Austraia or New Zealand? Anyone have contacts there?

Hello everyone -- we are waiting to hear from them on Dec. 29th - we hope. The Travel Agency did send me the schedule for their whole Australian portion of the trip. The kids had hoped to see/do more of what Culpeper describes above. They are not big drinkers, some but not too much and besides that, they are on careful budget and cannot waste money on drinking.

I think it will be a great learning experience from all sorts of ways. Thank you so much for all the support and tips and messages. It has meant a lot.

Hello -- my son called us on the Skpy this morning! They were in Hervey Bay at a Youth Hostel, had a great time in the Everglades, said they had been able to canoe, hike, camp - and were really glad to be outside and in nature rather than in a city. They were going to sleep, then at 6 am were taking a Ferry to Fraser Island where they were to meet a group and share a 4-wheel drive vehicle and camp for 2 night and 3 days.

Then, they are to bus over night to ...Airlie Beach.....if all continues to go well, they will keep the schedule Casey posted on his Blog site. He sounded good, said the Wicked Travel people were good so far, he has found food and was basically happy and having a good time. Someone had warned him already about the Crocodiles and the Sting Rays and he said the Tour people said they were only going to safe areas.

In other news - things have a strange way of going around - the two students who "dumped" Casey and his friend, the ones who canceled all the transportation and Hostels....Those two. Their Parents sent word to friends last night for prayers for them. Two days ago a car they had managed to buy, and travel in, was stolen and all their camping gear was in the car and all the clothes except what they had on at the time. Everything - gone. Even their passports. Gone.

I am certainly sorry but I have to think that if they had kept the schedule they promised - the schedule that had been planned by the four kids for over 7 months, if they had kept it - maybe the car would not have been stolen.

My son said he plans to keep to his schedule for now. He tends to want to rescue everyone even to his disadvantage at times. The other two had emailed to my son already for help and asking if they can now "share" the rental car my son has booked in New Zealand. Since one of them is my son's College Room mate, and has been a good friend for years (it is the girl partner who is the new and troubling element).....then my son plans to ask them to travel on to New Z. and share the car...but he is also wiser and braver and plans to keep control and be the Boss and Head of his own Fate this time around.

Thank you everyone for the support, information, messages and numbers. My son received all the emails I forwarded to him and he and his travel buddy send their thanks too.

Glad to hear everything is going well for them.

Sounds like a trip they''ll remember and talk about for years.

Great you've heard from your son! Sounds like they're having a marvellous time. Check out this site to see where they'll be over New Year:

http://www.google.com.au/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=fraser+island&meta=cr%3DcountryAU&btnG=Google+Search
According to the weather forecast, they're going to get wet!

They'll get even wetter when they get to Airlie Beach!

http://airliebeaches.com/

Don't think too badly of his mate. It's too unkind to think of the theft of their car etc as a sort of punishment. You don't want to encourage your son in that sort of thinking. His friend has his own way to make in the world, and has the right to make his own decisions. It's not as if he's had much of an effect on your son's travel plans!

Culpeper - you are right all the way - His Mate has already sent emails saying "sorry" and asking to patch things up. And yes, we do not view the theft as a punishment. I don't think things work that way.

Wet! Well - it will make them appreciate the Hostel when they get back there. Thank you for the links.