After our Whitsunday Adventure it was an overnight bus journey for another adventure with a 2 night trip planned at Fraser Island .
We had no idea what to expect as we are just following our itinerary what we were given. Turned out we'd be sharing a 4WD with 7 other people and camping in the bush.
We were up early the first morning of the trip and briefed about what to expect from this horrendously treacherous island. Basically everything is designed to kill you.
James and I were responsible for collecting the booze that our group had ordered. Apparently while we were doing this the drivers in our group were subjected to a terrifying video on how not to kill the rest of us in the car.
We were all excited heading off and taking the barge to the island. In case you have never been (it's surprising how many people have!) the island is made entirely of very fine soft sand. There are no roads, just very bumpy tracks through the forest and rain forest.
The beach was also a road and we were allowed to go a bit faster here. Nevertheless this area was also fraught with peril. Dingoes watched and followed us. We were ravaged by horse flies (nasty horrible things) and the sand is very soft and unstable. At one point on our first day we drove right up a sandbank so the car was at a 45 degree angle and nearly tipped.
We were camping at K'gari that was run by Aboriginals. They were lovely and friendly and liked a chat. The toilets there were better than any arachnid house at the zoo. Gigantic spiders resided there, huntsman's aparently. Beautiful in a scary way.
Over the course of the next 2 days we went swimming in a creek that flowed down to the sea, swam in Allom fresh water lake with turtles (rather brown water tho), waked to Indian Head in the searing sun and sat in a rock pool surrounded by deadly jellyfish. But the best part by far was after the hellish journey to Lake Mackenzie, when we threw ourselves into the water.
Lake Mackenzie is also fresh water and is one of the worlds top 10 beaches. We couldn't remove ourselves. We'd spent 2 solid days being permanently filthy and now we could be clean in the cleanest water known to man!!!
In our opinion we had the best group of all the groups that were staying at the camp. All the others without exception played drinking games and were rather loud and racous. All very obvious. We all got on without the aid of alcohol and had a laugh all the time. We were 2 English, 4 Danish, 1 South Korean, 1 Austrian and 1 Dutch. All speaking English. Mortifying isn't it.
So we all swapped facebook details so we can all stay in touch and crashed on to our next destination, the Gold Coast. Which is where we are now.
For the first time in weeks we can actually go in the sea without wearing a stinger suit. All our tours are complete and we don't have to get up at silly time in the morning to be anywhere for the next 2 days.
There is a Wet N Wild and a Sea World but they are a bit pricey and we're trying to budget for the rest of our stay in Oz. Heading to Sydney in 2 days where there are actually some people that we know - hurrah!!!
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Friday, 22 January 2010
Argh!!! Crocs!!!
Cairns was hot!!
We arrived and couldn't believe the humidity. It's a pretty town tho, with a huge man made lagoon. You can't swim in the sea because of the man eating crocodiles. Signs everywhere.
We had the first day to ourselves so we walked into town along the promenade and spent most of the afternoon sheltering from the heat in the cinema watching Avatar in 3D. It was stupendous! I loved it and didn't think I would.
Next day our paid up 18 day tour to Sydney started in earnest with a early morning pick up by Ciarns Dive Centre, from our hostel out to the Kangaroo Explorer (posh boat) 2 hours off the coast of Cairns, to the Great Barrier Reef.
We had our own room with a double bed, cotton sheets, ensuite bathroom and air con. We came to the realisation that we were 2 out of 3 snorkellers on a professional dive boat, that most people had paid hundreds of $$$'s for.
All meals provided, we stayed for 2 days and 1 night. The snorkelling was amazing. We saw reef sharks, turtles, rays, loads of pretty fish and ultra violet coral on the reef and best all Nemo Clown Fish, peeping at us. It was truly like being in Finding Nemo.
