Ben and Jades Around the World Adventure

We left Airlie on a night bus to Rainbow Beach (the place you stay to get to Fraser Island) and just our luck... it broke down. NO JOKE. I am beginning to think we did something bad to a bus driver in a previous life and we are paying for it now. It wasn't too bad, we just had to wait for another bus to come along and jump start us, it was about midnight so we just slept. We got to Rainbow Beach at about 11.00, checked in and went down to the beach for a few hours before our Fraser Island briefing. The sea is alot rougher down here than it is in northern Queensland (Cairns etc) which is why it's so popular for surfing.

We headed back to the hostel for our briefing which entailed watching a very cheesey dvd. Then you get put in a group of 11 people and the next morning get given a huge Toyota land cruiser 4x4, a gas stove, tents and food and sent on your way. We already knew two of the people in our group, we met them on Magnetic Island and they were also on our boat for the Whitsundays, and the rest of our group were really good fun. We set of the next morning after a few hours of preparation, loading the trucks and another safety briefing. This was given by a man named Merv, who was a very cool guy with a number of amusing expressions. The Island is inhabited by wild dingoes, which can be dangerous, so Merv's advice was to stay calm and say "Go home dingoes" if we were ever close to attack. I'm not convinced this technique would have been ideal...! He also warned us about "wash outs" when driving on the beach, which is where the freshwater from inland springs run down to the sea, they can be hard to spot and need to be driven over slowly. Another potential hazard were "whoop-dee-dos", which are difficult to see bumps in the sand that also have to be taken slowly. Once he had shared a few true stories with us about scary things that had happened on Fraser, he sent us off on our way. It was about a 10 minute drive down to the barge which took us over, after that we were on our own!

Our first stop was Lake Mackenzie. Once again, a seriously beautiful place surrounded by sand so white and fine that it squeaks beneath your feet. It was so stunning, it may well be in the lead for the most gorgeous place we have been to so far. The water is crystal clear and we frolicked for a while. After this we headed to a camping spot to set up the tents. Just as we arrived it began to rain so we had to battle against the elements in the dark to put up our tents and attempt to make some sort of shelter. We then had dinner and began partying.

We were up at 6.30 the next morning (which we were impressed with), had breakfast, washed our dishes in the sea and set off up the beach to look at the Maheno shipwreck. We were told that because of the tides we would have to park our truck and walk some of the way as we would not make it over a group of sharp rocks on the way. However... we somehow managed without any problem and arrived at the shipwreck safely. But the tide was coming in... so we had to move fast. We went inland to another lake, this one not as clear but full of turtles which come really close. We also passed a huge sand dune. We had lunch in the middle of a rainforest, don't ask me how a raindforest grows in the middle of a sand island.... nature is a crazy thing. We headed back to a place called Eli creek where we had a nap whilst waiting for the tide to go back out so we could drive on the beach.

We got back to camp safely and proceeded to cook and eat a very tasty stir fry and consume goon. And lots of it. Unfortunately because of the tides, we had to leave early the next afternoon so didn't have a huge amount of time to see the Lake we wanted to in the morning. By the time we had got there and walked the 40 minute walk to it, we only had about 10 minutes to swim!! It was still lovely though, despite us having to rush.

Speaking of rushing.... we had to get to the barge by 12.30, Merv had made this VERY clear, it had to be 12.30 and to say we were cutting it fine would be a serious understatement. We all honestly thought that we would have to hunt and eat a dingo for dinner and stay another night. But thankfully we made it back, with only seconds to spare.

We had such a good time on Fraser, I haven't really done the trip justice on here, it's hard to describe how amazing a place is. Our entire group were so lovely, we were so lucky we had so much fun. We had been warned that getting a bad group makes the trip unenjoyable. This is probably our favourite part of Australia so far.

No internet time left aaahhhhhhh, love Bruce and Shelia x

The Whitsundays are a group of 26 islands just off of the east coast and the majority of trips leave from Airlie Beach which is where we stayed the night before and after our trip. We arrived mid morning after an early bus ride from Townsville. As usual in Australia we had to wait to check in (very annoying) so we went for a wander. Airlie beach is lovely, it's a very small town but has all the essentials. Once we had checked in to the hostel we had to go and check in for our boat which was leaving the next day.

Our boat didn't leave until 2.30 so we sat at the lagoon (similar to the one in Cairns) before leaving. Our boat was called 'The New Horizon', there were 32 passengers, most of them backpackers like us. The crew on the boat were really good fun and looked after us well. The first day we just sailed to a bay where we stoped for the night and had dinner of fish, potato and salad it was so tasty. We stayed up drinking goon with everyone and star gazing, with no artificial light in the middle of the ocean the stars are so clear and bright. Oh and Orion's belt (the constellation) is back to front here...!! There were two huge cabins down the bottom of the boat with beds everywhere, we expected it to be really rocky and consequently difficult to sleep but we managed fine (god bless goon).

The next morning we were up at 7.00 for breakfast and then went over to Whitsunday Island. We firstly stopped at a lookout point from which you can see Whitehaven beach as well as many of the other islands. The view is truly spectacular and at that time in the morning the beach is empty making it even more beautiful. We then had a few hours to wander along Whitehaven Beach, I cannot describe how stunning this beach is, we totally fell in love with it. The sand is so soft, it is the only sand like it anywhere in the world because of it's 98% silica content. People were cleaning their jewellery, their teeth and their faces in it! After a while here we left and sailed a little further for some great barrier reef snorkelling. The water wasn't quite as clear as when we did it in Cairns but it was still clear enough to see the impressive coral and gorgeous fish. That night was once again spent eating a scrummy dinner and drinking (not so srcummy) goon.

