Unfortunately, somewhere in Australia, there is a small boy trapped down a old mine shaft that will never get rescued. That is because I ate Skippy for dinner last night. Kangaroo tastes a bit like beef; we ate out at some place that was billed as authentic outback Australia, but infact was upmarket resort-ville where the nouveau riche spend their pennies. Still fantastic though.

We stayed in a fairly expensive campsite last night; the first warm shower in a tiled bathroom in nearly a week made a welcome relief from the usual cold water outhouses, and we rounded off the night drinking the beer that James had originally claimed was 'really good' when we had bought it. It had sat untouched in the back of Eric for three days after we initially tried it.

So this morning was the move to the airport. We stumbled across it by accident, one hour earlier than anticipated, so there was just enough time for photos before saying farewells and me climbing on a plane, leaving the other two to their own devices. Heather heads over here (to Singapore) tomorrow, but despite the initial plan, I will already have departed. I have been making the most of the airport pool as apparently no one else knows about it. There were 25 lockers in the changing room, and I was the only one in there. My top tip for Singapore connections; ask where the pool is... it's tucked so well away you'll have it and the bar to yourself.

I arrive back at Heathrow at 5.30am tomorrow. I can see jetlag will be much fun to contend with, and so am planning on making the most of flying BA/Qantas, using up the free alcohol they are so willing to provide you with. Much nicer than flying EasyJet, although I can't understand why the films on planes are either ones I've seen, or one I don't want to see. The in-flight guides always promise so much more, but I end up watching Ice Age 2 (again) or a story about some bloke and his huskies. Nice one.

I've got 5 CDs worth of photos. The gallery is going to be a bit huge.

So, this is it. The final full day of life in Australia for the time being. I'm sure I will be back here soon; there is far too much surfing to be done, and I still want to dive the GBR, so they haven't seen the last of me here.

Yesterday we took another early bus over to the cruise terminal and caught the boat to Hamilton Island. This large island resort is the biggest in the Pacific, and the only way to get around is by the golf buggies. The island has some stunning beaches and there was plenty of time to check out most of the island roads in the two hours we had before having a BBQ back on the boat and heading over to Whitehaven Beach. Whitehaven was voted Australia's best beach this year, and it's 6km of pure white silica sand squeaks underfoot. It's pretty impressive. We bathed, played ball and got buried before taking a sunset ride back to the mainland. A quick shower and we were back on the road in Eric, starting the final push to Cairns.

We stopped around 2am this morning to sleep in a free campsite (my usual night-time story provided), and woke at 9am to finish the journey into the town. We're currently doing a big CD swap of the five million photos we've taken between us. Tomorrow I fly; it's flown like no holiday I have ever taken before, and has (despite my preconceptions) left me with a really big thirst for more.

Today was spent visiting one of the great natural wonders of this world, the Great Barrier Reef. An early start (warmer) took us to a bus which, in turn, took us to a boat for the two hour crossing to the reef. I'd booked in with James and Heather to do a scuba intro, something which I've been wanting to do for years, but was disappointed to discover that due to my asthma, they wouldn't let me dive. Apparently it doesn't mean I can't dive, just company policy doesn't permit it without a full medical, and as I hadn't had mine, it meant no dive. I was understandably irritated. Instead I booked myself onto a snorkelling tour, and then later a helicopter ride to see the reef from above, and the see reef's most photographed icon, The Heart.

Thankfully I wasn't disappointed. The boat moors up at a large platform which everyone disembarks onto and can get changed into the appropriate equipment for whatever they are doing. Activities included the three mentioned above, plus an underwater viewing gallery, sunbathing on an upper deck, and going for a trip in a semi-submersible (the posh way of saying a boat with a glass bottom, but we knew what they meant).

The weather was hot; clear skies for the most part and the boat journeys there and back were vomit-filled for many of the passengers. Thankfully this is the sea I like the best (the movable type) and while most people were reaching for the sickbags, I was soaking in the sun and salt air.

The snorkelling allowed fantastic access to the reef walls. Hundreds of fish and corals line the steep banks where we swam, and most of the fish are fairly friendly. You could drift through large shoals of brightly coloured things, some very inquisitive, some very small, some very large. There was a chance to hold starfish, coral and to watch clown fish amongst the reef. Although a bit cold in the water, it was worth every penny. I decided to compensate my lack of scuba with a helicopter ride, and after chatting with the pilot for a while, was able to get a reduced rate. The view was spectacular, and if I hadn't forgotten to bring my camera to the internet cafe, you'd be able to see for yourself.

