Noosa Hill Resort

... Dingos Hostel before departing for our trip as we had to do a briefing a day before the trip. The trip was basically groups of 10-11 people in a 4 Wheel Drive (4WD) which we could drive ourselves on the Island. We had to go through all the 'Do's and Dont's' and were given all the tide times on the island and a rough itinery we might like to follow. This is where we were all put into our groups. As you can imagine everyone was pretty quiet in our group at first as none of us knew ...

... We got to feed Kangaroos, they were really docile and we got to stroke them. We also fed some goats and baby pigs, and saw every type of Australian animal you could imagine. The crocs were massive, and pretty scary. We watched the croc show which Steve used to do, and this time his wife, Terri, was doing it. We saw Dingoes, Wombats, Koalas, Kangaroos, Wallabies, Tasmanian Devils, Tigers ...

... on the kid-friendly, obviously (although somewhat surreally, there is a ride there called Lethal Weapon - it was closed the day I was there though, so I didn't get to take the Riggs/Murtaugh experience). The best ride was the Superman coaster, which involves you getting onto a Metropolis subway train, and just as you set off, an earthquake "hits", and the tunnel starts collapsing around you. All of a sudden, you hear "Superman" talking, saying he's ...

... was beside herself with glee having touched a cuddly koala. The weather was not exactly cooperative and we got rather drenched in the intermittent down-pours. That didn't stop us from getting ice cream, of course! It's still Queensland after all, where rain is by no means synonymous with cold :) From the zoo, we were Brisbane-bound: back to where it all started and where we found our darling Charlie. We spent 2 nights there so we could show Cecilia around a bit ...

... nice when we arrived there. The Lonely Planet guide book says you would think you were in Cannes in France when you walk down the main street and it's true. We found a nice campsite 2km outside of the town that was located on a beach in the river estuary. That afternoon we got in for a dip and spotted a stingray. Had a walk round the town later in the afternoon and it seems our first impressions were justified. Really clean, lovely beach, loads of ...

... mad, when she saw the bos of the place with a young girl. Well, I won't tell now the whole story, too strange! Around 9.30pm I took a cap back. The next morning I got up at 7.30am and tried to unblock my phone, what I blocked somehow the night before :-) It took me over an hour and a lots of talking over the phone. Around lunchtime I went to town and had a beer with Diarmuid before he left to Brisbane. This time I went to the main beach, was a hot day and I went swimming. Left the ...

What did I tell you?!!! We woke up early this morning to watch the sunrise over the ocean. It was nice but a bit cloudy so we didn't really see all that much, but when we got back into the RV to make breakfast, the Ranger came knocking to tell us we are not allowed to sleep in this area. Oops - bit late now! We think the posh people opposite did complain and that is how we got rumbled but hey ho! After breakfast we drove along the coast road back ...

... I wish we had more time but it's off to Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast. Used a motorway to get out of the city and then followed the coast road north through some very nice coastal towns. Noosa is everything it's written up to be - swank or "flash" as they say here in Oz. Celebrated our final night in Australia with a seafood platter for 2.

... of red. Chris, Jane and Karen said it was yummy and then we all chatted in front of the TV and finally went to bed as all the fresh air had done us in again. Now today it's off to Brisbane for a whole week which should be fun. We want to go to the zoo and check out as much as we can whilst we're there. It'll be nice to be able to unpack a little bit lol as I hate living out of a bag so much. Off now to get dressed and pack! Lots of love Smiffy xxxxxxxxx

... by Geri Halliwell, the aisle was Sven’s dance floor and the cheers could probably have been heard all the way from the top of the Glasshouse Mountains as we passed by them.

We stopped in the centre of Brisbane only long enough to pick up two more people. It must have been incredibly intimidating for Sam and Elli to join a 50 strong tour group for only a few days where some of the strangers had been travelling together for weeks, but to their credit they seemed to ...