A leisurely start to the day. Breakfast is a selection of fresh fruits (mangos, pineapple, kiwi fruit, melon) with yogurt and toast from a selection of breads. I was already on my 5-a-day before 09:00! We completed a walk around Cape Byron starting at Craigs Beach and walking up the beach from The Pass along Wategos Beach and Little Wategos Beach onto the point. This is very dramatic with surf crashing all around. From there we walked up the headland to the east...

We were planning an early start for the 455km drive past Brisbane to Byron Bay but in the event only managed an 08:00 start. We again shared the driving with me taking the section past Brisbane. In the event we managed to get to Byron by mid afternoon and set about having a drive around to get our bearings. The main landmark in the area is the lighthouse at Cape Byron. This point was named, as are so many others along this coast, by Captain Cook and is the most...

The pick-up outside the hotel was 07:05 where we also met Stuart and Pete from The Netherlands and they became our travelling companions for the day. Stuart was accompanying Pete his father-in-law on his first holiday in 12 years, a 6 week tour of Australia. Stuart, born and bred in West Yorkshire spoke fluent Dutch with a great Yorkshire accent, we felt right at home. Fraser Island is UNIQUE. It is the largest sand island in the world and measures 123km long by...

Today is probably going to be the longest drive of the Grand Tour with 875km over 10.5 hours. Combined with the 9 hours of driving from Cairns it looks like the estimate of 24 hours of driving from Cairns to Brisbane is accurate. Our first experience of a backpackers accommodation was a good one especially on the wallet. These youngsters seem to be able to travel cheaply especially if you are prepared to share a dorm with a few others. An early start again saw ...

The by now normal early pickup saw us inboard the minibus at 07:10 en-route to the catamaran Camira for a day sailing around the Whitsunday Islands. The boat can take 100 passengers but it did not seem that large. In the event only 24 boarded at the marina with the promise of others at an island nearby. The boat had originally been called Tsunami but this was changed following the Boxing Day tragedy. Camira is Aboriginal for wind but unfortunately today was defi...