The first afternoon James was brave enough to have a go at proper diving with and tank and everything. The crew were really pleased with him. Said it was one of the best ever first time dives. A camerman went out with them and filmed everything. We watched the film later on the boat and James indeed does look like a consumate professional - but we can't afford the DVD just yet. We'll buy it when we're back home and have proper jobs again.
We returned back to the mainland, back to our dorm room, and prepared for the next adventure which was a one night trip to Cape Tribulation, north of Cairns.
If we thought Cairns was hot and humid, this was some'ink else.
Was a bit too much for me. And the mozzies were rife.
On the way we visted a crocodile farm, that had kangaroos, wallabies and vicious cassawaries. We jungle trekked with our Aboriginal guide - the lovely George - and had a swim in a gorge.
At PK's (our accommodation) we had a whole day before we were collected the next afternoon to laze around and inspect the beach.
Inspect is the correct term of phrase as we can't go anywhere near the water at the moment as it's stinger season - deadly jellyfish lurk everywhere - oh and man eating crocs in the mangroves. Australia appears to be fully of things that can kill you dead.
On the way back to Cairns the next day we stopped off for a crocodile spotting cruise and ice cream. Tourist heaven.
One more night in our dorm and we were catching our first Greyhound bus to Airlie Beach, where we are now. It's a small strip that reminds us of Newquay. It's a party place and lots of young 'uns are biding their time drinking until their boat trips out to the Whit Sundays, where they drink some more.
We are just back from our boat trip. There were 26 of us and we all got on great bonnded partly by a common dislike for the crew. These chaps were uninterested, unwelcoming and often downright rude. Their favourite subject was how little they were paid.
Nevertheless we were a great group and we met some lovely people.
We arrived and couldn't believe the humidity. It's a pretty town tho, with a huge man made lagoon. You can't swim in the sea because of the man eating crocodiles. Signs everywhere.
We had the first day to ourselves so we walked into town along the promenade and spent most of the afternoon sheltering from the heat in the cinema watching Avatar in 3D. It was stupendous! I loved it and didn't think I would.
Next day our paid up 18 day tour to Sydney started in earnest with a early morning pick up by Ciarns Dive Centre, from our hostel out to the Kangaroo Explorer (posh boat) 2 hours off the coast of Cairns, to the Great Barrier Reef.
We had our own room with a double bed, cotton sheets, ensuite bathroom and air con. We came to the realisation that we were 2 out of 3 snorkellers on a professional dive boat, that most people had paid hundreds of $$$'s for.
All meals provided, we stayed for 2 days and 1 night. The snorkelling was amazing. We saw reef sharks, turtles, rays, loads of pretty fish and ultra violet coral on the reef and best all Nemo Clown Fish, peeping at us. It was truly like being in Finding Nemo.
The first afternoon James was brave enough to have a go at proper diving with and tank and everything. The crew were really pleased with him. Said it was one of the best ever first time dives. A camerman went out with them and filmed everything. We watched the film later on the boat and James indeed does look like a consumate professional - but we can't afford the DVD just yet. We'll buy it when we're back home and have proper jobs again.
We returned back to the mainland, back to our dorm room, and prepared for the next adventure which was a one night trip to Cape Tribulation, north of Cairns.
If we thought Cairns was hot and humid, this was some'ink else.
Was a bit too much for me. And the mozzies were rife.
On the way we visted a crocodile farm, that had kangaroos, wallabies and vicious cassawaries. We jungle trekked with our Aboriginal guide - the lovely George - and had a swim in a gorge.
At PK's (our accommodation) we had a whole day before we were collected the next afternoon to laze around and inspect the beach.
Inspect is the correct term of phrase as we can't go anywhere near the water at the moment as it's stinger season - deadly jellyfish lurk everywhere - oh and man eating crocs in the mangroves. Australia appears to be fully of things that can kill you dead.
On the way back to Cairns the next day we stopped off for a crocodile spotting cruise and ice cream. Tourist heaven.
One more night in our dorm and we were catching our first Greyhound bus to Airlie Beach, where we are now. It's a small strip that reminds us of Newquay. It's a party place and lots of young 'uns are biding their time drinking until their boat trips out to the Whit Sundays, where they drink some more.
