Australian Wildlife

If you look really hard in England you can see an abundance of wildlife. But it's very different  compared to what lurks around every corner in Australia, and that's one of the reasons I decided to travel to the othe side of the world. Here's what I've encountered so far:

Taken in the wild - near Cairns

Kangaroos and wallabies
Roos are everywhere, but unfortuntely I've seen more dead ones at the side of the road than live ones. These happy, hoppy creatures can be found all around Australia, and are pretty harmless other than the damage they might do to you car if you don't drive sensibly. They are most active around dusk and evening time, though are sometimes seen jumping over fields and fences throughout the day.



Koalas

Taken at Australia Zoo

Sadly I haven't yet seen these cute, cuddly, furry babies in the wild yet - though they too are spread throughout the country and seemingly pretty common. Having now seen them at Australia zoo, I can see how difficult they might be to spot from your car when you're driving at speed down the motorway. They are nocturnal, and most active at night - but still don't make a huge amount of movement outside of the eucalyptus trees.

Taken in Byron Bay

Snakes
So far we have only come across two snakes, both being the highly venomous eastern brown snake. One was spotted in tropical north Queensland, and the other was scarily close to the main tourist beach in Byron Bay, NSW. This is pretty common throughout Australia but also very dangerous. Australia is home to many of the worlds deadliest snakes. Awesome to see in the wild, but remember to always be careful and know your snake bite first aid procedures.


Crocs
Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm disappointed that during my time in the north of the country I never came across a crocodile. Heading up the coast, crocs lurk in the waters from Rockhampton upwards, and warning signs can be seen at every beach, creek and lake that they frequent (which is most of them!). They prefer the warmer water, and so will be more active during summer. Swimming with crocs is no joke. They know their territory and if you enter it, you are dead. They can swim and strike a lot quicker than you can get away. These modern day dinosaurs are nonetheless awesome creatures and I would have loved to see one (from a distance) in their natural habitat.

Saltwater croc - taken at Australia Zoo

Our friend in Hervey Bay

Possums
Back to cuteness now, possums are pretty friendly and can get used to being around humans as Joe and I experienced at a Hervey Bay caravan park that had a possum living in the kitchen. About the size of a cat, but a lot fatter, these marsupials are active at night. They are pretty common and a lot easier to find than koalas.



Spiders
Australia is home to a number of the most dangerous spiders on the planet. So far the only dangerous ones I have knowingly come across are the small but deadly redback spiders. I've seen the pretty impressive orb spider pictured below. We've had a run in with a huntsman which is harmless but fricking huge. We thought it was our resident mouse running across a plastic bag, but when we turned the light on to find this beasty, Joe attacked him with my knitting book. He was left dead, crumpled and missing limbs - but the scariest part is when we noticed his decapitated body had disappeared by morning...

Orb Spider - taken in the rainforest in northern Queensland

Bat tree - Hervey Bay

Bats 
The flying fox is a large fruit bat with a red-orange body and a wingspan of up to 1m. It is probably the most commonly seen bat in Australia - at least it's the one that I've seen thousands of. Literally, thousands. At one tree in Hervey Bay, it was hard to see the leaves through all the bats. They are also pretty noisy, but are harmless and don't bother people.





Turtles

Taken in the Great Barrier Reef off Michaelmas Cay island

Many beaches along the coast teach you to be turtle-wise during hatching season. The little turtles hatch on the beach and make their way to the sea. Joe and I were so excited to see a large sea turtle in the great barrier reef while snorkling, and for me it was the highlight of my trip.


Sharks
The Great White Shark is any surfers nightmare. The films make them out to be a monster, but actually there are very, very few fatalities caused by great white sharks. Bull sharks and tiger sharks also swim the coastline. However we were so amazed to see a harmless white tip reef shark while snorkling the great barrier reef.

White Tip Grey Reef Shark - video still from Great Barrier Reef

Birds
Flying creatures amaze me, and especially given the weird and wonderful found right here.

