I arrived into Johannesburg first and after a few hours in the airport flew to Cape Town to spend a coupld of days relaxing and getting myself ready for my overland tour. The weather was awful the first day I was there so I decided shopping was on the cards so I got all the bits and bobs I needed for my trip.
The second day the weather was beautiful so I headed up to Table Mountain and caught the Cable Car up to the top of the mountain. Amazing views from up there and seeing the clouds and how the light plays on them was gorgeous, I was up there about an hour pottering around having a look and enjoying the sunshine.
The rest of the day was dedicated to washing and repacking before my pre-departure meeting for the overland trip. Met a few of the people I was going to be travelling with and they seemd like an alright bunch but its always hard to judge straight away and in such a short period of time. Anyway our guide is called Kath and is an Aussie, Alouis is our driver and is 6ft 7in and built like a brick shit house ( a teddy bear underneath it but scary when its called for) and Duncan is our cook and hes 5ft nothing and a fab cook they are both Kenyan.
Our Truck sits 30 people there were 26 of us leaving Cape Town so its pretty full. All the food, bags, tents and cooking equipment goes on the bottome of the truck and then we sit up the top bit and we have a buzzer that links us to the cab where Alouis and Duncan sit.
The group bonded really quickly pretty much over the first lunch we had in the freezing cold at the side of the road 30 minutes out of Cape Town. Kath and Olivia and mislaid their passports which meant we left cape town just over 2 hours later than we were meant to. Day one we headed up from Cape town to the citrus fruit and wine growing areas in the west and we stayed at Spakry's place the first night. We had a tent putting up lesson from Alouis and then we got to it, needless to say we have got much quicker at it since then. I'm sharing a tent with Olivia and Aussie who is studying in New York at the moment and who is lovely.
That first night we had a wine tasting up at the bar infront of a roaring fire - I have come to realise that whilst Africa may be warm during the day its bloody freezing at night my summer ,PJs and sleeping bag did not cut it the first night. After the wine tasting we had a fab chicken stew followed by apple crumble cooked by Sparky which was sooooooo good, all washed down with a few glasses of Shiraz.
6am start the following day and I don't think I have ever been that cold in my life. We have to have our tents down and bags by the truck before we are allowed breakfast and then we have to wash our hands with soap, savlon and then rinse before we are allowed near the food, the same process happens with our plates at the end of the meal and we have to flap them dry ... we look ridiculous but it is funny.
We then headed up to the Oranje River and our next camp site on the South African/Namibian border. On the way we stopped at a place called Sprinkbok where everyone made a beeline for a shop called PEP to buy termals, blankets, pillows and anything else to keep us warm and make sleeping in the ten more comfortable. Once at camp we pitched our tents looking out over the river which was magic and after we had done our duties we pulled up a chair and sank and few beer as the sunset. Lamb chops, mash and veg for dinner we were in heaven. Was in bed asleep by 10pm exhausted.
the following day there was an opportunity to canoe on the Oranje River but I decided to save my money for the safaris further up so the rest of us sat in the sun and read or caught up on our journals. After lunch we headed out for the border, I can say I was a little nervous as I wasn't sure what to expect but we sailed through with both sides with relative ease.
Once in Namibia the landscape changed dramatically and became very barren and arid but in the same breath strangely beautiful. Our first camp site was at a place called Canon Road House wehre we pitched our tents quickly before heading to Fish River Canyon (second largest Canyone in the world) for sunset. Dinner was spag bol and so good I tell you Duncan is a mean cook. We then hit the bar which was so posh and up market considering we were in the middle of knowhere we are all a bit thrown when we walked through the door. Fun night with a few capers in the form of people climbing out of bathroom windows to avoid having to pay bar bills having opened the box in the picture of the naked man or woman in the bathroom which rang a bell in the bar and meant you had to buy shots for everyone at the bar.
Another early start in the morning but so lovely to watch the sun come up over breakfast. Today we headed for Sesrium in the Namib desert, seeing Ostrich, Springbok, Gemsbok (Oryx) and Kudu along the way. Once at camp we pitched our tents and headed out to do a desert walk and finally to climb dune 45 to watch sunset.
Back at camp and Duncan had cooked us a Kudu stew with the most amazing red lentils I have ever had in my life. I then headed off for a shower to shouts of watch out for the jackals and me going ha ha very funny ... apparently as I entered the shower block a jackal walked right behind me. Later sat in the tent with jsut the lfy screen down a jackal walked right past outside.
We had a lie in the following day as the accelerator on the truck was broken and Alouis had to get it fixed so we spent the morning sitting in the sun reading and chatting. At midday Alouis was back with a door hinge temproarily holding the accelerator pedal in place.
We were now headed for Swakpmund which had turned into the holy grail for Olivia and I as we kept saying when we get to Swakpmund we're going to ..... We stopped at a place called Solitaire to grab pies for lunch which were really good before hitting the never ending stragith grey road to our destiny.
Swakpund has lived up to everything we wanted. Warm showers, comfy beds, shops, and a good nights sleep. We went clubbing the first night here and then last night watched the footie.
Back on the road on Monday for another 5 days in Namibia including a visit to a Cheetah park where we can get up close to them before we cross over into Botswana and we do a 2night 3 day trip on canoes into the Okavanga Delta which I am really looking forward to.
Sunday 13 June 2010
Anguilla and China
I left Australia on the 2nd April and after a stop in LA, an overnight in New York and cab ride in St Maarten and a ferry ride I arrived in Anguilla on 3rd April.
Jusy and Tony picked me up and as soon as we were back at the house we hada dip in their new pool which is gorgeous. Nick and Louise arrived the following day and ended up staying 3 weeks instead of 2 thanks to the Icelandic ash cloud, well definitely worse places to be trapped.
We spent our time kicking back either on the beach or by the pool, reading, playing cards, trivial pursuits, talking, eating and drinking. On 10th April it was Judy's 60th and we had a party for about 40 round the swimming pool which was good fun and Judy put on an amazing spread of food as always.
We went over to St Maarten for the day in the second week and had a pootle round the market in Marigot (french side) and then over to Phillipsburg on the Dutch side of the island, before heading back to Marigot and Tropicana a fab french restaurant where we ate like kings and managed to polish off a bottle of banana rum between us. Certianly made the ferry ride home interesting and the subsequent game of Trivial Pursuits.
Week 3 I sarted diving which were amazing its like spring underwater at that time of year so there were baby everythings down there it was fab, the viz was the best I've seen it, we sawm sharks, turtles, sting rays, moray eels, 12 cray fish in one cave, a lobster the size of an adult pig (it made me jump it was so big), spanish mackerel, peacock flounders, barracuda, remora and most magical of all we heard humpback whales singing underwater. Managed to do my deepest dive to date at 39m and my longest dive of 1hr 30mins, Rob has started to call me cashew lung.
Wednesdays we went to Ferry Boat for Wings night and Sundays was Uncle Ernies followed by dancing at Gwen's which was good fun and I ended up with a regular dance partner in the form of Michael. My last night in Anguilla Judy and Tony took me to Sand Bar in Sandy Ground as a treat for my birthday where we had some of the most amazing tapas food I have ever had.
Before Iknew it my 4.5 weeks in Anguilla were up and it was time to head to China. First stop was an overnighter in Miami that was after I spent 2 hours in immigration thanks to my lost passport in Samoa, apparently this is going to happen everytime I go to the states ... ntoe to self no more trips to the states. I then flew to LA the following day and then to Melbourne. However our flight was delayed 5 hours in Melbourne due to a problem with the plane which then meant we had to make an unscheduled stop in Sydney because the crew had been in the air too long so all in all it took me 57 hours to get from Anguilla to Melbourne. Once there I learnt that my bag was still in LA and would not be arriving until the following day.
So I had a couple of night with my lovely friend Carly who I used to work with at the Guardian and who is now working in Melbourne for Disney. So lovely to catch up with her and have a few nice meals out, the weather in Melbourne was very autumnal which was nice. Next stop was Singapore for 2 nights and there I met up with an old School friend Sarah who I hadn't seen for years. We had alovely afternoon catching up over lunch and a bottle of iwne and then I managed to convince her to come and have a Singapore Sling with me at the Raffles Hotel which was sadly quite disappointing as cocktails go but at least I have done it and now can hang my Raffles Hotel picture in my flat justified.
Next I was headed via Guangzhou to Guilin in China where I was picked up by Dad and Fang at the airport. I was already starting to realise that I was going to struggle in China as no one really speaks any English and all packaging and signs tend to be in Chinese. Trying to be a firm toothbrush turned into a mission for the 3 weeks I was there and I never succeeded not to mention the fact that when I tried to get tablets for chronic indegestion I ended up with Ketamin but becasue it was all in Chinese I didn't realise until I'd already taken 2 tablets ... well it sorted the pain in my hip out ;-)
So yes I managed to pull something in my hip the night I arrived and spent most of my time in China hobbling, I then developed a rash on my neck and then this really bad indegestion all of which was followed by me taking to my bed for the last few days I was in China feeling sick, achey and tired.
Dad was also not well whilst I was there his leg and foot are still playing up badly which unfortunately put paid to our planned trip to Beijing and to see the terracotta warriors. But we did manage an overnight trip to Yanshou about an hour and half away and very quaint. Although a little tacky touristy I actually really liked it. We were meant to see a light show on the lake but unfortunately due to heavy rain it was cancelled. Instead the day we did the 4 hours Lijian River trip from Guilin to Yangshou we also booked to see the show that night, it was really lovely and my camera just could not do it justice.
The weather was also pretty awful whilst I was in Guilin it rained all bar 4 or 5 days and one of those days I was sick in bed.
We had some good meals out though, Fang taught me how to make dumplings (watch this space London crew dinner party fodder), I learnt a little bit of Chinese in particular how to say NO, I saw some very very funny things and learnt that I never ever want to have to drive in China (rule one of driving in China is there are no rules).
On one of the sunny days we drove up into the mountains and went to see the Dragon Back Mountains and padi fields which were great and I got a flavour of what rural China is like.
Fang also took me to various parks and I got to have a look insdie a buddhist temple, see pandas and some lovely if slightly luridly lit caves. We also did a night cruise on the lakes which are also luridly lit.
Then again in a flash my 3 weeks were up and it was tim to head for Africa.
Jusy and Tony picked me up and as soon as we were back at the house we hada dip in their new pool which is gorgeous. Nick and Louise arrived the following day and ended up staying 3 weeks instead of 2 thanks to the Icelandic ash cloud, well definitely worse places to be trapped.
We spent our time kicking back either on the beach or by the pool, reading, playing cards, trivial pursuits, talking, eating and drinking. On 10th April it was Judy's 60th and we had a party for about 40 round the swimming pool which was good fun and Judy put on an amazing spread of food as always.
We went over to St Maarten for the day in the second week and had a pootle round the market in Marigot (french side) and then over to Phillipsburg on the Dutch side of the island, before heading back to Marigot and Tropicana a fab french restaurant where we ate like kings and managed to polish off a bottle of banana rum between us. Certianly made the ferry ride home interesting and the subsequent game of Trivial Pursuits.
Week 3 I sarted diving which were amazing its like spring underwater at that time of year so there were baby everythings down there it was fab, the viz was the best I've seen it, we sawm sharks, turtles, sting rays, moray eels, 12 cray fish in one cave, a lobster the size of an adult pig (it made me jump it was so big), spanish mackerel, peacock flounders, barracuda, remora and most magical of all we heard humpback whales singing underwater. Managed to do my deepest dive to date at 39m and my longest dive of 1hr 30mins, Rob has started to call me cashew lung.
Wednesdays we went to Ferry Boat for Wings night and Sundays was Uncle Ernies followed by dancing at Gwen's which was good fun and I ended up with a regular dance partner in the form of Michael. My last night in Anguilla Judy and Tony took me to Sand Bar in Sandy Ground as a treat for my birthday where we had some of the most amazing tapas food I have ever had.
Before Iknew it my 4.5 weeks in Anguilla were up and it was time to head to China. First stop was an overnighter in Miami that was after I spent 2 hours in immigration thanks to my lost passport in Samoa, apparently this is going to happen everytime I go to the states ... ntoe to self no more trips to the states. I then flew to LA the following day and then to Melbourne. However our flight was delayed 5 hours in Melbourne due to a problem with the plane which then meant we had to make an unscheduled stop in Sydney because the crew had been in the air too long so all in all it took me 57 hours to get from Anguilla to Melbourne. Once there I learnt that my bag was still in LA and would not be arriving until the following day.
So I had a couple of night with my lovely friend Carly who I used to work with at the Guardian and who is now working in Melbourne for Disney. So lovely to catch up with her and have a few nice meals out, the weather in Melbourne was very autumnal which was nice. Next stop was Singapore for 2 nights and there I met up with an old School friend Sarah who I hadn't seen for years. We had alovely afternoon catching up over lunch and a bottle of iwne and then I managed to convince her to come and have a Singapore Sling with me at the Raffles Hotel which was sadly quite disappointing as cocktails go but at least I have done it and now can hang my Raffles Hotel picture in my flat justified.
