Oz (two and a half months in)

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Has been ages since I wrote and too much has happened but will try and keep it as short as possible.

After being back in Perth for a week after our travels up the West Coast (Exmouth & back) staying in the Ozi Inn and working at Sexpo, we headed off on a 9 day trip across the Nullarbor to Adelaide.

Not being much of a trip/tour person was a bit worried about how I would find the Nullarbor Traveler trip but on the whole it was good! We got to see some amazing places (Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park & The Koala reserve as Mikara being two of the most memorable ones for me). Due to bus problems, lack of sunlight being winter and the 9 day deadline to get in to Adelaide everything felt a bit rushed and you didn't get chance to explore or relax in a place as much as you would have liked to but was better than flying and missing it out altogeather.

You don't really cross much of the Nullarbor, 70Ks I think it is and to be totally honest was asleep on the bus for more than half of them. Sadly the underwear tree, shoe tree, teddy bear tree that we had heard about did not exist or according to our guide had been removed which was a bit of shame as would have been ace to see them.

Speaking of our tour guide he was a bit of a character, quite hard to describe but very strict on the schedule and knew a lot about where we were going which he shared with us all over the microphone on the bus. But there was something quite unique about him which on reflection made our journey all the more memorable but a the time could be quite annoying.

There was only three of us on the tour and we had a right laugh amongst ourselves and all in agreement that we could have spent more time at some of the places even if it meant missing others out, but I guess you don't get that luxury on a tour and all of the places we visited were special in their own kind of way.

The highlights of the tour for me were:

Our first night can not remember the name of the place we stayed at but the lady who owned it was lovely and had a baby kangaroo staying with her that was found in the pouch of her mother on the side of the road who had been hit by a car and killed. She was rehabilitating her for the wild and we all got to hand feed her milk which was special.

Cape Le Grand National Park - Lucky Bay
This has to be one of the most picturesque places I have ever been too, the sand was pure white and the ocean was crystal clear. Kangaroos chilled on the beach and all around you was just pure natural beauty. Could have spent a life time there and met some people who do and was instantly envious of them. Sadly we got no time to really enjoy it but would make a trip back to there if I could.

Mikara Station (Spelling?)
Home of the Koala sanctuary, being able to see Koala chillin' in the wild was wicked. They are the most laid back species spending all day blissed out with no worries other than eating and sleeping. Although at night they snore and the sound they make is indescribable, like a bear roar during a fight, mixed with some aggressive mating noise of some unknown animal.
We decided to take a night wildlife walk when we first heard the noise and we both looked at each other saying what the hell was that?? Then when the battery died on our touch and out attempts to light a stick for a torch failed (in our Ray Meres survival attempt) we headed back to the tent (which was about 25m away) unsuccessful in our night walk and laughing at our survival attempts - we are proper city kids!

Old Eyre Highway/Koonalda Homestead
This place was mental, it looked like it had been abandoned 100 years ago but the Gurney Family who lived there only left in the 80's.

This used to be the roadhouse for the old Eyre highway replaced by the new highway for easier access between Perth and Adelaide. There was a car graveyard full of old school cards rusted by the sun and ripped apart for anything of value in them. The old petrol pump was still in place, so too were all the outhouses surrounding the homestead although the years had not been kind and some of them were in a desperate state of repair.

Some of them had already had some work done to them as the National Park has now taken them over and is reserving them as a piece of history.

We were lucky enough to visit when the Gurney family were having a reunion so got to meet the people that used to once live there which geeky as it may sound was pretty awesome.

We spent the night in swags round the campfire just outside of the what once was the old shearing shed, the sheep dip and animal barn was still recognisable.

Was ace to sleep under the stars and was my first experience in a swag - but am sure there will be more.

Ceduna Aboriginal Art Workshop
We got to see one of the artist at work and even saw the start of a large aboriginal artwork being created for the family grieving room at the local hospital. We even got to meet the artist, "Beaver".

Surfing with Spike
We actually managed to stand up for all of about 3 seconds but had the most amazing 2 hours trying and when we finally managed to stand on the board totally forgot what to do next before falling in to the ocean well chuffed with ourselves.
Spike the surf teacher lives in a house he built on the edge of the cliff overlooking the bay, he gets to see when the surf is good and enjoys the best waves on offer. Whens hes not surfing he is teaching surfing or marine biology tours fitted in amongst his daily job as a builder. He had the best life and was so comfortable with everything because of it!

After 9 days, about 3 showers in total, many camp fires and 8 days of up at 6am out at 7am, it was nice to pull in to Adelaide and be met by James family, Roger & Rose (who he had never met). They took us to Roses house and let us stay with them for two weeks. After a few hours of listening and laughing and being treated to curry, we went to bed in a huge king sized bed full of pillows and soft sheets - the total opposite to our 9 day camping trip, feeling like we had met up with old friends.

We had the best time in Adelaide, catching up with James family some of which James knew nothing about. We were lucky enough to be there over both Abby birthday and Roses 60th and were able to celebrate with them.

Rose let us borrow the ute and we made our way up to Victor Harbour one day to see if we could spot any whales but no luck! Driving the ute was fantastic and felt like i was a proper plastic ozzi. Even getting a ticket for parking against the traffic on a street - you can't do that down under!!!

Wont say too much about the Australian family as James will want to tell this part of the story but they all welcomed us and it was fantastic getting to know each and everyone of them.