We are just back from our boat trip. There were 26 of us and we all got on great bonnded partly by a common dislike for the crew. These chaps were uninterested, unwelcoming and often downright rude. Their favourite subject was how little they were paid.
Nevertheless we were a great group and we met some lovely people.
Friday, 15 January 2010
The Dead Centre .. Continued
So yes, where were we?
Right - Alice Springs. In the rain. It lasted three days. Now Alice Springs despite being well known is pretty small. Its big by outback standards but its really not much more than a big village. As a result, after a damp wander around our first morning there we had pretty much seen it all. So we headed to the shops and filled up on supplies. After that lazy day, we did pretty much the same thing the next day - although we did save ourselves a special treat - going up Anzac Hill, which is baiscally a big(ish) hill in the town.
We stayed at Annies Place which was crackin hostel (thanks to Erica for the recommendation!) and also was the best bar in town too which did good cheap eats. We booked a tour thru them with the owners company - Mulga tours - and so on our third day jumped on a minibus with 18 other souls and we headed to Uluru. Luckily the big storm which had meant continuous rain had just about abated and after about 4 hours drive we finally saw some sun.
Because of the rain we did our tour in reverse. Usually you head to Kings Canyon on the first day but it was flooded so we had to leave it til last. Uluru was great, the sun just about came out and because it had been raining there were waterfalls cascading down it! Even our guide Heath had never seen this and he was very excited! Unfortunately as the sun started to go down and we readied ourselves for "the famous colour changing rock" bit, the clouds came back and it became a big brown rock again. Then it was completely dark. So we went to camp nearby at the resort and another big storm was coming across the sky so we bunked down in our swags under a sink in the covered kitchen area rather than under the stars. It kept us dry, but then it actually didn't rain all night so everyone else was dry too. Oh well.
After getting up and 4am to see the sunrise over Uluru we headed over to Kata Tjula (The Olgas) and went for a hike. It was a bit more hard work than the guidebook suggested and wasn't helped by the heat (and it was only 8am!) . It was as good as Uluru - very similar only instead of one big rock theres lots all together and you can walk through and around some of them. We'd been up for ages by now and its was nearly 11am so we all got back into the minibus for the long drive to Kings Canyon. That night was spent in another campground (at Kings Creek) and everyone in the group bonded in the swimming pool and then around the fire. Just before turning in for the night, about a million scropions were found all around us as well as a big old snake. That was enough to convince about half the group (and Marie!) to sleep on the bus instead of out under the stars but I decided to bite the bullet (I'd had 4 cans of beer by this point!) and slept out on the grass. It was amazing, as long as I didn't think about what might be crawling over me.
Another early start and we were at Kings Canyon for another dawn, it was no longer flooded and a really amazing place, it looked like pancakes. Everywhere. We did a near-on four hour hike around it with a swim for me in a big watering hole. It was a lovely morning only spoilt by the 6 hour drive back to Alcie Springs. Still, it had been a mad but corking couple of days and meant we were done in the outback. Next day we flew fro mAlice Srpings to Cairns, where I am now typing. Our next tour has started......
Right - Alice Springs. In the rain. It lasted three days. Now Alice Springs despite being well known is pretty small. Its big by outback standards but its really not much more than a big village. As a result, after a damp wander around our first morning there we had pretty much seen it all. So we headed to the shops and filled up on supplies. After that lazy day, we did pretty much the same thing the next day - although we did save ourselves a special treat - going up Anzac Hill, which is baiscally a big(ish) hill in the town.
We stayed at Annies Place which was crackin hostel (thanks to Erica for the recommendation!) and also was the best bar in town too which did good cheap eats. We booked a tour thru them with the owners company - Mulga tours - and so on our third day jumped on a minibus with 18 other souls and we headed to Uluru. Luckily the big storm which had meant continuous rain had just about abated and after about 4 hours drive we finally saw some sun.
