A week later, a bit further down the coast

For my 21st i went diving on the Yongala! The club left from this town called Ayr, aka deadsville, and so we only stayed as long as we needed too! The other divers were nice though! The dive eventually lived up to expectations once the 'wow' factor wore off and you could really appreciate the wreck lying in the middle of nowhere with tonnes of coral growing off of it so that it's become this cleaning station for masses of fish! amongst others saw a 2.5m long giant queensland grouper, moray eel, green and hawksbill turtle, marble ray (2m in diameter), batfish and lots of disgusting giant trevallys. Pretty good birthday present to myself i have to say! one of the top 10 dives in the world!
We (i'm travelling with the friend i met in cairns still) went down to airlie beach, with this other guy who did the yongala, because that's where most stuff out to the whitsundays leaves from. Had a few birthday drinks at night.
2 days later i left the girl and went on a one-day trip around the whitsundays - whitehaven beach, one of the most photographed beaches in the world, is absolutely stunning! because the sand is so clear white, the ocean is beautiful shades of blue! gorgeous! i imagine an aerial tour would've been spectacular. The snorkelling there however is abit of a let down compared to up north, but the views over the white beach made the trip worth it!
As exciting as the one street in airlie beach was (that was sarcasm btw!) the whole backpacker mecca was getting to me so i headed down to Noosa beach. I'm finding that, with the lack of culture here in Australia and wanting to really experience it, i'm not getting any of that here on the coast in tourist centers. So i've decided to steer my path towards more local spots (therefore slightly less party-y but that's not what i came here for!).
Noosa is a very fancy place, and it's where the rich and retirees live. Very pretty and not too exciting, plus there's a lot of surfers there too. yesterday (the2nd day) i went to Australia zoo, perfectly timed to coincide with Steve Irwin day (aus zoo is where steve worked). It's really scary how much they idolize him, and think he's god-like (i personally didn't always agree with what he did, think his death was his own fault and will love david attenborough any day over steve) but it was fun nonetheless and i saw terri and bindi (who is now idolized too) and robert irwin (last 2 = kids), and saw some dingoes and koalas, and even a sumatran tiger!
I'm now somewhere south of brisbane, with some people i'd met in Africa! and it's nice to have free internet and a private room...!!