Another early morning the next day, we had barley woken up when we were practically pushed in the ocean to snorkel!! It was, as ever, a great experience. We still didn't get to see any turtles but I saw a massive starfish and a leopard print fish! After this we began sailing back to Airlie. The captain had already said that we had the best weather for our trip that he had seen in over a year which was fab but also meant there wasn't alot of wind to sail the entire trip. On the way home though he put the sails up anyway, and we sailed back into Airlie in style!

Magnetic Island is a tiny Island, the majority of which is a national park, a 20 minute ferry ride from Townsville. We arrived at our hostel mid- afternoon and proceeded to conduct the usual exploration of the area. Where we were staying (Picnic Bay) was very quiet but absolutely beautiful. There are numerous walking tracks on the island and we spent our first evening completing one of them which lead up to a huge boulder with impressive views of the island.

The next day we got up early to embark on a horse riding adventure through the bush and onto the beach. It took alot of persuading to get Ben to agree to doing this with me, and when we arrived at the ranch, he looked very nervous and requested the calmest horse they had. So he got paired with one called Danny, which didn't have a tail and I got paired with one called Chloe, which I was informed was a little slower than the rest. Ha. We were given basic riding instructions, and I mean basic, and off we went. It was lots of fun walking slowly through the bush, in and out of mud and streams, until we had to trot. Now the experts make this look very easy. It's not. It is uncomfortable. So we were relieved when we went back to just walking the horse. We eventually got down to the beach where we were allowed to canter the horses. By this point we had gotten used to the discomfort of our inability to trot and so had accepted that cantering was bound to be even more painful. Ben's horse refused to go fast and mine decided that it would do whatever the horse in front did. Which wasn't alot. So we got up to a fast trot... but not alot else. Still, it was fun to feel the wind in our hair in such a beautiful location. We then parked the horses up (of you get what I mean) and took of their saddles etc. We had to get into stinger suits (like wetsuits which protect you from being stung by any nasty creatures in the sea) which are very fetching. NOT. We then got back on the horses, bareback, and took them down for a swim in the sea. This was the most fun part, we were told to stand up on the horses and dive in the sea off of their backs. I wish we had gotten photos, because it really was amazing. We then saddled back up and headed back to the ranch.

We then headed for the mountain to embark upon another of the islands walking tracks. It was hard work, and we walked about 3 kilometres but the views were definitely worth it.

Later that afternoon we headed off on another, shorter, walk to a view recommended to watch the sunset from. After some serious rock climbing, we made it up extremely high on a massive boulder where we watched the sun setting. It was stunning, and the pictures don't do it justice.

After a short spell of sunbathing on the desserted beach earlier today, we headed back to the ferry for a night in Townsville which is where we are now. Nothing much here, just a regular town really. Heading to Airlie Beach tomorrow (at 6.00 am) to sail the Whitsundays, will update when we return.

Hope all is well with everyone at home, we would say we are missing England... but we'd be lying!
Love Shelia and Bruce x

We didn't spend much time here, but the hostel we stayed at was nice, very relaxed. We arrived at about 9pm, so just watched a film (Wolf Creek which is about a psychotic murderer in Australia... good choice) and hit the sack.

The next day we had a walk around, only to discover that Mission Beach is a very small town with not alot going on. So we headed for the beach which was virtually empty. Lots of people skydive over Mission Beach and the landing point wasn't far from where we were sitting, so we had a superb view of the skydivers landing.

We headed off early the next morning.

We landed in Cairns at around 8.30 in the morning. We didn't realise how strict immigration was for Australia, but you are not allowed to take ANY food or drink in whatsoever. They even have a sniffer dog which patrols the queue in case you are hiding a ham sandwich in your handbag. We made it through customs successfully and boarded the shuttle bus to Cairns. Our hostel was more like a resort, with hundreds of rooms, a pool and a bar/nightclub. Annoyingly, we couldn't check in until 2.00 pm, so we went for breakfast and a wander around town before heading back and falling asleep on a table at the bar!

We spent the first few days of hour time here getting accustomed to Australian life, yes they really do say 'g'day mate' and call you 'doll', they also say 'how you going' instead of 'how are you' which was odd at first. Once we were settled, we had our first night out on the town, which began with a box of goon, an Australian backpackers best friend. All it is is cheap wine in a box. It's just under a fiver for 4.5 litres and tastes.... ok. We went to a club across the road from our hostel where we danced on tables and taught a Japanese man the YMCA. Lots of fun. Cairns doesn't have it's own beach, what it has instead is a 'lagoon', an outdoor pool set in a park next to the sea. It is very pretty, clean and tiday. We both commented how if we were to have something like that in England, it would not stay open for long due to vandalism etc. We spent one day here soaking up the sun.

Our last day in Cairns was spent on a sail boat on the great barrier reef. We snorkelled and saw beautiful coral as well as an abundance of colourful, unusual sealife. We were hoping to spot a sea turtle or two, but we unfortunately were not lucky enough. We did see more reef sharks, which we also saw being fed, and even though they are harmless to humans, they still looked pretty scary when they were fighting over food scraps.

We left at about 6pm to go to Mission Beach, a couple of hours drive away.

Oh and Ben got beaten in an arm wrestle by a VERY camp gay American. Highlight of the trip so far