So a quick stop off to break up the 9 hour drive to Airlie Beach turned into a four night stay at Magnetic Island. This was basically because I’m too tight to turn down a free nights’ accommodation. My stay on the island also helped me slow down my pace even more. ‘Maggie’ is situated 8km off the coast of Townsville, half the island is a national park and the other half is littered with either huge grey boulders or stretches of white beaches. There wasn...

So this was it, I had finally reached Australia. Two months previously in Bangkok, down-under had seemed ages away but it crept up faster than I thought possible. It was strange but as the plane touched down it felt like a really big deal. Maybe not in recent years but when I was younger Australia was a near in-accessible paradise. A 24 hour flight and the cost of a holiday meant I wouldn’t see Oz until retirement and now here I was, a young 23 year old ready f...