G'day guys! I hope all is ok in England, im sure the weather is cold and life is running in the normal routines! I can't remember the last time i sent a big email, i think it was when i had justed arrived in Melourne; so here comes another! Since Melbourne we have travelled as a 5, the four of us from school and we have picked up another guy from bedford school, josh! We have travelled north up from melbouren to sydney, byron bay etc......and at the moment we are in Hervey Bay. In Melbourne before we left we met up with John Butten, who took on an amazing day trip down the Great Ocean Road. We had a very busy day, saw Torquay and the famous Bells Beach surf prior to moving on for a walk in a Rainforest to see some amazing waterfalls. We then headed on to see The 12 apostles, london bridge, thunder cave - some amazing scenery with simply mindblowing geology!! We made our way back to Melbourne where we spent a night before boarding our first Oz Exererince bus, it was a 4 day bus trip between melboure and sydney. We had a great group but a slightly odd leader, we spent a night in Foster after visiting the awesome squeaky beach! It actually squeaks! Spent the next day wine tasting, and staying in a weird country retreat. Picture this; we are in the middle of nowhere, eating only veggy food, sitting round a camp fire that is next to a temple and surrounded by monks! We were all a bit tipsy from the wine tasting, and the crates of beer we were made to buy, so it was a very funny night! We went to Lake Jindabyne, it is a town that is famous for its skiing in the winter but watersports in the summer. So we took advantage and i went water skiing and then hot dogging! Drove to Mt Kosciuosko, aus's largest mountain. The following day we did a flying visit of Canberra; with a tour around parliament house and lunch we moved on, arriving in sydney that evening. We arrived a day after the world famous madi gras, and the place was full of queens! We spent 5 days in Sydney, in that time we went out a lot to experience the australian culture! Slept most mornings but we did have time for the tourist things! We saw the bridge, opera house, circular quay, BskyB Tower, Oz trek etc.. Syney is such a cool place, we went to the 3 main beaches, Manly, Bondi and Coogee. All vey nice, Bondi was a bit tacky and i got stung by a bluebottle jelly fish, (i've just remembered i havn't told my parents this! sorry m+d!!) the lifeguards sorted me out and i was fine after an hour. We caught the next Oz Experience bus from sydney on a saturday morning after a heavy friday, Oli and steve hadn't returned by 6am! This was a slight issue with the bus departing in 10 minutes! They missed the bus beacuse they arrived 10 minutes late and the guys on the waiting list had taken their places. So myslef josh and mike had to continue on our own! We were travelling north to Bryon Bay. We stopped in Barrington Tops National park for a night, we were 30km from the nearest house down dirt tracks! We stayed in very basic huts made out of tree braches on corogated iron. We were on a river, absoluety awesome, we swam for hours in the river and sat at the bottom of rapids - it was like being in a natural spa pool! That night we also did a 45 minute night kayak, we did this in single boats down grade 3 rapids, it was so much fun. The following day we moved up the coast to Mojo Surf camp near Cresent Heads, we had 2 3 hour surfing lessons, a big aussie BBQ and a good night of partying on the moon lit beach. I was standing on the waves, well at least some anyway! It was then onto Byron Bay, we stopped at Coffs Harbour where we had a picnic lunch and saw a pack of Dolphins! We met back up with Oli and Steve in Byron Bay, they had to catch pubic bus! But they missed out on 3 awesome days, and the moral of the story is if you are gunna get drunk wear a watch!! We were in Byron Bay for 4 days, we surfed, relaxed, ate and drank!! We had a meal out with our Oz Exp groupo the night we got there and then the following day we had a massive BBQ at sunset on the beach! We had a great time, even some swimming at midnight! Steve, Josh and myself went up to the most eastern point of australia and 5am one morning to watch sunrise. We got up there, sat by the lighthouse and the clouds just rolled in! We couldn't really see anything spectacular! We left Byron Bay and headed to Surfers Paradise, we were in Surfers for St Patricks day! It is a weird place, very touristy, high rises and not a place i would return to! But we had an awesome night out with free entry to clubs and free drinks with our hostel rep! The following day we slept it off on the beach and caught the bus again up to Brisbane! We went Zorbing that afternoon, with is so much fun! We were in groups of 3 in a big inflatbale ball rolling down the hill!!! That evening we were in Brisbane, we were only there one night, and we met up with some guys we travelled Inida with for a BBQ. It was a great night with ended in swimming in the inner city beach/pool they have in brisbane. From Brisbane we were on the bus again, stopping at Noosa and Rainbow Beach before Hervey Bay. Noosa was a very nice place, with cool cafes and bars, but too expensive! Rainbow beach didnt really have a lot to it but we learnt how to play the didgeridoo, with a locals demonstration. We arrive in Hervey Bay that evening, we sorted out our Fraser Island trip. The following morning we were off, after a group shop we were ont he ferry! We were with 4 girls from essex (!!) and we had a great time! As you may well know this area of the world is experiencing some very bad weather at the moment, with cyclones just norht of where we are. We had 3 days on fraser Island, we had awful weather, I have never seen rain like it! It was great fun and we had some great time driving some challenging sandy terrains! We did return exhaused and soaked though, and the tents were useless!! And eventually we are up to today!! I have done laundry, slept and am about to have lunch!! We leave here tommorrow, to go to Kroombit a cattle station. We are meant to be sailing the Whitsunday Island next tuesday, but at the moment it isn't looking great with the 2nd cyclone on its way. All we can do is wait and sit out the bad weather! I look forward to hearing from you all!! Love Rob x