Australia

We stayed in Noosaville which is right by Noosa was a very small town, when we arrived we were looking for a place to stay, we stopped at a campsite to see if there was room available, and there wasn't but it was a good spot to stop as we managed to catch a man preparing fish for the pelicans, and the river was really nice to see in the late afternoon. We managed to find a place called the Noosa river retreat, a motel with a nice little kitchen in with the living room and dining area, and pool outside, but it was a shame as we couldn't use it, by this time it was too cold. I stood outside for a while to have a smoke and I started to see the bats again flying in the night sky, I was so pleased that I had seen them again because I could show my Dad how amazing they were. We decided to stay in this night and grab take away as it had been a long drive. We brought Indian and planned the next few days ahead in front of the telly.
The next day we took a drive to Keyser Island to go on a camel ride! To get across the river we went on a strange platform in the car which sailed us across, and it was a short drive to the Camel farm. I was actually a bit nervous as it said outside on a notice that camels are very unpredictable, and we had to sign our lives away. I have always been a little scared of horses so this was strange as they were much taller as well. A guy who worked there brought all the Camels out down a road so that we could get on them safely, he sat them down so we could get on, and I noticed that they fold there legs under themselves, they are double jointed. It was surprisingly comfortable sitting by the humps, and they moved very differently to a horse, they swayed more from side to side. We took a ride through the bush areas that lead us to the beach, it was a very nice day and nice to take in the view, but the man who was leading us didn't say very much, and the camels were to walk very slowly.
Dad and Julie were going to do a trip along the everglades here too, but I thought it would be a waste of money as you could see them from the riverside already, and even though they are beautiful they would be the same all along the river, and the boat would not be like the one you see in the James bond movies!

The first couple of days in Hervey bay were very quiet for me, I didn't meet anyone to talk to so I was on my own a for a little while, but it went fairly quick because after my trip from Bundaberg I was very tired, and I fell asleep around 6pm and woke at midnight the first day with nothing else to do but sleep.
I had a great breakfast the next day at a cafe straight across from the hostel I was staying in, which was gorgeous, and there was a rainbow with so many birds coming down to be fed by the lovely lady in the cafe. The weather wasn't great though, so the lady in the cafe called a taxi for me to take to the beach front (she even offered her rain jacket to me to borrow). I remember being shocked at the price for the two minute drive down to the beach! I walked along esplanade for a good couple of hours and took in all the quiet little cafes and beach stores, then decided I would walk back to the hostel.
I called my mum that night to have a chat as I was feeling down, and it made me feel a lot better and just excited about when my Dad would arrive in a few days after I had done my Fraser island tour. I had a phone call from my Dad that night too which was great, as I was just wittnessing something pretty amazing in the moment he called. There were thousands of bats flying over my head in the dark. They were very low so I could see they were enormous and the outline of them all as they flew was beautifull. I had seen this before in Bundaberg too, but It was just as amazing the second time.
I was very nervous about the tour though as I hadn't met anyone in the hostel yet and I would be put into a group of people I had never met. The morning we were due to leave I never woke to my alarm and I had to run to the resturant as I was already 5 minutes late, but luckily it wasn't too imbarrassing as everyone was queing for bag tags and envelopes for there belonging anyway!
I sorted all my luggage and sat on a chair waiting to have my name called wandering who I would spend the next few days with. It turned out I was put with a german couple, dutch couple, twins from england and an english guy. We sat down on a table together and started to talk, everyone seemed very nice and I was happy to be part of the team! TO BE CONTINUED .....

Well what can I say about Bundaberg there is so much! My first day I arrived I was so pleased to be there, it was the best looking hostel I had seen so far, and they were very organized for work! It did used to be a prison though and there were cameras everywhere but still I really liked it. I booked into my room, a six dorm with king sized single beds it was empty, everybody was out, but I soon met my room mate Laura. She was from England too. As I was talking to her we realized that her friend at the hostel, was also from my home town Stevenage, it was so strange and I couldn't wait to meet her to see if I recognized her. I didn't know her, but I knew were she lived and one of my friends lived close by, so I mentioned her and it turned out we shared the same friend from little old Stevenage, Sam!
