The GOON TANG CLAN

Hello everyone it is Charlotte D....i have finally decided to write an entry for the blog :) Right well our first stop after Brisbane was Noosa a really beautiful beach resort. After being convinced by the tour company which we booked our trips with to stay at their desired accomodation, we were pleased with our choice - we also had a twin room which was nice to have space to completely empty our bags and be as messy as we liked (which we were). Our first night involved walking along the river looking for food, which I feel we do alot :) We both had gourmet burgers and then icecream...charlotte got a bigger helping than me...i wasnt happy! Anyway after a good nights sleep and a little lie in we headed into the town and to check out the shops and the beach. We also decided to see Noosa National Park and decided on a Coastal Walk which was really beautiful and led us to Alexandra Bay or as we knew it the nudest beach!!! There was certainly a lot to see on this beach!! it was also our favourite beach so far - simply because it was so quiet (it might have something to do with the naked men just appearing from the bushes) but anywho we had a lovely day and both think that Noosa is amazing and one of the nicest places we have visited along the east coast! At the hostel we also met some lovely people and learnt a really good card game called Jap (or jeb)

Leaving Noosa we headed up the coast to Rainbow beach which is where we meet our group and travel to Fraser Island! Rainbow Beach itself is a really small town which only has 200 residents so is really chilled! On our first night we met Pat, Joe and Jake who had met while travelling and we ended up in the same car as them for Fraser Island! Fraser Island, which is the biggest sand island in the world, is basically a 3 day 2 night trip which groups off about 11 drive 4wheel car around the island (we were so excited). In preparation for the trip our group which was charl, me, pat, joe, jake, roger (a dutch guy), Ida and Yanni (two swedish girls) Annika and Chantel (2 German girls) and Joe (a guy from Korea who didnt speak much english but was a legend) had to go on a shopping trip and buy food!! It was a little bit crazy as everyone wanted diferrent things however after what felt like 4 hours we were actaully under our budget by $11! this money went to towards alcohol :)

The next morning involved packing the car and learning our itinerary for the next couple of days, there was also another car leaving at the same time as us so altogether there were 21 people! After all the car had been checked and packed safely we left for Fraser Island on a ferry over to the island! Our first stop on the island was Lake Birrabeen which was so beautiful as the sand was white and the sea crystal clear and it was relly quiet! Driving on the island was an experience and as it was being on a theme park ride when you were sitting in the back! Charlotte E took up the challenge of driving the car along the beach, over rocks and up the sand-tracks - pretty scary stuff!

It's now Charlotte E taking over, (the novelty has worn off for Dunkley!!)
So ultimately Fraser was by far a highlight of the trip, big adventures and challenges but a lot of fun along the way! We camped out on the beach under the stars on the first night and stayed the second night at an aboriginal camp (with much appreciated facilities of toilts and showers...wahey!) Here we learnt about aboriginal beliefs and even had a didgeridoo lesson. We cooked all our own food on the island which was often an interesting process but luckily we had some excellent chefs amongst us :) In those three days we learnt a good lesson in how to be completely self-sufficient and we definitely now know the importance of teamwork!!

The trip definitely had its "good times and tough times": the two flat tyres were a bit of bad luck... but we laughed our way through it all and we took away nothing but brilliant memories :)

When we eventually returned to Rainbow Beach (we made the last ferry by a few minutes!) we had a well needed BBQ and sleep and said our farewells to our Fraser-friends the next day and made our final Greyhound bus journey to Brisbane. Dunkley slept the whole way (as usual) and Evans watched two more movies on the trip!

Australia has definitely proved what a small world it is....(even though we know we are travelling the same route as so many others) it's been so nice to bump into the same people again and again! So in a way it was no surprise that the following day we met up with Patrick, Joe and Jacob again in Brisbane! So we were kept amused for a few more nights by these three and managed to see some more sights of Brisbane.

On Saturday we met up with Bernie and Jill Jack (Brisbanites who we met on our tour of Vietnam) and had an absolutely fantastic day with them! They took us to the Alma Park Zoo where we fed and stroked koalas and kangaroos; introduced Charlotte D to the rather addictive lottery-like game of KENO; and we finished with a trip to a Vietnamese restaurant in the evening for old-times sake. We have been so lucky to meet so many lovely people in Austalia and this was a perfect way to finish our stay :)