Next I was headed via Guangzhou to Guilin in China where I was picked up by Dad and Fang at the airport. I was already starting to realise that I was going to struggle in China as no one really speaks any English and all packaging and signs tend to be in Chinese. Trying to be a firm toothbrush turned into a mission for the 3 weeks I was there and I never succeeded not to mention the fact that when I tried to get tablets for chronic indegestion I ended up with Ketamin but becasue it was all in Chinese I didn't realise until I'd already taken 2 tablets ... well it sorted the pain in my hip out ;-)
So yes I managed to pull something in my hip the night I arrived and spent most of my time in China hobbling, I then developed a rash on my neck and then this really bad indegestion all of which was followed by me taking to my bed for the last few days I was in China feeling sick, achey and tired.
Dad was also not well whilst I was there his leg and foot are still playing up badly which unfortunately put paid to our planned trip to Beijing and to see the terracotta warriors. But we did manage an overnight trip to Yanshou about an hour and half away and very quaint. Although a little tacky touristy I actually really liked it. We were meant to see a light show on the lake but unfortunately due to heavy rain it was cancelled. Instead the day we did the 4 hours Lijian River trip from Guilin to Yangshou we also booked to see the show that night, it was really lovely and my camera just could not do it justice.
The weather was also pretty awful whilst I was in Guilin it rained all bar 4 or 5 days and one of those days I was sick in bed.
We had some good meals out though, Fang taught me how to make dumplings (watch this space London crew dinner party fodder), I learnt a little bit of Chinese in particular how to say NO, I saw some very very funny things and learnt that I never ever want to have to drive in China (rule one of driving in China is there are no rules).
On one of the sunny days we drove up into the mountains and went to see the Dragon Back Mountains and padi fields which were great and I got a flavour of what rural China is like.
Fang also took me to various parks and I got to have a look insdie a buddhist temple, see pandas and some lovely if slightly luridly lit caves. We also did a night cruise on the lakes which are also luridly lit.
Then again in a flash my 3 weeks were up and it was tim to head for Africa.
Alice Springs, Uluru and the Great Ocean Road
So after Lulu left I flew from Cairns to Melbourne for 2 nights the idea being to start the process for my Chinese visa but to cut a long story short they wanted the receipt for my Aussie Visa which I didn't have with me and there wasn't engouh time to get it before they closed so I had to give up on that idea as on the Tuesday I was flying out to Alice Springs to do a 3 day 2 night tour of the outback and Ayers Rock.
The flight up to Alice Springs was good and took a couple of hours and we flew over landscape that would not have looked out of place on Mars - huge rock formations that looked like the spines of giant monsters. Eventually we landed in Alice Springs which was much greener that I tought it would be and also alot bigger. After waiting for our bags for nearly 40 minutes and watching giant beetles running across the carpet in the arrivals hall we piled into the van to take us to the backpackers and I met Janita and Jayshree and Anna and her mother who were all doing the tour of the outback with me.
Once at the hsotel we couldn't get into the rooms straight away so I dumped my bags and headed into town to have a look round and get some food, water and a hat with a fly net round it as I had heard that the flies in the outback are really bad (that was an understatement). It was here that I had my first real interactions with the Aborginal people and I have to say I did feel quite intimidated as they shout at each other quite aggressively and hang around in groups all over the town. So my trip was quick and then I headed back to the hostel and sat by the pool and read for the rest of the afternoon before dinner, shower and an early night as it was a 5am start in the morning.
Wilbo our guide picked us up at 6am and we headed off into the outback our first main stop being Kings Canyon. We stopped at a few road houses along the way to use toilets and this is where we got our first taste of the flies, my god are they persistant and they just want to get in your ears, eyes and up your nose and you end up doing this rather manic dance as you try to swat them off you, its no wonder people go mad out there.
We had a packed lunch on the bus before we tackled what is reassuringly called Heart Attack Hill at Kings canyon and I'll never forget Jayshrees words of optimism at the bottom "It doesn't look that bad", my god it was a killer and I'm so glad that it was a cloudy day I drank a litre of water just getting up that hill and I thought my legs were going to give out by the time we got to the top. Once up there thought the views were amazing and we spend 2 hours walking aorudn the top of the Canyon and Wilbo told us about the history of the place, the flora and fauna it was fascinating and incredibly beautiful. At one point we went odwn to a place called the Garden of Eden where there I a pool of water that some people went swimming in, I just dangled my feet in as it was freezing.
Once back down we headed out to our first camp site near Mount Connor, first of all thought we had to stop and collect fire wood from beside the road ... reassured by Wilbo telling us to watch the splinters because they're poisonous! After that we stopped at the Mount Connor look out to watch the sun set before hitting the last bottle shop before we got back to Alice Springs. We were quite refrained really the other tour bus travelling along with us bought 900 beers, there were 21 of them on the bus!!
So our first night we slept in swags under the stars, dinner was cooked partly on the fire and partly on a gas stove and was so yummy and Wilbo showed us how to make a traditional bread. It was unfortunately during the cooking of the dinner that we had our first casualty of the trip and Javier (Happy Havy) threw some wood onto the fire and a load of embers jumped out on to his feet burning the tops of both his feet really really badly, thank goodness we had Anna who was a nurse on board.
Sleep was a little disturbed as I kept waking up and remembering I was sleeping under the stars and just couldn't stop staring at them I've never seen so many stars. Anyway we were up and about at 5am and left camp at 6am as the sun was rising to head for Yulara to sign in to our new camp site and then head into the National Park and walk up to the Olgas. It was then that the trip felt like it was turnign into a disaster movie as firstly nicole trapped her little toe and the one next to it in the hinge of the bus door, the bus had a blow out and just as we got that fixed Marcus started violently throwing up.
We eventually made it to the Olgas and left Marcus in the shade with water and food and we headed off on our walk. I think it lasted about an hour and a half and was amazing, the way the rocks have formed is just outstanding and there is a really spritiual feeling about them its like you can feel the history all around you and the ghosts of those who were the originals owners of the area. Little is known of the histroy of the Olgas as it is kept sacred by the Aboriginals but it is known it was an area of punishment and initiation. Breathtaking!!
It was also here that I saw my first wild Kangaroo, it was stood pretty much right beside me and I didn't notice it until someone pointed it out and I just couldn't get my camera out quick enough but I did get some shots of it as it hopped off, amazing creatures.
After that we headed back to camp for lunch and a swim in the pool, unfortunately about 50 Aussie school kids had the same idea so it was a little packed in the pool but nice to cool down. We then headed out to Ayers Rock where we had a look round the culutral centre and learnt about the Dreamings, the history of Ayres Rock and about the conservation of the area. There is also a book in the centre filled with letters from people who have either climbed the rock or have taken a piece of the rock away with them apologising because awful things have happened to them after that. None of our group climbed the rock out of respect for the Aboriginals not to mention that it looked like a killer climb quite literally as there are no hand rails and its pretty steep.
After this we headed to the Ayres Rock look out for a beer as the sunset and to see the changing colours of the Rock as the sunsets. We also had dinner here which would have been nice had there not been so many damn flies. Back at camp we showered, charged cameras and then sat round the fire and had a sing song with another group it was a nice evening.
5am start again the following day and we went to watch the sunrise at Uluru which was brilliant and we had breakfast there as well before hitting the road for the longe and arduous journey back to Alice Springs. We did stop on the way for a bit of Camel riding fun where we got to race camels, Marcus and I were up against Eva and Javier and we reckon we won!!
All the way back we were singing and dancing on the bus and coming into Alice Springs everyone was on their feet for the black Eyed Peas - Tonights Gonna Be a Good Night which we had butchered and instead of singing ooooooooh ooooh after I goota feeling we were singing Uluruuuuuuuuuuuuu and this was before alcohol was added.
Once back we showered, changed and headed into town for a slap up meal of kangaroo steak and copious amounts of wine, beer and funny looking shots. It was a great night and it was sad to be saying good bye to people we had got on so well as a group.
The following day there were actually 7 of us on the flight back to Melbourne so the beers were cracked at the ariport and we managed to drink them dry on the flight quite literally, all good fun and a trip that was well worth it the outback is just an amazing place so harsh but has some of tyhe prettiest flowers and plants I have sen anywhere, has incredible amounts of wild life and the landscape is like nothing I have ever seen before.
So my last few days in Melbourne I finally got my visa for China, I restocked on essentials, met up with the girls fro mthe Uluru trip for a bit of a session in St Kilda which was fun and managed to rub shoulders with Michael Schumacher whilst I was there.
On my second to last day I did a day trip on the Great Ocean Road which Lulu had told me was fab so I thought I'd give it a go. The weather wasn't brilliant to start with and our guide was a bit strange (lucky me got to sit in the front next to him) but by the time the afternoon arrived the sun had come out and we got to see the Twelve Apostel and London Bridge in their full glory. Again we saw koalas in the wild, walked round a really pretty rainforest, had lunch in Apollo Bay which I'm sure is beautiful in the sunshine, and walked around and down a gorge whose name escapes me but was really lovely. Another trip that was well worth it.
The flight up to Alice Springs was good and took a couple of hours and we flew over landscape that would not have looked out of place on Mars - huge rock formations that looked like the spines of giant monsters. Eventually we landed in Alice Springs which was much greener that I tought it would be and also alot bigger. After waiting for our bags for nearly 40 minutes and watching giant beetles running across the carpet in the arrivals hall we piled into the van to take us to the backpackers and I met Janita and Jayshree and Anna and her mother who were all doing the tour of the outback with me.
Once at the hsotel we couldn't get into the rooms straight away so I dumped my bags and headed into town to have a look round and get some food, water and a hat with a fly net round it as I had heard that the flies in the outback are really bad (that was an understatement). It was here that I had my first real interactions with the Aborginal people and I have to say I did feel quite intimidated as they shout at each other quite aggressively and hang around in groups all over the town. So my trip was quick and then I headed back to the hostel and sat by the pool and read for the rest of the afternoon before dinner, shower and an early night as it was a 5am start in the morning.
Wilbo our guide picked us up at 6am and we headed off into the outback our first main stop being Kings Canyon. We stopped at a few road houses along the way to use toilets and this is where we got our first taste of the flies, my god are they persistant and they just want to get in your ears, eyes and up your nose and you end up doing this rather manic dance as you try to swat them off you, its no wonder people go mad out there.
We had a packed lunch on the bus before we tackled what is reassuringly called Heart Attack Hill at Kings canyon and I'll never forget Jayshrees words of optimism at the bottom "It doesn't look that bad", my god it was a killer and I'm so glad that it was a cloudy day I drank a litre of water just getting up that hill and I thought my legs were going to give out by the time we got to the top. Once up there thought the views were amazing and we spend 2 hours walking aorudn the top of the Canyon and Wilbo told us about the history of the place, the flora and fauna it was fascinating and incredibly beautiful. At one point we went odwn to a place called the Garden of Eden where there I a pool of water that some people went swimming in, I just dangled my feet in as it was freezing.
Once back down we headed out to our first camp site near Mount Connor, first of all thought we had to stop and collect fire wood from beside the road ... reassured by Wilbo telling us to watch the splinters because they're poisonous! After that we stopped at the Mount Connor look out to watch the sun set before hitting the last bottle shop before we got back to Alice Springs. We were quite refrained really the other tour bus travelling along with us bought 900 beers, there were 21 of them on the bus!!
So our first night we slept in swags under the stars, dinner was cooked partly on the fire and partly on a gas stove and was so yummy and Wilbo showed us how to make a traditional bread. It was unfortunately during the cooking of the dinner that we had our first casualty of the trip and Javier (Happy Havy) threw some wood onto the fire and a load of embers jumped out on to his feet burning the tops of both his feet really really badly, thank goodness we had Anna who was a nurse on board.
Sleep was a little disturbed as I kept waking up and remembering I was sleeping under the stars and just couldn't stop staring at them I've never seen so many stars. Anyway we were up and about at 5am and left camp at 6am as the sun was rising to head for Yulara to sign in to our new camp site and then head into the National Park and walk up to the Olgas. It was then that the trip felt like it was turnign into a disaster movie as firstly nicole trapped her little toe and the one next to it in the hinge of the bus door, the bus had a blow out and just as we got that fixed Marcus started violently throwing up.
We eventually made it to the Olgas and left Marcus in the shade with water and food and we headed off on our walk. I think it lasted about an hour and a half and was amazing, the way the rocks have formed is just outstanding and there is a really spritiual feeling about them its like you can feel the history all around you and the ghosts of those who were the originals owners of the area. Little is known of the histroy of the Olgas as it is kept sacred by the Aboriginals but it is known it was an area of punishment and initiation. Breathtaking!!