Laura took me out and showed me around Bundaberg the second day, and told me that the locals didn't appreciate us backpackers very much, and they were all a little strange. The town was not so nice, but at least I knew where everything was and I could go and buy some cheap clothes for work. We also went shopping at IGA the cheapest food store around, just to get some basics so could get things together. Laura also introduced me to Dereck, a really nice Canadian guy, the only thing was we only ever had one full conversation and then we couldn't find anything to say after that, just general chit chat. Laura left after a couple of days, and I was a little bit of a larry, but it was my own fault as I didn't put myself out there and start up any conversations. One night I noticed I was on standby on the working list, so I asked some boys, does this mean I have to work if I am called or do I have the choice as I have no lunch, and need some old clothes. One of them offered to make me up some food for my lunch which was very nice and I managed to find some clothes. The guy's name was Rick, he really took me under his wing, and from then on we were friends, and I was friends with all his friends soon after (Josh, Tom, Ross and Adam).
My first day at work I was up at 4.30am in the morning and ready to go, we got outside and everyone jumped onto the big bus in all their work clothes, but the bus didn't start, half of us backpackers who really just want to sleep had to get off the bus and push! It took us around 20mins to get there, I had never seen crops in real life, they were much bigger than I had imagined. With the cold air of the morning on us and a little bit of daytime coming through, we all put on our gloves and grabbed our buckets ready to start picking Zuccini (courgets), I was actually very excited to start, until I had started. After 10mins of bending over to pick them my back was in agony with a weird sensation of being numb at the same time. We were told we would earn $2.50 per bin that we had filled, and after one hour, with a little help from one of the other workers emptying my bins for me, I managed to fill three. So in one hour I had earned $7.50 before tax. I decided sod this my back is worth a lot more, and went to stand with a couple of Asian girls who were also going home, the farmer was ok he said "no drama", and I spoke to my hostel manager about the work on the way back to the hostel.My manager was not so happy as he said the farmers can always use another hostel if people keep walking off the job! I said to him I was not aware how hard it would be on my back and didn't want to spoil his business by walking away from farmers so maybe packing was better for me if available. He was ok with me for some reason but not the Asian girls! I had work packing a couple of days later. I was in a tomato factory and building the boxes they go into for five hours, it was very boring but different!
We would never do much at the hostel unless we were working, as the town was not very nice at all. I had a lot of good nights there though. One night I went down to the skater park with the guys, and because no one had a mp3 with speakers, they took a big stereo. I had to stand back for a while to laugh as they were all strutting down the road ahead of me to the doors with their skateboards in hand. I had a go at skating but the best I could do was go in a straight line until I fell off, or sit down on it and roll down the ramps! All the guys were so nice to me and looked out for me. Except Ross, he bad new in the time that I knew him and he would confide in me a lot, I really felt I took care of him as he was only young as well.
In the mornings the manager of the hostel would always laugh at me because he knew I was not a morning person and we would have a little banter. I did like to see if anyone had been late though, because at cellblock if you were late out of bed Michael a funny German guy who worked their would come into the room and electrocute you with a cattle prod. Not many people were ever late lol! Michael was always teasing people about the prod and always throwing people in the pool. I think in one month I must have seen 20 people go in head first including myself twice, once with my mobile in pocket!
There were so many people at the hostel, I would talk to everyone and so did most people, but were a couple of big groups traveling together. There was the French lot, very nice, I mostly spoke to Leandro as from the beginning he would always pull funny faces at me and he say pou pou pou, he was a crazy French guy but he made me laugh. Then there was the Irish group also really nice lot, I mostly spoke to Martina as I worked with her for four days packing sweetcorn and it was really boring so we would play mind games to keep our brains switched on. I have seen the Irish and French have a drinking competition and believe it or not the French won by far. They had some really funny games they made up (tomato and cucumber) I also worked with Kylie a girl from wales and Elz she was from somewhere near Devon all four of us packed corn together we were a team! Elz was also my room mate along with macca who I called Maggot and Mathew another very funny French guy, we would always talk in our room to and it was so funny two English one Irish on French and a Korean girl all trying to talk to one another sometimes it was hysterical.
