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NOTE: PUBLISHED NEW PHOTOS!!!
We've been in Australia for just over 2 weeks now, and its flown by. After close to 2 months in Asia, getting here was a welcome relief. It's so easy to get caught up in the ozzie mentality, the laid-back lifestyle and the all round good vibe.
We're working from the top down- Cairns to Melbourne. We flew to Cairns from Singapore and met Jess (from China tour and who went to Luffa), but the weather wasn't too great in the 3 days we were there. Cairns is a purpose built tourist town, from what we could see, its population was pretty much about 80% British. There are plenty of activities out of Cairns, especially as it is so close to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree rainforest, but we decided to save our money until later on.
After a stop in the very 'local' Townsville, we went on to Airlie Beach, gateway to the beautiful Whitsunday Islands. A sailing trip was always a must, and we wanted to do a proper one, so we went on a Maxi racing boat, for a 2 days, 1 night trip on board 'Hammer'. The weather,
to start off, wasn't great, it was cold and grey. But the experience was amazing. After a brave attempt snorkelling in the freezing cold water (we saw the reef, but the water was very cloudy because of the rain-we'll see more in Fiji!!), we headed to the amazing Whitehaven Beach. Both of us decided it was the most beautiful place we have ever been. The sand is 99% silica, and is almost completely white. The viewpoint that we looked down on the beach from gave us breathtaking views. Look at the photos ... the place was amazing!
We got back to Airlie on Saturday afternoon, after some high-octane sailing, where the boat almost tipped completely on its side-its meant to to that though, to achieve high speeds in racing conditions.
On Sunday we took an overnight bus to Hervey Bay, gateway to Fraser Island, the world's biggest sand island. We didn't go there, its too hyped up and it seems there would only be travellers on there everywhere. But the main purpose of the visit was to see Dan, my friend from home, who now lives out there after his parents took over a Whale Watching tour company. It
was so nice to meet up with someone from home, and staying in the house gave us a welcome homely feel. We were cooked for, we used the Spa!! every night, drank beers and ate ice cream in it, it was luxury! We also went on a ride on their boat, and snorkelled off a sand island, again, drinking beers and soaking up the sun on a amazing boat. It was great!! On Wednesday, me, Claire and Dan went to Rainbow Beach, but en route we went to a place called Tin Can Bay where every morning dolphins come to be fed, and we fed them. It was really cool to see the dolphin so close up. Then we went on to Rainbow, and after a fantastic fry up, proper English Brekkie style, we went to a place called the Carlo Sandblow, up the top of a cliff. Rainbow is named because the colours of the sand are all different, and the Sandblow was just amazing. Its difficult to explain, but we its a huge desert-like crater, where the sand feels fantastic beneath your feet, and the views are spectacular. To understand how breathtaking the place was, check out the
photos!!
On Thursday we left Dan and Hervey Bay, which was sad, but it was on to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. We are staying in a place called 'Bunk Backpackers' which is supposed to be a 'flashpacker's' but isn't amazing. Our 8 bed dorm has an en suite shower where the water is freezing cold ( we have paid for hot) and no lock on the toilet door. Needlessto say, Claire especially was NOT happy. On Friday we went on a walking tour of the city which was recommended in Lonely Planet, which was really cool. We took in some of the sights, where old buildings blend with skyscrapers, took in the beautiful Botanic Gardens, then crossed the river on to the South Bank, where we watched some live orchestral music in a open air auditorium, ate ice cream, and sunbathed on a grassy bank. It was a really nice day, South Bank is a lovely place, which is so beautiful because of a world expo held there in 1988.
Later on we met Sophie, Beth and Georgia who had just arrived from Thailand, but they had stuff to organise, and were leaving the next day, so
we arranged instead to meet them in Byron Bay.
Today has been a good day too, we went to the Queensland Art Gallery this morning, had a fish and chips lunch on South Bank, and then went and saw the new Narnia film, which was really good!
Tomorrow we're off to Byron Bay, probably for 3 nights, before we head off to Melbourne and then back to Sydney.
We've uploaded loads of photos, take time to look through them, some of them are pretty good we think, we got a bit camera happy but some came out really well!
Anyway this costs quite a bit of money! So gotta dash, hope you're all well back home, and hope its sunny too!! Miss you all,
Rich and Claire xx
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