on the road again...

First off, thanks for the comments on the "piss story"... I had to scramble and finish things up last time because the internet place was closing... otherwise, I would've dragged the story further so that you could relate to the agony and discomfort of the experience... lucky you!

We are now in Noosa Heads. We've back tracked a little on our journey north. We bought this travel package that included a 2 day canoe trip through the Noosa Everglades. We were told horror stories on numerous occasions, after signing up for it. The good thing was that it turned out to be a blast. We were a group of 11 on a self guided tour. Everyone was positive and enthusiastic. It seemed that they had all heard the same reviews as well. There were a couple of Irish, 3 English, and 2 Aussie's... again, one of the Irish had never camped before but he survived with more grace than the Londoners did on Fraser. We camped for 2 nights, canoed for a total of 24km and hiked for 12km. It was a physical challenge indeed... (Mark, it kept reminding me of you in the Death Race. I can't believe you sign up for that kind of thing... for those of you that don't know... look up 'Death Race Marathon'... its insane.) Although, I won't be doing any death races, Conrad and I were coined with the nickname, "Team Canada" because we were always sailing past everyone during the canoeing. It was funny turning back and seeing everyone zig-zag across the river, they hadn't figured out the "technique". On the last night we all joined in a little mischief. That day it seemed that one of our canoes had been switched the night before in exchange for a crappy, slow, cracked "vessel". The next day we had set off to see this sand blow which was a 6km paddle each way and a 12km hike round trip. The Aussie got the crap canoe but didn't mention is until after the massive day trip. That night at the campsite, one had mentionned that he saw someone messing with our canoes that night prior. He said he noticed one of them was missing, but he figured they just grabbed one for an evening canoe. He later speculated that they had switched canoes, taking our good one and leaving there crap one.... the weasels. You see, this trip that we were on leaves everyday. So there is always another group doing the same thing, just a day ahead. You have to canoe 6km from the drop off to get to this campground. Once we realized that the canoes had been switched and that we still had a 6km trip to get back to our pick up point we decided to switch the crap canoe with the "new" group. The night was alive with the full moon. Four of us ventured quietly to make the switch. The scene was scoped out. We knew which canoes were to be switched. Two people were to grab the bad one while another two would be grabbing the good one. The scheme was in action. Conrad was in the group that had the bad vessel. I was in the group that had the good one. Conrad's party executed the plan with ease. My group was a little different. I was with a slender, Irishman (the first time camper.) We started by sliding the canoe off the storage shelf. Everything seemed fine..... until the canoe actually left the shelf, then THUNK!!! It was way heavier than we both thought. The canoe went down and we all started snickering. Everyone was trying to remain quiet. Our token photographer, a British girl, started snapping photos, flash after flash. Once we regained what little composure we had left, we finished the task. The mission was a success, despite being a little rocky. Later, we saw the group that we swapped with checking out the canoes but they were none the wiser. In the end, we got back with good canoes and that crap one remained at the campsite. We all figure that its a cycle that goes on with every group. I don't think that canoe has ever actually made it back to the pick up point.

After getting back to Noosa, safe and sound, with only a few new bug bites, we've had the last couple of days to check out the town. Its an incredibly rich town, a playland for the wealthy. Its kind of like a Miami version of Whistler. We haven't done much. We went and saw a really bad movie for $14 AUD a couple of nights ago... a word of advice, 10 000 BC is really cheesy. I fear that Conrad will forever hold it against me that I chose that movie after vetoing Vantage Point. [whoops... my bad]

Today we're off on a 16 hour, overnight bus ride to Airlie Beach. There we will be going on a 3 day sailing trip through the Whitsundays.... can't wait!!!! The trip includes all food (which apparently is amazing) and a half hour introduction scuba dive!!! You can snorkel all you want and there will be plenty of beaches to check out! This is what I've been most looking forward to... not quite as rustic as the camping trips... me likes!

Conrad and I have just spent the day booking the rest of our trip. We'll be in Cairns for 10days after the Whitsundays. From there we will fly to Melbourne and stay for a month. Then we'll fly to Sydney for the last 5days of our trip... then, the inevitable.... we'll be flying home. In the meantime, we're still here basking in the glories of Oz. Until that flight home, we're still living the experience!!!