Hey hey

how is everyone???

urrrgh this is going to be really rushed as im paying for internet but here it is briefly what ive done.

back in brisbane yet again 5th time so far, still cant believe ive been here 6 months and havent been out of Queensland but not for long sydney soon. staying in Brisbane backpackers again same one as all those months ago when we were heading into the unknown.

tuesday 15th
so caught the overnight bus and it was hell, we did get a double seat each but it was freezing and so so so uncomfortable, and just as id get to sleep there'd be a stop grrrrr. anyway arrived Hervey bay bout half 9 am and got the free bus to our 6 pound a night hostel. which was surprisingly not a dive, was the best so far id reckon better than the ones we've been paying double for.
had a walk into town and met bec's friend Mark who is going to be doing the Fiji part with us and had some lunch then we got some food in, did a bit laundry, booked a few hostels and packed our bags for frser Island. we were in bed by half 7 obscenly early but we were both shattered.

wednesday 16th -

Went to fraser island today on the ferry and then arrived and met Wayne our Ranger then boarded a huge truck/coach.
'This isnt greyhound' first thing wayne said, and that we needed seatbelts as we'd be flying on to each others laps if we didnt. was good fun, butt left the seat a few times going over huge bumps and we were thrown about quite a bit
went to basin lake which was really pretty but then the rain came so we had to run up the beach and hide in the trees managed a bit of a plodge when it stopped but didnt need to swim as we were wet enough!


we then headed out to central station (an old logging station) where we had a huge buffet lunch and saw our one and only dingo of the trip. Next up was a walk along Pile Valley, and a creek which was pretty picturesque but had to watch your feet constantly as there was logs all over the path. Had muffins cookies and tea then got back aboard our truck. Last place of the day was Lake mackenzie, which had the clearest water and whitest sand ive ever seen was gorgeous, but again the rain came and we were back on the bus before the worst came.

went to the dorm after that and then to the bar, had tea then a few games of pool with some germans then we went to bed.

Thursday 17th
went and had breakfast and then got on the bus along the beach to the champange pools, sand blows, coloured sand pinnacles and indian head as well as the mareno ship wreck. Was raining most of the day so didnt spend that much time outside the bus looking about.

hummed and harred about getting the 5pm ferrry or the 8pm ferry back which included a free tea and being the cheapskates we are, we decided to wait 3 hours with nothing to do and had our free tea and got the 8pm ferry back with all the workers who had finished for the day. was fairly choppy on the way back and i thought it would be fun to go on the deck, haha nearly fell overboard and i just shrieked and ran back inside haha much to the amusement of all the men.

got back into the hostel - smae room and our apple juice was still there whoop haha. had a really strange german woman in our room, who really enjoyed stripping off while she was talking to us yuk!

friday 18th - booked out and left the hostel at 6 and boarded of Greyhound Bound for Brisbane .... again!! took us 6 hours. but we're here now and it hasnt stopped raining since, me and bec have bought snazzy matching pink and white umbrellas but sods law as soon as we did it, stopped raining. so we are dead excited for it to rain again so we can be all matching and dry whooop. haha

Met up with Jack again who we did the ranching course with he's working at the hostel now but wouldnt give us any free nights boooooo. ended up chatting with him for hours.

our room in Brisbane backpackers hostel is the smallest room ever with 8 beds in it. we just opened the door and the smell of blokes was overwhelming and there was stuff everywhere, bearly a pathway from the door to the free beds. there was me and bec a german girl and the rest were blokes.

3 of them were irish and were a good laugh actually ended up coming out clubbing with us in brisbane when we met jack.

sat 19th - arrived in Surfers paradise late afternoon and again it was pouring down. hostel room was prettty big and spacious this time the total opposite to the Brisbane one. decided to go on the big gold coaast backpackers night out, a huge barcrawl round surfers paradise couldnt really be bothered cos i was cold and tired and it was pouring down outside but it turned into a really good night and we got free glowsticks and a cowboy hat and we all looked really silly but it was good. waited an hour in a taxi queue when the hostel was only a half hour walk away but we hadnt a clue which direction and street it was on so decided against it.

sunday 20th - woke up and hit the shops and stopped off to watch a surf competition, tried to nab some freebies from girls in bikinis promoting the event but failed miserably. had some lunch then went to the beach only it got really cloudy and cold so we ended up going for a massive walk along the beach, which was fun. came back had tea and chatted with the girls in our room for a bit then just conked out really early again, think we're getting old cant handle 2 nights out in a row anymore - whats going on ???

