Hot and sticky and ravaged by mosquitoes

Well I'm now nearly three weeks into my stay in Australia and now in a place called Town of 1770.  So called because it is the first place Captain Cook set foot in Australia, yes you've guessed it, in the year of 1770.  It's very humid and hot here and it's been raining on and off for the last couple of days, which has help in cooling it down a bit.  But also brought out all those damn mosquitoes and they a biting me constantly.  Sorry if I'm making you all feel jealous about the heat when you are all surrounded by cold weather and snow, but I actually like the snow so I'm also a bit jealous.

So what have I been doing since my last post.  Well I've been to Byron bay, lovely beaches, Noosa, also lovely beaches Rainbow beach, lovely beaches.  As you can see there is a bit of a theme here!  It may sound idyllic, but they do all look pretty much the same.  I've been trying so seek out small places that offer me the same sort of atmosphere as I had in South Africa, but I have come to the conclusion that I'm not going to find it.  From what I've seen so far the backpacking culture in Australia is very different to that in South Africa.  People who come to Australia are looking for sunny/hot weather and lovely beaches within an English/European culture.  Where as in South Africa the backpackers are looking to experience new cultures and therefore have a more open and adventurous attitude to life.  So I think South America  is going to be more to my liking.  Don't get me wrong Australia is a lovely place and I really enjoyed my trip to Fraser Island, (I'll tell you more about it later), and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy the Witsundays and my diving.  But I think I could have cut short my trip in Australia and just done those things.  It is going to be interesting to see how New Zealand compares.

So back to Frazer Island, this was a 3 day/2 night 4x4 driving and camping trip to the largest sand island in the world.  We were in a group of four 4x4's with eight people in each and a lead 4x4 showing us the way.  We each took it in turns to drive, driving in sand was quite interesting, especially on the soft sand.  You basically didn't really choose your direction but just followed where the sand wanted to take you!  We were camping just behind the first set sand dunes on the beach so had lovely views of the sea at night.  Cooking dinner for eight of us on a camping stove, the food was very good actually, a nice steak with salad on the first night and a stir fry on the second.  So not the normal camping food.  We had a huge thunder and lightening storm on the second night, they said in the morning papers that there had been 23,000 lightening strikes that night.  I'm wondering who actually sat there and counted them all!  It was an amazing spectacle, some stunning fork lighting and some sheet lighting that lit up the whole sky as if it was the day.  So during the day on Frazer mainly consisted of driving from one fresh water lake to another of a swim in lovely warm, clear fresh water, there were no showers on the island!  We also went to a place called hangover creek the first morning, so called because the water is a refreshing 17 degrees and ideal for curing you of your hangover.  I hasten to say that I didn't have a hangover but many of the group did.  I try to stay clear of the goon, they don't even mention the word wine anywhere on the box!  The last morning we went to a lake full of catfish, we were told that if you just lie in the water for long enough they will come up to you and remove all your dead skin for you.  Well I didn't try it and our guide admitted to me that it had never happened to him, so I'm not sure if it was just a myth or not.

So I have just booked some more dives for tomorrow, so that will take the number of dives in Australia up to 15.  I didn't mean to book any more dives but the guy in the shop was very convincing so just couldn't say no!  I'm going to a place called Lady Musgrove island, which is at the bottom of the Great Barrier reef, and I've been told better than Cairns.  Well I'll now be able to compare and let you know.  Hopefully I'm going to see some more Manta rays.  Unfortunately I haven't been able to get an underwater encasing for my camera yet so still unable to take photos, but hopefully I will be able to get on in Cairns.

Well that's all for now, till next time.