We're in Brisbane now - and I've managed to find an A/C internet cafe to hibernate for a while.

Right, seeing as I haven't really explained what we've been up to the past two weeks, this could end up being a long post so I apologise.

I admit I was a bit hasty saying that East coast was chavvy, but I think we have the best part yet to come. The journey from Cairns down to Rockhampton was actually like being in country towns, and I'll miss out details of this part because they were literally used as bases to sleep. But since then, we've been to some uber-cool places such as Noosa and the gorgeous Fraser island.. more on those later.

We're slowly climatising to the weather here, but it's so on-and-off with storms/sunshine/humidity/showers and that's not making it easy for us. And with the sun being about a mile away from us, putting sun-cream on everyday can get vvvery boring! Another thing to get used to going from NZ to Australia is the creepy crawlies, UGH! There are so many and they are so big.

Anyway, on to the interesting things we've done so far. A place called Airlie Beach was soo backpackery and was like being dropped in the middle of Enfield town, in terms of chavvy people. Wasn't really our scene, and seeing as the car temporarily broke down on the day we were meant to go to the Whitsundays islands, we left with only seeing the worst part of that area. We weren't really that bothered seeing as we knew we'd see other places that were similar, if not better...

..And we were right not to be so bothered, because going to Fraser island more than made up for it! We took a day tour from Hervey Bay, but in hindsight I wish we stayed for a couple of nights. Fraser island is a fairly big island (122km x 14km), which is basically a huge, beautiful pile of sand with rainforests, amazing crystal clear waters etc. I wasn't prepared for it, if I'm honest. The first lake we visited was Lake Mackenzie. The silicone sand was great for exfoliating, the water was amazing for your hair and the sun not so good for your skin..!? Wandering round the island in a 4x4 truck was awesome. The 75-mile beach was one of the best beaches seen on the trip so far. The beach is also the 'Highway 1' on the island meaning you can go 100 km/h only metres away from the Pacific ocean - awesome! We even took the opportunity to take a scenic flight over the island because we just couldn't get enough, that was a GOOD idea.

After some more long-distance driving (obviously, it is Australia) we headed to Noosa. Now, I only thought to go here from what Lonely Planet said it had to offer. It sounded something like what we needed - LUXURY. We loved it. The uber-trendy Hastings Street was lined with designer boutiques, plush restaurants, swanky bars and of course, gorgeous people. It was so pretentious, but I think we'd forgotten what pretentious was by this point into the trip. We totally indulged and joined in. Maybe not so wise for the wallet, but very wise for the soul :) We ate well, slept well and shopped well. (and, interestingly enough, ended up sleeping in the car for one night as we couldn't find accommodation due to Christmas holidays.)

On the way to Brisbane, we were recommended to go to Australia Zoo. I was a bit hesitant as I don't really dig the whole 'caged-animal' thing, but we were told it really wasn't like that - and, thankfully, they were right! The animals live in semi-natural habitats in this Zoo, so basically you'd walk around and find (the harmless) animals wandering around with you. The 'Roo Heaven' was utterly suprising, we walked in to find 10's of Kangaroos chilling out on the grounds! Along with the ever-cute Koalas, lizards etc. It was a very well-organised and caring Zoo which was in memory of Steve Irwin, who actually set it up. There were all sorts of Steve Irwin photos, stories and ideas that had come to life since his unfortunate death - it was a great experience.

So, to where we are now - Brisbane. We were really looking forward to coming to a city as it'd been so long. Arriving in Brisbane on a Friday night was an eye-opener, the atmosphere was buzzing. The trendy plaza's were rammed with late-night shoppers and the restaurant/bars were alive. We happily settled for Wagamama's & a couple of drinks that night. Seeing as it's the weekend, we've joined everyone else aimlessly walked around the city in search of cool markets and places to visit. The one annoying thing is the car is playing up again, so it's going in for it's first full inspection tomorrow so fingers crossed the repair work isn't too major.. Hooray for car warranties, eh? :)

We'll probably be here for a few more days, and then head to the places that we've been hearing about by other travellers - like Surfers Paradise, Byron Bay, etc along the way to Sydney... Ahh.

Finished! x