It was also here that I saw my first wild Kangaroo, it was stood pretty much right beside me and I didn't notice it until someone pointed it out and I just couldn't get my camera out quick enough but I did get some shots of it as it hopped off, amazing creatures.
After that we headed back to camp for lunch and a swim in the pool, unfortunately about 50 Aussie school kids had the same idea so it was a little packed in the pool but nice to cool down. We then headed out to Ayers Rock where we had a look round the culutral centre and learnt about the Dreamings, the history of Ayres Rock and about the conservation of the area. There is also a book in the centre filled with letters from people who have either climbed the rock or have taken a piece of the rock away with them apologising because awful things have happened to them after that. None of our group climbed the rock out of respect for the Aboriginals not to mention that it looked like a killer climb quite literally as there are no hand rails and its pretty steep.
After this we headed to the Ayres Rock look out for a beer as the sunset and to see the changing colours of the Rock as the sunsets. We also had dinner here which would have been nice had there not been so many damn flies. Back at camp we showered, charged cameras and then sat round the fire and had a sing song with another group it was a nice evening.
5am start again the following day and we went to watch the sunrise at Uluru which was brilliant and we had breakfast there as well before hitting the road for the longe and arduous journey back to Alice Springs. We did stop on the way for a bit of Camel riding fun where we got to race camels, Marcus and I were up against Eva and Javier and we reckon we won!!
All the way back we were singing and dancing on the bus and coming into Alice Springs everyone was on their feet for the black Eyed Peas - Tonights Gonna Be a Good Night which we had butchered and instead of singing ooooooooh ooooh after I goota feeling we were singing Uluruuuuuuuuuuuuu and this was before alcohol was added.
Once back we showered, changed and headed into town for a slap up meal of kangaroo steak and copious amounts of wine, beer and funny looking shots. It was a great night and it was sad to be saying good bye to people we had got on so well as a group.
The following day there were actually 7 of us on the flight back to Melbourne so the beers were cracked at the ariport and we managed to drink them dry on the flight quite literally, all good fun and a trip that was well worth it the outback is just an amazing place so harsh but has some of tyhe prettiest flowers and plants I have sen anywhere, has incredible amounts of wild life and the landscape is like nothing I have ever seen before.
So my last few days in Melbourne I finally got my visa for China, I restocked on essentials, met up with the girls fro mthe Uluru trip for a bit of a session in St Kilda which was fun and managed to rub shoulders with Michael Schumacher whilst I was there.
On my second to last day I did a day trip on the Great Ocean Road which Lulu had told me was fab so I thought I'd give it a go. The weather wasn't brilliant to start with and our guide was a bit strange (lucky me got to sit in the front next to him) but by the time the afternoon arrived the sun had come out and we got to see the Twelve Apostel and London Bridge in their full glory. Again we saw koalas in the wild, walked round a really pretty rainforest, had lunch in Apollo Bay which I'm sure is beautiful in the sunshine, and walked around and down a gorge whose name escapes me but was really lovely. Another trip that was well worth it.
Lulu and Helen's East Coast Adventure
I think it is fair to say that Lulu and I were remarkably restrained at Brisbane airport considering how over excited we both were to be seeing each other, certainly no one would have got a word in edge ways for the next 5 hours and that didn't even include an update on the soaps ;-) The wine was opened on our return to the appartment and we finally managed to stop talking enough for us both to fall asleep about 4am.
The following day (Sunday) the sun was out, a rare occurence I was finding out, and we had arranged to meet up with the lovely Em who Lulu and I met in London years ago and now lives in Brisbane. We went to a fab restaurant on the river called the Jade Buddah and after Lulu had done her usual trick of sweet talking the guy incharge we went from there being no room for us to having a booth table for the rest of the afternoon ... gotta love her.
I tried my first Moreton Bay Bug which was nice but I think badly cooked . After way to much wine we headed upstairs to the cocktail lounge and where they had a chocolate fountain on the bar which was free and a very extensive cocktail list ... it was messy and not very pretty the following day.
Monday morning and luckily Lulu's work commitments didn't start until Tuesday so we had a quiet day. Lu brought me up to speed on all the soaps at home which took a good few hours, we made a semi plan for our road trip and eventually had dinner and watched a movie.
The rest of the week in Brisbane Lu was at work and I was suffering from a bit of travel fatigue so I kicked back and spent my time finally completing my insurance claim and getting that posted off to the UK, sorting out some stuff other adminy bits and swimming in the hotel pool. Weather was pretty awful all week so didn't really entice me to get out and about. Brisbane is a nice city though from the bits I saw, like all Aussie cities it has a nice mix of old and new, its on the water and the shopping center is quite compact. On our last night in Brisbane (Thursday) we met up with Em and another girl Lu used to know, Rachel, and went for a Vietnamese meal which unfortunately wasn't great but we had a good time anyway.
Friday arrived and it was time to hit the road. After a quick lunch we picked up our hire car (Toyota Corolla) from Thrifty who we lovingly named Henri. We just about managed to squeeze our luggage into the boot and headed out ... just as the heavens opened!
We were headed to Maroochydore via Mooloolaba and a couple or hours and a few pit stops later we arrived. Mooloolaba looked like it was nice and had it not been throwing it down we would have probably stopped but we decided to head on to the hostel after a quick drive through. Our hearts and spirits sunk a little further on arriving at the Cottontree Backpackers (recommended by Lonely Planet, should have known not to trust them). It was very small, cramped, hot and not very clean. We had a nice meal out at the Blue Bar between Maroochydore and Mooloolaba and tried to pick up our spirits.
Saturday morning and with a new lease of life we set off for Hervey Bay which is the nearest mainland town to Fraser Island where we hoped to do a tour. We checked into the Next Backpackers which was like positive heaven compared with the night before and had the added bonus of an in house bar!! After freshening up we had a chat with Mark on the tour desk about Fraser trips and what the weather was doing and over night we decided to have a down day in Hervey Bay on Sunday and head out to Fraser Island on Monday and do our own trip rather than a tour.
The rest of Sunday we uploaded photos and then prepared for our trip to Fraser i.e. buying food and wine and packing smaller packs. We went to the cinema in the evening to see Valentines Day which was good, what was not so good was that we had forgotten that the kitchen at the hostel closed at 9pm so when we emerged at 8.50pm from the cinema we realized our carefully planned pasta dinner was not happening so we hit the Noodle Bar and got some take out.
5.30am the alarm went off on Monday (8th March) morning and sleepily we made our way down to the Aussie Tracks office where we had to watch a video about driving safely on Fraser Island as its all off road driving and there have been some bad accidents over there. Eventually we had been fully briefed, we had our maps and our high tide times so we knew when we couldn't drive on the beach and we had our esky (cool box or chilly bin) filled so we headed off in our very beat up Suzuki Jimni. Once we picked up some ice from the petrol station we headed off to catch the ferry.
It was very very grey day an on the ferry on the way over it started to rain quite heavily, I was starting to lose heart. We arrived on to Fraser about 9am and after driving down the one bit of 'tarmac' road which was so full of pot holes it was barely recognizable as a road. Then we were onto the sand roads and in 4whd for the rest of the time we were there.
Our first stop was a place called Central Station in the middle of the rainforest which was little more than a few information boards, camp site, 5 long drop toilets and a lot of mosquitoes! Back in Jimmy the Jeep and we headed south to check out some lakes that Lu didn't see last time she was here and because of tide times we were limited on beach driving time.
The lakes were ok but what made us most happy was when at 11am the sun came out and stayed out for the rest of the time we were on Fraser Island. We headed straight for the beach and a lunch stop to soak up some rays but the flies were a little unbearable so we headed in land to make our way to Lake Mackensie. Long bumpy drive but eventually we arrived and it was mind blowing like a caribbean beach and sea surrounded by rainforest. We dived striaght in the water which is fresh not salty, it was so nice I never wanted to get out but eventually we did as we had to get to where we were staying before the sun set to avoid the dingos. The tide was out by now so we powered up the beach and were there in no time at all. We cracked open the wine, flipped a couple of burgers on the barbie and were tucked up in our beds by 9pm when all the power went off.
The following day we were up really early (6.30am) and after a quick brekkie and shower we headed up the beach stopping at Eli Creek first. There was no one else there and we walked down the creek in the water which was lovely way to start the day. Next stop was the wreck of the Maheno which is on the beach and again we were pretty much the only people there which afforded us some great photos. It was at this point we discovered what the popping sound was that we could hear as we were driving up the beach - jelly fish, little blue ones popping away as we drove over then ti was like giant bubble wrap.
Next stop was India Head and finally the Champagne Pools which is the highest point we could drive to in our vehicle. These are rock pools right on the beach and when the sea comes in the water frothing over the top of them makes them look like champagne glasses. We had a littel swim in them and dried off in the sun before heading back down the beach and attempting to get to Lake Mackensie again before we left via Lake Wabby. Wem anaged to get to lake Wabby but it clouded over and rained and we were running out of time to catch our ferry so we decided to have lunch by the side of the road and hea for the ferry which turned out to be a wise move.
Back in Hervey Bay we had a night at the Next Backpackers again before heading for Agnes Water the following day. We drove leisurely up to Agnes Water stopping for a drink on the way and when we arrived it was just about lunch time so we just popped down to the beach which looked lovely and this is when I discovered that I had left my camera battery and charger in Hervey Bay, AGHhhhhh!!! I gave them a ring to see if they could send it up to Airlie Beach in time for our Whitsundays trip but they couldn't guarantee it and I got nervous that it was going to get lost so I decided I was going to drive back and get it and Lu really really kindly offered to keep me company. 6 hours round trip later and we arrived back into Agnes Water minus a bit of our sense of humour and checked into our hostel for the night where we had a beer and went to bed. All in all a bit of a disaster on my part.
Another day and we were back to rubbish weather for the drive to Airlie beach which was going to take us about 8 hours so we set off at 6.30am. We arrived in Airlie Beach late afternoon and the sun was back out so we check into the hostel and with the Whitsundays trip people before showering and heading out for a few bevvies and something to eat.
Loaded up with Goon (for those of you that don't know what this is its very nasty, very cheap wine in a box) and enough clothes to last us a few days we caught our catamoran for our 2 night 3 day trip in the whitsundays, there were about 20 American college students on our boat (18 to 20 in age) me and Lu and 2 other british girls about the same age. The crew were all British and great fun so we had a really good time despite the students. I got to do 4 dives on the barrier reef which were ok but the viz was really poor so I didn't get to see it at its most beautiful but we did see a couple of black tipped reef sharks, crayfish, napoleon wrasse, moray eels, clown fish, star fish and so on. The weather was a bit unpredictable and we did find out on day 2 that a cyclone was on its way which was already creating strong winds and making sailing interesting to say the least. By the time we got to Whithaven Beach on day 2 the weather was just awful and we were pumpled with rain and sand bit like dermobrasion but not as pleasant. So no stunning photos of the beach unfortunately.
Day 3 and after a final dive we headed back to Airlie Beach where we arrived just before lunch and Lu and I headed straight off as we wanted to get to Magentic Island that night so we had a 4 hour drive u pto Townsville to catch the ferry. It was about an hour after we set off that we had one of the more hysterical moments on the trip. We had both dropped into hunger silence in the car, we decided we were so hungry that McDonalds was looking appetising but could we find a sign for one, normally there are hundreds. Eventually we saw one in a town called Bowen so we turned off but could we find the McDonalds, no. Evntually I asked a gentleman that looked like he might frequent McDonalds but this toothless wonder couldn't help so we had to ask at the Thirsty Camel bottle shop. Once we had our Big Macs in had we ate in silence, god did it taste good and I never thought I would say that.
The weather had improved as we approached Townsville and even more as we headed for Maggie Island. Once there we caught the bus to Horseshoe Bay where we were staying which took about 20 minutes. It was just as we were nearing the YHA that I spotted wallabies and managed to embarrass Lulu for the first time ever by shouting 'Mate look, wallabies' ... the whole bus turned to look at me and Lulu had her head in her hands.
Once checked in to our very cute bungalow we walked dow nto the bay to check out the sea and bay area and we decided to sit and have a beer in the sun ... really lovely relaxed feeling about Magnetic Island it was so nice. As it was Mothers Day Lu and I decided to have a nice meal at the restaurant at the hostel which has a really good reputation and to treat ourselves to a bottle of bubbles. Was a lovely way to remember our Mums and one we're sure they would've approved of.
The following day we did the Bushman tour round the centre at the hostel which is where we got to feed a red tailed black cockatoo with sunflower seeds from our mouths, stroke a wombat called Womablina (Lulu held her for a photo later), handle lizards, crocodiles and snakes and I finally got to hold a Koala, Barney, who wasn't quite as cuddly as I thought he would be in fact I was pretty much told if I tried to do anything other than hold him very still he would bite me and apparently the fact that he grabbed my boob whilst I was holding him did not mean I could bite him. It was areally good 2 hours and our guide was brilliant, really knowledgeable and had such a good rapour with the animals it was lovely.
