Ok so it may be a long post because it as been a while!
After spending a few very drunken nights in Cairns we headed to Mission Beach so the girls could go White water rafting which they assure me was AWESOME! I chilled out on the very picturesque beach but no swimming in the sea due to nasty jelly fish!

Off to Townsville to catch the ferry straight to Magnetic Island. Stayed at Base which is the only hostel on the East coast right on the beach. The weather was beautiful so time was spent on the beach, 8 bed dorm with some English girls weren't great and toilets were a bit of a trek but location made up for it!

We then headed to Airlie Beach to sail the Whitsundays. After spending a day by yet another lagoon (the aussies like their outdoor swimming pools!) we checked out of Magnums hostel (not the best, big musty room with no pillows!) and boarded the Samurai boat led by Pat, Greg and skipper Mark. We sailed out to a spot between Hayman and Hook Island to anchor for the night. After pasta tea we played a few games and went to sleep in our very cramped beds! We were the lucky ones as we had a single bunk and a quite big bed for the 3 other girls, however, they were thrown (literally) out of bed at 6am because they were sleeping on the engine and it wasn't working! After breakfast we sailed to Whithaven beach with its bright white squeaky sand and gorgeous views then back onto the boat for some lunch and on to a different beach for snorkelling and an intro to diving. Great snorkelling. Then another night of games and chanting at other boats! Another morning spent doing even better snorkelling with Elvis fish before heading back to shore been towed by a 50 horse power motor boat pulling a 30 ton sailing ship! With our sea legs we chilled by the lagoon before heading out to Phoenix bar back at Airie Beach for free pizza.
Then onto the night bus to 1770. Personally didn't tink the night bus was too bad but other girls do not agree! Got to 1770 about half 9 and checked into Cool Bananas hostel, room not bad and best showers we've had! We went for a wander to the beach for a spot of body boarding with the surfers. The next day we took full advantage of the free tour of the town and went to a few look out points then tried to go to the museum but it was closed. Instead we headed to Workingman's Beach which was deserted and beautiful. After photos we headed back to the hostel for a shared box of Goon with the guys in our room.

Early morning bus to Rainbow Beach ('the gateway to Fraser Island'). Stayed at Pippies hostel where we had our briefing for our Fraser trip, bit scary thinking about fines if we break the car or deaths if we roll it in the sand! We then got put into our groups, the four of us were with Lee and Ken (Canadian), Rui (American) and Anna (German), just us girls driving so everything went swimmingly until I hit a rather deep creek at 40kmh, whoops! With our expert driving skills we saw Lake Wabby and had some fun rolling down the sand dune into the fishy lake! Then headed to Maheno shipwreck (Scottish hospital ship during the first World War). Arrived at camp and put up tents (Zoe, Lucy and Anna are in a shared hut because Pippies gave us the wrong tent poles!). At a clearing in the bush we saw the Milky Way and the most stars in a nights sky we have ever seen! Early morning start to head to Lake McKenzie over what is known as the Washing machine track! Not as bad as it sounds but glad we were in a 4x4! Lake was stunning, we were the only ones there. We washed our faces in sand (it made them soft, honest!) and brushed our teeth with it!(it's 90% silica, we're not crazy). After spending the day there we headed back to camp where Ken cooked up a veggie pasta dish which was awesome then sat around the campfire with the Aborigines. Woke up, took tents down, packed car and headed to Indian Head to try and spot some sharks, we were unlucky, we didn't see any. Got back to Pippies after seeing Eli Creek and chilled out. Got the bus on Saturday to Noosa but didn't really get chance to see much so we are now in Brisbane and off to the cinema for free later! We love free stuff!