Koala's, Westpac

This is only of interest for anyone travelling Australia. I'd avoid the Koala's like the plague. The hostels in Noosa and Hervey Bay were terrible. The kitchens were tiny and it was like fight club trying to get yourself dinner. In Noosa the only knife was stuck in between a cooker and the microwave so to cut anything you were constantly on the move. In these places it's like they're trying to make conditions so bad that you have to buy dinner in the bar. Also their trip to Fraser Island is terrible with both the vehicles and the equipment substandard. They don't seem to service the vehicles at all. Our clutch was wrecked by the second day and when you pressed it down you had to have a piece of string to pull it back up. Also when we rang from the port to get their assistance with the car which was basically unroadworthy we were told they couldn't collect it. We also heard that another Koalas vehicle had the same problem while we were there. As part of the equipment we were given a rusty shovel that cracked the first time we used it. They also had the cheek to charge the group beside us for a knife that fell apart when they were cutting vegetables for dinner. The lads that run this are most arrogant group of people. They have a $60 bond from each person so that you can't complain about the abuse/insults you get or they keep part of your bond. They asked the girls in our group to demonstrate French kissing. I'm emailing this to lonely planet so that hopefully they can take out any reference to these in the next issue. I think the place in Aerlie Beach is already taken out of it.

While I'm at it avoid Westpac. They try to charge you for any international transactions and they tried to charge me twice for the same transaction.