The ride back was even more tempestuous, but I lapped it up. We arrived back at 5ish, went shopping and cooked bolognase on the fire. A good day, despite spilling coffee on myself, forgetting my sunglasses and the initial disappointment.

After arriving back from Fraser Island last night it was drivetime. Unfortunately one of the major downfalls of Eric (our van) is that he is not well powered and also struggles with radio stations. Heather's iPod is now dead, and ten hours of country music is too much for even the most strong willed traveller. We have spent the past 24hrs stoked on iced coffee; punctuated with cans of 'V' and energy foods. The drives have been pretty intensive; last night we clocked a good 700km before retiring in a petrol car park at 2am. We might have carried on if we hadn't been so short on fuel.

After waking (cold) again this morning, we were straight back on the road, heading up the Gold Coast over the Tropic of Capricorn and into barrier reef country. Fields and fields of sugar cane line the lone-laned highway that hems the coast, and good weather made the next 700km of driving easy. We arrived in Airlie Beach at around two this afternoon, and the over-helpful tourist office equipped us with an itinerary for the next two days. Tomorrow is our crash course scuba trip over the reef, and the next day will be spent at Australia's best beach (winner this year). Finally some 'chill with the still' time.

Just after we were thinking that we might have to pay for another night's accommodation in Brisbane, Andrew turned up on the scene and we spent the evening wallowing in his apartment with a few bottles of red wine. The next morning we were up and off to pick up our van, Eric. Eric has an interesting paint-job, not everyone in Brisbane drives around with the Beatles, Mick Jagger & Keith Richardson, Jimmy Hendrix, GW Bush, Dick Cheney, Osama Bin Laden, Ozzy Osbourne and some other bloke we can't work out plastered over their vehicle exterior. Photos will follow.

We headed out of town and up the coast to Hervey Bay, where we ate firstly in an Aldi car park, then in a car park by the beach, then after being moved by security, in a campsite this morning. A fast dash around the coastal regions this morning (chasing ferries, all departing for Fraser Island) finally meant we got onto a boat and made it onto a fast-track tour for the afternoon. The island is beautiful, made entirely of sand, the 90km+ beach plays host to a range of natural attractions, as well as serving as a highway for the island's traffic. After a swim in a rainwater lake we headed back to the mainland and are now getting ready for the second night's heavy driving up towards the Whitsundays. Time is now of the essence.

So the past few days have been spent searching for the best breaks on the Gold Coast. Okay, well maybe we're not that pro at surfing yet, but the day after the skydive/surf lesson we booked in for a second session of tuition, this time on Tallow(s) Beach, and it proved a little more successful than my first day. This was despite the hangover we managed to acquire while experiencing the bars of Byron Bay the night before.

After some really good Italian food at a place called Sea'n'Earth we took the advice of the people running the surf school and went for drinks at the Beach Hotel, where there was rugby league, Wimbledon and live music.

After a while we moved on to Cheeky Monkey's, the local club. Despite being warned that you needed to be very drunk upon arrival to find the place enjoyable, we had a great time getting drunk while inside, and spent the next morning vainly trying polish the stamp off the inside of our wrists before our second surf lesson.

We dried off and took the second bus (we missed the first) to Surfer's Paradise, where we booked into a hostel, grabbed some pizza and caught up with the sleep lost from the days before. The next morning it was checkout at 10am, so Heather and I went and hired out boards to practise our technique on the main beach (92km long) while James went to meet with Cassy (Oli's ex). Despite the initial promise to meet at 10am, she didn't actually arrive until 2.30pm, by which time Heather and myself were already out of the water and eating lunch. After a stroll down the beach we went back to the bus station where we met up with James, Cassy and Larnie, before boarding the next coach to Brisbane.

Some confusion regarding where and when Andrew would be meeting us in Brisbane occurred, and after arriving at his flat and trying to get his housemate's attention for over two hours, we eventually checked into the hotel next door. Not unlike in Whistler, upon opening the room door we found that the place had not been vacated by the previous occupants and so got a free upgrade. No worries.

This morning we packed up shop and headed to the city to catch the number 445 to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. After some issues with the public transport we eventually made it there, and the result is this wonderful picture of me and a very smelly koala.

We are now back in Brisbane, on the final attempt to reunite with Andrew (who may well still be in Fiji) before heading off in our hired campervan tomorrow. Looking forward to it, although we're now on a pretty tight schedule...