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Published: December 9th 2007
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Hey Everyone!
Well as usual we have been having such a great time that we haven't written a blog in ages so this may be a bit of a long one!!!
Well after Darwin we flew to Alice Springs. From here we did an amazing trip for 3 days to Uluru (Ayers Rock), bush camping in swags along the way. On day 1 we visited Kings Canyon - here we did a rim walk of the 100m high walls and had spectacular views of central Australia. On day 2 we visited Kata Tjuta (meaning "many heads") - which is a series of stunning rounded monoliths. We then settled down to watch the sunset over Uluru - it was truly an amazing sight to watch the colours change from orange to red to brown over the huge rock. The following morning we had a very early start to watch the sunrise, which was equally amazing! We then did the base walk of Uluru, choosing not to climb it as it is seen as disrespectful to the local Aboriginal people. The walk was really interesting - spotting many rock art sites on the way and an ancient cave which was once
used as a kitchen! It was then time to travel back, however, not before our crazy tour leader dug up some grubs from the ground and fried them on the BBQ! We sampled the bush tucker and it wasn't too bad! It just tasted like scrambled egg!
Once our trip was over we had a couple of days to explore Alice Springs - which was more than enough time since it's a pretty small place. We went to a joey rehabilitation centre - which housed baby kangeroos whose mothers had been killed in road accidents. The joeys were kept in small pillow cases to imitate the environment of their mother's pouches. We got to hold them and one fell asleep on my lap!
Next we flew to Cairns where we met a good friend from home, also called Adam! Here we spent a few days searching for a vehicle to take us down the east coast. We eventually found an old Toyota Camry which we purchased and affectionately named "Roy". We also got lots of camping gear thrown in which was handy, so we packed our bags and hit the road! It was a pretty tight squeeze as
there were the 3 of us, plus Jasper (our Dutch friend who we met in Vietnam) and Kirsten (who we met on the Uluru trip). On our first night we set up camp at Mission Beach - our camp was literally 20m from the sea so it was beautiful! On the next day we travelled through Paluma National Park, where we had some time relaxing and walking, before travelling further south to Airlie Beach.
From here we said goodbye to Kirsten and the remaining 4 of us decided to do a sailing trip around the Whitsundays for 2 nights. We set sail on the "British Defender" and headed off around the stunning archipelago within the Great Barrier Reef. We spent 2 idyllic days sunning outselves, snorkelling amongst the colourful coral and abundant marine life, and relaxing on the golden beaches of Whitsunday Island. It was a truly relaxing 2 days!
We then travelled to Agnes Water, where we did a spot of surfing and then Hervey Bay where we met our friend Beth from home - her 2nd holiday with us on our trip! Here we spent a few days relaxing on the beach and we also went
go-karting, just to mention (without being smug of course) that I beat one of the boys! The 5 of us then drove to Rainbow Beach where we had yet more beach time and also visited Carlo Sandblow - a stunning cliff top area covered in sand and offering panoramic views of the surrounding coast.
We then set off on a 3 day, self-drive tour of Fraser Island and had lots of fun! The 5 of us were grouped with 6 other people and given a 4x4 and everything else we would need to survive for a few days on the world's largest sand island. After a short ferry journey we arrived on the beautiful golden beaches of the island and set off driving along the sand. For the next few days we lounged around in the crystal clear waters of Lake Mackenzie and Lake Wabby, spotted dolphins and huge manta rays from Indian Head and explored The Maheno - a shipwreck, blown ashore by a cyclone in 1935. We were also surrounded by a few dingos one night at our camp, eager to steal our food! On our final day whilst driving back to the ferry, our so far
unproblematic driving turned on it's head..... We were doing about 100kph and we came across some huge concealed puddles, beneath which was sinking sand!!! So we slowed to a stop and got completely stuck. Fortunatley we were saved by a recovery truck that was just driving past. Luckily for us the Aussies love their beers and in return for a crate we were pulled out and safely made it back to the mainland!
We will blog again soon! Lots of Love,
Janice and Adam xxxxxx
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