caseybond

So here we are, three weeks in and I've finally got around to starting my blog. Actually, maybe not, Ben's just finished dinner so I'll have to come back to start writing! Back from dinner, so here we go. I left Cowling on the 17th March for the long journey down to Gatwick Airport. Mum and Dad dropped me off at Burnley and I continued on to Gatwick via Manchester and London. I thought it'd be nice to have one night in the Premier Inn to relax before the mammoth journey out to Oz. Had just enough time to hand in the remainder of my VA uniform and ID at work and still had time for a nice meal and catch up with my old school friend Ed who came down from London for the night. ... read more

After getting back to Auckland and checking back into Base Hostel, I had about 15 minutes spare to have a shower and change before meeting up with Ed and family. We went for a lovely meal and a few beers before they headed back over to Devenport where they were staying in a B&B. The next morning was an early start, I was on the ferry with Maccy Ds in hand at 08:45! With Ed in the driving seat we all met up in Devenport and set off heading north, destination Bay of Islands. The drive took a few hours and it was lovely to have a change of pace. We were stopping for Coffees and Cake in nice cafes and sightseeing stops wherever we wanted. I think that the last week ended up being more ... read more

The further south we headed the nicer the weather was, which was good as we were fast approaching our final stop before leaving Australia, in Noosa. Noosa is a lovely small town in the middle of the sunshine coast. We arrived off the bus as usual with nowhere to stay and tried to get beds in the YHA which the Lonely Planet guide described as amazing. They had three beds left but at a cost of $34.00 each. We ummed and ahhed and told her we'd call back. 5 minutes later we called back and the beds were gone. Oops! So none of us could really be bothered to make a decision so I pottered around on the Internet and the guys read their books and after about two hours of sitting in the bus shelter ... read more

Back on the bus about 30 minutes after the skydive finished and we were on our way to Airlie Beach ready for our sailing adventure. AT 7pm the next day we boarded Anaconda III, a giant mega-yacht, to sail around the Whitsunday islands. It was lashing rain within an hour of departure and the crossing to our anchor point for the evening was an experience in itself. I loved the massive rocking from side to side, but Blair, Siobhan and Hatty, our room-mate for the trip, were all feeling worse for wear. Siobhan and Blair each went to have a look at nature from the back of the boat - that's what they say when you spew up off the side! In some ways it was disappointing to not see a lot of the scenery at ... read more

It still amazes me how many contrasting types of scenery there are in Australia. Getting off the plane in Cairns, well in the tropics, it felt weird to even be in the same country. Everything is so green and lush and there are big hills everywhere. The humidity is almost unbearable and you sweat even when you're not doing anything, although that's only at this time of year which is the wet season, where the temperature is at its highest and so's the rainfall. Cairns itself wasn't all that interesting. There are a few nice places to see, but mainly it seemed to be a traveller town with a lot of cheap and cheerful bars full of drunken backpackers. I'd had enough of drinking after Sydney, so as soon as I arrived I booked myself transport ... read more