Rainbow Lorikeet - taken in Melbourne

- Rainbow lorikeet - frequenting the trees in their thousands, these beautiful but noisy birds are really quick, and getting a photo of one in flight is near impossible.
- Ibis - these weird looking stalkers hang around every park and

Ibis - taken in Toowoomba

public area hoping you'll throw some food their way.
- Bush turkey - I keep telling Joe I'm going to catch and cook one of these, but so far they have been quicker than me.
- Hawks - Sea Hawks can be seen patrolling a stretch of beach, or often you see hawks flying down a stretch of highway, most likely looking for roadkill - an easy snack. 
- Cassowary - making north Queensland feel more like jurassic

Cassowary - taken at Australia Zoo

park, these rare flightless birds are found on what is aptly named the cassowary coast - a stretch of coastline just south of Cairns. They have large fluffy bodies and colourful necks, but are most well known for the bone sticking out of their heads. We saw one of these in the wild on our travels, but unfortunately didn't have time to capture it on camera.
- Cockatoo - I always wanted one of these as a pet, but now I see how noisy they are I'm not so sure.
- Kookaburra - You hear them before you see them, the distinctive cry of a kookaburra sounds remarkably like a laughing monkey.

Kookaburra - taken on the Gold Coast

Top 10 tips for traveling Australia in a campervan

Since leaving our cushty flat in Toowoomba 3 months ago, Joe and I have spent every night (apart from the one night we treated ourselves to a hotel room) in the back of a campervan, Safe to say I'm getting used to our new home, and now know all the ins and outs of living in a vehicle.

1. Freedom
Remember why you're doing it. Having a campervan means ultimate freedom, and this is the #1 reason why getting one is the best decision you'll make. One day you can be waking up to the surise over the beach, the next in the garden of a small rural pub after celebrating the rugby scores with the locals. You can up and go... anywhere, and take your whole house with you. Australia is such a big country, I would never have ended up in the places I've been by using public transport.

2. Expect every weather condition
In a van, there's not a lot between you and the outside. It'll definitely keep you dry, but hot and cold can sometimes be an issue. Over the past 4 days this winter we've gone from tropical north queensland with a night temperature of 22 degrees, to south queensland where the night reaches about 8. Not cold for UK standards, but sleeping in a van you really feel the difference at night. If it's hot, park in the shade so it's cooler for bedtime. If it's cold, put some more clothes on!

3. Maintenance
Don't ignore the mechanics advice. Service the vehicle routinely. Get clued up about the basics like checking oil, water, tyres etc. Set aside some money for emergencies. Think about breakdown cover. Don't get caught out. These are your wheels, but also your home so it's doubly important!

4. Wikicamps app
It's illegal to camp on the roadside or in non designated areas. Thankfully, Australia offers a number of free campsites, and these are all easy to find with the help of the wikicamps app. This is the only android app I've ever actually paid money to get, and it's probably the best thing you'll come across. It lists every campsite, caravan park, hotel, day rest spot and everything in between. You can filter by type or facilities available, and find out prices, guest reviews, and my new favourite past-time - reading the arguments between the backpackers and nomads in the comments section.

5. Living space
Possibly the biggest downside to living in a van is that you have a living space not much bigger than the double bed you sleep on. Clear out and tidy up regularly, for you own sanity. When tidy, it feels so much more comfortable. But remember that you won't be spending many of your waking hours in the van, as you'll be out exploring or enjoying your ever changing garden.

6. Being prepared for distance
Australia is huge. Sometimes you will be driving for hours. In the UK you would mentally and physically prepare for such a journey but in Oz it becomes the norm. The difference being that there isn't always a town nearby. The next fuel stop may be a long way away. There isn't always phone signal. Make sure you have enough fuel, food and water. Stay alert - Joe and I enjoy the trivia games that the Aussie highways place every couple of hundred kilometres - but thing like that can save lives. And most important, get a variety of CDs for when the radio signal cuts out!

7. Don't drive after dark
You will most likely hit a kangeroo. Seriously, they're everywhere.

8. Listen to locals and expect the unexpected
They know their country better than you do, and even better than your satnav. Don't go swimming in croc infested water. Don't attempt to drive through flooded roads. Know how to be fire safe, especially in summer. Many tracks are 4WD only - don't try it if you think your vehicle can't handle it.