monday 21st - packed and booked out then headed to the beach for the morning. took our bags into town with us to get some lunch and bec met her mate hazel then we left for the Greyhound and arrived in byron a few hours later.

the hostel in byron Middle Reef Beach house was soooo nice more like a hotel and a uni house all in one, we had loadsa room, nice beds and it was clean!! best one so far id reckon

...... oh and we booked a skydive!!

tuesday 22nd - today i woke a little nervous of the skydive but thought we had hours so didnt stress to much, then when we were in a shop down town bec got a phonecall saying you can jump now so we said yeah and had to rush back to the hostel change etc and the bus was waiting for us. ended up waiting an hour though so id calmed down quite a lot. got suited and harnessed up then into the plane we got after only a 2 minute practice of what to do!!

was pretty cosy in the plane everyone sat between each others legs crammed in, the views were amazing and kept my mind off the actual jump. we were filmed the whole way up and i had a guy jumping to film me and one strapped to my back to shove me out and for me to land on if the parachute didnt work haha na not really! knew we were getting close when the goggles had to go on and the straps double checked and tightened, god i was papping my pants. becky went first then me second hanging on the side of the plane was the most scary thing ever then whoooosh and i was falling from 14000ft!! it was the coldest i have ever been and i couldnt scream or breathe, but it was amazing in a wierd way. i could feel the skin on my face flapping which wasnt nice haha and my lips were pulled up and i had no choice but smile. i was filmed the whole way by a guy jumping with a camera and hes managed to capture the sheer horror on my face just as we leave the plane eeeeew and i have a gross flap of skin on my forehead and my cheeks are flapping away haha. me and bec had a right laugh afterwards. anyway then the parachute came out and you got to relax breathe and actually take in the scenery, could see all the way to surfers paradise and right over byron. cant believe how little time it took to fall that far but the landing went well, i was so shaky when i came to stand up and said something totally cringeworthy like thanks for not killing me to the bloke and then hugged him hahaha urrrrgh anyway its all on dvd and its pretty funny and embarrassing too.

back to byron and had lunch then a long walk along the beach but i had a massive headache and becky had bad ears so we went back to the hostel and watched a dvd, made tea, showered and went to bed.


wednesday 23rd - a cloudy cold day so we just walked around town went on the net and watched tv back at the hostel most of the day have been pretty bored really. getting the overnight bus to sydney tonight taking 13 hours urrrrgh gunna be hell and cold. have packed my fleece, scarf, snugpak jacket and jeans for when the aircon kicks in!!

yep it was very cold and the bus was packed so no double seat, it was upright sleeping all the way which wasnt so fun.

thursday 24th - arrived in Sydney in the pouring rain, bright and early this morning wasnt so fun trecking round the city trying to find the hostel, i was dying for a wee too and the waist strap on my bag was trying to push it all out and it was agony. found the hostel after a 45 min walk and got into our room. A lovely twin room it is mum! thanks for paying but at 89 dollars a night a square room with a bunk bed in was not what we were expecting! Alos the beds werent made and there was beer cans and rubbish on the floor!

nevermind, showered,did some washing and then headed out in search of the sights. saw harbour bridge and the opera house, got snap happy and becky walked into this old mans nose haha and it nearly knocked her into the water, she had a red bump for a while too. then walked round the harbours untill it started chucking down we got drenched as we didnt have our pink and white matching umbrellas with us grrrrr that we had so desperatly wanted to try out!!

had tea then ended up getting very tiddly and giggly on free champagne in Scary Canary the bar next to our hostel last night. it was ladies night and for 2 hours there was free champagne so we took full advantage and must have drank maybe more than a bottle each!! ...... still in bed by half 10 tho!!

friday 25th - hangoverless we woke this morning and set of in search of things to do. ended up wathing the ANZAC day parade which is for all the australians and new zealanders that died in the wars. was pretty good to see but it lasted for ages so we gave up and went up the Skytower and did Oz trek which is a simulated ride through australia on moving chairs was good fun.

had some lunch then went for what we thought was going to be a leisurly cruise on the harbour but no we booked on a jetboat as it was 2 for the price of 1. we were zoomed about the harbour doing tight 360s and sharp turns, getting wet and windswept but it was really good fun and we were singing away to the music when we werent screaming.

came back wet and cold so we had a hot choc and sat in the sun. did some shopping and i bought a coat which is really nice but again i didnt need!! i know ill regret it when i cant afford my bungy jump haha.