Because of the rain we did our tour in reverse. Usually you head to Kings Canyon on the first day but it was flooded so we had to leave it til last. Uluru was great, the sun just about came out and because it had been raining there were waterfalls cascading down it! Even our guide Heath had never seen this and he was very excited! Unfortunately as the sun started to go down and we readied ourselves for "the famous colour changing rock" bit, the clouds came back and it became a big brown rock again. Then it was completely dark. So we went to camp nearby at the resort and another big storm was coming across the sky so we bunked down in our swags under a sink in the covered kitchen area rather than under the stars. It kept us dry, but then it actually didn't rain all night so everyone else was dry too. Oh well.
After getting up and 4am to see the sunrise over Uluru we headed over to Kata Tjula (The Olgas) and went for a hike. It was a bit more hard work than the guidebook suggested and wasn't helped by the heat (and it was only 8am!) . It was as good as Uluru - very similar only instead of one big rock theres lots all together and you can walk through and around some of them. We'd been up for ages by now and its was nearly 11am so we all got back into the minibus for the long drive to Kings Canyon. That night was spent in another campground (at Kings Creek) and everyone in the group bonded in the swimming pool and then around the fire. Just before turning in for the night, about a million scropions were found all around us as well as a big old snake. That was enough to convince about half the group (and Marie!) to sleep on the bus instead of out under the stars but I decided to bite the bullet (I'd had 4 cans of beer by this point!) and slept out on the grass. It was amazing, as long as I didn't think about what might be crawling over me.
Another early start and we were at Kings Canyon for another dawn, it was no longer flooded and a really amazing place, it looked like pancakes. Everywhere. We did a near-on four hour hike around it with a swim for me in a big watering hole. It was a lovely morning only spoilt by the 6 hour drive back to Alcie Springs. Still, it had been a mad but corking couple of days and meant we were done in the outback. Next day we flew fro mAlice Srpings to Cairns, where I am now typing. Our next tour has started......
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
The Red Dead Heart
Our last night in Fremantle was good. We went for those drinks with Lisa nd Dale and Gila and Pasquale, who bought us some soaps back from Bali as a thank you for looking after the cats.
After heading home with slightly fuzzy heads we spend our last night in a free room, from then on it was back to paying for the prividge of getting a bed. We flew the next day at just after midday. It took about 4 hours to get to the airport, which included the longest local train journey in the world, a once hourly bus service which we had just missed and a long, very hot walk into the airport itself. We just about made it though and flew to Alice Springs on time.
On the second attempt, the pilot managed to land the plane at Alice, a storm was just coming in as we landed and an "Updraft" sent us off course just as the wheels were touching the ground so we had to try again. Once we had landed and Marie had calmed down, the heavens then opened and it rained heavily. This then lasted two days! In the desert, it didn't seem right. Just like in the south of NZ, everyone told us how unusual the rain was. Even the Todd River was flowing like an actual river. This is something which only happens every two to three years. Oh lucky us.
Things did improve though and I'll try to blog about that next time but my time has just run out so I'll leave you in suspense.
ta ta for now....
After heading home with slightly fuzzy heads we spend our last night in a free room, from then on it was back to paying for the prividge of getting a bed. We flew the next day at just after midday. It took about 4 hours to get to the airport, which included the longest local train journey in the world, a once hourly bus service which we had just missed and a long, very hot walk into the airport itself. We just about made it though and flew to Alice Springs on time.
On the second attempt, the pilot managed to land the plane at Alice, a storm was just coming in as we landed and an "Updraft" sent us off course just as the wheels were touching the ground so we had to try again. Once we had landed and Marie had calmed down, the heavens then opened and it rained heavily. This then lasted two days! In the desert, it didn't seem right. Just like in the south of NZ, everyone told us how unusual the rain was. Even the Todd River was flowing like an actual river. This is something which only happens every two to three years. Oh lucky us.
