http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Carrie-Bibb-and-John-Whitten/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Carrie Bibb and John Whitten en-us Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:54:41 +0000 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:54:41 +0000 We arrived back in Melbourne to find that the weather had certainly changed since we lefthellipit was 7PM and the temperature was somewhere in the mid 30s. We had booked accommodation for the next 10 days in a St. Kilda flat which was really central just off the main street. It seems that the entire population of Melbourne descends on St. Kilda for hot Sunday afternoons so by the time we had f http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/Richmond/blog-455203.html We left the Blue Mountains for a long drive Southwards through some surprisingly green countryside. At Kiama we stopped to see the blow hole but we caught it on a calm day when it wasnrsquot doing much blowing but it was a jolly good hole We jumped out of the car to grab lunch in the small town of Milton where we were surprised that the weather outside was very hot and windy it felt like a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-455201.html We were up early on Wednesday morning to fetch Hilary and Rose aka Carolinersquos mum and auntie or lsquothe ladiesrsquo from the airport. The rest of the day was spent wandering around Sydneyrsquos sights the botanical gardens Mrs. Macquariersquos Chair great harbour views the Opera House The Rocks restored older streets and the Observatory Park. Having met up again for dinner http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-455199.html From Townsville it was a fairly short drive down to Airlie Beach so we arrived with plenty of time to pitch the tent and explore. We chose a central campsite a strange place which felt like it was a popular site with tourists back in the early seventies but had since been a bit neglected. Airlie itself was a lively strip of cafes and bars mixed in with travel agents and tourist shops and finishe http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Airlie-Beach/blog-447162.html We checked into our hostelcomeBB in Brisbane and spent the next couple of days exploring the first proper city of our trip. We enjoyed wandering along the Southbank with its artificial beach and flower covered arches over the path and also took in some culture museums galleries coffees and cakesOn Friday morning it was time to continue our journey this time heading towards Byron Bay via La http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-447164.html We left Airlie Beach with the hazy plan of spending a couple of days making our way to Hervey Bay. We took a detour to visit Eungella National Park which was stunning our flying visit didnrsquot do it justice at all. There were loads of waterfalls walks and creekswaterholes to swim in amongst the impressive wooded hills. We however had time for just one proper stop lunch and a walk in th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Fraser-Island/blog-447163.html lsquoHot and stuffy Townsvillersquo as it was noted in our guidebook lived up to its name probably not helped by local bush fires. We wasted no time stuffing our rucksacks full and jumping on a ferry to Magnetic Island. We spent the first two nights in The Base hostel with a rowdy bar and a large village of huts and teepees. We spent time on the beach and in the bar as well as investigating t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Magnetic-Island/blog-447161.html We arrived in Mission Beach and booked into The Sanctuary Retreat. A man in a 4 wheel drive came to pick us up fromt he carpack for the drive up through the rainforest to the hotel. Our room was amazing a green hut suspended in the rainforest which you could almost touch from bed. Having settled in we headed down to our own bit of beach along a footpath through the trees very beautiful althou http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Mission-Beach/blog-447160.html We left Cairns and headed north towards Port Douglas for a lunch stop and then on to the Daintree River as we travelled the trees became more lush and dense and though we had clear skies it was clear we were entering a rainforest. We went for a boat trip before boarding the ferry and had the whole boat to ourselves which was ace. Terry showed us four crocs as well as a blossom bat snake wonky http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cape-Tribulation/blog-443991.html Sunday 20.09.09We left Benalla with a plan to drive a couple of hundred kilometers before pitching the tent sorry everything will be in kms the car only counts in kms. Wersquove got an ace book which lists free and cheap places to camp so we chose one just off the route and found it without too much trouble. It was just a recreation field in a town called Yarong and the sign at the gate sa http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/Cairns-City/blog-440294.html Leaving Melbourne 18909 Benalla VctoriaWe left Melbourne on Friday the 18th of September with a tree planting trip to Benalla in Northern Victoria first on the itinerary. I finished work on Friday and so did John so the car packing was left until after work. As ever it took longer than wersquod planned and of course we had loads more stuff once we had to actually find a place for it http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/blog-440293.html After the trip to Alice Springs we had a couple of quiet weekends relaxing and getting kit for our YHA skiing trip at the end of July. We now have lots more stuff to pack sell but we'll worry about that in a few months time The highlight of this couple of weeks was probably heading to the local pub to see England's victory at Lords...very entertaining...though the landlord was threatening to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Australian-Alps/blog-422830.html Having waved off our second set of visitors it was only a couple of days before we flew out on a holiday ourselves. It was an early start on the Saturday for our flight to Alice Springs via Adelaide on the way as it saved us a few dollars. We arrived and the courtesy minibus dropped us at the very relaxed Alice Lodge hostel chilled out music hammocks blue skies...I could have stayed forever http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Alice-Springs/blog-416271.html CarolineWe had planned to do a bit more camping the weekend after Lorne but decided to give it a miss for a while until the days are a bit longer. As a result our weekend plans were not as well formulated as they have sometimes been so it was rather quiet. We spent Saturday morning at the fruit and veg market in Richmond then went on the hunt for curtain fabric for the car. We came back with http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-415609.html We took our newtous oldtotherestoftheworld car on a little trip for the bank holiday weekend. The Queen's birthday bank holiday reminded us suitably of bank holidays at home with grey skies and chilly afternoons but still we can't really complain seeing as it is nearly midwinter and camping was really pretty pleasant. We headed off from Richmond early on Saturday morning towards the G http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Great-Ocean-Road/blog-406798.html Hello againSorry for the long gap between updates a mixture of reasons...mainly our slow internet connection hence no photo updates just yet and a lack of things to update everybody on If you have been bothering to check at regular intervals it might be worth subscribing to the blog I think it then sends you an email if we add anything.The weekdays have mainly been filled with working Ca http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/blog-404489.html Caroline has been working hard and peddling to work each day and I've even done a few days work over the last couple of weeks. We've been spending some time working out the best ways to spend the cash first stop looks like a trip to Alice Springs and a tour of Uluru some other bits and bobs in the desert. Having decided that we would like to go skiing at some point probably the cross country http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-397400.html Hello again the last 10 days have been quite busy. First things first we bought very second hand bikes on gumtree mine's a lovely purple number while Caroline's is silver...peeling to a tasteful turquoise. A good bit of recycling though no pun intended I think these bikes have seen a lot of Australia most recently in the hands of helpful Henrik from Norway and a very nice girl called B http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/Richmond/blog-393628.html We've moved. We now live 7 minutes from the MCG on foot and about 5 minutes on the train from the city centre. We have been making the most of being jobless don't tell Uncle Jay and have been mostly reading in the park wandering around aimlessly well we're pretending to explore new places but more often it's aimless wandering and sitting on the beach. We had a bit of a heat wave earlier http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/Richmond/blog-390941.html With aching legs we headed to Australia another big plane. It was a smooth trip arriving at our hostel at lunchtimehellipin time for a bit of extra kip Melbourne has made a big impression already it seems fantastic and really easy to get around. Everyone here has been really friendly the hostel vibe is certainly entertaining we will miss it. The last few days have been spent trying to so http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/CBD/blog-390200.html