We had lunch at a place called Noodies in Horseshoe bay before lying on the beach for a few hours and then moving to the pool at the hostel. Mid afternoon we got an opportunity to feed some parrakeets which were beautifully coloured but very noisey and viscious we were left with scratches all over our hands and arms - glad I had my shots. We had dinner at a place called Barefoot Food Wine and Art which was very poor for the price unfortunately. Our last day on Maggie Island I was quite sad as we had had such a lovely time and was so great to see so much wildlife just wandering around - Lulu went to the toilet at 1am to find a Wallaby stood by the toilets, there were wild Koalas in the trees, lizards, frogs, moths, butterflies, birds and so on - we wished we had booked for longer it was so nice to kick back and relax.
But next stop was Mission Beach so we caught the afternoon ferry and picked Henri up at the port and heade north. The weather got worse and worse as we headed up the coast and by the time we got to Mission Beach it was throwing it down so we headed straight out for a Thai meal at a place that was recommended called Nana Thais and was really really good before showering and hitting the hay.
Suddenly we were down to the last few days of our adventure and we were headed for 3 days of luxury at the Shantara Resort in Port Douglas with our verandah deck straight int othe pool. We made a short stop in Cairns to do some shopping and get some lunch, didn't like Cairns much it was a bit too touristy and reminded me a bit of Blackpool. Port Douglas however was lovely.
As soon as we checked in we were straight in the pool and lying in the sun which had come back out, it was heaven. We had dinner at a cool little place that evening just outside of PD called The Beach Shack. The waitress was really lovely and so good at her job and the food was mind blowing we left stuffed to the gunnels.
The next few days we just chilled by the pool had lunch and dinner out and our last night together we ate at a lovely place called On the Inlet where the fish was superb and we had the most amazing Baramundi dish I've ever had, my mouth is watering just thinking about it now. We wandered bac kto the hotel slightly tiddle singing' Thank you for being my friend' from the Golden Girls.
Lulu left just before lunch the following day but not before I had shed a bucket of tears, it had been so nice to have someone to share the trip with that knew me. So I stayed on one more night at the hotel catching a few more rays and repacking for the next part of my Aussie Adventure.
The following day (Sunday) the sun was out, a rare occurence I was finding out, and we had arranged to meet up with the lovely Em who Lulu and I met in London years ago and now lives in Brisbane. We went to a fab restaurant on the river called the Jade Buddah and after Lulu had done her usual trick of sweet talking the guy incharge we went from there being no room for us to having a booth table for the rest of the afternoon ... gotta love her.
I tried my first Moreton Bay Bug which was nice but I think badly cooked . After way to much wine we headed upstairs to the cocktail lounge and where they had a chocolate fountain on the bar which was free and a very extensive cocktail list ... it was messy and not very pretty the following day.
Monday morning and luckily Lulu's work commitments didn't start until Tuesday so we had a quiet day. Lu brought me up to speed on all the soaps at home which took a good few hours, we made a semi plan for our road trip and eventually had dinner and watched a movie.
The rest of the week in Brisbane Lu was at work and I was suffering from a bit of travel fatigue so I kicked back and spent my time finally completing my insurance claim and getting that posted off to the UK, sorting out some stuff other adminy bits and swimming in the hotel pool. Weather was pretty awful all week so didn't really entice me to get out and about. Brisbane is a nice city though from the bits I saw, like all Aussie cities it has a nice mix of old and new, its on the water and the shopping center is quite compact. On our last night in Brisbane (Thursday) we met up with Em and another girl Lu used to know, Rachel, and went for a Vietnamese meal which unfortunately wasn't great but we had a good time anyway.
Friday arrived and it was time to hit the road. After a quick lunch we picked up our hire car (Toyota Corolla) from Thrifty who we lovingly named Henri. We just about managed to squeeze our luggage into the boot and headed out ... just as the heavens opened!
We were headed to Maroochydore via Mooloolaba and a couple or hours and a few pit stops later we arrived. Mooloolaba looked like it was nice and had it not been throwing it down we would have probably stopped but we decided to head on to the hostel after a quick drive through. Our hearts and spirits sunk a little further on arriving at the Cottontree Backpackers (recommended by Lonely Planet, should have known not to trust them). It was very small, cramped, hot and not very clean. We had a nice meal out at the Blue Bar between Maroochydore and Mooloolaba and tried to pick up our spirits.
Saturday morning and with a new lease of life we set off for Hervey Bay which is the nearest mainland town to Fraser Island where we hoped to do a tour. We checked into the Next Backpackers which was like positive heaven compared with the night before and had the added bonus of an in house bar!! After freshening up we had a chat with Mark on the tour desk about Fraser trips and what the weather was doing and over night we decided to have a down day in Hervey Bay on Sunday and head out to Fraser Island on Monday and do our own trip rather than a tour.
The rest of Sunday we uploaded photos and then prepared for our trip to Fraser i.e. buying food and wine and packing smaller packs. We went to the cinema in the evening to see Valentines Day which was good, what was not so good was that we had forgotten that the kitchen at the hostel closed at 9pm so when we emerged at 8.50pm from the cinema we realized our carefully planned pasta dinner was not happening so we hit the Noodle Bar and got some take out.
5.30am the alarm went off on Monday (8th March) morning and sleepily we made our way down to the Aussie Tracks office where we had to watch a video about driving safely on Fraser Island as its all off road driving and there have been some bad accidents over there. Eventually we had been fully briefed, we had our maps and our high tide times so we knew when we couldn't drive on the beach and we had our esky (cool box or chilly bin) filled so we headed off in our very beat up Suzuki Jimni. Once we picked up some ice from the petrol station we headed off to catch the ferry.
It was very very grey day an on the ferry on the way over it started to rain quite heavily, I was starting to lose heart. We arrived on to Fraser about 9am and after driving down the one bit of 'tarmac' road which was so full of pot holes it was barely recognizable as a road. Then we were onto the sand roads and in 4whd for the rest of the time we were there.
Our first stop was a place called Central Station in the middle of the rainforest which was little more than a few information boards, camp site, 5 long drop toilets and a lot of mosquitoes! Back in Jimmy the Jeep and we headed south to check out some lakes that Lu didn't see last time she was here and because of tide times we were limited on beach driving time.
The lakes were ok but what made us most happy was when at 11am the sun came out and stayed out for the rest of the time we were on Fraser Island. We headed straight for the beach and a lunch stop to soak up some rays but the flies were a little unbearable so we headed in land to make our way to Lake Mackensie. Long bumpy drive but eventually we arrived and it was mind blowing like a caribbean beach and sea surrounded by rainforest. We dived striaght in the water which is fresh not salty, it was so nice I never wanted to get out but eventually we did as we had to get to where we were staying before the sun set to avoid the dingos. The tide was out by now so we powered up the beach and were there in no time at all. We cracked open the wine, flipped a couple of burgers on the barbie and were tucked up in our beds by 9pm when all the power went off.
The following day we were up really early (6.30am) and after a quick brekkie and shower we headed up the beach stopping at Eli Creek first. There was no one else there and we walked down the creek in the water which was lovely way to start the day. Next stop was the wreck of the Maheno which is on the beach and again we were pretty much the only people there which afforded us some great photos. It was at this point we discovered what the popping sound was that we could hear as we were driving up the beach - jelly fish, little blue ones popping away as we drove over then ti was like giant bubble wrap.
Next stop was India Head and finally the Champagne Pools which is the highest point we could drive to in our vehicle. These are rock pools right on the beach and when the sea comes in the water frothing over the top of them makes them look like champagne glasses. We had a littel swim in them and dried off in the sun before heading back down the beach and attempting to get to Lake Mackensie again before we left via Lake Wabby. Wem anaged to get to lake Wabby but it clouded over and rained and we were running out of time to catch our ferry so we decided to have lunch by the side of the road and hea for the ferry which turned out to be a wise move.
Back in Hervey Bay we had a night at the Next Backpackers again before heading for Agnes Water the following day. We drove leisurely up to Agnes Water stopping for a drink on the way and when we arrived it was just about lunch time so we just popped down to the beach which looked lovely and this is when I discovered that I had left my camera battery and charger in Hervey Bay, AGHhhhhh!!! I gave them a ring to see if they could send it up to Airlie Beach in time for our Whitsundays trip but they couldn't guarantee it and I got nervous that it was going to get lost so I decided I was going to drive back and get it and Lu really really kindly offered to keep me company. 6 hours round trip later and we arrived back into Agnes Water minus a bit of our sense of humour and checked into our hostel for the night where we had a beer and went to bed. All in all a bit of a disaster on my part.
Another day and we were back to rubbish weather for the drive to Airlie beach which was going to take us about 8 hours so we set off at 6.30am. We arrived in Airlie Beach late afternoon and the sun was back out so we check into the hostel and with the Whitsundays trip people before showering and heading out for a few bevvies and something to eat.
Loaded up with Goon (for those of you that don't know what this is its very nasty, very cheap wine in a box) and enough clothes to last us a few days we caught our catamoran for our 2 night 3 day trip in the whitsundays, there were about 20 American college students on our boat (18 to 20 in age) me and Lu and 2 other british girls about the same age. The crew were all British and great fun so we had a really good time despite the students. I got to do 4 dives on the barrier reef which were ok but the viz was really poor so I didn't get to see it at its most beautiful but we did see a couple of black tipped reef sharks, crayfish, napoleon wrasse, moray eels, clown fish, star fish and so on. The weather was a bit unpredictable and we did find out on day 2 that a cyclone was on its way which was already creating strong winds and making sailing interesting to say the least. By the time we got to Whithaven Beach on day 2 the weather was just awful and we were pumpled with rain and sand bit like dermobrasion but not as pleasant. So no stunning photos of the beach unfortunately.
Day 3 and after a final dive we headed back to Airlie Beach where we arrived just before lunch and Lu and I headed straight off as we wanted to get to Magentic Island that night so we had a 4 hour drive u pto Townsville to catch the ferry. It was about an hour after we set off that we had one of the more hysterical moments on the trip. We had both dropped into hunger silence in the car, we decided we were so hungry that McDonalds was looking appetising but could we find a sign for one, normally there are hundreds. Eventually we saw one in a town called Bowen so we turned off but could we find the McDonalds, no. Evntually I asked a gentleman that looked like he might frequent McDonalds but this toothless wonder couldn't help so we had to ask at the Thirsty Camel bottle shop. Once we had our Big Macs in had we ate in silence, god did it taste good and I never thought I would say that.
The weather had improved as we approached Townsville and even more as we headed for Maggie Island. Once there we caught the bus to Horseshoe Bay where we were staying which took about 20 minutes. It was just as we were nearing the YHA that I spotted wallabies and managed to embarrass Lulu for the first time ever by shouting 'Mate look, wallabies' ... the whole bus turned to look at me and Lulu had her head in her hands.
Once checked in to our very cute bungalow we walked dow nto the bay to check out the sea and bay area and we decided to sit and have a beer in the sun ... really lovely relaxed feeling about Magnetic Island it was so nice. As it was Mothers Day Lu and I decided to have a nice meal at the restaurant at the hostel which has a really good reputation and to treat ourselves to a bottle of bubbles. Was a lovely way to remember our Mums and one we're sure they would've approved of.
The following day we did the Bushman tour round the centre at the hostel which is where we got to feed a red tailed black cockatoo with sunflower seeds from our mouths, stroke a wombat called Womablina (Lulu held her for a photo later), handle lizards, crocodiles and snakes and I finally got to hold a Koala, Barney, who wasn't quite as cuddly as I thought he would be in fact I was pretty much told if I tried to do anything other than hold him very still he would bite me and apparently the fact that he grabbed my boob whilst I was holding him did not mean I could bite him. It was areally good 2 hours and our guide was brilliant, really knowledgeable and had such a good rapour with the animals it was lovely.
We had lunch at a place called Noodies in Horseshoe bay before lying on the beach for a few hours and then moving to the pool at the hostel. Mid afternoon we got an opportunity to feed some parrakeets which were beautifully coloured but very noisey and viscious we were left with scratches all over our hands and arms - glad I had my shots. We had dinner at a place called Barefoot Food Wine and Art which was very poor for the price unfortunately. Our last day on Maggie Island I was quite sad as we had had such a lovely time and was so great to see so much wildlife just wandering around - Lulu went to the toilet at 1am to find a Wallaby stood by the toilets, there were wild Koalas in the trees, lizards, frogs, moths, butterflies, birds and so on - we wished we had booked for longer it was so nice to kick back and relax.
But next stop was Mission Beach so we caught the afternoon ferry and picked Henri up at the port and heade north. The weather got worse and worse as we headed up the coast and by the time we got to Mission Beach it was throwing it down so we headed straight out for a Thai meal at a place that was recommended called Nana Thais and was really really good before showering and hitting the hay.