I also met a guy from Leeds that I really got to know, and he introduced my to his friends and his friends girlfriend, Anica was her name, and I am so glad I met her. She was from Sweden, and she was just a very beautiful person. She was older than me but we connected as friends and for me she was something else, I a m not sure what, but special. One morning I was not feeling so good, and I had slept until 2pm, because Anica was worried she got someone to let her into my room and then woke me in the nicest way, and we had a night i will remember for ever in the magic garden, we laughed so hard for so long it hurt. Anica introduced me to the Irish brothers too William and James. I never spoke to William much because at first I couldn't understand him, but James and me would chat a fair bit, he was always making jokes!
We had a pimp and ho night at the hostel too, which was a laugh, I was drinking the good ol Bundaberg Rum, and my outfit was as a police officers, as I had nothing else. It was Nats uniform she had to wear behind the bar sometimes as the hostel it was called cellblock after all. Everybody's outfits were great, all come together from old second hand store things. Every weekend people were drinking in the hostel and sometimes in the week. Or there was one club called central I went to a couple of times, it was ok, me and elz had a really great dancing night there. If we wasn't doing that it was just a case of sitting around the pool, or the outside tables by the bar, or even crashing out in the tv room.
The morning that I left TO BE CONTINUED......

This morning Carter woke me very early in the morning to say goodbye, so I said goodbye to my only friend in oz, had a little cry, then went back to sleep to recover from my hangover. When I woke I noticed a couple of new people had arrived, they both had very big smiles, it was as if they were welcoming me even though i was there first. I introduced myself and we got along like house on fire, I was invited to join them for drinks later on that evening.
I got ready to make the most of my day and went for a little wonder around the town again, then sat on the beach and took a few pictures trying to pass the time. I remember it started to get cold so I wondered back sat out on the balcony all night having friendly chats with Ryan and Aaron! It was a great night and made me feel that I was going to be ok on my own, meeting new people a lot quicker than traveling as a couple anyway. The next day I had decided to go to the beach again, and Ryan joined me, there were loads of people that day, all playing volley ball or just tanning themselves, a very relaxing day! We grabbed some dinner after a little while from a little pizza place I had been to before with the boys and Jenna. Then we headed back to find more people had arrived, three Irish girls and Kelly. The Irish girls were already starting to get on the goon lol they had there music loud and were playing all the drinking games you could ever think of, again it was a nice evening out on the balcony. I also started to get to know Kelly a little better she was a very smart, lovely person to have met : )
The next morning we all got up and Ryan, Kelly and Me decided to go on a trek through the bush. I realized I had left my trainers in Mission beach though so I made do with flip flops, and was quite looking forward to it. We all went and brought some water, and some food for when we got there, and I claimed some black bags from Subway, because we thought that it was most probably going to rain. The people in Subway must have thought I was very strange asking for three black bags, it was quiet funny, and turned out to be a lovely day anyway. When we got there I noticed a sign that said 2.4km, I asked Ryan and Kelly how far this was and they told me about a mile! I thought peace of cake lets do it. I think about quarter of the way there I was exhausted, whilst Ryan and Kelly were just taking it in their stride. This is the effects of no exercise and smoking for five years! I kept on going though trying to not think about how fast my heart my was beating, and how red I must have been, and I made it finally to the top. The view was amazing, we could see the whole of the whitsunday Islands from up there, it made the effort all worth while and I knew going down hill would definitely be much easier! We stayed up there for a while eating our lunch, taking in the views and talking it was great, but we soon had to leave because it was starting to get cold.
I was right it was much easier on the way down, and I was able to enjoy the forest a lot more, it was very beautiful! Once we had arrived back at the hostel I gave Jenna a ring to see if she wanted to grab some lunch, but she had already made plans with Errina, and invited me along, so I decided yeah why not. It was a great lunch, sweet potato chips, but the conversation was not so good! Once we finished lunch we all went back to the hostel and I went my separate way again, I noticed there was even more distance between Jenna and Myself for some unknown reason. Back in my room was another new arrival John, he was a really nice bloke, and came from somewhere close to my home (somerset).That night we were all playing drinking games early, except Kelly, she was in bed quiet early as she was leaving early the next morning to go to the whitsundays, so I got her email address and got ready to go out. We all started in the beaches bar, and again ended up in shinanigans, but only for a little while, by that time I felt I had drunk way to much so I went back to my room and slept like a baby!