9. Items you need but might not immediately think of:

• Laptop - You won't always have power, but charge it when you do so that you can snuggle up with a film in the evening.
• Books - Great for relaxing on the beach or before bed. Many places have a free book exchange for when you've read all yours.
• Cooking equipment - Camp stove, pots, pans, camp toaster, plates, bowls, cutlery, utensils. Use them, don't eat McDonald's every day.
• Washing line and pegs - The sun is there for a reason.  All you need is a bit of rope and you can tie it between your van and almost anything. 
• Battery/USB speakers - Always handy, especially if your vehicle doesn't have an aux input.
• First aid kit with snake bite bandages - Always be prepared. We don't consider this last one in the UK, but highly venomous snakes are common in Australia, and if you get bitten by one, you have 15 minutes to get an antivenom. With a snake bite bandage correctly applied, you have 1 hour. 

10. Have fun!
It's what you came here to do. The van is merely a tool to help you achieve that. Australia has some awesome cities and extraordinary stunning landscapes. Go and explore as much of it as you can, because with a campervan that's exactly what you can do.

Want to know more? Find out which were my 5 favourite campsites in Australia here!

Townsville to Cairns: this is how you roadtrip

Only in Australia would there be a highway called Bruce. It's a bit like the Route 66 of Australia. Bruce and ourselves are pretty well acquainted now, and we followed him again on this journey. Our next show was in Cairns, and we had 7 days to get there from Townville. The journey can be done in about 5 hours, but why rush when you've got the rainforest on one side, and the great barrier reef on the other. This stretch of coastline is called the Cassowary Coast, named after the Cassowary, a large flightless bird that emerges from the rainforest and can often be seen wandering by the roadside. We saw one on our journey, but I'll be looking out for them on the way back down. There were many more stops we could have made on the way, but here I highlight our best ones, and some of my favourite parts of the trip so far:-

The Frosty Mango

Australia, being a big country, loves to celebrate every day objects by enlarging them into big statues. So when at the side of the highway we see a giant mango (oddly enough, the second one we've come across so far) of course we decide to stop. Next to the giant mango is a gift shop that sells home made jams, smoothies, chutneys, ice cream, etc made from the mango (and other fruits) farm produce, as well as the usual souvenirs – keyrings, mugs, and mango shaped stuffed toys. At this stop, we took a look at the brochures for activities in the region, and found a handy booklet highlighting every must-do stop on the exact drive we were pursuing. By this stage we'd already gone past some of them, but nevertheless Queensland did not let us down.

Wallaman Falls

Tumbling over a cliff edge at 268m makes Wallaman Falls the tallest single spot waterfall in Australia. Upon first arriving, you have a great view from the top of the falls, and it looks impressive. You can see the whole gorge that the stream below the falls runs into, and witness the immense power of the water as its spray mists up the area around the bottom. From here, there's a 2km path that goes down to the bottom of the falls so we thought “2km walk? Easy, why not?”, but when I see the sign at the top that recommends this walk for those of a medium fitness, I'm immediately regretting all those McDonalds and lazy days. The half hour journey down rocky steps and steep rainforest slopes wasn't too bad. My knees were giving out by the end, but at least I had awesome views of the rainforest and could watch the spectacular bright blue Ulysses butterflies that frequents this region. The falls were even more impressive from the bottom. When the sun came out, an amazing double rainbow was cast around the mist as the falls met the stream at the bottom, and it really puts you into perspective about how small you are – a single person in this world of brobdingnagian proportions. To reiterate that idea, I was reminded that what goes down must come up (well it does in this case). And my less-than-medium fitness was definitely challenged on the climb back up. Upon almost reaching the top, we passed a group of young tourists just embarking on their journey and like me, wondering what limit their body will be stretched to. We each gave a polite “hello” as we went past, after which (and not yet out of earshot) one lad said to his mate “why does everyone we pass look so f***ing depressed”. They heard our laugh at this comment, and I think then they knew what they were in for.

Murray Falls

Spectacular – yes. But fun – hell yeah! Murray falls has a nice (short, this time) walk to view the main falls, but also allows for swimming in the gorge upstream where the currents flow but aren't so dangerous. The water was clear and a nice temperature. The rocks are smooth through a mixture of water erosion and gooey algae, and make for awesome waterslides. There are rope swings which of course Joe and I couldn't help but launch ourselves from into the water. We had 2 days of fun here. We needed to come back for the second day because the GoPro wasn't charged and ready for such frolicking the first time round.