Suddenly we were down to the last few days of our adventure and we were headed for 3 days of luxury at the Shantara Resort in Port Douglas with our verandah deck straight int othe pool. We made a short stop in Cairns to do some shopping and get some lunch, didn't like Cairns much it was a bit too touristy and reminded me a bit of Blackpool. Port Douglas however was lovely.
As soon as we checked in we were straight in the pool and lying in the sun which had come back out, it was heaven. We had dinner at a cool little place that evening just outside of PD called The Beach Shack. The waitress was really lovely and so good at her job and the food was mind blowing we left stuffed to the gunnels.
The next few days we just chilled by the pool had lunch and dinner out and our last night together we ate at a lovely place called On the Inlet where the fish was superb and we had the most amazing Baramundi dish I've ever had, my mouth is watering just thinking about it now. We wandered bac kto the hotel slightly tiddle singing' Thank you for being my friend' from the Golden Girls.
Lulu left just before lunch the following day but not before I had shed a bucket of tears, it had been so nice to have someone to share the trip with that knew me. So I stayed on one more night at the hotel catching a few more rays and repacking for the next part of my Aussie Adventure.
Tuesday 30 March 2010
Sydney to Brisbane
After I last wrote I picked up a hire car in Sydney on the Tuesday (23rd Feb) morning and headed north out of Sydney. Now I was a little apprehensive to say the least having not driven since I left the UK in September and with also having to negotiate my way out of Sydney. I needn't have worried it was so easy compared with London its not funny although I did manage to miss the turning for the bridge so I exited Sydney through the tunnel under the harbour instead of across thebridge which is what I had wanted to do, nevermind.
It was beautiful sunny day as I left Sydney and I had high hopes for my little driving adventure to Brisbane ... these were short lived as the clouds rolled in. My first stop was a small beach side town called Terrigal where I got some essential food shopping and did a drive through of the town which was ok but a bit touristy and commericial so I didn't bother stopping. From there I drove up to The Entrance which again had a nice beach but with it being overcast and lacking an real character I decided to plod on.
After a few unplanned detours (road signs are rubbish and fairly infrequent here) I eventually arrived into Newcastle about 4pm having come via Toronto and Cardiff on the way ... very funny seeing familiar place names in unfamiliar places.
By the time I had checked in to the YHA (don't ever stay here by the way its horribly dirty) and my lovely room next to the mens bathrooms I decided to have a wander round. The wind had picked up outside and the clouds were getting darker so I had a very quick walk round down to Customs House which is now a posh hotel, the convicts lumber yard which is just behind Customs House and the PayMasters office is now a posh restaurant, down to the waterfront, up through the park and old railway buildings over to the other coast where the sea was lashing the shore but still some fool hardy people were swimming despite the lifeguard yelling through tannoys for them not to and finally I wandered through the centre of town and back to the hostel ... hmmm interesting but certainly not worth a longer stay than my night.
Up and off early the following day (couldn't help it really as was woken by a man hacking up his guts at 6am) heading for Port Macquarie
Thursday by now and still the weather was rubbish so I decided on a bit of retail therapy at the very expensive and exclusive Target (like a slightly more expensive Primark) as I had a short journey to Bellingen which was my next stop. I stopped in at Smoky Cape Lighthouse on the way to have a look round and have my picnic lunch and also checked out the Trial Bay Gaol whilst I was there which was interesting. I arrived into Bellingen about 3pm and after checking in took myself up to Dorrigo National Park which was recommended by the lady at the last YHA and is a world herritage centre. Fabulous drive up through winding roads surrounded by rainforest mostly made up of eucalyptus (700 different varieties here). I headed for the Skywalk which is a wooden platform that you can walk out along high up above the tallest trees of the rainforest .... WOW!!!! What a spectacular view you could see for miles lush rainforest and huge mountains in amongst it all.
The YHA in Bellingen was gorgeous and I would really recommend anyone staying there it had a lovely friendly atmosphere, cute slightly boho decor and my top bunk mate was a cat called Bella who very much 'tollerates' humans so you can imagine how pleased she was to see me who hadn't had a pet to cuddle for quite some time ;-)
Bellingen itself is very quaint, lots of old houses, old hippies, organic food stores, fab galleries and great scenery all around. The hostel had a great verrandah looking out to the rainforest and the mountains beyond and about 8pm the flying foxes (bats) fly past while you're sitting there off to find food ... amazing, unfortunately I couldn't get a photo as they were moving too quick.
Following morning I was up and away early again. Having not really seen anything much that I wanted to stop at I drove for a good 3 hours before I had my first stop of the day in Ballina where I had lunch and stocked up on some food things for Lulu's imminent arrival the following day. Nothing much to report on Ballina so I moved on and headed for Bangalow which Amy and Stuart (who I stayed with in Canberra) had recommended and which was lovely I parked up and had a good mooch round quaint little nic nac shops, Mum would have loved this place and also lots of what looked like great food places but I resisted temptation and hoped back in the car as the sun was out and I was hopeful of some beach time in Byron Bay.
First thing on reaching Byron Bay I drove up to the Lighthouse for a quick look, great views of Byron Bay!! I them went to check into my YHA ... hmmm another one to avoid folks, my so called female dorm had a mating couple in it and they are on the bunk below me, JOY!!
So quick change and i hit the beach where I managed I think an hour and a half of sunbathing before the heavens opened and i got soaked to the bone, I tell you the weather in this country is not what you are led to believe! The rest of the day I did the mundane wash, eat, read, internet and sleep.
Finally Lulu's arrival was imminent and I woke excitedly early and headed out of Byron Bay for Brisbane. What i had forgotten though was that Queensland sues day light saving so as I rocked into Surfers Paradise thinking it was 9.30am it was infact 8.30am and I was way ahead of schedule. So I went for a wander on the beach which was surprisingly busy for that time in the morning (can only imagine what it would be like by mid afternoon). The beach was actually quite spectacular, with the waves dramatically lashing the shore creating a kind of haze across the beach. Surfers itself is full of high rised housing and hotels all up the coast which in itself is quite amazing and actually very different to the rest of Australia from what I've seen, it had an almost American feel to it.
After driving around for a bit getting a good look at the place I head out and up to Brisbane but because I was so far ahead of schedule I found a mountain look out on the way and parked up for an hours or so and read my book and had my lunch.
Finally arrived into Brisbane about 2pm and after driving round the block 5 times and still not finding the hotel I parked in THE most expensive car park in the world ($20 for 5 minutes) as I had no choice and went in search of it. After a few technical issues, like them not having a room for us, we eventually sorted it all out and I opened the door on our luxury apartment from which you could just about see the river ... I did the little dance of glee as I came through the door.
So for the rest of the day I pottered sorting stuff out and had my dinner in front of the TV (which has become a luxury I might add) and then at about 10.45pm I headed to the airport to pick Lulu up.
It was beautiful sunny day as I left Sydney and I had high hopes for my little driving adventure to Brisbane ... these were short lived as the clouds rolled in. My first stop was a small beach side town called Terrigal where I got some essential food shopping and did a drive through of the town which was ok but a bit touristy and commericial so I didn't bother stopping. From there I drove up to The Entrance which again had a nice beach but with it being overcast and lacking an real character I decided to plod on.
After a few unplanned detours (road signs are rubbish and fairly infrequent here) I eventually arrived into Newcastle about 4pm having come via Toronto and Cardiff on the way ... very funny seeing familiar place names in unfamiliar places.
By the time I had checked in to the YHA (don't ever stay here by the way its horribly dirty) and my lovely room next to the mens bathrooms I decided to have a wander round. The wind had picked up outside and the clouds were getting darker so I had a very quick walk round down to Customs House which is now a posh hotel, the convicts lumber yard which is just behind Customs House and the PayMasters office is now a posh restaurant, down to the waterfront, up through the park and old railway buildings over to the other coast where the sea was lashing the shore but still some fool hardy people were swimming despite the lifeguard yelling through tannoys for them not to and finally I wandered through the centre of town and back to the hostel ... hmmm interesting but certainly not worth a longer stay than my night.
Up and off early the following day (couldn't help it really as was woken by a man hacking up his guts at 6am) heading for Port Macquarie
Thursday by now and still the weather was rubbish so I decided on a bit of retail therapy at the very expensive and exclusive Target (like a slightly more expensive Primark) as I had a short journey to Bellingen which was my next stop. I stopped in at Smoky Cape Lighthouse on the way to have a look round and have my picnic lunch and also checked out the Trial Bay Gaol whilst I was there which was interesting. I arrived into Bellingen about 3pm and after checking in took myself up to Dorrigo National Park which was recommended by the lady at the last YHA and is a world herritage centre. Fabulous drive up through winding roads surrounded by rainforest mostly made up of eucalyptus (700 different varieties here). I headed for the Skywalk which is a wooden platform that you can walk out along high up above the tallest trees of the rainforest .... WOW!!!! What a spectacular view you could see for miles lush rainforest and huge mountains in amongst it all.
The YHA in Bellingen was gorgeous and I would really recommend anyone staying there it had a lovely friendly atmosphere, cute slightly boho decor and my top bunk mate was a cat called Bella who very much 'tollerates' humans so you can imagine how pleased she was to see me who hadn't had a pet to cuddle for quite some time ;-)
Bellingen itself is very quaint, lots of old houses, old hippies, organic food stores, fab galleries and great scenery all around. The hostel had a great verrandah looking out to the rainforest and the mountains beyond and about 8pm the flying foxes (bats) fly past while you're sitting there off to find food ... amazing, unfortunately I couldn't get a photo as they were moving too quick.
Following morning I was up and away early again. Having not really seen anything much that I wanted to stop at I drove for a good 3 hours before I had my first stop of the day in Ballina where I had lunch and stocked up on some food things for Lulu's imminent arrival the following day. Nothing much to report on Ballina so I moved on and headed for Bangalow which Amy and Stuart (who I stayed with in Canberra) had recommended and which was lovely I parked up and had a good mooch round quaint little nic nac shops, Mum would have loved this place and also lots of what looked like great food places but I resisted temptation and hoped back in the car as the sun was out and I was hopeful of some beach time in Byron Bay.
First thing on reaching Byron Bay I drove up to the Lighthouse for a quick look, great views of Byron Bay!! I them went to check into my YHA ... hmmm another one to avoid folks, my so called female dorm had a mating couple in it and they are on the bunk below me, JOY!!
So quick change and i hit the beach where I managed I think an hour and a half of sunbathing before the heavens opened and i got soaked to the bone, I tell you the weather in this country is not what you are led to believe! The rest of the day I did the mundane wash, eat, read, internet and sleep.
Finally Lulu's arrival was imminent and I woke excitedly early and headed out of Byron Bay for Brisbane. What i had forgotten though was that Queensland sues day light saving so as I rocked into Surfers Paradise thinking it was 9.30am it was infact 8.30am and I was way ahead of schedule. So I went for a wander on the beach which was surprisingly busy for that time in the morning (can only imagine what it would be like by mid afternoon). The beach was actually quite spectacular, with the waves dramatically lashing the shore creating a kind of haze across the beach. Surfers itself is full of high rised housing and hotels all up the coast which in itself is quite amazing and actually very different to the rest of Australia from what I've seen, it had an almost American feel to it.
After driving around for a bit getting a good look at the place I head out and up to Brisbane but because I was so far ahead of schedule I found a mountain look out on the way and parked up for an hours or so and read my book and had my lunch.
Finally arrived into Brisbane about 2pm and after driving round the block 5 times and still not finding the hotel I parked in THE most expensive car park in the world ($20 for 5 minutes) as I had no choice and went in search of it. After a few technical issues, like them not having a room for us, we eventually sorted it all out and I opened the door on our luxury apartment from which you could just about see the river ... I did the little dance of glee as I came through the door.
So for the rest of the day I pottered sorting stuff out and had my dinner in front of the TV (which has become a luxury I might add) and then at about 10.45pm I headed to the airport to pick Lulu up.
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Australia - Melbourne to Sydney
Gudday! Firstly I'm hoping you are all well and sending apologies to any of you I have not been in individual contact with for a while, don't want to make excuses so I won't but suffice it to say I am not sitting around eating chocolates and if I am its because there's no computer to email you ;-)
So what have I been doing since I left you, well after a very tearful farewell from New Zealand ... I was very sad to leave and had tears rolling down my cheeks on the way to the airport I am not afraid to say ... I boarded my plane to Melbourne and just under 4 hours later and a time change of 2 hours backwards I arrived at 5pm into Melbourne and the furious heat of 33 degrees and glorious sunshine ... at last I thought!
I hoped in a cab to Linda's house in Coburg, North Melbourne (I met Linda through Jenny when she lived in London) I have to say this was a little like taking my life in my own hands as I have never seen driving like it not only the speed but the weaving in and out of 5 lanes of traffic I didn't think I was going to see much of Australia.
