Our self drive tour to Fraser island was our next point of call and we headed up the coast to Hervey Bay for a night where you get organized into your groups and go shopping for eveything you need. We stayed at beaches as they organize most of the trip for you.

To be able to drive the truck you have to be over 21 and it turned out in our group that there were 3 people able to drive, me, Rach and another girl, Louise, being the man and hating women drivers I voted myself in to be the main driver and we were soon on our way driving.

There were 9 of us in our truck, 3 guys, me, Jonny and Harry, then Louise and Rach and 4 Swiss girls. The guys were so funny and we all had a right laugh.

The cars we were in were Toyota Land Cruisers all kitted out for off roading with a big roof rack, huge wheels and some fat suspension. There were 2 bench seats in the back for the others to clamber on to. We drove to the 4x4 hire place from our hostel where we packed up everyones bags and our food, tents etc on the roof, we had to watch some safety videos and have some mean looking guy scare us with all the stories of people dieing recently from flipping their trucks on the sand. After being thoroughly scared the 2 groups got our itineraries for the next 3 days and set off for the ferry.

We arrived on the island about 10am and it was pissing it down. Fraser island is the largest sand island in the world and the wet tracks leading over the island were an interesting first experience of off roading, I'm pleased to say that in all 3 days I didn't manage to get us stuck once (the other group did) there was one point where everyone had to get out while I floored it at a sand bank and bounced up over some rocks, it was so much fun and I can see why people do it as a hobby.
The truck was so top heavy that it's really unstable going along the beach in the soft sand at 60km/h and we had a few fun tail slides as we went along. It was really the inland tracks that were the hardest with huge holes and some big grooves in the road to negotiate, but like I said it was good fun and nobody came back with any bump induced injuries.

The first day on the island was pretty miserable and our first stop was a lake 40 minute walk from the beach, we got out and started walking in the rain and half way Rachel decided she wanted to turn back and I was not impressed. The others carried on so we got to see the pictures at least.

We carried on up the beach and stopped for lunch on the way, 9 people in the back of a truck trying to make sandwiches is well funny.

Further up the beach was the rusting shipwrek of an old army ship that crashed in the 30s, it's a pretty impressive sight to see and we took some cool photos, check them out on Flickr.

By the time we made it up to camp the rain had stopped and we were able to put our tents up, there was a bit of a divide forming as the 4 Swiss vegetarian girls did the shopping, went massively over budget and bought stupid food. Some people made a bigger deal of it but it really wasn't that much of a problem and we all got along fine really.

The 2nd day we had an early start and were up by 6am, we had a long drive up the beach to our first stop Indian head, a decent spot on the coast to walk up and check out some pretty amazing views of the island and a big drop off a cliff. From there we walked along the beach to Champagne Pools, a series of rock pools that waves crash on and create a giant natural jacuzzi effect, the sun was out and it was a gorgeous place to sun it up a bit and chillax for a while.

We drove back to base camp and took a few beers and the frisbee down to the beach to watch the sun go down. You could look in both directions as far as you could see and there was nothing but beach, sea and you, it's a pretty amazing sight.

The next day was our last and we were up early again and heading back inland along some extremely bumpy tracks to get to central station, an old logging camp with some nice walks through the forest. We then continued on to lake Mackenzie, now this lake is amazing, totally enclosed by hills with a gorgeous white beach with the softest whitest sand and crystal clear water that was just amazing, I swear this water was clearer than tap water, colder too! We stayed here for a few hours sunning it up before we had to head back and get some lunch, I think we all wanted to stay longer but we had to get back for the ferry, boo!

On returning back to the hostel we were all in a big dorm room together and cooked up the leftover food, drank beer and played cards, the 3 days had been amazing but we were all going our seperate ways the next day.

So now i'm typing this up as we wait for our bus up to 1770, we're staying up there for 3 nights before we do our sailing tour around the Whitsundays, hopefully the weathe will hold out as some peoplebwe spoke to said there's was ruined by nonstop rain for 3 days.

Laters peeps!

After a short bus ride to Surfers paradise we met Rachels friend Andrea, she took us back to her place in Coomera Springs, she and her family moved out here about a year ago and have settled in really well, her husband Steve is a bigwig at Coles (like Sainsburys) and they have a nice big house with Spa, outdoor pool, 4 bedrooms and the largest ensuite I have ever seen. There 2 kids, Jack and Callum were funny, we went and picked them up from school and they are all Australian.
Staying here was a bit of a luxury for us smelly backpackers and we really appreciated the decent shower and quiet bed for the night.

