbow beach where I attempted, rather hilariously, to drive the camper. It took me 20 mintues to reverse out of a space and I ended up in tears! Suffice to say I am not trying that again, and am now cooking for Tom every night in penance. From here we moved on up to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island. For those of you that havent heard of Fraser Island, it is the worlds largest sand island, and is really something to be seen to be believed. We headed over here on a 4 wheel drive coach, we looked like it belonged in something like star-treck. During the day we cruised along 75 mile beach, which is pretty much what it says on the tin, it just goes on and on! Another highlight was Lake Mckenzie, which is a pool of water sitting above the sand. Its banks are pure white sand and its water is clear. Apparently the water is meant to make you look ten years younger, which frankly, is a little worrying.

After a long day here, enjoying oursleves, we figured it was hightime we tried to find ourselves some work so we headed up to Bundaberg. We spent the next couple of days here offering our services to anyone and everyone, but no-one wanted us (or me!), and the one that did was an old yokel trying to fleece us, so we got out quickly and went on up.

Up from Bundaberg, the scenery changed dramatically, and we spent a day driving through a barren landscape with a petrol station roughly every 3 hours! At one point we took a little detour which ended in us driving down dirt roads that are designed for 4wd's, and are totally void on our insurance (oopps mum and dad!). Again, I nearly ended up in tears, and was generally a screaming wreck trying to get Tom to turn back ('no Liz, it will get better in a minute!). Well, an hour later we celebrated some Tarmac and eventually made it in one piece to Townsville.

If you look at a map you will notice, Bundaberg to Townesville is quite a long way, but all we really did was sit on beaches, so I wont gloat too much.

From Townesville we headed over to Magnetic Island, which unfortunately, despite the name, is not magnetically charged. Here we spent some (more) beach time. We headed out on a walk to a secluded bay which was beautiful and rewarding. Fortunately we manged to get a lift back though as it wasnt THAT rewarding. We saw a beautiful wedding going on at sunsight and had a generally fantastic day, and headed back to Townesville. I am going to add some more photos in a minute, so from here on in should be illustrated as such.

On from Townesville (which is a truly rubbish name) we headed for a day into the Paluma Forest reserve. The scenery changed again here. With the dry land making way for palms and rainforest and as the photos show, a rainforest isnt complete wothout rain. The drive up here was particularly trecherous. Although it had tarmac (thank god... or the Australian government) it was steep and windy, and unfortunately Tom had to deal with a hysterical Liz again. However the view from the top worth it (for me at least), you could see a long swathe of coast and closer to us was the forest. B-e-a-u-tiful.

By the end of the day we had made it too Mission Beach, was is a really chilled out beach front on the way up to Cairns, the weather had changed by this point, and the humidity had well and truly set in. The place was beautiful, and well designed so that you could feel you were on a deserted beach as all of the houses where at least a row of bush from the sea. This area is also famous for its Cassowries, which are an emu-sized bird that is quite aggressive. Unfortunately we didnt see any, but check out the hilarious signs they have up all over the place just in case you lucky enough to encounter one in a car.

Moving on from Mission beach we had one of those random trips that ends in a good find. We though we would head up to a little place called 'Paronella Park' which is ruins of an old house set in the jungle. We headed round it for the day. It was absolutely gorgeous and reminded me of scenes out of the Jungle Book, really gorgeous. They then offered us free camping for the night to stick around for there night tour. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth we inevitably accepted and had an awesome evening, with the park all lit up. If any of you are ever up there check it out!

Finally, we moved on from here up to Cairns. Where we are at the moment. We only arrived last night but today we went scuba diving on the Barrier reef. It was our first dive since we got certifed in Fiji, and was fantastic! I had the normal problem of buoyancy and seemed to swing between sinking like led balloon and bobbing around on the surface, but other than that we remembered all the important stuff (like 'is you see a shark!=put your hand to your to the head'). We took loads of photos (like 50 in half and hour) but they are on a disposable dive camera so I will have to scan them in when they are developed. We saw giant clams and lots of pretty fishies. We then went for a snorkel at another sight and saw a gorgeous sea turtle. We played around with it for a while. It was really happy and curious of us, and the 'official photographer' took a couple of photos which I have just added. We have had a fantastic day, it was just incredible and is something we may never get to do again, with the effects of global warming and over-fishing on the reef. It is incredibly sad to think of such a beautiful thing dying when there are things that can be done to prevent it, and it provides a stark reminder to be concious of our effects on the planet.

Anyway, I have just been informed that someone is coming out to jump start the van, as the hire company have 'taken care of it', I hope this doesnt cost too much!

Just a quick note on the camper. We are having a great time in it! Its is 'cosy', but all good fun. The only problem I am having is with the wildlife. I had a huuuuugggeeee spider walk over my foot whilst I was cooking the other day. I went to the loo and had a frog jump on me TWICE, and also on another interesting toilet trip, looked up to see a possum staring back at me, about a meter away. Tom hasnt been completely void of the fun wither with a hairy catterpillar the size of a mars bar walking over his foot whilst he was enjoying a nice beer last week.

Thanks for your messages as always. It is nice to stay in touch, we are half way through now! Over the next couple of weeks it is back down to Brisbane (or Las Brisbane as the Ozzies call it) and then Singapore, whoop.

Miss you all lots, take care,

Liz and Tom xxx

****UPDATE**** Cool Runnings is now fixed, disaster averted!