That evening Linda and I cracked open a bottle of fizz and generally spent the evening trying to stay cool. But what a difference 12 horus can make, we awoke the following morning to lots of clouds, the temperature had dropped to the mid 20s and it was really humid. Linda took me into central Melbourne on the train to show me how it all worked and to the book store so I could pick up a copy of the Lonely Planet guide (cheaper than New Zealand but blimey still sooooo expensive). After this we went to one of the famous Melbourne Lanes for coffee and cake and whilst there it started to rain so we headed home as soon as we were done.
The rain didn't let up for the rest of the day or the following day which doesn't exactly make walking round a city fun or even worth it so we had a lazy day and went to the cinema, did a bit of shopping and generally pottered about.
Luckily by the Saturday the sun had come back and I was up bright and early and off into Melbourne. I started by doing the Lonely Planet walking tour of Melbourne which started at Federation Square and ound through the Lanes taking in points of interest. I added in a few detours here and there to the State Library, the Gaol where Ned Kelly was hung, the Town Hall, Hoseir Lane (famour for its graffitti - apparently Banksy has been here with his parachuting rats but I couldn't find them anywhere) the Parliament buildings, St Patrick Cathedrall and after 6 hours and very sore feet I hopped back on the train at Flinders Street station back to Batman Station (Linda keeps correcting my pronunciation of Batman as I'm sure you can imagine I have a certain theme tune in my head everytime I think of it).
That evening Linda's friends Jan (who is from the UK) came over for dinner and after quaffing rather a lot of red wine we hit the hay. Up early the following day so I could catch my train down to Mornington, via Cheltenham and Chelsea, on the coast where I was met by my lovely friend Jenny and her sister Lee.
The week down there were spent walking, swimming seeing a few sights most notably Sorrento where Mia (Jenny's Mum), Jenny and I stopped for a Snot Block. A what I hear you cry? This is the technical term for a famous Sorrento Vanilla Slice.
The beaches here are quite cute with beautifully coloured and painted beach huts or beahc boxes as they call then here and you wouldn't believe the price of these things ... $295,000!!!! Each morning we would walk dow nthe cliffs and along the beach to a great cafe in the harbour called The Rocks appart from one day when Jenny and I drove out to Portsea which is on the southern most tip of the Mornington Penninsula and walked along a very wind swept, desserted beach.
I had my first encounter with a large Huntsman spider at the cottage, luckily it was from a distance as they are pretty big but also completely harmless so that's fine by me. It rained a bit towards the end of the week but I'm getting used to that happening to me.
My last night in Mornington most of Jenny's family came to stay and we had a big meal together which was really nice before Anne and I took ourselves off to watch Silent Witness ... well with the opportunity to have a Harry fix who was I to say no ;-)
Early Saturday morning I had another tearful goodbye with Jenny and then caught the airport shuttle bus back to Melbourne Airport ready to catch my flight to Canberra.
A glorious 4 hours or so were then spent killing time in the airport as I couldn't get a bus that would get me there nearer the time and then I was off and an hour later arrived in a VERY wet Canberra .. did I mention
there's a drought in this country, at this point it has rained more in Oz than its been sunny!!!!
Amy, Harry and Isobel all met me at the airport which was lovely and Harry and Isobel had both made me presents which was so sweet and will be going in my journal. That evening we had a lovely dinner together and after 'your friend' as Isobel kept calling me to Amy had read Isobel a story and Harry had gone to bed too, the grown ups cracked on with the wine.
The following day it was still raining (arrgghhhh) so Amy and I took Harry and Isobel to Questaco which is the science museum in Canberra and there we met Gretta, Stuart's sister and her family. After a few hours of pushing buttons, pulling knobs, lots of screaming and running around we headed home and quite frankly I was exhausted (no one else was). After lunch some of Amy and Stuarts friends came over with their kids and we had a very civilised afternoon chatting, sipping beer and watching the kids entertain themselves and to top it off the sun came out.
Monday was Amy's first day at work and Stuart was taking the kids off to school so once everyone had been discharged I got up and then headed off into Canberra centre to find the Museum and an hour and twenty mintues later I found it sitting by the big lake in the centre of Canberra. Canberra is a bit of a strange place its been designed which you can tell as the streets are all nice and wide and there is lots of space everywhere but it does feel a little clinical at time I found.
The Museum was great though and gave me a good basis of Australian history such that it is and certainly all the things before we started sending convicts over here which I knew very little about and also how the Indigenous People (Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) were opressed and through to the Apology given by the Prime Minister here which I hadve to admit the video of it was done so well and with such beautfiul music I burst into tears ... yes folks still embarrassing myself by crying in very public places on my own!!
I spent about 3 hours here in total and by the time I came out it was throwing it down again so I caught the bus back. That evening we all headed out of pizza which was a lovely end to my 3 days with the Jones clan.
We are now at Tuesday 17th Feb (Becky I'm sorry I forgot to wish you a Happy Birthday so will publicly do it now, hope it was a good one) ...I caught an early morning flight from Canberra after Amy dropped me off on her way to work and arrived in Sydney again about an hour later. I have to say though what a view on landing!!! It was spectacular even if it was a bit overcast and I think the picture says it all.
I hoped on a train to Central Station then and arrived at my hostel the Railway Square YHA about lunch time and what a lovely hostel. Its in the old Railway sheds and some of the dorms are actually in old rail carriages I didn't get to stay in one of these but my room was clean, quiet and lovely and cool.
The afternoon I spent getting my bearings and aquainting myself with a little bit of Sydney as I'm finding it takes a bit of time to get used to places an the best way to do it is to just wander roudn with no particular agenda. I got some food in and just felt exhausted so was in bed asleep very early ready to start the day nice and early the following day.
I slept for nearly 12 hours!!!!! So not quite the early start I had planned but it was a beautfiul day (FIANLLY) so I set off to do the Lonely Planet walking tour of Sydney which started and Central Station and took me down to Hyde Park and the Anzac Parade, I then did a divert off to the Museum where I spent a good hour and a half and I actually think this museum's Australian History section was better than Canberra as I think Canberra assume an element of knowledge where as Sydeny treats you as the idiot you are ;-)
After this I headed up past St Mary's Cathedral, to Macquarie St and the old barracks and colonial buildings along the street inculding the Mint and Sydeny Hospital. About half way down is the State Library and opposite that is the entrance to the botanical gardens which is where I decided to stop and have my sandwich and I could just about make out the harbour from where I was sitting.
I walked down through the gardens and along the harbour front and then came into view one of the most iconic views I have seen on this trip so far ... the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge ... and what was my first thing that came into my head other than WOW? "I thought the Opera House was on the other side"Oh well it isn't and its also not as big as I thought it was but still a beautiful building although the inside could do with an update from what I could see from outside.
I then walked along Circular Quay and up to The Rocks which is where the first convicts were landed. A great area, steeped in histroy which you can see in the old buildings which of course are now all posh boutiques and coffee shops.
My final stop for the day was to head up on to the bridge. I decided not to do the bridge climb as it was $189 and for $9.50 you can climb the Pylon which is one of the stone pillars at the end of the bridge ... all 200 steps but for the views it is definitely worth it ... it was at this point the battery on my camera gave up the ghost ... what great timing! Luckily I had my Blackberry with me so managed to get a few shots on that.
When I got to the bottom I was no longer glowing or perspiring I was full on sweating from the heat, wlaking and lcimbing and never have I seen a sign so inviting ... "come and try one of our 100 beers" Yes Please!!! So I sat a drank a very well deserved scooner (hope I've spelt that right) of a pale ale I can't remember the name of now, I had tried several before I made my mind up ;-) Lastly I took the long walk down George Street back to the hostel where I had stir fry and flopped into bed exhausted again.
Thursday I decided was a day for the beach so I hopped on the open top bus tour round Sydney, just to check I hadn't missed anything and this gave me a good look round Kings Cross which isn't too dissimilar to the one in London certainly in terms of its late night reputation and then I was on my way to Bondi.
Hmmmm not convinced I see the attraction of Bondi myself its just a giant strip of sand crammed full of people posing for each other. Oh well I had my second alfrescoe lunch sat on the beach by the path wall for a bit of shade and then I set along the Coastal walk to Coogee (5km one way), this took in a number of other little bays with beaches and I have to say I think Tamarama was my favourite although not great for swimming (if you want swimming then Clovelly is probably the best). There was a lot of ups and down on this walk but again it was well worth it especially when I reached Waverley Cemetery which has a wonderful walkway over the cliffs and you can sit and watch the waves crashing, fabulous!
Once at Coogee I grabbed a gelato and headed for the beach to watch the world go by for a bit before heading back. Round trip it including the gelato stop it took 3 hours and once again I was suitably knackered but in a really good way and it had been such fab weather it made it all the better. I am loving all this time by the sea I'm getting I have to say.
On the way back I stopped off for some Chinese food, big mistake, it was nowhere near as good as Fang's cooking as I knew it wouldn't be and left me with a thirst I couldn't quench. After doing some laundry and uploading some photos it was off to bed again ... its tiring all this travelling!!
Friday I was up early and ready to go at 7.30m for my Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Tour. This was great although the weather let us down a bit but a few glasses of wine later ... weather? What weather? The first 2 estates we went to were great - Tallawera Grove and Iron Gate - in particular the second of these where I picked up Lulu and I a little bottle to celebrate with when she gets here on 27th. At Iron Gate the guy explaining the wines got us to try this reserve Chiraz hat he had and after 2 sips he then gave us some chocolate brownie to eat adn then said drink the wine again ... OH MY GOD!!!! It was heaven.
Lunch was next which was good job as we'd tried about 14 different wines by this stage and then after lunch Mariska (dutch girl I met) and I went off to try some cheese and I bought a very smelly one which is stinking out everywhere I go despite being in its wrapping, a plastic bag and a zip lock bag ... yep it hums but its so yummy!! And I also got to try some McGuigan wines which is one of the labels I drink in the UK so they gave me a list of all the ones available in the UK and where I can get them.
The last estate was a bit of let down after that it was called Ernest Hill and nowhere near as good as the other estates we'd been to. Then we were off back to Sydney and on the way back we watched "A Good Year" one of my favourite movies and suitably about wine. Back in Sydney the weather was fab and after dinner I spent the evening sorting stuff out ready for my trip to the Blue Mountains the following day.
I caught the 10.18am train from Central Station to Katoomba which is the 'capital' of the Blue Mountains according to Lonely Planet. The train journey was fairly ordinary the fun started when I arrived in Katoomba just over 2 hours later. What a weird little place!! Its like the 1920s/30s arrived and Katoomba got stuck in a time wharp which then attracted a rather 'bohemian' element shall we say. I had booked myself into a guest house and decided to push the boat out and have a room and bathrrom to myself ... BIG MISTAKE!!!! Imagine a bad old people's home crossed with Faulty Towers and this pretty much sums up where I was staying.
Shown to my room ther wall paper was peeling off the walls everywhere (not just in my room), there was damp on the ceiling, the window was nailed shut and there was a really nasty smell in the room even before my cheese had 2 days to fester in it, everywhere you stepped the floor boards creeked, my room was next to the communal toilets and showers (this proved interesting later), I was too affraid to plug anything into the electical socket for fear of electricuting myself, 'chintz' is the only way I can describe the bedding, curtains, carpet and wall paper and not in good way, there was a VERY old lady in the TV room who didn't look like she was going to make it through the night judging by the number of blankets she was wrapped in, her rather grey complexion and the stack of pills on a trolley in front of her and to top it all off there was a man staying there who I never saw but would puff and pant do much when he got to the top of the stairs (just outside my room) it sounded like he was doing something other than climbing the stairs and he liked to talk to himself ... I was gutted.
But Idecided best foot forward and quickly changed and headed out to sus out Katoomba ... well that took a whole 10 minutes or so (its not a big place) and as I couldn't face going back to the guest house there was only one thing for it I needed a drink. I had found the rather lovely looking Carrington Hotel by this stage so decided to plonk myself on there terrace and catch up on my journal and form a plan of action. Well this proved fascinating on the people watching front especailly the wanna be rock star and his rather fed up girl friend who were having a domestic over several glasses of wine, it then got even funnier when I very 'normal' Aussie couple on their 25th wedding anniversary trip got chatting to them and the introductions happened - Normal couple something like Chris and Jane, Wanna be Rock Star and girlfriend, Romeo and Charleen - well it was all I could do not to spit my wine everywhere I had so wished someone had been there to enjoy it with me.
3 glasses of wine later and full of dinner I decided it was time to brave the room and surpisingly once grunter had finished and I had put my ear plugs in I slept really well. Was up and out fairly early the following day and after picking up the best Almond croissant I've ever had from the organic bakery and garbbing water, fruit and a sandwich I headed out to Echo Point and the Blue Mountains. WOW!!!! Breathtaking does not do it justice again I'll let the photos do the talking.
