Oz! (a-stray-ya)

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Gudday everybody!! Sorry its taken me so long to update this leg of the trip, but I've just been having so much fun and the Internet is so bloody expensive out here!

When Han and I first booked our travels the only country we were really wanted to visit was Oz......... and here we are!! And so far it certainly isn't disappointing! We landed in Oz at 8am on our 26th Birthdays (thanks for all those b'day messages!) and the cabin crew got wind it was our Birthdays (ok, ok, we were kind of shouting it from the rooftops) and we got to go into the cockpit and meet the pilot and his co-pilot which was really cool (especially as the pilot was the hottest thing I had set my eyes on in the last 6 weeks- gotto love a man in uniform!). At 8am it was already 28 degrees, stiffling!! What we noticed on the decline into Cairns airport was just the beauty of the Queensland landscape. In our ignorance we just assumed Australia was just full of barron deserts and bush, but its actually got one of the largest and oldest rainforests in the world and its just so lush and beautiful!!!!

We are travelling on the 'Oz Experience' bus from Cairns to Sydney. Cairns is a city but a very small one; you could walk through the centre in about 20 mins, its very clean and the promenade has some really nice bars and cafes on it, and it also hosts the 'Woolshed' which is a notorious bar for backpackers; which we frequented a couple of times, one being for the 'wet jock competition' which was highly amusing!! We also won a ticket to go and see the Great Barrier Reef (just for being twins and it was our Birthday!) Which we did on the Friday; we set off in a catamarang for 2 hours to reach the outer barrier reef and we were so ill! It was the 6th boat we had been on so far on our travels, but it was such a bumpy ride, we got sea sick for the first time ever! the whole boat was dropping like flies, it was the walking wounded!!! We did some snorkelling, and the reef was amazing but to be honest once you've snorkelling one reef they do get pretty samey, but the highlight was definately seeing a black tip reef shark, which is quite a rarity apparently. The water didnt make me feel much better, and I was sick in one of the issued paper sick bags, which you then throw over board as human sick is quite a delicacy in the fish world URGHHHHHHHHH! Well at least I did my bit for the wildlife that day....

Going out for a couple of drinks in Cairns has introduced us to the mating ritual of the Aussie bloke. Its pretty primative. Basically if you let them buy you a drink (which; to be fair they do offer; a lot more than English boys thats for sure) That means they can latch onto you for the whole night, which isnt so bad as it means the night turn out very cheap for us!!! But they are so forward!!! There's no eye contact, dating games, wining dining etc, it's basically, "I like you, you like me, so lets find somewhere to f@#*". Ha ha ha they have so much to learn bless them!! You will also get chatted up when you are already sitting at a table speaking to men!! They will just come and squeeze on and start chatting you up over the top of the person next to you!! So funny!! We really are missing the culture/sophistication of the English, but hopefully that will change when we get to a more cosmopolitan city.

Our first experience of the Oz Experience was certainly memorable. Our first driver was a guy called Forrest and he was the funniest guy I think we have ever met. He serenaded me and Han with a twin song he made up on the spot! And was really knowledgable on the Queensland landscape...... there are 2 other bus companies that takes backpackers all around Oz, both a lot cheaper than Oz Experience, but you dont get any commentary, on board entertainment or cheap deals rates on entertainment/accomodation so we think we've definately chosen the best form of transport for our mammoth treck along the East coast of Australia. Forrest pulled up at a car park and kicked us all of the bus and made us go to a croc farm!! There were also lots of other wildlife there but the rule was you had to hold a baby croc and hold a python before you could feed the roo's and wallabys!!! But it was well worth it. Crocs are farmed in Oz for their meat and skin, this particular farm actually ships the skin to Louis Vuitton and Gucci! These crocs are ferocious, and so bloody enormous! Due to the extensive flooding in Queensland, quite a lot of the cros are actually being washed into residential areas and in Cape Tribulation just noth of Queensland, a 5 year old boy have been snatched by crocs and eaten......... not nice....... So I did hold a baby croc and put a contricting python round my neck!!!?? and earned the right to feed the roo's which was amazing, especially as one of them had a little Joey in her pouch!! Too cute!! (see the pics) Roo's are so resourceful; if they are pregnant and there is a drought, they can actually stop their pregnancy and re-start it again when the drought is over!! And they can have 4 different embryo/babies at any given time!

One of the differences between Aisa and Oz is just how young the travellers are- Han and I are definately on the top end of the scale age wise, the average age being early 20's, so I'm glad we didnt leave it any later than we did! Our second stop was Mission Beach which is a very small resort that a lot of Aussies go to for their hols, and it does have a bit of a hillbilly hick feeling about it ("I've got a Ute and its a bute and we'll get some brut.......") But the beach there was the most breathtaking beach we have seen on our travels so far. Its the beaches we wanted to see in Thailand and Malaysia but didnt. Where the rainforest comes right down to the sand, and the water is just the most vivid acquamarine colour, totally stunning, and in 3 km's we saw 3 other people!! The only rubbish thing in this part of Oz are the 'stingers' which are very dangerous box jellyfish (their sting, if wrapped round your torso can give you a heart attack, and also cause extensive scarring- they kill more people than crocs/spiders/sharks put together here). You CANNOT go swimming in the sea without a stinger suit on or in a netted area which is a pain, but in Cairns and Airlie Beach (where we are now) There are man made salt water lagoons which are lovely to go down to in the day and chilll out next to.

Our next stop after that was Magnetic Island, we stayed in a really cool hostel called Base, and it was a bit like being at a school camp!! we stayed in dorms for the 2nd time, which were ok, nothing special but a good way of meeting people. One of the bays on Magnetic (Gregory''s Bay) actually had to be closed due to a large croc sighting!! Crocs will cross the seas in flooded areas as the sea is diluted with fresh water which is their preference. Magnetic is one of the only places in Oz where you can see Koalas in the wild; Han and I went to a Koala sanctuary, and surprize surprize Rebekah had to once again hold a croc and a snake in order to cuddle a Koala, there is a very unfair running theme here!!!!! As it is the wet season, and we are surrounded by rainforest in Queensland, the weather has been a little changable; but its kind of like april showers type of weather so you're not couped inside for long. Oz really is quite expensive. Forrest said he would definately prefer to spend his money in the UK than Oz- its more groceries than anything; everythings probably twice the price to back home- there's no 'Asda Price' here!! But there are quite a few good deals on food and drink for backpackers.

Aussies are on the whole very friendly nice people, they do like bringing up our sporting rivalry but its all good fun, but some also like getting on the subject of the Aborigionals and like to point out just how horrifically the English treated them when we first arrived here. Most of the Abbo's we have seen hang round on street corners with a bottle of drink in their hand, but the Australian Government has and is putting loads of schemes in place to help them with transport, cars and housing, education- they apparently have more rights than the average white Australian, which when you think about it, cant be a bad thing for them after their treatment historically.

I'm sitting at this computer in an Internet cafe feeling decidedly perculiar, we have just got off a sailing yaucht after 3 days and 2 nights at sea and I still feel like I'm actually swaying! So i do apologise if my writing isnt at its witty entertaing best. Airlie Beach where we are now is the gateway to the Whitsundays; a group of 74 beautiful Islands off the Queensland coast, which boasts the more exclusive and expensive resorts in Oz. We even visited the beach where the Beatles penned the 'yellow submarine' song! There were 30 people including 3 crew on this boat, and you guessed it! Han and I were the joint oldest!! So for the past 2 nights we have been playing drinking games with lots of younguns and basically regressing quite a lot...... and losing our 'Goon Virginity' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_wine. The yaucht took us to a couple of really good snorkelling sights, where we swam with some giant turtles! and also to White Haven Beach, voted one of the top 10 beaches in the world. The sand is 99% pure and bright white, which never gets hot to walk on. The sand is also a great jewellery cleaner, but as the particles are so fine, you have to be so careful with cameras, ipods etc as they easy get inside and break them. The boat was so so cramped, our sleeping quarters consisted of one large bed (dubbed the orgy bed) which Han and I have to share with 4 other girls!! It was so so hot; that we slept on the deck on the first night under the stars which was amazing- I have never ever seen stars like it in my life, looked just like the milky way. And as there were NO showers on this boat you can imagine we are slightly smelly, and are in grave danger of our hair turning into dreadlocks, so off to the showers we go!!

Again I apologise profusely for my spelling, grammar etc but this isnt a university theses on the origins of the English language, its my travel blog so like it or lump it.

Much love as always, till next time xxxxxx

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Comments

[Julie Warner]

I blogged !!!!! Coolio !
Hi Rebekah, Loved the blog, your stories have made me giggle. Looks awesome and I am soooooo jealous! If you find any youngish, surfer type dudes that like the more mature ladyeeee (moi), bring em back in your back-pack ! Keep happy lucky lady ! Julie xxx