We left Sydney early on a wet monday morning and headed to our first stop, surf camp. I wasn't looking forward to this as I'm not really the surfing type but the boys were excited and it helped that we had a friendly, non-judgemental bus. I say non-judgemental because our bus driver made each of us get up and introduce ourselves with question time at the end, Timmy and Sam felt it neccessary to tell people certain things about me and each other that maybe people didn't need to know just yet, thankfully they didn't seem to mind.

That afternoon we chilled out before a party on the beach which we left after half an hour as Sam wandered off and we were worried he had drowned in the sea. He hadn't. The next morning we had our surf lesson which turned out be really good fun. I was rubbish! Managed to stand up once and then couldn't do it again. Worn out and hungry after our mornings hard work we hopped straight back on the bus and headed to Byron Bay.

Byron is Australia's most easterly point and its like living in a bubble. People just don't ever seem to leave. We were supposed to have 4 days there and ended up staying for 2 weeks! I really like Byron Bay, the beach is amazing and its one of the last beaches you can swim in on the east coast. The weather wasn't great on some days but we stayed in the Holiday Village and got an appartment there so we had a TV and lounge area. Luckily for us we were in an appartment with people who worked in the Village so we got free entry and free drinks to a lot of the bars. Byron Bay is also home to Cheeky Monkeys - a famous backpacker bar where you can dance on the tables. Its also home to Sam's brown snake, which he claims nearly killed him (translation: slithered past) and evil b**** woman who trapped us in Wicked Travel and made us spend over $1000 on Fraser Island, Whitsundays and the triple super challenge, although a good deal we resented it because she was so mean. While we were here we spent a lot of time on the beach and in the pool, we snorkelled and saw turtles (on the way back dolphins swam by our boat which was awesome) and got up early to see the sun rise. Many drinks were also consumed plus much dancing on tables.

I loved Byron and was sad to leave although some of the characters there were a bit depressing. A lot of people were running away and seemed to get stuck there, never wanting to leave and doing the same things day after day. After two weeks we found ourselves getting caught up in other peoples dramas and decided it was time to go. On the way to Surfers Paradise we felt the difference as we left the bubble of Byron Bay and re-entered the real world. Unfortunately Surfers Paradise was just not that nice, its like a smaller version of a city you would expect to find in the USA, but not as good. The good things are - its the centre of the Gold Coast (which sounds a lot better than it is) and has a nice beach plus Wet & Wild which is a water theme park and a lot of fun! It cured our hangovers from the Wicked Pub Crawl the night before.

I was happy to leave Surfers, especially as I had booked the wrong hostel and never heard the end of it! Brisbane was next but first we had a stop off so we could go zorbing! This is where you get in a giant rubber ball filled with water and roll down the hill. As I was going to be in a ball with Sam and Timmy I was a bit worried I might come out with a number of broken bones. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as I assumed however Sam did feel I wasn't getting hurt enough and so decided to dive in to me. It was a great laugh and it was a shame it only lasted 4 seconds.

After this we headed in to Brisbane which surprised me. Thought I was going to hate it but actually we all really liked it. Stayed at Palace Backpackers and despite the loud speaker at 10am every morning it is good place to stay, its over Down Under Bar which is great place to go in the evenings with cheap food. While we were here we went to Australia Zoo, home of Steve Irwin. Really good zoo and they do an excellent show where they feed the crocodiles and fly birds round the arena. We were also lucky enough to be in Brisbane for the cricket final between Australia and India which surprisingly I really enjoyed. The boys had been getting me up to speed with all the cricket rules before we went there but nothing could have prepared me for all the drunken Ozzies, most of whom were off their faces by 3pm and getting thrown out by 4. As we were supporting India we were labelled Pom-Indians and a couple of times it looked like the over excited Australians would take our their rage (they were losing) on us. Thankfully it didn't happen and it was a good day, India won, the sun was shining and we avoided all fights. There were also two streakers that day, the first got knocked out by Symonds (an Aussie batsman) which was very amusing, the 2nd seemed to get pummelled by the police, which funnily enough wasn't shown on tv.

All in all a good day although this was where we started to become a bit disillusioned with Australia or maybe we just had high expectations of the country. We were also getting fed up with the Oz Experience, mostly the annoying drivers and its just not as good as the Kiwi Experience which I constantly compared it to. Noosa was next and I really liked it here although we only got to spend one night. Its a really pretty little town by the water. The strangest thing was seeing thousands of bats fly across the sky to who knows where as the sun set.

Next stop: Hervery Bay and the gateway to Fraser Island. We checked in to our hostel and since we were leaving the next day had our welcome meeting that night. We met the rest of our group, there were 9 of us in total and we found out the route we would need to take on the island and the dangers we would find. I got very excited when I realised we would be driving pink 4x4's! That night we went out and got drunk in the park so unfortunately were a bit groggy the next morning. We had a quick run down on how to drive the car and then we set off to the supermarket to get supplies. Everyone was getting on which was a good sign and we made it to the ferry in time to get the boat across.

