Hervey Bay, sunset central

We spent our days in Hervey bay lying on the beach in glorious sunshine, and relaxed as the sun set over the horizon.

This sunset was particularly dramatic, sending rays of orange light across the sky in a classic sunburst effect.

Beautiful

J'arrive Hervey Bay!

We leave the big city behind and head up the coast to Hervey Bay. Home to whales, beaches and lots of pubs! Sounds like our kind of spot : )

The beach was only a couple of hundred yards from our camp site and was absolutely beautiful.

Captain Shad ventures out for a look around.

Danny follows. Just look at that blue sky!

Look.. we found a pier!

Gez and Shad stroll on the beach in 30 degree heat.

An ideal spot for a glorious sunset.

Well worth a snap..

Or two

Even tho the sun was going down, it was still only about 6 o'clock. The night is still very young indeed!

Shad starts the night off with a bit of a sing song

Gez joins in and we're off to a flyer

Wayhey! Another group of mad drinking buddies

So we do what comes natural and teach everyone the routine! Well funny.

Big hugs

One last, mental night in Brisbane! Come on!!

It was our last night in Brisbane, so we had to make it a good one. So, that's exactly what we did. Going out in style, with the lads, Kristjan and Kev. See below for some of the most random snapshots ever!

Who the hell is that Biker dude you ask!? We don't know!!

Shad Kev and Kristjan fighting over a jug of beer.

Kev and his Dad, Sargeant Lucus III

The lads

What a legend!

Party on Wayne, Party on Garth

Wee Norman on board a replica of one of the first ships to arrive in Ozland

Krisjan stalked us all the way to Brisbane for more hearty drinking.

Crazy eyes

Shad crabs a couple of Canadians to be our guests for the evening

Surprisingly they accepted

Rock on!

So, time for some crazy dancing

That's exactly right Gary

Which was all very, very funny indeed

A day at the Zoo

Brisbane was another five days of pretty intense night life and sightseeing, although the city doesn’t really have the same grade of attractions that Sydney does. There is a waterfront which runs along the river which is pretty nice, but most of the city is made up of Business and Shopping districts.

We managed to meet up with our good friend Kristjan from Iceland whom we met in Sydney. On Wednesday we all ventured out of the city walls and headed an hour or so north to Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo. The zoo is home to a wide range of reptiles, birds and animals – and of course there is always the chance of catching a glimpse of the rare Irwin himself.

Unfortunately the main man was not around on this occasion, although he had been there two days earlier for his daughter’s eighth birthday. Darn it! Anyway, we made the most of it and caught all of the day’s major shows - feeding the crocodiles, watching the Macaw display and the Tiger show which was easily the most impressive of all. Trainers played with the tamed animals to show off their size and strength, and they even managed to get the cats to dive into a pool of water which was pretty cool.

Kristjan managed to pull of a display of his own as we waited for one of the crocodile shows to begin. A couple of staff asked if anyone could do a good Steve Irwin impression with the chance of a prize at the end, so of course the hands all went up and Kristjan was an obvious choice. However, he went a little quiet once in front of the audience as he realised he had never before seen Steve Irwin or one of his shows. Nevertheless he managed to make enough of an arse of himself to be awarded a free photograph with a superimposed image of Steve, which he kindly invited us to be in.

The boys and Dig

Gez, Kristjan, Shad and Dig

Watching the Tigers on display

These guys were everywhere!

Shad, Gez and Skippie himself

A Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

It takes a very brave man to tempt one of these crocs!

This guy almost didn't get away

A wee kangaroo in the sun

The famous Australian Kookabara. These guys are loud and sound a lot like monkeys!

A Dingo lazing in the sun. I wouldn't advise petting these guys, they'll take your hand off!

Kristjan being eaten by a four metre croc

He survived to feed the roos tho

That's one shiny set of teeth

Taking the Cheetah for a walk

Kristjan at work, making a complete a**e of himself. Well funny.

His hard work paid off and we got this photo with the main man Steve Irwin free! Cheers Kristjan!

What a legend

We finished off a really good day in the hostel bar. What started off as a quiet one soon turned into a jumping party as we met up with a couple of crazy American guys and hit the stage for some Karaoke. Evan was definitely the first big cat trainer from Las Vegas we had all met. I recon that’s right up there with being a pilot, but he tells us it’s not really as profitable. Anyways, you American boys are good fun so you get two points on the country charts for that night!

The American and Scots join forces on the Karaoke

Look at the passion on that boys face!