Grand Mercure Apartments Allegra Hervey Bay

... sur le bord de la mer, et les Champagne Pools est un pallier où les eaux sont emprisonnés à marée basse mais les vagues frappent constamment et projette des jets d’eau ce qui explique le nom du lieu. Par la suite, nous sommes revenus sur nos pas et bifurquer par Eurong (pour prendre de l’essence) afin de se rendre à McKenzie Lake. Cet endroit est un incontournable lorsque les gens visitent le coin. Situé au centre l’île, ce lieu combine pureté de ...

... you can go from thinking you must be the only family here to thinking you are in tourist central in the space of an hour or so. There were the expected rowdy backpackers at the Lake, running down the steps singing loudly and swigging from a cask of wine (at 10am), as well as other families and couples and less rowdy backpackers. Charlie made friends in no time at all, sidling up to a couple of chicks who were relaxing and minding their own business. He swam up in ...

We set off in Skip for the Bruce Highway ('the Bruce Highway' - as if!! You can't make it up - beats M1 though I suppose.) which will take us right up the east coast to Cairns, our final destination in the van. We saw a sign as we left for Cairns 1614km which was a bit daunting!
We managed to stop off at a Woolworth's, which looks more like a Salisbury's rather than the Woollies we know (or did know) in England, and picked up some desperately ...

... were thinking perhaps 4* accommodation. Nope, nothing like, just single beds in a room and bathroom, nothing like Tangalooma, but it did us and after another eat as much as you like for dinner and a few drinks and game of pool, we slept well.

Today we had to be up and back on the coach at 8 (I know ridiculous early, but I am slowly getting to use to all these early starts). We headed off up 75 mile beach to Indian Head where we ...

... 80 km/h Höchstgeschwindigkeit), sond**n an dies** Stelle auch eine Runway für kleine Flugzeuge. Hi** hatten wir Gelegenheit, einen Rundflug üb** die Insel zu machen. D** Guide hatte uns gest**n schon b**ichtet, dass dies möglich sein würde, ab** wir waren noch unentschlossen – kostet ja alles Geld! Ab** als wir da gehalten haben, ist d** Pilot in den Bus geklett**t und hat uns alle **stmal total enthusiastisch begrüßt. Kennt ihr Steve Irwin (den Typ ...

... is a form of defence against killer whales. Its mother was showing it how to jump and we were treated to an incredible acrobatic display - then dad joined in. As he swam under the catamaran, dolphin style, his size became apparent - his tail was wider than our entire boat ! He made a hell of a splash when he jumped out of the water.

We saw lots more pods of humpback whales throughout the day, some even almost within touching distance. Their power was immense - the whole ...

... the water, even at a distance it still looked impressive. On the way we passed a turtle who had a quick look round to see what all the fuss was about before moving probably trying to avoid all the sharks that like to feed in the area. The other boat had moved away and we were left floating in the water waiiting to see if the whales would reappear near us and luckily it did, again it was a mother and calf. The guide was busy talking us through what their ...

... main resorts located on the Island that actually take you around, whilst staying in the resort. There are also many other companies that take you around for day trips. An alternative is the self drive option where you rent a 4WD vehicle you can camp or stay in the resorts, also guided tours with the option to camp.

I will be posting a number of pics on Facebook so look out for them.

Just some interesting information about Fraser Island, it was ...

... more viscious. There has even been a child killed up at Wabby point by them (although he was apparently provoking them) Once again its just another example of how irresponsible people can ruin the planet.
The other group who was sharing the camp ground had already set up and established camp and their fire was roaring. Daniel had earlier told us he would come over and get us later to tell us dreamtime stories around the fire. When we booked the tour we was told ...

... if she’d lived 100 years later she would be the perfect person to write scripts for one of the first ever big TV sit-coms – Gilligan’s Island.

The angry grey clouds had hung low in the sky all morning, but despite this the waters of Lake Mackenzie still looked clear and inviting as we pulled up at our first stop. Just as we stood on the white silica sand and debated whether or not to have a swim, the rain began to pour down and the large numbers of ...