We couldn't stay long so next day we were back on the bus and heading for Noosa heads, Noosa is a town on the coast with a load of rivers running through the middle of it, the area is really quiet and small and quite spread out. We booked ourselves into a hostel by the river, got a double room which is nice. We met a couple that night and they were doing a surf lesson the next day. That sounded like a good idea so we booked ourselves in too.

$40 for a 2hr lesson is pretty good and it turned out to just be the 4 of us and was good fun, The "instructor" Sarah took us through the basics and hazards and we were out. I managed to catch a few waves but it's a lot harder than it looks, you need a lot of upper body strength to get yourself up and my arms soon began to tyre.
I don't think Rachel was too impressed with surfing and halfway through she got up and went and sat on the beach, preferring to sun herself and watch me fall off instead.

The next day we went to Australia Zoo which is owned by Steve Irwins family, the zoo was an hour or so away by oach and we had some discount vouchers too and thought it was worth going to as we were yet to see and real Aussie wildlife.

The zoo was pretty good, we watched a few feeding shows and visited the "Crocoseum" to watch a crocodile being fed. Crocodiles get ginormous and you would not want to see one any closer, this 5m long thing got out of the water an it was just amazing, there jaws have up to 6000lbs of force which is what they reckon T-Rex would have had, it's mental. There were load of other cool animals about, we strokes Kanaroos and Koala bears but my favourites were probably the Otters that were sisters and did everything together, they were great fun to watch.

I found the zoo to be a tad creepy as it's like a big memorial of Steve and his photos and videos are used everywhere, I guess it's all for a good cause though.

We didn't do much else in Noosa, just chilled out and lazed on the beach mostly, we watched the sunset over the river one day and had a little walk around some of the yuppier areas

Arg, that bus journey sucked. 13 hours up from Sydney, luckily we managed to get a few hours sleep. When we arrived in Byron it was like stepping back in time, it's a small town with a hippy surfer vibe to it. There are loads of little shops, only a few chain stores, all the buidlings are 2 story or less, it's nice.

We went for a walk and found ourselves a decent hostel called the backpacker inn, it's right on the beach and we managed to get a double bed in a 4 person dorm which is also nice, sharing with 2 Swedish guys. The first day we went for a little walk and got some shopping along with some Mexican fast food (such a good idea). We visited the beach which is just huge, it's golden sands and rolling waves stretch as far as you can see in both directions.

That night we got chatting to a guy and he recommended the walk up to the lighthouse, it's about 3km and the weather was nice the next day so we set out, we eventually got to the lighthouse and also visited the most easterly point of Australia whilst we were there (it's very exciting) - then the heavens opened, we were stranded up this cliff in the pouring rain and cold wind with nothing but shorts and tshirts. It was rather funny and so we settled down and waited for the rain to calm, we got talking to the guy that ran the ice cream stand and fortunately he was heading back to town and offered us a lift, we were obviously very grateful, his name was Adam and worked for "In the pink" ice cream shop so well done that man!

Next day we thought we would just chill out on the beach and as our hostel had free bodyboards to use we thought we should make the most and have a go, the waves aren't huge but big enough to have a little splash around in, I was surprised how well Rachel managed to get on, only complaining a little bit about getting dunked.
In the evening we decided to head to the cinema as the weather wasn't great, we watched "The boat that rocked" as we had been wanting to see it since we heard of the release back in the uk. It was very good and I enjoyed seeing a decent British film.

So now we're on the bus heading north to surfers paradise. we are meeting a friend of Rachels who moved out here last year, think we'll just be spending the night there and then moving on again up to Noosa Heads in the morning where hopefully there will be less rain :-)

Yup we've finally made it to Australia, we had a short 9 hour flight from Bangkok and arrived in Sydney airport just after 6am. We caught a minibus to a hostel called Wake Up which everyone has recommended to us and got ourselves checked in to a 4 bed dorm room.

After a short nap we joined about 30 other people from our hostel on a free walking city tour, this guy Joe took us to all the major sights in Sydney, we ate lunch on the steps of the opera house looking out to the Harbour bridge, it's a pretty cool place here. We also walked around the botanical gardens and saw a load of historical places and facts you're never normally get to hear about.

The weather had been alright - around 20c which is good for this time of year but freezing compared to the 35-40 we've been accustomed too.

After an earlyish night we were up and ready to do some exploring ourselves. We jumped on a short bus ride to Manly beach (a big surf spot with lots of yuppy apartments) we sat on the beach for a while and watched some very good and some very bad surfers do there stuff, I can't wait to try it myself!

