Advertisement
Published: April 1st 2009
Edit Blog Post
Photo 1
Vespa chicks - Alex got us the tshirts to remember the moped days in Ko Chang Hello everyone
A few people have been onto me asking where my blogs are so I thought I would just do a quick one whilst I am waiting to go and get on the boat for my two days sailing round the Whitsunday Islands.
I am now in Airlie Beach, I just arrived yesterday ready for my trip. I am really enjoying Australia so far. It is so much more like home and I've got all my home comforts like English speaking people, Ribena, proper toast, tetley tea and loads more. Coming here from Asia has made it seem much easier and I'm a lot more confident now with moving around and and being away from home. The homesickness that I had for two weeks in Cambodia has passed and even though I can't wait to get back and see everyone I am having a good time and enjoying myself. The dormitorys that you stay in here took a bit of getting used to, I'm still getting used to them now. You share a room with around eight other people, I always stay in the female dorm but you can have mixed. You have bunk beds, which are quite
Photo 2
Goodbye Thailand - Hello Australia! hard to get used to. I keep ending up with the top bunk because everyone wants the bottom ones, funnily enough ten years ago I'd have been nearly fighting people for the top bunk but now I'm nearly pulling muscles in my arms and legs trying to get out of one in the morning! Everyone else is the same, except the 17 & 18 years olds that don't bother about it at all and can jump off a nine hour bus, grab a quick shower and go straight out for beers. Yesterday I did a nine hour bus ride and when I got to the hostel I put my bag down, lead on my bed and fell straight asleep in all my clothes until 6 o clock this morning, when I woke up I couldn't figure out how I'd managed to wake up before I went to sleep?! Then I realised it was morning! Ha ha!
When I first got to Australia my first stop was Sydney. I was supposed to be here for 3 days then fly up to Cairns but as I had to put my flight back with the food poisoning episode in Ko Chang I
Photo 3
Harbour Bridge couldn't change my internal flight so I had one day in Sydney and then flew straight up to Cairns. I didn't have much time there but I had a good walk round and went down to the Circular Quay and saw the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Wandering round Sydney at night with my ipod on was great. It is a beautiful city and I'm not really a city person. I wanted to go to Bondi beach whilst I was there but I didn't have time so I will go on the way back.
When I flew up to Cairns I got the bus up to Port Douglas. It was really lovley up there and I stayed for 3 days. The hostel I stayed in was brilliant and had a swimming pool in it. I was sharing an 8 bed dorm with another girl from Leeds, which you would have though would be great but she was really posh and a bit simple. We were just totally differerent people. She had hired a car and was travelling up to Cape Tribulation then down to Mission Beach and I asked her if she would fancy me sharing travelling costs
Photo 4
Opera House with her and getting a lift as far as Mission Beach as the buses are soooo expensive and she said no! I was so embarassed but I did find it really funny and I coudn't stop laughing about it. I can't believe I was rebuffed!! Ha ha It all worked out for the best becuase I would have missed out on Cairns then and I had a brilliant time in Cairns and met some great people so it's all good. I know it's really naughty but I can't help it - hope that she breaks down on the way now as revenge! ha ha :-)
Cairns was great. I met a really nice girl that I shared a dorm with called Michelle and two guys from Carlisle. We had a great time shopping and hanging round the lagoon. The lagoon is a big man made swimming pool in the middle of the city. They have this as there is no swimming on the beach at the moment as it is stinger season and if you want to go in the water you need to have a stinger suit on, which is like a full wetsuit. The jellyfish here don't
Photo 5
Very tempting. just sting you, they can make you really ill or even kill you so it's best to just stick to the lagoon. We spent our evenings having beers and going to the pictures. I've realised now that I can't watch films whilst I am away, they make me really homesick so I am banning them from now on! I can't believe I was a sobbing mess watching Confessions Of A Shopperholic?! How embarassing! We also found a really good place to eat called The Woolshed which did a full meal, glass of wine and a pudding for a fiver! The wine was awful but it didn't matter and a really good deal for a fiver. They usually had something on so we stayed there and then carried on for a few more beers. It was so funny the first night we went there as it was ladies night and they were advertising a "wet jock night" we were all laughing about it and then my roast lamb and gravy flew off my plate whilst I was eating it and landed in my lap and one of the guys Neil said that wet jock night had started already! Ha ha. We
Photo 6
Kane Toad racing had such a great time with the guys, they were both really funny and very camp and another night we ended up in a Coyote Ugly bar dancing place, Michelle only went to the loo and when she came back Alan was up on the bar dancing only wearing a pair of blue snakeskin underpants and her jaw just dropped and she was like "please tell me how the hell that happened!!!!" We had such a laugh with them and I think I am meeting back up with them in Brisbane if we are there at the same time. I didn't want to leave Cairns, it was the first place that I have got to that if I didn't have so much to come home to I probably could have got a job and stayed there for a while.
After Cairns I moved on to Mission Beach. It was ok, nothing amazing. I think I am a bit "beached out" as they all sort of look the same there days. The hostel Scottys Beach House where I stayed was ok but not as nice as the guesthouse in Cairns which was called Northern Greenhouse. The all female dorm was
Photo 7
Me & Fat Bastard - the kane toad called "The Nunnery" and the pool area was very nice. I moved from there yesterday on the Greyhound Bus. This is the way that I am moving around. It is a very good service and you just hop on and hop off all the way down the coast to Sydney. It costs 300aus$, which is around 150 pounds.
I've got a couple of trips booked, the first one is starting today which is two days and two nights sailing round the Whitsunday Islands, which includes Whitehaven Beach, the 3rd best beach in the whole world. I am sailing on a boat called Mandrake which has 15 passengers and only 2 crew. I will do a special blog on just this with pics when I get back. The other trip I have booked is a two day and one night camping guided tour around Fraiser Island, which I am looking forward to aswell. I've decided to treat myself to Steve Irwins zoo on the way down the coast and also I am going to try and catch a rodeo. So it's good times ahead. I am also really looking forward to getting to New Zealand to see Catherine and Adam,
Photo 8
Four Mile Beach I am dying to see Catherine and I am also dying to unpack my bag for a few weeks! I also can't wait to get back home to everyone aswell. Everyone I meet never wants to go home, but I am really looking forward to it, so thats good.
Right well I will go, I'm going to attach a few photos for you and I will do another blog after this trip.
Hope everyone is ok and I am missing you all!
xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.105s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0551s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mum
non-member comment
Rach goes down under.
Thanks for the blog. I didn't want it to end. Photo's are good and you look quite healthy and happy. Take care. Look forward to the next blog which should show us something of the Barrier Reef. The lagoon in Cairns looks a lovely place.