Tully

The small town of Tully is one of the wettest towns in Australia. They celebrate this with a statue of a giant Wellington boot (Gumboot, as Aussie's call it) reaching 7.9m high to mark the record breaking rainfall in 1950. Given the abundance of rain, it's gorge is also one of the best places in the country for white water rafting.

Mission Beach

We then headed to mission beach to spend the night. There are 3 villages along this stretch of coastal road, and though smaller than I imagined, they are still teeming with life. The beach is awesome, and you can even go skydiving straight onto the beach here. We didn't do this... maybe next time.

Paronella Park

Paronella Park tells the story of José Paronella, a spanish pastry baker who dreamed of having a life outside of baked goods, and so moved to Australia to work until he had saved enough to buy a large spot of land in the rainforest. His land conveniently had a waterfall within it, and he added to this picturesque scene a castle, lovely gardens and ballroom that he could open for public use. Now the park has been sold to private owners who continue to tell José's stories so it can be remembered for generations.

Mamu Tropical Skywalk

Having now seen parts of the rainforest by walking through it and gazing up at the trees, walking above the canopy was something altogether more exciting. The Mamu Skywalk offers this opportunity with their walkway built amongst the trees, reaching a height of 37 metres. It teaches a lot about rainforest life and gives you the chance to be in it for yourself.

South Johnstone

We went through South Johnstone and took pictures. Purely for the fact that it's my future surname.

Josephine falls

More waterfall chasing. On arrival, there were already tourists launching themselves down the 8m high smooth rocks into the river below. As fun as it looked, on this particularly wet day I was a little hesitant to try for myself, but enjoyed watching Joe slide down into the cool pools at the bottom.

Cairns

After a few packed days we reached our destination. Surrounded by mountains, rainforest and sea, Cairns sees millions of tourists visit each year for trips to the great barrier reef and other surrounding areas. Of course, we had to take a trip out while we were here. And let's just say I found out what was so 'great' about it.

Townsville - shows, cars and rock music

10 days is the longest we've stayed in one location since Hervey Bay, and Townsville offered us some great opportunities even in the short time we were here. North Queensland towns are currently enjoying their annual shows at the weekend, which for us means 2 or 3 days a week of easy cash in hand work. (Easy if you don't mind standing for 12+ hours of the day).

Aussie shows are awesome. The first one we attended was in Toowoomba with our au pair family (mentioned in a blog post that I have written but lazily not yet published and now published). A similar event in England is a fairground, but they are nowhere near as good. Think of one of those, but with less chavs and more animals, woodchopping, chainsaw championships, horse shows, boots, hats, jeans and large belt buckles – the only time Australians wear jeans. We found work on these shows selling corn dogs, or dagwood dogs as the Aussie's call them. I'd never tried this deep fried American delicacy before, my first experience was a pleasant one, but already I'm sick of them after living on them each weekend. Joe worked on a different van, selling slushies.

This weekend was a show of a different kind. The Townsville Castrol Edge 400 V8 Supercars Championship. I felt so swish walking through the front gates with my free 3 day pass that I almost forgot this doesn't quite get me into the VIP corporate area too (though I did get access to their toilet!). This is an annual event held in Townsville every year, with a lot going on, but the main event of course being the supercar racing. Not being a huge car fan myself (typical female, if it drives and it's a nice colour, it's good) this was the first event of it's kind I've attended. Though I worked for 2 of the 3 days, I had an awesome time and it was exciting to watch some madmen drive way too fast on roads way too small. My personal favourite were the stunt cars, which went flying (literally, at times!) round the track doing stunts and jumps that definitely aren't what cars were invented for, but it was fun to watch anyway. Being able to see into the garages as the races took place was particularly interesting. Not quite as quick with wheel changes as the Formula 1, but still pretty impressive.

Obviously this guy wasn't as interested as I was...