We went straight in to the 4 wheel driving which Timmy loved as he bounced around along the sand. There are no roads on Fraser Island as the whole thing is sand and only sand. The people in the back with all the luggage found the experience very uncomfortable. We soon realised as we saw other people's cars that maybe we had gone with a cheaper company since most of their luggage was stored in compartments on the roof of their cars. Although our car was pink and named Stinky. We saw a lot of beautiful lakes, Lake Wabbi and Lake Mackenzie are both stunning. The sand is so fine at Lake Mackenzie that you can polish your jewellery. The camping was an experience..... Timmy nearly got attacked by dingoes, our toilet was a hole we dig ourselves and meal times was when we realised that most of the people in our group were very lazy! I drove on the beach which I loved, the first time I had driven anything in 7 months and the boys made me drive on the sand roads so I got to do some proper 4 wheel driving. Loved it despite being worried I would topple the car. We had no problems until the stupid, annoying smelly witch Irish girl drove the car in to the sea water and nearly cost us $2000. Thankfully, due to the weather the tide was higher than usual and the company let us off this cost.

On our return to Hervey Bay, shattered and smelly (no showers for 3 days) we all collapsed and were in bed very early ready for the next bus. Next stop was 1770 where we had a chilled afternoon and only one night, we all loved it and wished we had more time to spend there. Stayed in a great hostel called Cool Banana's and despite never actually making it to the historical town of 1770 which I have heard is really good, we loved it.

Kroombit was next, which is where we got to stay on a cattle ranch. I had heard really good things about this but I maybe didn't enjoy it as much as some people. The ranch was really nice with some lovely walks, but as it was something Oz Experience put together there were a lot of organised activities which after the excitment of Fraser Island it was hard to drum up the enthusiasm for. However they did teach us how to lasso and how to shoot (clay-pigeons) which once again the boys persuaded me to do and I loved. Especially as I beat Sam! Most of the others joined in the goat rodeo where 3 people get in the ring, one has to lasso the goat, the other has to tip it while the third brands the animal. After watching the baby goat run round squealing I decided that I wasn't going to play and was quite shocked to see Timmy body slam one of the goats when it was his turn. That night after dinner we learnt how to use a whip and then sat round watching some people off the bus play games. The ranch had really comfortable beds so no one wanted to get up early the next day, especially as it wasn't until 6pm that we reached Airlie Beach. We were all really thankful to get off that bus!

Airlie Beach is a small town, the east coast has a lot of these. They are only there to serve one purpose. In the case or Airlie it is for the Whitsundays. These are a group of islands that you can sail around. We went on a sail boat and loved every minute of it! Definately one of the highlights of Oz. We spent 3 days living on this boat called Summertime, there were 13 of us plus 5 crew members and we had an awesome time. They took us kayaking, snorkelling and diving, which I tried despite being petrified. Have a huge fear of the sea so Sam said he would come with me, he loved it, I took so long to calm down that I probably didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. Unfortunately the weather was terrible on the 2nd day - there was a lot of sea sickness on Summertime - and this was the day we were going to Whitehaven. It poured down all day but we had such a good group of people with us that everyone got stuck in and played rugby on the beach and games in the sea. It was such a fun 3 days that we were all pretty sad when it was over. Also the first time I had eaten properly in 7 months - the food was amazing!

It was at this point that we realised we hadn't planned our time at all well so we had 3 days in Magnetic Island which is lovely and then a week in Mission Beach where there is nothing to do! We did go white water rafting (the first event in the super triple challenge) here which was amazing fun. It lasted for about 5 hours and I fell out the boat twice! Had quite a few bruises to show for it. After our nothing week at Mission Beach where Sam went slowly mad, we reached Cairns where we met up with Sam's girlfriend Laura. Cairns is here because of the Great Barrier Reef, which we flew over in a plane - beautiful! Also part of the super triple challenge - another sky dive (which I loved) and another bungy jump, this time tandem, so I was attached to Sam, but despite being lower that the 1st and jumping with someone, this time was a lot scarier than the first so had a massive sense of humour failure at the top. All over now though and I definately won't be putting myself through it again.

While in Cairns we also decided to take a mini road trip to Cape Tribulation (oldest rainforest in the world) where we saw crocodiles and cassowarys, huge birds which decide to amble out in to the middle of the road randomly. We stayed in some very small towns where everyone was just a little bit weird and everything shut at 8pm on a saturday. Had a great time and now we are all back in Cairns.

I have had a great time in Australia, but I just don't like it enough (appreciating England a lot more), certainly not enough to stay here until the end of May which was the original plan. So next week me, Timmy and Sam are heading to Fiji!! Woop woop! and then Timmy will leave us and me and Sam are going to Thailand where I can not wait to wake up everyday to something different! Also looking forward to the cheap clothes and the 5* hotels which are 27 pounds a night... yay! Then my trip will take me to Africa where I will start to make my way home.... not long now.....