As we had just started to get to know Roger, Rose, John and their families it was really sad to leave but time is against us. We all had a teary goodbye at the bus station!

We got the overnight but to Melbourne and stayed with Peter & Rhonda (friends of James family) who kindly put us up for a week and showed us round Melbourne taking us to Mount Dandenong, Port Phillip Bay, Ramsey Street - which was mental!, Brighton Beach to see the bathing boxes and a beautiful sunrise with Melbourne city in the distance (to name a few). As well as entertaining us for the week and letting us relax in their beautiful home.

We did give then a days break from us when we went to visit Andrea in Melbourne and had a brilliant time exploring the bars of Melbourne and Northkurt (just outside of Melbourne City Center). Andrea took us on the roof top at cookies where we had a few drinks whilst looking out over the Melbourne skyline, for a brandy and cigar near Parliament House, and to a few other little bars each with their own charm.

Back at Andreas we were able to see most of Melbourne from her penthouse which was mental!

The next day we went for some food at Little Creatures on Brunswick Street and a wander round the street before having a quick drink and heading home. Thanks Andrea for such a fab time!

It was sad to leave Melbourne but we have to make up some distance to get to Cairns for our flight to Singapore. Peter & Rhonda kindly took us to the station and we caught the over night Firefly bus to Sydney.

We got in to Sydney about 6am and with no where to stay we decided to get ourselves a drink at a near by coffee shop and on Hostel World to find somewhere. Managed to find one on Pitt Street just down the road from where we were and headed there to dump our bags and head out to explore Sydney in our pit stop stay at the big city.

Managed to do quite a lot in the day (Sydney not that big really) got to see some of the sights of Sydney including the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, St Marys Cathedral and the Botanical Gardens, felt a bit like a sheep tourist for the first time in Australia and was a bit disappointed with the Opera house it being the iconic image of Sydney an all but we needed to see it from the other side. Was well shattered when we started to head back and pretty much could have passed out when we got in the room.

BUT we went out for some food and a drink and came back about 2 -3 hours later ready for bed.

In the morning we managed to store our bags for free in the luggage room (bonus - should have been $16 each) and went to explore Paddington where Billy was made! Got loads of photos for him and a bit of history from the library and headed back to get our bags and make our way to stay the night with Linda (from the Nullarbor trip) in Northrocks just outside of Sydney.

Was brill to catch up with Linda had a good old natter over a few drinks and some food, got to meet her son and brother her three dogs and a cat and had a good laugh with them all.

In the morning we headed to Manley Beach to meet Linda's other son and had a bit of a drive around Manley before Linda took us to Centurion (spelling??) Point to see the Opera House from the other side of the water. This was the image we were looking for and after a few quick snaps we headed back to Linda's to collect our bags and she was a star and drove us to James cousin Tilly's on the Central Coast.

We arrived just after 6.30pm, Linda stayed for tea and had a few drinks so stayed the night. We got to finally meet Tilly who we had been told about by both Roger, Rose & John and Peter & Rhonda and who James had briefly spoke to over the phone.

In the morning while Tilly went to Church, we went to Avoca Beach nearby and had a look round the beach and the local market. Heading back for 11 to meet Tilly's daughter Penny.

We said goodbye (and thanks) to Linda and headed inside to catch up with Tilly and Penny.

Again James will fill you in on the family stuff so wont say much, but have met a few members of Tilly's family and they have all be lovely. A shame we wont get to meet Judy but got to speak to her on the phone.

Spent the day in Terregal the second day met Tilly's bowling mates and had a look around, went back to Terregal the next day and got a long awaited swim in the ocean which was brill, got chance to try out our under water camera as well!!

Got to meet Tilly's bridge mates and had dinner with them before borrowing Tilly's car and having a bit more of a look at Terregal on our own.

Went up to Cococabana Beach and Captain Cooks lookout yesterday before heading in to Sydney to meet Tilly's son Christopher, his wife Kim and their youngest daughter Annabelle. Had some tea at the local pub got back played scrabble and had our cards read by Tilly.

Are heading to Newcastle tomorrow to catch a bus to Surfers Paradise, gonna have to miss out Byron Bay which is a bit gutting but we can't do it all as we are constantly finding out.

The big trip up to Cairns starts, hopefully will get chance to visit Brisbane and maybe get caught up in the origin rugby madness hire scooters at 1770, spend a few days in the Whitsundays relaxing, rainforrest walking and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, hopefully visit Port Douglas and Cairns before catching our flight to Singapore on the 19th.

Can't believe our time in Oz is nearly up, does not feel like we have been away almost 3 months but at the same time seems like ages ago we were traveling up the West Coast in Dirty Sanchez.

Oz is so expensive it will be good for the purse (hopefully) when we leave, has been ace getting to see Oz and meet James family. Although is a lot more expensive than we though and would need a lot more time and loads more money to do everything you wanna do. Being here on a holiday would probably be better as you would have a set amount of time and money and could do everything you wanted to (especially as you would prob be in the same area for the full holiday - unless you did something like we did on the west coast). Has been quite frustrating limiting ourselves to what we can afford to do and spending a lot of money (more than we thought) doing fifth best option!

Hopefully we'll be back again one day and can do it with a bit more cash.

Still two weeks left on the East Coast which we're really looking forward to, after staying with James family will be weird to be back on the backpacker route (although not sure we've really got on it yet.)

Will try and add some photos later, but if not you can see them all on facebook innit!

East Coast here we come!!!!!!

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