So I strated the first of my walks which was recommended in a local guide which took me down the Giant Staircase to the first of the 3 sisters (legend has it that 3 sisters who wanted to marry 3 warriors from a different tribe were turned to stone by a medicine man whilst the matter was dealt with but he was killed and the sisters have remained in stone to this day). I then carried on down all 900 steps of the great stairway and was very wobbly legged by the time I got to the bottom. After that I carried on along Dardanelles Pass and on to Fedral Pass, past Katoomba Falls until I reached the Scenic World railway (5km). This walk was beautiful I was pretty much on my own most of the way just listening to the birds, cicadas and wind in the trees and the sun was shinning it was a glorious day. I then walked round the rather boring scenic world walk ways which was full of very noisy tourists running around and bascially scaring off any wildlife at this point I decided to head off down one of the other tracks that no one else really eemed ot be going down and what a good choice that was.
After about 30 minutes of quite strenuous walking/climbing I arrived at a break in the path which looked out overthe valley and the mountains beyond, a perfect spot for lunch, the best one yet!! I then walked back and got the railway back up to the top and from there walked the 2 or 3 km back to Echo Point where I picked up the hop on hop off tour bus (yet another mistake) which was rubbish I had hoped it would take me to the Jenolan Caves which had been recommended it was then I discovered that they are 1.5hrs away and its a day trip! Thsi was not made clear anywhere that I looked so I was a bit annoyed but it did get me back to Faulty Towers. Quick shower and I headed off to The Carrington again for a pre dinner drink and then to the Old Bank pub for the best veggie pizza I've had (pumpkin, spinach, goat cheese, pesto and pinenuts) and a really good salad. Despite drinking just over 1.5ltr of water during the day this obviously wasn't enough as the wine went straight to my head giving me a head ache and I thne drank another litre of water with dinner!
Slept well again and in the morning caught the 9.20am train back to Sydney, checked back into the Railway Square YHA where it was like bedlum as ACDC have been playing over the weekend and on Monday night so there were people and bags everywhere.
I then met Helen Marsden a girl I met through Laura who I used to work with at the Guardian (some of you may have met Helen at my leaving do). We caught the bus down to Circular Quay and had a lovely lunch down there looking out to the Harbour Bridge. At one point some people called out excitedly to a guy walking past saying "great show last night can we have our pciture with you". Helen M got very excited at this point thinking it was someone famous she got out her camera and was umming and ahhing about asking for her picture with him too thinking he must be with ACDC ... luckily she didn't quite get to that point because when we asked the people who he was they said he was a referee for cage fighting ... we did laugh.
It was baking hot day so we decided a gelato was in order before Helen had to catch her bus and after she left I hopped onthe ferry over to Manly for a quick wander round. The ferry took about 30 minutes and was a lovely way to see Sydney and Manly itself is actually really nice, The Corso which is the main walkway form the ferry terminal to Manly Surf Beach (they even have a Little Manly over here which is where I stayed in New Zealand with Jeanne and Howard) is lined with palms and funny looking pines and has cafes and seafood restaurants intermixed with surf clothing shops and boutiques.
I wandered round for about an hour and then caught the ferry back basking in the sun as I went. Quiet night again as an early start the following day and my first tiem driving since I elft home, I was certainly a little apprehensive.
That's all for now folks, sorry its been so long in coming and promise I will add the photos soon once I have time to do so.
Take care, love to you all
Hxx
So what have I been doing since I left you, well after a very tearful farewell from New Zealand ... I was very sad to leave and had tears rolling down my cheeks on the way to the airport I am not afraid to say ... I boarded my plane to Melbourne and just under 4 hours later and a time change of 2 hours backwards I arrived at 5pm into Melbourne and the furious heat of 33 degrees and glorious sunshine ... at last I thought!
I hoped in a cab to Linda's house in Coburg, North Melbourne (I met Linda through Jenny when she lived in London) I have to say this was a little like taking my life in my own hands as I have never seen driving like it not only the speed but the weaving in and out of 5 lanes of traffic I didn't think I was going to see much of Australia.
That evening Linda and I cracked open a bottle of fizz and generally spent the evening trying to stay cool. But what a difference 12 horus can make, we awoke the following morning to lots of clouds, the temperature had dropped to the mid 20s and it was really humid. Linda took me into central Melbourne on the train to show me how it all worked and to the book store so I could pick up a copy of the Lonely Planet guide (cheaper than New Zealand but blimey still sooooo expensive). After this we went to one of the famous Melbourne Lanes for coffee and cake and whilst there it started to rain so we headed home as soon as we were done.
The rain didn't let up for the rest of the day or the following day which doesn't exactly make walking round a city fun or even worth it so we had a lazy day and went to the cinema, did a bit of shopping and generally pottered about.
Luckily by the Saturday the sun had come back and I was up bright and early and off into Melbourne. I started by doing the Lonely Planet walking tour of Melbourne which started at Federation Square and ound through the Lanes taking in points of interest. I added in a few detours here and there to the State Library, the Gaol where Ned Kelly was hung, the Town Hall, Hoseir Lane (famour for its graffitti - apparently Banksy has been here with his parachuting rats but I couldn't find them anywhere) the Parliament buildings, St Patrick Cathedrall and after 6 hours and very sore feet I hopped back on the train at Flinders Street station back to Batman Station (Linda keeps correcting my pronunciation of Batman as I'm sure you can imagine I have a certain theme tune in my head everytime I think of it).
That evening Linda's friends Jan (who is from the UK) came over for dinner and after quaffing rather a lot of red wine we hit the hay. Up early the following day so I could catch my train down to Mornington, via Cheltenham and Chelsea, on the coast where I was met by my lovely friend Jenny and her sister Lee.
The week down there were spent walking, swimming seeing a few sights most notably Sorrento where Mia (Jenny's Mum), Jenny and I stopped for a Snot Block. A what I hear you cry? This is the technical term for a famous Sorrento Vanilla Slice.
The beaches here are quite cute with beautifully coloured and painted beach huts or beahc boxes as they call then here and you wouldn't believe the price of these things ... $295,000!!!! Each morning we would walk dow nthe cliffs and along the beach to a great cafe in the harbour called The Rocks appart from one day when Jenny and I drove out to Portsea which is on the southern most tip of the Mornington Penninsula and walked along a very wind swept, desserted beach.
I had my first encounter with a large Huntsman spider at the cottage, luckily it was from a distance as they are pretty big but also completely harmless so that's fine by me. It rained a bit towards the end of the week but I'm getting used to that happening to me.
My last night in Mornington most of Jenny's family came to stay and we had a big meal together which was really nice before Anne and I took ourselves off to watch Silent Witness ... well with the opportunity to have a Harry fix who was I to say no ;-)
Early Saturday morning I had another tearful goodbye with Jenny and then caught the airport shuttle bus back to Melbourne Airport ready to catch my flight to Canberra.
A glorious 4 hours or so were then spent killing time in the airport as I couldn't get a bus that would get me there nearer the time and then I was off and an hour later arrived in a VERY wet Canberra .. did I mention
there's a drought in this country, at this point it has rained more in Oz than its been sunny!!!!
Amy, Harry and Isobel all met me at the airport which was lovely and Harry and Isobel had both made me presents which was so sweet and will be going in my journal. That evening we had a lovely dinner together and after 'your friend' as Isobel kept calling me to Amy had read Isobel a story and Harry had gone to bed too, the grown ups cracked on with the wine.
The following day it was still raining (arrgghhhh) so Amy and I took Harry and Isobel to Questaco which is the science museum in Canberra and there we met Gretta, Stuart's sister and her family. After a few hours of pushing buttons, pulling knobs, lots of screaming and running around we headed home and quite frankly I was exhausted (no one else was). After lunch some of Amy and Stuarts friends came over with their kids and we had a very civilised afternoon chatting, sipping beer and watching the kids entertain themselves and to top it off the sun came out.
Monday was Amy's first day at work and Stuart was taking the kids off to school so once everyone had been discharged I got up and then headed off into Canberra centre to find the Museum and an hour and twenty mintues later I found it sitting by the big lake in the centre of Canberra. Canberra is a bit of a strange place its been designed which you can tell as the streets are all nice and wide and there is lots of space everywhere but it does feel a little clinical at time I found.
The Museum was great though and gave me a good basis of Australian history such that it is and certainly all the things before we started sending convicts over here which I knew very little about and also how the Indigenous People (Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) were opressed and through to the Apology given by the Prime Minister here which I hadve to admit the video of it was done so well and with such beautfiul music I burst into tears ... yes folks still embarrassing myself by crying in very public places on my own!!
I spent about 3 hours here in total and by the time I came out it was throwing it down again so I caught the bus back. That evening we all headed out of pizza which was a lovely end to my 3 days with the Jones clan.
We are now at Tuesday 17th Feb (Becky I'm sorry I forgot to wish you a Happy Birthday so will publicly do it now, hope it was a good one) ...I caught an early morning flight from Canberra after Amy dropped me off on her way to work and arrived in Sydney again about an hour later. I have to say though what a view on landing!!! It was spectacular even if it was a bit overcast and I think the picture says it all.
I hoped on a train to Central Station then and arrived at my hostel the Railway Square YHA about lunch time and what a lovely hostel. Its in the old Railway sheds and some of the dorms are actually in old rail carriages I didn't get to stay in one of these but my room was clean, quiet and lovely and cool.
The afternoon I spent getting my bearings and aquainting myself with a little bit of Sydney as I'm finding it takes a bit of time to get used to places an the best way to do it is to just wander roudn with no particular agenda. I got some food in and just felt exhausted so was in bed asleep very early ready to start the day nice and early the following day.
I slept for nearly 12 hours!!!!! So not quite the early start I had planned but it was a beautfiul day (FIANLLY) so I set off to do the Lonely Planet walking tour of Sydney which started and Central Station and took me down to Hyde Park and the Anzac Parade, I then did a divert off to the Museum where I spent a good hour and a half and I actually think this museum's Australian History section was better than Canberra as I think Canberra assume an element of knowledge where as Sydeny treats you as the idiot you are ;-)
After this I headed up past St Mary's Cathedral, to Macquarie St and the old barracks and colonial buildings along the street inculding the Mint and Sydeny Hospital. About half way down is the State Library and opposite that is the entrance to the botanical gardens which is where I decided to stop and have my sandwich and I could just about make out the harbour from where I was sitting.
I walked down through the gardens and along the harbour front and then came into view one of the most iconic views I have seen on this trip so far ... the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge ... and what was my first thing that came into my head other than WOW? "I thought the Opera House was on the other side"
I then walked along Circular Quay and up to The Rocks which is where the first convicts were landed. A great area, steeped in histroy which you can see in the old buildings which of course are now all posh boutiques and coffee shops.
My final stop for the day was to head up on to the bridge. I decided not to do the bridge climb as it was $189 and for $9.50 you can climb the Pylon which is one of the stone pillars at the end of the bridge ... all 200 steps but for the views it is definitely worth it ... it was at this point the battery on my camera gave up the ghost ... what great timing! Luckily I had my Blackberry with me so managed to get a few shots on that.
When I got to the bottom I was no longer glowing or perspiring I was full on sweating from the heat, wlaking and lcimbing and never have I seen a sign so inviting ... "come and try one of our 100 beers" Yes Please!!! So I sat a drank a very well deserved scooner (hope I've spelt that right) of a pale ale I can't remember the name of now, I had tried several before I made my mind up ;-) Lastly I took the long walk down George Street back to the hostel where I had stir fry and flopped into bed exhausted again.
Thursday I decided was a day for the beach so I hopped on the open top bus tour round Sydney, just to check I hadn't missed anything and this gave me a good look round Kings Cross which isn't too dissimilar to the one in London certainly in terms of its late night reputation and then I was on my way to Bondi.
Hmmmm not convinced I see the attraction of Bondi myself its just a giant strip of sand crammed full of people posing for each other. Oh well I had my second alfrescoe lunch sat on the beach by the path wall for a bit of shade and then I set along the Coastal walk to Coogee (5km one way), this took in a number of other little bays with beaches and I have to say I think Tamarama was my favourite although not great for swimming (if you want swimming then Clovelly is probably the best). There was a lot of ups and down on this walk but again it was well worth it especially when I reached Waverley Cemetery which has a wonderful walkway over the cliffs and you can sit and watch the waves crashing, fabulous!
Once at Coogee I grabbed a gelato and headed for the beach to watch the world go by for a bit before heading back. Round trip it including the gelato stop it took 3 hours and once again I was suitably knackered but in a really good way and it had been such fab weather it made it all the better. I am loving all this time by the sea I'm getting I have to say.
On the way back I stopped off for some Chinese food, big mistake, it was nowhere near as good as Fang's cooking as I knew it wouldn't be and left me with a thirst I couldn't quench. After doing some laundry and uploading some photos it was off to bed again ... its tiring all this travelling!!
Friday I was up early and ready to go at 7.30m for my Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Tour. This was great although the weather let us down a bit but a few glasses of wine later ... weather? What weather? The first 2 estates we went to were great - Tallawera Grove and Iron Gate - in particular the second of these where I picked up Lulu and I a little bottle to celebrate with when she gets here on 27th. At Iron Gate the guy explaining the wines got us to try this reserve Chiraz hat he had and after 2 sips he then gave us some chocolate brownie to eat adn then said drink the wine again ... OH MY GOD!!!! It was heaven.
