Wow! Sorry for the length of time between blogs. I've just been so busy seeing the sights! After leaving Melbourne I went on to Sydney and met up with my cousin's husband who showed me around. We had a brilliant time. Got there late on Tuesday 11th September so started at 8am Wednesday 12th September. We went to Centrepoint Tower (the tallest structure in Sydney - its twice the height of the Harbour Bridge) to look over the city but unfortunately we were a bit too sharp and it wasn't open yet! So a quick walk to Darling Harbour to take in some views. When we got to the Tower and it was open the views were amazing, you could see all the way to the Blue Mountains! A bit hazy but they were there. From there we went on to Circular Quay where the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House are. Its so beautiful and its very awe-inspiring to be standing beside such famous landmarks. The water in the Harbour is amazingly clear and I saw a lot of jellyfish (no swimming then!). After walking around the Harbour and the Opera House we went up to an area called the Rocks and had a look around. From there we went back to Darling Harbour, had another walk around and grabbed some lunch, with the view for free! After that we went on to the Botanic Gardens which are like a huge park - free to get in and very peaceful. The typical Aussie thing of course is that it says please walk on the grass! The orchid display was gorgeous. On Day 2 in Sydney I walked the Harbour Bridge. Nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be and definitely worth the price and the effort. Its difficult to describe how amazing the views are, you're not allowed to take your camera for safety reasons but I do have the cheesy tourist pics! That was about it for Sydney. After walking so far I was knackered (last count was approx 16km on the Wednesday and another 7 on the Thursday).

Back up to Thornlands to my cousin Shelley's which was nice, didn't do much on Friday 14th September but did go out on Friday night. Dinner was at the Breakfast Creek Hotel which is pretty famous and managed to find an 'English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish' pub. Which had a pretty good band on - lost a bit of money at the Casino though, but well worth it for the experience. Welcome to Bris-Vegas!

On Saturday 15th September went to the Outback Spectacular. It was a sort of historical/entertainment show about the stockmen and had plenty of silly audience participation. Sunday it was up to Ningi and my uncle Bob's place so didn't do much then. Monday was whale-watching day. We travelled further north to Hervey Bay and then took a boat out to the Bay that the humpback whales come to to give birth. Some amazing sights and a lot of pictures of splashes! But after four hours on a boat I was slightly Moby d*** and glad to get back to land!

From Hervey Bay we went further north again to Bundaberg where they grow sugar cane and make rum! The obligatory visit to the distillery, with tasting, followed. It stinks but the end product wasn't half bad! The next day (Wed, 19th) we did a bit of a tour around Bundy and its surrounds and visited a ginger beer factory - with more tasting! A lot of fun but then the next day was to be the biggest yet.

After starting out at 5.35am to catch the bus at 6am we travelled up to 1770 (yes that is the name!). Caught another boat out to Lady Musgrave Island. Its all been set up so that the boat takes you to a pontoon in a lagoon. Its on the bottom end of the Great Barrier Reef. I snorkelled and saw the fish and coral up close as well as going into a semi-submersible with viewing windows which gave a different view. A lot of effort goes into conservation here so we did a tour on the island as well which was quite informative - its all coral but if you try to take some with you the fine is $1500.

And then today, its really just been spent in a car for 4 hours getting back to Ningi from Bundaberg. Bit of a family barbecue/get-together tomorrow which should be good then back to Brisbane on Sunday. Getting in to my last week now which is sad, but I've got plenty planned! Will upload some more photos soon!

xx