hey guys,..guess where we are??? NEW ZEALAND, WOHOO!! Just got our camper van a few days ago and we're having so much fun! his name is kirk...we'll put up some pics of him so you can see what we'll be living in for the next 7 weeks! okay so time to fill you in on the last part of Oz.

last updated you before our Fraser Island trip which was amazing! camped for 3 days with a group of 10 people, we were lucky and got a really nice group (some people don't!). we had a large truck to ourselves and got to drive around for those 3 days and did what we wanted basically! saw some amazing sites, one of which was Lake Mackensie which was beautiful (see pics!) and another was lake Wooby which we had to trek over some gorgeous sand dunes to get there..very tiring in a million degree heat! Had to cook for ourselves aswell which was fun in the dark...they gave us lush food aswell! as usual played some drinking games and got a bit merry in the night! laura ended up wrestling in the sea over a flip flop (it was part of the game!) these nights were followed by 5am mornings coz we had to beat the tides as the beach was the road..we managed! one morning got a flat battery coz we ran the lights for a bit too long! me and laura fluttered our eyelashes at a friendly guy in the next camp and he rescued us! saw a fare few dingos that tried to eat all our food but they weren't too bad. both me and lau did some of the driving which was fun/scary! the boys tried to be back seat drivers (i.e sexist) but me and lau put em' right! thats about it for that trip, we had a fab time and it was the highlight of Oz so far and we met some good friends (one of whom will be joining us in NZ for a while).

After this we went to a place called the town of 1770. nice quiet town with a hostel built like a ranch, didn't even have locks on doors it was that nice! did some cool stuff here coz it was major cheap. this included our first aussie surf lesson (we were crap!) we stood once each but we wouldn't call it surfin seeing as we felll off straight away! we rode mini harleys in a convoy around the town which was mega fun (see pics!). also, we went sunset kayaking, which again was sooo much fun, we rode the waves and got hurled out a fare few times! lastly, we went up in a tinnie tiny plane over the town and landed on a secluded beach, this was very cool also!

after 1770 went to airlie beach which is where everyone does their whitsundays sailing trip from. met up with everyone from fraser and had a big night out which was awesome as we hadn't seen them since. following this we did our 3 day trip on a boat. we were so lucky coz the weather was gorgeous and alot of peoples trips had been cancelled coz of the rain before and after us. did loads of snorkelling each day and went to secluded beachs (whitehaven beach - see pics!) slept on the deck, under the stars the first night...how romantic! the second night we got to go to a resort where there was lots of drinking and we also got to stay in the rooms because of the storms (they were cool storms though and they had cleared by the morning). nice group but we preferred our fraser friends! oh and also we ate ALOT..the food was amazing and it was constantly there! you know me and laura, it would be rude to say no!

after this was magnetic island and mission beach, just one thing to say...MONSOONAL RAIN! yep pretty much peeded it down the whole time so not much to report from these places! unfortunately it was laura's b'day whilst we were here but we made a good day of it! firslty we hired a topless car for the day...in the rain (it was tiny! like a barbie car!) then played in the pool...in the rain! and then went for a scrumtious meal in the evening..we were the only ones in the restaurant! it was a restaurant/art gallery so we had our own personal tour and waiter all at the same time!

after this came our last stop of Oz which was cairns and the Great Barrier Reef! again when we arrived we had a big night out with the Fraser people as hadn't seen them since the last night out and also was going to be the last time we saw them coz they were going different places to us :( a few days after we went on another 3 day trip to do some more scuba diving...oh yes me and laura are now pros! it was the best trip ever, total mix of people to get to know. the trip pretty much went food, scuba, food, scuba, food, scuba..you get the point! we saw loads of cool stuff, including a SHARK, turtle and lots of nemo fish! really nice and relaxed even though we had to get up at 6 and dive all day including some night dives (scary mary!) as per usual had a night out with the clan and had a fab time!

we went on another two trips from cairns, one day trip to the table lands which was cool, did lots of swimming in creeks, lakes, streams, waterfalls etc.. one of which was where Peter Andre filmed his music video for 'Mysterious Girl' how cool is that! the other was to Cape Tribulation...where the rainforest meets the reef (not our saying!).

After this we flew to New Zealand...yay!! we flew into Christchurch (south island) and picked up Kirky the Camper, we are now just north of Christchurch and are going Whale watching tomo. it's so much better driving around as you can do whatever you want, stay wherever you want and stop for as long as you want. as you can tell we are loving it, tonight we're staying right by the beach..how cool!

okays, thats it for now. as usual love to all, hope you're all okay and STILL enjoying the british winter (by the way the weather is gorgeous here!) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx