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Published: December 3rd 2010
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G'day guys,
How you all going?
Just before we left South East Asia,we received sad news from Mam and Dad about Cassy our beloved German Shepard who had to be put to sleep. Old age got the better of her. A grand old age of 11 years. Our great concilation is that she spent the last 12 weeks with Mam and Dad in the life of luxury being totally spoilt 24/7. So why do the tears keep trickling down my cheeks when we should be happy she had an action packed 11 years? Because she was part of the family and it hurts like hell.
Poor Steve has had to put up with Niagra Falls early!!
Where to start? Our last day in South East Asia was spent in the Kuala Lumper tower having an amazing lunch with a jaw dropping view of the City. As we ate the floor rotated so you got a view of the whole of KL. Thankfully it rotated a bit smoother than The Tuxedo Princess.
Time for Oz, excited yet sad to be leaving S.E.A. I know for a fact we would go back in the future
great place, friendly people, delicious food and cheap beer. What more could you ask for.... HEAVEN for us!
KL - Coolengatta, Queensland 8 hour flight, after all the rickety buses we have been on, this flight was taken with ease ( With a female pilot, no less )
We booked into a hostel for the first 2 nights, 5 mins from the airport. The receptionist's greeting was pretty damn miserable, the room resembled a prison cell, the weather overcast and raining!
First impression of Australia and its natives, not what we had imagined at all and left us pining for South East Asia where everyone is so lovely, smiley and happy. What we have learnt on this trip so far is that a large percentage of what makes or breaks a place is the people.
Surfers Paradise
A really cool place but our timing sucked. There year 12's had just graduated so they have a Schoolie's week!! Bloody Kids!!
Brisbane
Another hostel for a couple of nights. Thankfully the guys there a lot nicer and the room respectable. Although the shocking price difference is killing us. We feel robbed. Brisbane is a
beautiful city, great shopping and extremly clean. In saying that we prefer and feel at home out of the city on the beach or in the countryside.
Little Miss Sunsine (Yellow Peril is Paddys name for her)
Our pride and joy. A Toyota Hi-ace, tempramental! We had a few teething problems to begin with but I think we are winning now. She is grouchy in the mornings, a bit like me Paddy says! He talks sweeter to the van than he does to me.
Hervey Bay
This is a lovely town, great beaches and beautiful safe beaches for swimming and a great surf. This is the first time in Oz where it is beginning to meet our expectations.
Bundaberg ( sounds German to me, has Paddy taken a wrong turn again? )
We spend a great night here and visit Mon Repo. Mon Repos supports the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland. This is the most significant loggerhead turtle nesting population in the South Pacific Ocean region. Successful breeding here is critical for the survival of this endangered species. I can't believe how lucky we
were here. We got escorted to the beach with the ranger and saw a huge track up the beach and there she was, a Loggerhead turtle ( 1 metre in length ) She spent ages digging her nest of a depth of about 3 ft and then she lay 160 eggs. Unfortunatley the nest was not high enough up the beach so had to be relocated by the ranger and us. We got to hold the eggs and transfer them into a safer nest. I was terrified in case I tripped and dropped them! I wish we were here long enough to see the hatchlings in 8 weeks time. The sad thing is only about 1 in every 1000 survive. We feel priviledged to have helped ( however small ) this endangered species.
Agnes water
Up there with Hervey Bay. Great place and our camp site over looked the beach. Very quiet though. We went to the shops at about 8pm and everything was closed. They did have a pub but we didn't stumble upon it. Because it's so quiet and small town, at night there are hardly any lights, and the sky was amazing, we saw the
Koala
Our first Koala, so cute! clearest sky with the brightest stars it was spectacular! The surf was amazing for us but we couldn't get hold of a hire board on the first day, and then the second day the weather changed to wind and rain ggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!
Yappoon
That is us up to date.
We are sitting in the camper by the beach. The weather is nightmare with loads of rain, not as bad as home so not complaining really! We hear it is the worst the Ozzie's have had in 60 years so our timing is impeccable. Little Miss Sunshine is struggling to keep the rain out. Paddy jumped out of his skin last night when huge drips of water landed in the face haha!!
Night 2 - A tarpaulin over the roof with ropes and pegs. We really look like The Clampets now and for Miss Sunsine she looks like she has a shower cap on. I hope we are still here in the morning and we havn't taken off like Mary Poppins.
The Wildlife
We have seen Koalas, Wallabies, a sea snake, a kangaroo and lots more. That reminds me on the first day of Oz
Mon Repo
Transferring the turtle eggs we picked up the hire car to explore and literally had only been in it for 10 mins and Paddy gets a bite on the neck from a big fat ant. He says the sting was like that of a wasp but knowing that most things can kill you over here went straight to the the pharmacy to get it checked out. He survived.
Another funny going to wash the dishes at the camp site the other night. Paddy with an armful of dishes and a leaf landed on his arm but then preceded to walk up his arm and then flew off into the night.
Toilet habit - Check under the seat every time for killer spiders and scan all areas!!
Thats all the gossip for now
Take Care guys
Kaz and Paddy
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Martyn Mallinson
non-member comment
Oz
Hope the weather gets better for you, Im sure it will !If you get the chance, get me one of those Koala thingies, it'll make a great pet.................... or pyjama case.