Choirboys lead guitarist

Saturday night saw celebrity guests to the show, Choirboys and Icehouse performing a concert, and though I'd never heard of these two Australian bands before, music is far more my forte than cars. Choirboys were on first to warm up the crowd. Formed in 1979, Choirboys are a hard rock band with a few hits in the 80s. Their sound is quite typical of the genre – fun and exciting and sounding to me like a mixture of ACDC and Thunder, two of my favourite bands. They performed a good cover song of fellow Aussies, ACDC, as well as a great range from their own library.

Icehouse came on and I didn't know what to expect. The lead singer looked like zombie character, Blaine, from TV series “izombie” and that

couldn't possibly be a good sign. Following Choirboys, my ears anticipated a style of hard rock – but once sound commenced, the first thing I noticed were the synthesisers. New wave? There are still new wave bands in 2016? Well that's fine by me. This band, formed in 1977, were like a blend of Ultravox, Gary Numan and Duran Duran, with much more pleasing vocals than that of Choirboys, and a good bit of rock to remind you that the whole band had talent and not just the guy on the synths. Oh, and it doesn't get much better than a guy in a cowboy hat playing saxophone. Oooh, tantalising!

After the show, we packed up camp and headed further north. Our next show is in Cairns, but we've got plenty more adventures to be had before then. My next post will be about our trip from Townsville to Cairns along the tropical rainforests and great barrier reef. As I write this, we're about halfway there and it's been such an awesome experience that I'm already excited to tell you about it!

Until then...

Hervey Bay and Fraser Island

Hervey Bay

Sunrise over Hervey Bay

After about a month, Joe and I left Hervey Bay to head further north. Hervey Bay (pronounced “Harvey” but we still preferred to call it “Hervey” in our British accents) is a growing town on the Fraser Coast, offering trips to Fraser Island, and is the best spot in the country for whale watching between July and November. Unfortunately we were a bit early for that, but we might stop by on our way back down the east coast.

As soon as we reached Hervey Bay, we went for a much needed walk on the beach and immediately fell in love with the place. The beach was quiet, the sea was calm and safe for swimming, the sand was soft and golden. We enjoyed watching the crabs scuttle across the beach, the occasional hawk patrolling, and even saw dolphins jumping out of the water just off shore to greet the sunset.

We stayed at each of the 4 council run beachfront caravan sites to take advantage of their short stay $15 backpacker rate. Each of these sites had clean toilets/showers and kitchens with hobs, bbqs fridge and microwave. The staff were friendly, and we liked them even more when they forgot to charge us for the wifi.

During our stay, Joe and I found a job delivering phone books, and actually found that we were really quite good at it. A lot better than we were at picking oranges! It was a short term casual role, only lasting as long as there were books left to deliver (about 3 weeks) – and many of the other candidates gave up after a couple of days. Many of the areas were rural, and delivering thousands of books is not so easy when there's a house every half mile. We did however find some awesome looking houses, and also a lot of microwaves used as mailboxes. The other areas were residential, and abundant with retirement villages. As one local elderly resident put it “Hervey Bay is God's waiting room – for the newly wed and the nearly dead”. We thought a lot of the place anyway, and so did it's residents.

Urangan Pier, Hervey Bay - 1km long!

Fraser Island

4WD tour bus

We ended our visit to the Fraser Coast with a trip to Fraser Island once we had earnt enough money from delivering phone books. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, and is only accessible by 4WD vehicles. Needless to say, a 4WD all-terrain bus looks a little weird, and I felt more like I was getting into a G4S secure van. When the sand is dry, vehicles can easily get stuck. Fraser Island has an amazing array of wildlife, and a high population of – pretty much every animal that can kill you. Snakes, spiders, sharks, and probably some crocs too. There are over 300 species of birds, and many plants and trees that don't grow anywhere else in Australia. Fraser is most famous for the dingoes. About 200-300 of them inhabit the island, and unlike the rest of Oz where they have bred with domestic dogs, Fraser dingoes are purebred, and it has been illegal for some years to take dogs onto the island. Visitors are reminded to watch their children and food supplies at all times, and it is an offence to harass or feed them. Sadly we didn't see any on our trip, but maybe that's for the better as I'd probably want to take them home with me.