Things did improve though and I'll try to blog about that next time but my time has just run out so I'll leave you in suspense.
ta ta for now....
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
New Year's On The Beach
We did go to the beach that afternoon, and I did go into the water with our one remaining mobile phone stuffed into the bra area of my swimming cozzy, and James did look very disappointed with me. Not having much luck with phones on this trip.
That meant the next day, Tues 29 Jan, we went into Perth town again to purchase a new cheap phone. We visited Target, a fabulous shop, but there was no one serving behind the till, to we eventually left and bought it from Dick Smith's. We are now contactable again.
While in town we tried to book our train to Adelaide and buy the train pass that would get us around Australia, there are no available seats to Adelaide until 13 Jan. That isn't an option for us. So James and I sat huddled over the laptop the next day re-planning.
In the end we booked a flight direct to Alice Springs, and another to Cairns, with plans to do some sort of backpackers organised tour to Sydney. Also booked a super cheap flight from Sydney to The Gold Coast (with Tiger Airways) where we fly out of on 11 Feb, so Australia's nearly sorted.
New Years Eve, Thurs 31 Dec, we walked over to Jo and John's house in the evening. It was a fun evening. James, me and John put bets on when Jo would fall asleep. I said 5 to 12, other bets were a bit earlier, but we all lost cos she was asleep by 11, totally missing the new year.
We had options to either go to the races or Rottnest Island on New Years Day. Both would have been rather expensive so in the end we decided to snooze off the effects of the night before. It was the right decision. I'm 36 now. I can't party like I used to.
Fri 1 Jan we had to be out of the house-sitting house, so we cleaned like billy ho, fed the cats and left a bottle of new year's bubbly for Gila and Pasquale, and were out by 9pm. We walked back to jo and John's with our bags where we'd be staying for the weekend.
When we got there the house was in darkness and we presumed they were out. Apparently they were sound asleep and recovering from New Year's but they did not wake up when we arrived. On the way in we struggled a bit with the key in the lock, I felt gossamer on my arm and wiped it off. We dumped our bags in our room and James stood very still while he surveyed a spider sitting on a carrier bag. He decided it could be poisonous and I decided he was being dramatic.
I went for it with a pint glass and an unopened letter. James was not happy. In the end we found a hoover and used the extendable part to put through the bag handles to hook it up and take it outside. We left it there all night.
In the morning we told Jo about it and she said it did sound like a redback. We checked on the internet. Argh! I had a redback on me! Fortunately no one has died of a redback bite since 1956. That made me feel rather less of a hero.
Sat 2 Jan the four of us went to Cottesloe Beach. Apparently Cottesloe is the most expensive suburb in Australia. We thrashed about in the waves and lay in the sun for a couple of hours. Later we went to Left Bank pub for a couple of beers and walked along the river front. We saw dolphins jumping and black Swans. We arrived at Eat Greek and had the best meal I've had in a long time. It was a Greek buffet, with fresh fruit and veggies, lots of seafood, including giant prawns. We had to really pace ourselves. John discovered baklava - a taste sensation!
Sun 3 Jan we went to City Beach. The waves were absolutley enormous, and carried loads of sand. The sign said 'dumping beach'. I was battered about when I first got in but eventually got the hang of it. It still a bit terrifying tho when you see a huge wave coming towards you.
Sun evening we made Mexican for John and Jo to say thank you for putting us up, and watched Troy.
Mon we walked into Fremantle for the day. My face was all pink when we arrived. Was 34 degrees. We had a rummage thru some charity shops, went to Benny's for lunch, and printed off all the e tickets we'd need for the next few weeks. We're staying at Dale and Lisa's again until we fly out of Perth on 6 Jan.
Lisa's little chicks are soooo cute. They constantly cheep. There are 8 of them and they are growing really fast. Dale did a great job on their house at the end if the garden.
