A sub-tropical sand Island and a lack of swell

***NEWSFLASH*** ***Telegram from Mr Toothpaste himself, Rick***

HAVE SEEN BLOG STOP FIND IT A GROSS MISREPRESENTATION STOP MY OCD IS RESULT OF ORTHODONTIC APPLICANCES STOP PLEASE INFORM THE MASSES STOP

END

There you have it folks. Now enjoy the blog.

We took another overnight bus. I thought I'd left those behind with Asia, but it wasn't to be. 6.10pm to 6.50am the next day we were on the move, being unceremoniously dumped at the bus stop in Hervey Bay. It had been absolutely freezing on board, and the first thing I did was change from my boardies into jeans. Rick brushed his teeth. 10 minutes later we were picked up by our Fraser Island tour bus.

Fraser Island is the world's largest natural sand island, and a sub-tropical one at that. It is home to a huge number of Dingos (supposed to be Australia's purest bloodline) snakes, spiders (we saw a black funnelweb) and plant-life. Bearing in mind it's a sand island, you have to wonder how such a rainforest managed to bloom.

A few things to look out for when you go there (and go there you should!):

1) Eli Creek
On the amazing 75 mile beach, the water in the creek is a sparkling emerald green, and you can float all the way out to the sea on it.

2) Lake McKenzie

An absolutely spectacular lake, the difference in the near-shore torquoise and the deep blue is startling. The water is so pure, as is the sand, that you can mix the two together to remove scratches from glass, and a dip in the lake will leave your hair silky smooth (I have none to base this on, but Matt was impressed).

3) An 80 year old ship wreck
Yeah, um...fun to see

4) Rick brushing his teeth

It was a cool day, especially seeing as we were on a 4WD bus, bumping and jumping all over the shop. Our driver expertly negotiated obstacles, all the while recounting stories and facts about the island. Did you know that the King Fern can be traced back over 150m years? Yeah I didn't really care either. Rick was more interested in finding somewhere to brush his teeth.

We finished the tour around 6pm, which was a shame seeing as our bus to Byron Bay wasn't until 1.25am, but did give Rick plenty of time to minister to his oral needs. A rather unfriendly bus driver wouldn't let us put our bags into the storage locker, and so we had to wait the whole 7+ hours until our bus arrived.

At 10.05am the same day, we arrived in Byron Bay. Luckily we'd already booked our accommodation at the Backpackers Inn on the Beach, and they'd sent someone to pick us up. It was only a 5 min walk, but it was good to get there with minimum hassle. We got shown to our 4-bed dorm room where we met our roomie, another Brit from London called Matt, and while Rick found the washroom to brush his teeth, I went to sleep as two nights on a bus had taken their toll on me.

The hostel was great, hosting BBQs, live music, and had a really social atmosphere. As its name suggests it was 30 seconds walk from the surf, and it was nice to once more be able to jump out of bed and into the water. Unfortunately, the swell wasn't all that for the 4 days we were there (i.e. the waves were small). Byron Bay is surfer central, and while they were good for Matt to learn on (I still couldn't move my arm properly so begged off, and Rick needed to brush his teeth) the lack of decent sufers was noticeable. Still, the nightlife was rather impressive, split between the Hotel hosting live rock bands, Cocomangas giving us a free drink every night, and Cheeky Monkeys, producing the recommended daily allowance of free booze and wet t-shirt competitions.

All too soon it was time to leave however, and for (hopefully) the last time, we boarded a Greyhound Bus to Sydney. After 13 long hours spent looking out the window, we arrived at Sydney Central Station at 11.20pm. Rick had booked himself some digs close by, and needed to brush his teeth. Matt and I, having a flight at 9.15am (which is in an hour from the time of writing) took the train straight to the airport, expecting to buy some food then bed down on a chair. Sydney Airport however is the only airport in the whole frigging world which CLOSES. That's right folks, from 11.30pm (we only just got in) until 4am the airport is closed for business. For those wanting to stay, there are three rows of seats you can collapse on. I thought Aussies were relaxed and laid back, but in so many things I'm being proved wrong! I did get chatting however to a girl who was also going to Queenstown. She'd been living on the Gold Coast, and we were able to chat about what we'd done, and what we'd missed (I apparently missed the weed capital of Oz, Nimbin, but I'm cool with that) and with luck we'll catch up in NZ.