Our trip started at the ferry port, before travelling through the rainforest until we reached 75 mile

75 mile beach

Lake Makenzie

beach. This beach is a highway as well as plane landing strip, which felt very bizarre. The surf looked good, but no surfers because if you go in that water you WILL be eaten by sharks. Not maybe. You WILL. We took a look at the Maheno shipwreck and learnt about it's history, viewed the coloured sands where the aboriginals traditionally performed their ceremonies, then went for a paddle in Eli Creek. We then headed to Lake Makenzie for lunch and a swim. Lake Makenzie is one of the 40 freshwater lakes on the island, and one of the largest in the world of it's kind that sits above sea level on top of the dunes. The water was unbelievably crystal clear and the sand was the whitest I've ever seen! The Eurong central station was the last destination on our trip, where we learnt about the railway built to transport timber before the island became a world heritage listed site. It was a fun and interesting day, improved only by slightly warmer weather, but then, it is winter ;). Now we're heading north to more tropical climates, waving goodbye to Hervey Bay in the mirror and hoping we will be back again sometime.

Maheno shipwreck

Eli Creek

The 10 Rules to Being a Money-Wise Traveller

Actually, I prefer the term “stingy”. I am stingy. I am cheap. I enjoy myself but I also make sure that I have money left in the bank. Here's how to do it:

Rule number 1. Don't drink/smoke

Ok, so this is my first one and I know immediately that most people will struggle with this – but it's the one that has saved me the most money. I consider myself lucky that I am not addicted to these legal drugs that kill the body and rinse the bank account. For backpackers and young people in general, I believe these are the reasons that people complain about having no money. Can't remember where your money went? Well that's because you drank it. The secret that everyone has been keeping from you is – you don't need alcohol to have a good time.

Rule number 2. McDonalds

Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you that you can't have a Macca's either. Infact, McDonald's has been our lifeline while we've been in Australia. $1 (50p) for a hash brown and you have access to all day free internet, and if you're lucky, a plug socket to charge your devices. To be money-wise though, you have to be careful not to spend all your cash on their food. Joe and I have taken to sitting in the van in the carpark during our lunch break to use the free wifi, without having to spend a dollar on any over-priced artery blockers. Though, if you are buying food, another tip is to always ask for extra condiments. The mayo will be useful for making my egg mayo sandwiches tomorrow lunchtime, and the butter is a welcome treat on my morning toast – but this way I don't have to buy a whole tub of it.

Rule number 3. When you have money, buy a campervan

If you're making a big trip, you should have saved money beforehand. If you're lucky it will be enough to buy a van, which for us, has been a life saver. If travelling with someone else, this is do-able. You will save money on accommodation in the long run, and be able to get your money back for the van when you sell it at the end of your trip. As an example, a hostel dorm room is about $30 each. A campsite can be free, or from $5 to $30 for 2 people if you like the added luxuries of a warm shower and kitchen. Remember to look after the van and it will look after you. Service it regularly and get proper insurance to avoid paying hefty fees down the line.

Rule number 4. Work for accommodation

If you can't buy a van, this one is an excellent idea. Many hostels have a work for accommodation scheme where you work as a housekeeper for 3-4 hours of the day in return for free nights accommodation. We did this in Melbourne while we were waiting for our van to get fixed, and it saved us $60 per day for as long as we were there. Make sure you put your name down for this quickly, there can often be a waiting list!

Rule number 5. Don't buy stupid things

This includes souvenirs, junk food (I write whilst eating a chocolate chip cookie), didgeridoos and other random things you can't take home with you. You don't need to buy a new outfit every week because you don't have space for it in your backpack. Souvenirs that you want to take home can be bought the week before you leave, as long as they fit in your bag. And well, I love junk food. But just don't buy too much of it. Be a savvy shopper. Things like porridge oats, eggs and rice are cheap and make good filling meals. Stock up on tinned food that won't spoil, and buy the fresh stuff on the day that you intend to eat it.

Rule number 6. Look for jobs with accommodation

Jobs such as working in a hostel/hotel, as an au pair or even on some farms. You may get reduced pay for the cost of the accommodation, but at least you know where you'll be sleeping at night.