The following day Ryan and Aaron were also leaving to do the whitsundays, so we planned to spend some time together before they left. As we came downstairs to go for breakfast I noticed that Jenna was handing her bedding to reception, she had planned to go on the whitsundays with a couple of girls she had met, from Carlisle. I thought this was a little unfair as she didn't want to come with me and I couldn't understand why, she had said she was scared of boats, and she hadn't bothered to tell me that she was leaving either. Still I wished her luck, and then continued on to have breakfast in a cafe with the boys, after breaky we wondered down to the beach for the last hour or so together. It was soon time for them to leave, and I was feeling more and more alone now, I just met some nice people and it made me think meeting people would be a easy, but I forgot the fact that people always move on and Jenna had gone too. We all stood up wished each other luck and said fair well. Then they headed towards the docks, while I decided to stay on the beach and gather my thoughts for a while. The more and more I thought about things, I actually come around to meeting new people all the time, I was excited, and knew I was going to be ok, I even booked my bus for the next destination on my own to leave that night at 11pm.
I didn't have much to do all day as I had to check out of the hostel at 10am and Airlie beach is not so big, but again I wondered around, and got invited to have drinks with a couple of Australian people and one from New Zealand. I found out a few things that would come in handy such as in New Zealand the South island is better than the North. After a long day I look at the time and it was 10pm I decided with nothing left to do, to go and wait in the bus stop, but when I got there it was very dark and only one light in the bus stop. I was quiet afraid for my safety so I rang my Dad to talk, I told him where I was and decided to go back around near the pubs for a while. When I got back to the bus stop at about 11.30pm there were more people so I felt much better, and then my bus arrived, it was time to go to Bundaberg.
At a later date my Dad told at the moment I called and was worried about the bus stop in the middle of no where in the dark, he had just finished watching Wolf creek and was petrified lol : )

In the morning I was supposed to wake up Carter as he has no alarm, but I must have switched mine off somehow, so I get up in a panic thinking we are going to miss the boat, and as I am walking to his room he is was coming down the hall way! He just looked at me, put both hands in the air and went back in his room lol. It was all a big rush, i hadn't even packed yet, and had to speak to Jenna to find out if she was staying in Airlie beach or moving on. I said goodbye to Jenna not knowing her plans and we finally made it to the docks after speed walking for 15 minutes, it turned out we had plenty of time : ) Once we had a quick shop for our alcohol we was all ready to go. When we got to the boat Carter and Me looked at each other because we were really suprized at how small the boat was, we thought it would be twice it's size, we also noticed that everybody else was foreign speaking, and then before we set foot on the boat, the crew took our shoes from us.
Once we were on board the ship we had to pick beds, Carter and me were offered a double as they thought we were a couple, but we took the singles. I was above Carter so I could just lean over to chat. We all went upstairs, and it was great to find that everyone spoke English, and we had a really nice group to spend the next few days with. Lunch was on its way, which was great, but by this time I had started feeling a little sea sick, but I done my best to eat, then sat up on deck, as the motion was not as bad up there! Then it started to rain : (, I realized I only had once jumper, but luckily the captain Jeff lent me his plus a big yellow rain jacket. It was still freezing, and very wet though. I was so pleased to get to our first stop Whitehaven Beach!
We made our way through the rainforest in the rain, it was a great experience to see all the puddles flowing down past our feet, with the beautiful greenery all around us. After walking for a good 20 minutes we made it to the whitehaven look out, it was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen even in bad weather! We carried on for a further 20 minutes and made it down to the beach, the sand was so white, and when you walked over it you would sink a little as it was so soft. We all gathered around, a water whole to see a stranded star fish, and then wandered further down to the sea. Carter decided to try and juggle the sand, and done it pretty well. After messing around for a while it was time to get back on the boat, which I was not looking forward to, as I knew I would feel ill again, and the rain kept on coming.
Once we were back on board we continued to sail for another four hours or so. By this time I needed to cry, I decided it was best to skip dinner and go down to try and sleep. We was due to settle for the night anyway, but because the water was so choppy Jeff had to stand in the rain and sail for another hour and half to a calmer spot. I managed to sleep pretty good suprizingly, trying to sway with the motion of the ocean, and getting used to the spooky sounds at night!
