Fraser Island

We had 3 days on Fraser Island and had a blast! Fraser Island is the worlds largest sand island - an amazing place. What people do is hire a 4x4, drive around and camp on the island. We booked a 4x4 and were put with a group of 10 - 2 French, 3 Irish ( sisters and cousin), 2 Norwegian a German ( A very big German!) and Team RA. Like I said we didn't know anyone but as always on our travels we have made some great friends and will probably meet up again.

Day1

After our briefing we all headed to the supermarket, put $20 in the kitty and bought our food for 3 days. Ha ha the Irish family took 0ver here and bought loads and loads of potatoes ( no joke!!!) I was nominated to drive first as the girls didn't fancy it whilst Amy made everyone in the back sing a song from where they are from. Surprising everyone got well into it and were really going for it! ha ha lol ( when the Irish started it was like being at a family do!! counting each other in etc brilliant!) We took the Brian over to Fraser which took 50 mins or so and got to know other groups that where doing the same thing. Each group decided to do their own thing in the day but camp together at night.

Soon as we got on the Island it was straight into 4 wheel drive! Class absolutely class!! I have never had so much fun driving ( well maybe the fiat uno up viking road lol). We pulled up at lake wabby ( still singing - in french this time!) We were greeted by a large sand dune with a fresh water lake at the bottom - WOW!!!! We all ran over the sand and jumped in the water were turtles and cat fish swam around us! We also bumped into some people who we were in Fiji with! After we headed off and set up camp -whilst the potatoes were boiling ha we put up 3 tents (we shared one with the french couple). whilst doing this the our German friends drove past that we met on the whitsundays boat trip so they set up camp next to us!. After , the sun came down and it was just and mint sunset! I thought Fiji was good but this took the biscuit! Everyone sat on the beach and the party started! and we eventually had our burgers.......... with potatoes ha ha lol.

Day2

We had to drive with conjunction with the tide so we were up early - around 5:30am, had breakfast, packed away and set off to the champagne pools with Amy driving down the beach. Its really strange its like a normal road with cars driving to the left and planes flying over us trying to land in spare sand!. (oh we were also told only swim in the sea if you want to be eaten!) We arrived at Indian Head lookout where you could see fantastic views of Fraser, sharks, dolphins and turtles swimming in the sea)

After this we swam in the Champagne pools which are created when waves crash over rocks and leave water behind!

That night we set up camp again and had lovely french style tea!

Day3

Our last day!! booo but to be fair any longer and maybe it would have spoiled our stay. We drove up to Lake McKenzie. This took all our breaths away!. Pure white sand and and clear turquoise fresh water lake....... just paradise!! We stayed here for around 3 hours just chilling out and learning french lol with our new French friends.

After the trip everybody met again that evening exchanged emails etc and got ready to move on.. Hopefully we will all meet again for New Years.....

Noosa

Its a hard life I know but after the past few weeks we needed a little rest! So Noosa was the perfect place for it. Nothing really to do in the city apart from relax - everything closes at 23:00 so it was good to recharge. We did however get a bus to Steve Irwin's Zoo - Crikey! It was a great day and bumped into a couple who we met in Airlebeach. - A great day its a shame hes dead really its probably the best zoo ( for entertainment) we have been too! The size of the Crocs were huge! - just clad we were on the other side of the fence!

The rest of our stay in Noosa was just laying on a beach, walking and going the picture house.

The next stop is Brisbane - our first big city!!!!

Can you guess what it is yet?

Well within 6 hours of posting the blog brother Byrne and Miss Hole were keen to get their answer in. However Team RA have had a discussion and you two are only allowed to have One answer ha lol.....( I bet you are like the tennis couple from Confetti!! win win win!)

The answer was Amy driving a Greyhound Australia Bus ( she jumped in the drivers seat when he went to the toilet ha lol)

Next one ( remember brother Byrne/Hole... one answer...I don't want Hargreaves emailing me complaining!)

All Our Love

Team RA

XXXXXXXX

Where the ocean meets the sky i'll be sailing....

Now then all.. Hope things are good at home - cos things are just mint over here!!! (not to rub it it or anything). The weather is hot, meeting great people and when you think the trip can't get any better it just does.

We have just come back from a sailing trip which sailed around the Whitsunday islands for 3 days. Eventually we got down to Airlie beach ( seriously you can't imagine the distance we only went about an inch on the map!) after a 6 hour coach journey. Airlie beach is a lively little backpacker town where all you do really is drink and sail. After a nice couple of nights there we headed to our boat where we were greeted by the fattest skipper we have ever seen!!

It was an old racing boat that had just been given a face lift. There were 15 of us in total. A few Germans, Canadians, a South Korean that didn't speak English but just smiled, Irish and Team RA. We were really lucky we had a good group all of whom we have kept in touch with.

Day1

We set sail with a nor easterly wind (Soz skipper Byrne) and arrived at Hook Island Bay where we stayed the night. We snorkeled and watched the sunset go down over OZ having a few wines... another pinch yourself moment. The snorkeling was OK but a little cloudy however we did have to wear stinger suits which was interesting. We looked like ninjas! The night was amazing, we just sat on deck with everyone looking at shooting stars fly above us. The skipper had to sleep on deck as he was to big for his bed!! lol.

Day2

We set sail early - around 5:30 am to turtle bay where we saw massive turtles. We got dropped off by our motor dingy to Whitehaven Beach - We have never seen a beach like it..It was sooooo white and the sea was a clear turquoise! We stayed here for 3 hours then headed back when our dingy broke down!! - we had to get rescued by 2 other boats near by.. very funny at the time.

That night we arrived at another bay where Amy did a scuba dive.. She swam with a turtle for about 10 mins.. pretty good for a first dive! That evening it was the same again - had tea on deck and watched the sun set go down.

Day3

We woke up around 5 and jumped in for a morning snorkel then had breakfast when we got back on board, then we headed back to Airlie beach.

The weather was as hot as you can imagine so to cool ourselves down we let our legs dangle off the side of the boat... class!!! That night we met up with everyone from the boat and had a good night.

Rockhampton

We weren't sure whether to stop here or not but we're glad we did. Its a remote little town on the edge of the outback - the most really OZ town we have been to so far. Part of the hostel was a stone grill pub where you cook your own steak on hot stone! very nice indeed!

The next day we met up with Capricorn Dave who's a bit like Steve Irwin but a little crazier!! We didn't know but the Canadians on our boat where there as well. We spent the day with him walking around the outback looking for snakes and spiders! We couldn't find any poisonous snakes so we could hold the ones we caught. Apparently the Jack Ass guys filmed with him so he took us to an ants nest where he made us jump on it and let the ants bite our feet - We had a game to see who could stay on it the longest! (don't know whats going on with my body in the picture!!) To cool off we swam in the river and had a good laugh on a Tarzan swing.

That night after trying some Kangaroo and Crocodile we went out again to try and find snakes and toasted marshmallows around a camp fire. The night was cut short by a huge storm though we didn't mind as it was spectacular to look at!

Town of 1770/Agnes Water

This was a pretty little boating town where we just chilled out on the beach. It was the first time we could swim in the sea since we got to OZ. We were told that sharks were about but we would be fine so we jumped in with everyone. That night we bumped into the Germans from Whitsundays - took a ride in their camper van and watched the sunset go down with them.

Can you Guess what it is yet?

There were a few interesting suggestions but Lauren was correct in saying it was Amy eating a Kiwi - Brother Byrne got a little excited about the thought I tan my testicles!! - I don't know how they train the teachers nowadays!!!

Here's the next one.

All our love

Team RA

XXXXX

Goodbye NZ - OZ here we come!!!

Hello everyone. Hope all is well at home etc...

After Fiji we just had a few days to say goodbye to our friends and sell our household stuff. Our last night it was near Bonfire fire night so 49 Duke street had a BBQ and set some fireworks off - A class night. How about this - On the day we left all our house mates woke up at 4:00 am and waved us off at the airport... We were very touched - we really liked NZ and met some great people who we will be friends for life with but after 4 months living here a contract at L'oreal and 2 footy trophies later I think its safe to say that NZ was a job well done.

G-day OZ

We arrived in Cairns and were greeted by the extreme heat!!! Jesus its hot over here and summer is only just starting!! - good job Amy got some free L'Oreal sun cream!! As we always do we booked 5 nights when we arrive in a new country/state so we can get our bearings and plan ahead.

On our first full day we did something that we both will never forget - We snorkeled out in the barrier reef!! We were on a boat that took us to 3 spots on the reef. It was ace! We saw great coral, fish, turtles and sharks, truely an amazing experience. There was one incident though; we were both snorkeling around and Amy wandered off. Apparently she saw a boat which was miles away and snorkeled to that boat. When she got there she noticed that it was the wrong boat as people were having morning tea in the lounge area!

Amy you take over...............

.......I clambered on (or attempted to with my huge flippers) and as a crew member ran over to see what was wrong I realised just how embarrassing it was going to be returning to our boat! I was driven back by dingy to the crew of our boat ripping it out of me - whoops!!

We spent the next few days around the pool and exploring Cairns. We took a walk to the botanical gardens and centenary lakes ( I have never seen so many bugs in a toilet in my life!). Then we had to sort out how to get around Oz, decide what trips we were going to do etc. We decided on the Greyhound bus and ended up booking a trip to the rainforest. This was awesome. We went to a croc sanctuary, had a guided walk through the rainforest and stayed in Cape Tribulation. Its really funny here because they have brilliant beaches but you can't swim in the unless there's a stinger net because of all the box jellyfish and croc's!!! We drove through the little town of Port Douglas and saw where Bill Clinton stays, a gorgeous little town only for the rich though!!

Cairns was full of backpackers, the first place where we have really felt like true backpackers!! We got a free meal every night at a pub near our hostel and a lot of the other hostels offered this too so it was pretty packed. One night we won a fish in an auction and had goldfish racing, she did us proud coming 2nd, it must have been a fix.....

On our last night here we found a BBQ which seems to be quite a regular thing in Oz, always near a beach or lagoon there's 3 or 4 BBQ's for community use, you just bring your own meat - its great. We tucked into some sausages looking out to the sea - what a great life they have over here!

After Cairns we headed to Magnetic Island which is another (!) island Captain Cook discovered in the 1800's (is there nothing this lad didn't discover!). It was beautiful, full of little bays and walking tracks. We hired a 4WD so we could get off the beaten track and see wild kangaroos. We drove down a dirt track in the evening and watched the sunset on a remote beach having a little picnic.

On our second day is was our 8 year anniversary so we went to an animal sanctuary where we got the chance to hold a croc (a baby one named Barbie!), a lizard, a python, and last of all (our favourite) a Koala named Barney. He was so cute!! That afternoon we went up to a secluded bay where there were rock wallabies that you could feed, the were so tame they were taking carrot out of our hands!

After the past 2 weeks we really do feel like Mr and Mrs Irwin (Crikey!)

Now we are in Airlie Beach, a nice little sailing town with a really pretty lagoon that looks over the marina.

The next few days we'll spend sailing around the Whitsundays just off Airlie Beach, we'll update you all when we're back

All our love

Team RA
xxxxxxx

Ps. We thought We'd play game very now and again called "can you Guess what it is yet?" We'll take a picture, then you guys have just got to guess what it is..

Here we go ... Picture 1