Rule number 7. Coupons, loyalty cards and voucher codes

The same as you would when you're back at home (well, I do anyway!). I got a supermarket loyalty card 2 weeks ago and already have about 500 points on it (equivalent of about $2.50 off my next shop). It all adds up though! Currently we are looking at booking a tour of Fraser Island – which for 3 days comes to about $400 when booking through the caravan site or travel agent. Doing a bit of research finds me last minute deals online for $250 dollars. Not bad! Many companies have voucher codes online. Look these up before paying for accommodation or even when going out for a meal.

Rule number 8. Markets and garage sales

Aussie's love these, and so do I. You can find all sorts of bargains, from clothes to DVDs to camping equipment. But remember rule number 5. Don't buy stupid things that you don't need. Don't be afraid to barter. It's a fun and beneficial skill to learn. At the end of the day, you're the one with the money and it's the golden rule – he who has the gold makes the rules. As an example to this, at a gourmet sausage stand, Joe and I saw a deal “3 for $12”. Sounds great when the sausages are $6 each. But Joe decided he didn't want to pay that much, and haggled with the vendor to sell him 3 for $9.

Rule number 9. Get a youth/student card and ask for discount

Before travelling, Joe and I bought a youth travel card for £12 from STA Travel, which gives you cheaper air fare as well as discount at some places. I don't have a clue where I'm supposed to get discount, but anywhere I see a different price for concessions is a good place to start. If you don't ask, you don't get. This even worked at the local pool in Toowoomba. The staff didn't know if they take this card as a valid concessions discount, so they gave it to me anyway. I've also spoken to backpackers who became students just for the student discount. You can buy courses online or from some universities for about £15, and then you've got a nice shiny student card.

Rule number 10. Watch where you shop

This one is important wherever you go, even when you're back at home. But being in a new place or foreign country can sometimes be difficult because you're not used to their big name brands and don't know where to find the cheapest bargain. Do a bit of research before you come out, and also ask the locals where they shop. Avoid service stations for buying, well, anything. Small towns can also put the price up in their local shop too, so try to stock up on things you need at a big supermarket or even the weekly farmers market.

So there's the secret as to how we've survived so long. It's easy when it becomes habit, and money becomes less of a worry so you can focus on what you came here to do – have fun!

Got any more tips? Let me know in the comments!

A quick update – oranges, crabs, and phone books

For those who were left in suspense after reading my last blog post, here's a brief update. Joe and I arrived at the orange farm just outside Gayndah, and were inducted, told briefly how to cut oranges from a tree and use a ladder, and then were left to work the rest of the day. It was a fun day. Wait, no, I meant I'd rather backstroke through a swimming pool full of used syringes than pick oranges ever again. The pay was not worth the effort - $80 per full bin (bins roughly 1.5m wide x 1.5m long x 1m deep. I got 1 bin finished in the whole 9 hours, though Joe had to help me at the end. I was both shocked and impressed by the French lads we were working with, who smashed through it while smoking cigarettes like a belt fed machine gun. Fair play to people that do this, and I appreciate oranges a lot more. Needless to say, we didn't stay for the next day to find out how different lemon picking is.

We then ran away to the nearest beach, which happened to be Hervey Bay, a two hour drive away. We immediately fell in love with the place, as our caravan site had friendly staff and an even friendlier backpacker rate, meaning it was just $15 (£7.50) for the two of us for a night. We met a friendly possum who lived in the camp kitchen. 

And of course, we checked out the beach. At this time of year (autumn) it is relatively quiet, but still a nice 25 degrees every day, with a sea temperature of 21. A stroll along the beach finds us chasing armies of cute little crabs, who fascinated us with their artwork as they speedily create millions of tiny balls of sand in patterns on the beach.

As we loved Hervey Bay so much, we decided to stay once we found a temporary job delivering phone books – which brings us to where we are now. The aim is to make enough bucks to go to Fraser Island, give Hodor (the van) a bit of TLC, and continue on our travels. As someone who only runs when they're being chased, let me tell you, nothing gets you jogging more than delivering in Australia, where space is abundant and the houses aren't so close together!

Tl;dr I'm still alive and didn't get eaten by a giant spider.

So anyway, that's all for now folks, cheerio!