That evening we were all over the place, we went to meet a man who was sailing up the coast for 12 days and was taking a load of backpackers with him on his 32ft Yacht, we were going to go but changed our minds after a nights rest, we wanted to spend a while longer exploring Sydney, and being all cramped on a little boat for 2 weeks didn't impress Rachel too much.

So after all that we decided to head to Bondi beach the next day, now don't get me wrong it's a very big, very nice beach, but I thought that Manly was nicer.

The next day we stayed closer to home and decided to visit the Aquarium on Darling harbour, there were some pretty amazing fishicles in there. Eels coming out of drain pipes all lit up was like a bad dream and the Crocodile was pretty mean looking, the sharks were amazing... You do not wanna be in the water with one of those fellas!
We also saw the Gougons, there are only 1000 in the world and 3 of them were in this aquarium, they are the animals thought to have been mistaken for mermaids by the drunken sailors years ago, how they could be mistaken I do not know but it was pretty cool to see them anyway.

Next day was the beach walk, we joined a load of people and Joe (from the hostel) for another walky tour type thing, we walked from Coogee beach for a few miles to Bondi, it was really good to start with then poured with rain towards the end and we got completely soaked. We met a nice Scottish couple who had just been in Thailand too.

The day after I hunkered down in the hostel and watched films and ate cookies all day, it was raining and Rachel had gone shopping so I just chillaxed.

1st May was Rachels birthday, 22 - so old! We got up late then caught the bus to the Botanical gardens for a picnic on the grass, I had bought tickets for Rachel and I to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge that evening so we headed over there about 4ish, climbing that bridge was pretty crazy. We had chosen to do the Discovery climb which means you walk between the steelwork with the road visible between your feet, the views of the city from the top are amazing, the city all lit up at night is something you have to see to believe, it's huge! looking into the harbour with the opera house and all the boats is cool stuff. It took about an hour and a half to get to the top, take photos, sing happy birthday to Rachel, then get back down again. So after that we were pretty hungry.
We headed to an area called The Rocks and found a nice little Italian restaurant where we sat outside and eat so much food we thought we may not be able to walk home, we had a fair amount of wine to drink too so that may have been the real reason.

On our last day I managed to get man flu somehow and woke up feeling pretty shitty, we headed out to another park for another picnic and I got myself a little nap on the grass. We snuck back in to the hostel to cook some dinner and hang about for our bus that left at 9. We have bought a ticket for Greyhound which is like a national express that you can hop on and off or up to 45 days, we're planning on travelling up to Cairns taking about a month to stop at places in between, we have also booked 2nights / 3days camping and 4x4ing around Fraser island then another 2 nights / 3days sailing on a Catamaran around the Whitsunday islands. It cost a bomb but sounds amazing so we're really looking forward to that in a few weeks time.

So we finished our stay oh Phi Phi and made our way via ferry to Phuket, we had no idea where on Phuket we wanted to go so picked somewhere from the lonely planet guide. We settled on Kata which is one of the quieter bays, it still had it's fair share of Go-Go bars and dodgy markets though.

To be frank I wasn't so keen on Phuket, it's a big place and one of the very touristy islands, everywhere was expensive resorts and family restaurants, the traditional Thai places were nonexistent here which I think is a shame as surely that's why people go there on holiday? it kind of opened my eyes to how holiday makers could really get a different experience of the country to the one we have had.

However! there were a few perks to Phuket, we got dropped by minibus to Kata bay and started walking to find a hostel when we came across a discreet allyway with a sign for Rico's Bungalows, it looked well expensive but they had a special on for 800baht a night, now whilst this is more than we have paid anywhere else... My word was it nice, we had our own little chalet 3 steps from the private pool, there were only 23 rooms and they all had glass fronts looking into the quad around the pool, this place was so nice that the next day I didn't bother to leave at all, the poolside with comfy leather loungers and all the sun you could ask for was enough for me!

We stayed here for 3 nights and on the last night Rachels friend Leigh came to visit, he only arrived in Thailand that day after 2 years in Australia partying. We chatted til late and drank a bit too much.

The next day we were up early (to my horror) as we had 2 planes to catch, the first was from Phuket to Bangkok then after a few hours in Bangkok we were on our way to Sydney, Australia - how exciting!

It's a real shame to have left Thailand, it's such an amazing country in which I could have stayed forever, fabulous food, great destinations and the nicest people you'll ever meet. I've truly had the best time here, from riding elephants and climbing mountains to scuba diving and partying on the beach we have sooo many brilliant memories to take with us.