So it's our last full day in Fremantle. We're sat in an air conditioned house watching Magnum PI, keeping Bella company, while Lisa and Dale are at work. Gila and Pasquale sent us an email the other day saying thanks for looking after the cats and would we like to go to Little Creatures tonight. Looking forward to it.
That meant the next day, Tues 29 Jan, we went into Perth town again to purchase a new cheap phone. We visited Target, a fabulous shop, but there was no one serving behind the till, to we eventually left and bought it from Dick Smith's. We are now contactable again.
While in town we tried to book our train to Adelaide and buy the train pass that would get us around Australia, there are no available seats to Adelaide until 13 Jan. That isn't an option for us. So James and I sat huddled over the laptop the next day re-planning.
In the end we booked a flight direct to Alice Springs, and another to Cairns, with plans to do some sort of backpackers organised tour to Sydney. Also booked a super cheap flight from Sydney to The Gold Coast (with Tiger Airways) where we fly out of on 11 Feb, so Australia's nearly sorted.
New Years Eve, Thurs 31 Dec, we walked over to Jo and John's house in the evening. It was a fun evening. James, me and John put bets on when Jo would fall asleep. I said 5 to 12, other bets were a bit earlier, but we all lost cos she was asleep by 11, totally missing the new year.
We had options to either go to the races or Rottnest Island on New Years Day. Both would have been rather expensive so in the end we decided to snooze off the effects of the night before. It was the right decision. I'm 36 now. I can't party like I used to.
Fri 1 Jan we had to be out of the house-sitting house, so we cleaned like billy ho, fed the cats and left a bottle of new year's bubbly for Gila and Pasquale, and were out by 9pm. We walked back to jo and John's with our bags where we'd be staying for the weekend.
When we got there the house was in darkness and we presumed they were out. Apparently they were sound asleep and recovering from New Year's but they did not wake up when we arrived. On the way in we struggled a bit with the key in the lock, I felt gossamer on my arm and wiped it off. We dumped our bags in our room and James stood very still while he surveyed a spider sitting on a carrier bag. He decided it could be poisonous and I decided he was being dramatic.
I went for it with a pint glass and an unopened letter. James was not happy. In the end we found a hoover and used the extendable part to put through the bag handles to hook it up and take it outside. We left it there all night.
In the morning we told Jo about it and she said it did sound like a redback. We checked on the internet. Argh! I had a redback on me! Fortunately no one has died of a redback bite since 1956. That made me feel rather less of a hero.
Sat 2 Jan the four of us went to Cottesloe Beach. Apparently Cottesloe is the most expensive suburb in Australia. We thrashed about in the waves and lay in the sun for a couple of hours. Later we went to Left Bank pub for a couple of beers and walked along the river front. We saw dolphins jumping and black Swans. We arrived at Eat Greek and had the best meal I've had in a long time. It was a Greek buffet, with fresh fruit and veggies, lots of seafood, including giant prawns. We had to really pace ourselves. John discovered baklava - a taste sensation!
Sun 3 Jan we went to City Beach. The waves were absolutley enormous, and carried loads of sand. The sign said 'dumping beach'. I was battered about when I first got in but eventually got the hang of it. It still a bit terrifying tho when you see a huge wave coming towards you.
Sun evening we made Mexican for John and Jo to say thank you for putting us up, and watched Troy.
Mon we walked into Fremantle for the day. My face was all pink when we arrived. Was 34 degrees. We had a rummage thru some charity shops, went to Benny's for lunch, and printed off all the e tickets we'd need for the next few weeks. We're staying at Dale and Lisa's again until we fly out of Perth on 6 Jan.
Lisa's little chicks are soooo cute. They constantly cheep. There are 8 of them and they are growing really fast. Dale did a great job on their house at the end if the garden.
So it's our last full day in Fremantle. We're sat in an air conditioned house watching Magnum PI, keeping Bella company, while Lisa and Dale are at work. Gila and Pasquale sent us an email the other day saying thanks for looking after the cats and would we like to go to Little Creatures tonight. Looking forward to it.
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