Lunch was next which was good job as we'd tried about 14 different wines by this stage and then after lunch Mariska (dutch girl I met) and I went off to try some cheese and I bought a very smelly one which is stinking out everywhere I go despite being in its wrapping, a plastic bag and a zip lock bag ... yep it hums but its so yummy!! And I also got to try some McGuigan wines which is one of the labels I drink in the UK so they gave me a list of all the ones available in the UK and where I can get them.
The last estate was a bit of let down after that it was called Ernest Hill and nowhere near as good as the other estates we'd been to. Then we were off back to Sydney and on the way back we watched "A Good Year" one of my favourite movies and suitably about wine. Back in Sydney the weather was fab and after dinner I spent the evening sorting stuff out ready for my trip to the Blue Mountains the following day.
I caught the 10.18am train from Central Station to Katoomba which is the 'capital' of the Blue Mountains according to Lonely Planet. The train journey was fairly ordinary the fun started when I arrived in Katoomba just over 2 hours later. What a weird little place!! Its like the 1920s/30s arrived and Katoomba got stuck in a time wharp which then attracted a rather 'bohemian' element shall we say. I had booked myself into a guest house and decided to push the boat out and have a room and bathrrom to myself ... BIG MISTAKE!!!! Imagine a bad old people's home crossed with Faulty Towers and this pretty much sums up where I was staying.
Shown to my room ther wall paper was peeling off the walls everywhere (not just in my room), there was damp on the ceiling, the window was nailed shut and there was a really nasty smell in the room even before my cheese had 2 days to fester in it, everywhere you stepped the floor boards creeked, my room was next to the communal toilets and showers (this proved interesting later), I was too affraid to plug anything into the electical socket for fear of electricuting myself, 'chintz' is the only way I can describe the bedding, curtains, carpet and wall paper and not in good way, there was a VERY old lady in the TV room who didn't look like she was going to make it through the night judging by the number of blankets she was wrapped in, her rather grey complexion and the stack of pills on a trolley in front of her and to top it all off there was a man staying there who I never saw but would puff and pant do much when he got to the top of the stairs (just outside my room) it sounded like he was doing something other than climbing the stairs and he liked to talk to himself ... I was gutted.
But Idecided best foot forward and quickly changed and headed out to sus out Katoomba ... well that took a whole 10 minutes or so (its not a big place) and as I couldn't face going back to the guest house there was only one thing for it I needed a drink. I had found the rather lovely looking Carrington Hotel by this stage so decided to plonk myself on there terrace and catch up on my journal and form a plan of action. Well this proved fascinating on the people watching front especailly the wanna be rock star and his rather fed up girl friend who were having a domestic over several glasses of wine, it then got even funnier when I very 'normal' Aussie couple on their 25th wedding anniversary trip got chatting to them and the introductions happened - Normal couple something like Chris and Jane, Wanna be Rock Star and girlfriend, Romeo and Charleen - well it was all I could do not to spit my wine everywhere I had so wished someone had been there to enjoy it with me.
3 glasses of wine later and full of dinner I decided it was time to brave the room and surpisingly once grunter had finished and I had put my ear plugs in I slept really well. Was up and out fairly early the following day and after picking up the best Almond croissant I've ever had from the organic bakery and garbbing water, fruit and a sandwich I headed out to Echo Point and the Blue Mountains. WOW!!!! Breathtaking does not do it justice again I'll let the photos do the talking.
So I strated the first of my walks which was recommended in a local guide which took me down the Giant Staircase to the first of the 3 sisters (legend has it that 3 sisters who wanted to marry 3 warriors from a different tribe were turned to stone by a medicine man whilst the matter was dealt with but he was killed and the sisters have remained in stone to this day). I then carried on down all 900 steps of the great stairway and was very wobbly legged by the time I got to the bottom. After that I carried on along Dardanelles Pass and on to Fedral Pass, past Katoomba Falls until I reached the Scenic World railway (5km). This walk was beautiful I was pretty much on my own most of the way just listening to the birds, cicadas and wind in the trees and the sun was shinning it was a glorious day. I then walked round the rather boring scenic world walk ways which was full of very noisy tourists running around and bascially scaring off any wildlife at this point I decided to head off down one of the other tracks that no one else really eemed ot be going down and what a good choice that was.
After about 30 minutes of quite strenuous walking/climbing I arrived at a break in the path which looked out overthe valley and the mountains beyond, a perfect spot for lunch, the best one yet!! I then walked back and got the railway back up to the top and from there walked the 2 or 3 km back to Echo Point where I picked up the hop on hop off tour bus (yet another mistake) which was rubbish I had hoped it would take me to the Jenolan Caves which had been recommended it was then I discovered that they are 1.5hrs away and its a day trip! Thsi was not made clear anywhere that I looked so I was a bit annoyed but it did get me back to Faulty Towers. Quick shower and I headed off to The Carrington again for a pre dinner drink and then to the Old Bank pub for the best veggie pizza I've had (pumpkin, spinach, goat cheese, pesto and pinenuts) and a really good salad. Despite drinking just over 1.5ltr of water during the day this obviously wasn't enough as the wine went straight to my head giving me a head ache and I thne drank another litre of water with dinner!
Slept well again and in the morning caught the 9.20am train back to Sydney, checked back into the Railway Square YHA where it was like bedlum as ACDC have been playing over the weekend and on Monday night so there were people and bags everywhere.
I then met Helen Marsden a girl I met through Laura who I used to work with at the Guardian (some of you may have met Helen at my leaving do). We caught the bus down to Circular Quay and had a lovely lunch down there looking out to the Harbour Bridge. At one point some people called out excitedly to a guy walking past saying "great show last night can we have our pciture with you". Helen M got very excited at this point thinking it was someone famous she got out her camera and was umming and ahhing about asking for her picture with him too thinking he must be with ACDC ... luckily she didn't quite get to that point because when we asked the people who he was they said he was a referee for cage fighting ... we did laugh.
It was baking hot day so we decided a gelato was in order before Helen had to catch her bus and after she left I hopped onthe ferry over to Manly for a quick wander round. The ferry took about 30 minutes and was a lovely way to see Sydney and Manly itself is actually really nice, The Corso which is the main walkway form the ferry terminal to Manly Surf Beach (they even have a Little Manly over here which is where I stayed in New Zealand with Jeanne and Howard) is lined with palms and funny looking pines and has cafes and seafood restaurants intermixed with surf clothing shops and boutiques.
I wandered round for about an hour and then caught the ferry back basking in the sun as I went. Quiet night again as an early start the following day and my first tiem driving since I elft home, I was certainly a little apprehensive.
That's all for now folks, sorry its been so long in coming and promise I will add the photos soon once I have time to do so.
Take care, love to you all
Hxx
Friday 29 January 2010
The Northlands and Itinerary Changes
I spent just under a week with Anne and Herb Hart and there 2 very cute Yorkshire terriers (Pepe and Rene) just outside Christchurch in a place called Kaiapoi. I slept for about 11 hours straight almost every night I was with them ... I was shattered after the Stray tour. Didn't do much else as my diving trip to Picton and the Lermontov (sunken Russian Cruise liner) was cancelled due to the weather but I did managed to catch up with Steve and Georgie Walker who I met diving in Rarotonga which was great and we had a lovely lunch at the art gallery in Christchurch.
I flew back to Auckland on 20th Jan and stayed with Becky's house mates the Pome Helen's, yes 3 Helen's in one house I thinnk their new house mate though we were taking the preverbial when they introduced me to him.
21st January I headed into Central Auckland to pick up another Stray tour this time of the Northlands. First off we stopped just outside the lovely little town of Warkworht to see the ancient McKinney Kauri tree which is 800 years old, has a girth of 7.62m and its heigth to its first limb is 11.89m ... its BIG!!!After a quick morning tea stop in Warkworth (has to be my favourite little town in New Zealand) we headed to the beach just outside of Whangerei and it suddenly dawned on me that the beach I was sitting on is the same one I flew over in the helicopter when I first arrived in New Zealand ... that was over 3 months ago now.
Lunch stop was in Whangerei and we also stopped in at the falls there. Once again there were small fearless children jumping off ledges and swing ropes into the water ... it seems to be a right of passage here.
Our next stop was a little bizarre and certainly brought a new meaning to a comfort break. We stopped in Kawakawa to see some toilets designed by an Austrian architect and ecologist Frederick Hundertwasser ... certainly the most ornate public toilets I have been to but still a little strange that we stopped just to see them and apparently its the top tourist attraction for the town!
We arrived into Paihia about 3.30pm, booked the trip we were going to be doing and then I was completely taken aback when the tour went roaring past the Witangi Treaty Ground with our dirver meerly pointing in the general direction of it ... For those of you that don't know the Witangi Treaty is probably THE most significant agreement in New Zealand between the Maoris and the European settlers, its also not without it controversy (there are 2 copies, one in English one in Maori and something got "lost" in translation shall we say).
We were then dropped at the Pipi Patch Base Hostel where I quickly dumped my stuff and headed up to the treaty ground on my own to go and have a look round as it was one of the main things I wanted to do/see when I came up here. I spent about an hour up at the treaty ground and I was really glad I went. Its been really well laid out and you could almost feel the history and significance of the site, not to mention the amazing views over the Bay of Islands form up there. Its also coming up to Witangi Day here in New Zealand (6th Feb) so they are preparing the grounds for the anniversary and they had some special Waka (canoes) at the ground that are not normally there.
Eventually got back to the hostel about 6.30pm and after a quick shower we headed off for the BBQ and a few pints.Up early the following day for our trip to Cape Reigna and I spent most of the day with a lovely Irish girl called Rachel and a few others from bus up from Auckland.
First port of call was 90 mile beach which we found out isn't in fact 90 miles but 64 miles whoever measured it the first time got it wrong ... least said the better on that one I think. We dorve up the beach very fast for about 30 minutes with a few photos stops. The weather wasn't brilliant but luckily when we stopped at the sand dunes the sun came out just in time for our boogie boarding down the dunes. i had to do this in stages as the top of the dune seemed a little too high up to start with especially as you are coming down face first and we were told we could pick up enough speed to end up in the bushes the other side of the stream at the bottom .... it was brilliant fun!!!!Ended up with snad in places I didn't even know you could get sand.
After that we headed to another beautiful beach for lunch before actually getting to Cape Reinga and walking out to the cliff tops where you can see the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet and its really does look like you can see them meeting. There's also a really cute little light house up here too.
After that we head back via the Kauri Gumdiggers Museum and the ancient Kauri Kingdom ... Kauri trees are protected in New Zealand and you are not allowed to cut them down but in the past they had been used for all sorts of of things from building boats and ships to using the gum to make varnish, paint, etc.
The following morning Rachel and I went on the Discover the Bay boat trip and saw 5 bottle nosed dolphins playing in the Bay which ws fab although once again I haven't got brilliant photos but they were leaping out of the water doing flips, twirls and all sorts ... oh and then the captain pointed out they were fornecating ... NICE!!!
The rest of the boat trip was lovely in and around all the little Islands (144 Islands) and we took a trip out to Hole in the Rock which we went through ... gotta love the Captain he stopped inside and asked us to all look up at the big crack in the rock and then said that it was a fauly line and one day the whole thing would come crashing down!!!
On the way back we stopped off at one of the Islands which I'm sorry to say I felt was the first real tourist trap I have been in since I got here. We were told that a guided tour of the Island was optional, what they should have siad was you can pay extra to do the guided walk or you can sit in the restaurant/cafe and eat and drink their over inflated food and drink ($8 for a sandwich and a cup of tea, that's about 4 GBpounds)
Arrived back into Auckland just after 6pm and I headed over to Mission Bay to catch up with the other Pome Helen's, Becky's housemates.
Sunday Helen S and I headed over to Devonport for a pottle round the shops, lunch and the a walk New Zealand stylie (that's code for a drive) to Northhead which gives great views of Mission Bay, Auckland and over to Rangitoto (inactive volcano which you can see form Jeanne and Howard's place as well) and up to Whangaparaoa and beyond.
So my last week in New Zealand has arrived can you believe it, I know I can't where is the time going. I'm back staying with the lovely Jeanne and Howard and catching up with everyone before I fly to Melbourne, Australia on 3rd February.
I have finalised pretty much the rest of my trip now so here is the update on my itinerary for thsoe of you that are interested ;-)
3rd Feb - Fly into Melbourne
2nd April - Fly to Anguilla
7th May - Fly to Melbourne
10th May - Fly to Singapore
12th May - Fly to China - I will probably be on my knees with jet lag by this time
2nd June - Fly to Singaport
3rd June - Fly to South Africa
31st July - Fly back to the UK - this may change so don't start booking me in for things just yet ;-)
So all for now folks next update will be from Oz.
Take care, love to you all
Hx
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