The next morning we were woken early to a gorgeous breakfast, and I had overcome my sea sickness, I now just had a cold from the weather, but today was a beautiful day, so we were all up on deck to take in the views and lounge. We sailed around a few islands and saw dolphins on the way, then stopped it was time to scuba dive. We all had a talk on what we should do, and then we all went in groups of four. Carter and Me was in the last group so we went on another island. We were taken to the beach, they were all coral so it hurt your feet. We got into the ocean and Drew fixed us up with the equipment. It was so heavy that I nearly fell over twice. We then had to show that we were capable of a few skills and get used to breathing, which was a strange sensation, one man didn't like it so he came up and waited on the beach. It was a bit scary but I decided to go for it. Once we were under it was fantastic but I could not equalize my ears so I had severe pain, which made me cry. I carried on because I didn't want to hold up the group, but it became to painful so I had to go back, after a while. I was told I could have burst my ear drum! The experience was ruined by this, but I still done it, and to be honest I thought snorkeling was a much nicer way to see the Great barrier reef.
We all climbed back on board and it was time for dinner again, Elainer's gorgeous food! Jeff put the canopy over the deck tonight for me, I think he felt sorry for me because I had moaned a fair bit. A few of us sat up by Jeff near the wheel, talking and taking in the sounds of the sea, the bright stars in the sky, with a couple of drinks and smokes! After a while we all went down, and decided to play cards. Once we were in bed Carter and Me were talking for a while, and then it was time for bed, ready for the early rise!
Our last day we had the chance to snorkel at three different islands, and it was a great weather again. When we got to the first island we had the choice of being dropped at the beach or swimming to there ourselves, I decided to swim, and as soon as I put my head just below the water I saw hundreds up jelly fish, I was hanging on to the side of the boat, waiting for Jeff to come get me, and take me over. Once he got me there he asked me to keep an eye on Jeannette, a girl who had a rare sleeping disorder, if she got scared or to excited she would fall asleep. So there I was holding her hand to make sure she didn't fall asleep, and trying to dodge the jellyfish. I told Jeff I didn't like them and he said " It ok it's the ones you can't see that will kill you" and laughed. We carried on and Jeff told Jeanette and Me to look down, so we did, and we saw the biggest fish I had ever seen. They called it Elvis, a regular fish, he was stunning too.
I snorkeled at the second island, and then decided to skip the last one as it was too much hassle getting in and out of your wet suit, and you were only allowed one shower a day, it lasted a minute and was cold water. So instead I stayed on board and made myself and Jeff a cup of coffee, then sunbathed for a bit. After half a hour it was time to head back. By this time I didn't want to leave the boat I had enjoyed myself so much. On the way back I sat by Jeff on the low side of the boat, I was almost touching the water, and had a go at sailing the boat to, it was really fun.
Now we were back but the fun wasn't over, we all went back to our hostels, and got ready to meet the whole crew for drinks and dinner! Actually the first thing I done was to check if Jenna was still around and she was, but she had made a new friend Erinna, and wasn't interested in coming out with the people I had met on the Whitsundays, I also come back to find that Rory had gone already, and I had no chance to say goodbye, it was a little upsetting, our first roomy had moved on. I still got ready and met all the crew except Elainer and Jeff couldn't make it. We started at beaches, were someone old enough to be my dad gave me his number, and everyone took the Mick! We all got pretty tipsy here singing and talking about the past three day, and finding out more about each other. Then we went to Shinanigans, it was an Irish pub, playing great rock music, we all just let loose, I had the chance to jive with Teppo, and jump up and down like a crazy person. Drew dissapeared somewhere, and Carter went back to the hostel before close, so I stayed out with the French lot. It was hilarious, and once the pub closed we all went back to my dorm to wake up Carter and we all made a fair bit of noise in the hostel! I'm suprized we weren't kicked out. Then it was time for bed, I was a little upset as I found that when I got back Jenna didn't really want to know me as she found a new friend, she was doing things with, and Carter had to leave the next morning, so I would be on my own! Besides I had really grown to like Carter, I knew he would look after me too. I told him he was to wake me at 7 the next morning before he left to say goodbye!