sophiasophia

So, it’s been a while since my last post… sorry about that. Magnetic Island was absolutely stunning; the weather was perfect and I made a bunch of new friends to hang out with. The first night, we had a pub quiz and we came a very respectable 5th (out of 20 or so). We agreed to rent a couple of cars the following day and explore the island. The next day, not quite as bright and early as we would have liked, we got into these two small cars, which were “topless” i.e. no roofs. It was a fantastic day, whizzing around the island and stopping to see various things. We went on a walk and saw a wild koala. Koalas sleep for something like 22 hours a day, not a bad life hey? We also ... read more

So, I know it's been AGES since my last post, and I apologise for that... Nothing really happened, you see, and I don't want to waste your time on filling an entry with variations of nothing. I guess in the grand scheme of the universe, stuff did happen. Let's see... I was in 1770 when I last posted. Three girls who I befriended back in Noosa on the canoe trip turned up a few days in, which was nice. I knew it was happening though - we've looked at each others' itineraries. They are now in Airlie Beach with me for a day, which is also very nice. Anyway, on my last day in 1770 I did this tour called "Scooteroo". I heard rave reviews about it throughout my travels - I had even heard about ... read more

So yesterday I went to Lady Musgrave Island on a day cruise. It’s an island made entirely of dead bits of coral, which then had seeds plant themselves on it. There is soil in the middle of the island but it’s made of dead birds, dead leaves and dead trees. How lovely. It’s the lowest point on the Great Barrier Reef, and given that my whole Australia trip has been mainly to see the reef, you can imagine my excitement yesterday morning (even though it was a VERY early start, and I’m not a morning person…) A bus picked me up from the hostel, bright and early and the sun was shining. I didn’t want to jinx it by saying to ANYONE that it was going to be a lovely day. You’ve got to understand that ... read more

Fraser Island… Fraser Island… Fraser Island… This will probably be quite a long post, so I would advise that you make a cup of tea and then sit down to enjoy it. I’m adding this when I’m halfway through: it’s a REALLY long post First, a little bit of what I’ve learnt about Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island, and although it is made of sand, it has rainforest growing all over it - which is strictly speaking scientifically impossible. It’s a world heritage site, due to it’s cultural (Aboriginal) and natural significance, so although there are a handful of hotels/hostels/resorts on the island, it’s very much an eco-friendly holiday. Which generally, in my experience, translates into poor hygiene!!! Just a random fact: on the island there are trees growing called Satinay ... read more

So on Easter Monday I left Brisbane and headed to Noosa. I got there, waited in the boiling sun for an hour and a half for a backpacker bus to take us (I had met three guys on the bus - who I had known before between Sydney and Byron Bay - who were doing the same thing as me) to the bush camp. We stopped off on the way for a supermarket shop. I did a silly thing (in retrospect) and asked to share food with the boys for three days. We had pasta with the simplest of sauces for dinner every day, apart from the first where we just had meat. The breakfasts were baked beans on toast and for lunch they ate muffins - I did buy some cans of tuna though, for ... read more

So, I'm still in Byron Bay. I'm getting a bit sick of it now, I just want to keep on moving up the East Coast!! On my birthday I ordered a waterproof case for my camera and it took an entire week to arrive. It was originally due to arrive on Tuesday, but eventually arrived on Thursday. I had to keep on adding nights and postponing my bus. I leave this evening though, to go to Brisbane (I'm missing out Surfer's Paradise, which seems to be a concrete Magaluf). There was a mini panick attack when I thought I would have to wait until Monday to leave Byron, because there's a music festival on here and if you want accommodation you have to book Friday, Saturday AND Sunday night or they won't take you. And the ... read more

Well, my birthday was great. I spent the day alternating between beach and sea. The sea is beautiful here, so SO clear. I saw fish swimming around as I was wading in through the waves. Completely surreal. The evening was good too, the pavlova went well (there are still leftovers though!!) and I had a great time at the bar across the road (Cheeky Monkeys, for anyone who knows Byron Bay). No, I'm not going to go into more detail than that. Yesterday was similar to my birthday. Sun, sand and sea. Today I went snorkelling by an island that lies at the mouth of the bay. It was AMAZING. I swallowed half of the sea because I was so overexcited by all the fish. Don't even get me started on what happened when I saw ... read more

So I spent a few days staying with family friends in Sydney. Not only Sydney, but Mosman which is a really, really nice part of Sydney. Reminds you of paradise. I had a really good time. A room to myself (no one snoring/farting/drunk/sleeptalking), a place to do my laundry, free internet, swimming pool in the garden and company of people i already knew. They treated me like one of the family, which is always nice. While I was staying with them I went to Taronga Zoo one of the days - a very nice zoo. It had a baby elephant in it too. They also organised a trip to Palm Beach, where we had a bbq lunch and a swim. I spent my last day in Sydney, in a hostel. The bus left central Sydney at ... read more

Well, that's it. I've done my loop of New Zealand, and finished off in my *favourite* city Auckland. I catch a flight to Sydney this evening. The happiest moment of my day so far was when I realised that a Swiss-French friend of mine (called Karim) will be on the same flight as me. We probably won't be sitting together, but it's always nice to have someone to keep you company while you wait for the plane. I've had an absolutely fantastic time in New Zealand. For people who are thinking about going, do it. For people who aren't specifically thinking about going but are looking for a great adventure and a fantastic time, go to New Zealand. Take every opportunity you get. The scenery is stunning (although, do the North Island first and the South ... read more

I went for a "dolphin encounter" with a guy from the bus. I did encounter many, many dolphins (thank god - it was very expensive). We arrived at the centre and were kitted up in full length wetsuits (with little hoods for your head) along with flippers and snorkels. We then sat in afore-mentioned wetsuits for about an hour total (before finally getting in the water). There was a safety briefing (my favourite advice was: don't try and breathe underwater). Then we were driven to the right harbour (not the obvious one in front of us, of course). Then there was a 20 minute trip to get to the pod of dolphins (where they had last seen them). There were about five HUNDRED dolphins. Literally, everywhere you looked there were dolphins. They are dusky dolphins, and ... read more