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Published: November 6th 2007
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way."
If it wasn't for the fact that Mr Dickens wrote that about 150 years before this blog I'd swear the old boy was on this trip up the coast with me as some kind of sidekick biographer-although what he would have made of 3 drunken Irish folk in a campervan I can barely imagine. For as I write this I am currently in Cairns, having sped up the coast from Sydney, some aspects were amazing, loved every minute, time of my life shouting from the rooftops kinda thing, but at the same time it was also a monumental nightmare and hard going, I shall get the moaning out of the way first and then move on to the better stuff if thats alright with you?
So I had worked my last day in Sydney, and after cartwheeling naked around the office and streets of Sydney I regained some composure and began to
The A-Team
Spot BA at the front in the white shorts...plan the trip. I had plotted and calculated a nice leisurely month or so route up to Cairns, which totalled about $750 (300 quid roughly)and included the Greyhound bus, accommodation in several hostels and package deals for Fraser Island, Whitsundays and a Scuba dive-a bargain! Then the Irish got involved! It was to be me, Claire, her boyfriend Hutton and her best freind Arlene. On arrival they suggested instead of the package I found we go in a rented campervan, which I was assured would be cheaper and a great laugh, we would save on places to stay, make food in the van etc and all would be rosy-The Waltons on wheels perhaps.. Being talked into this is thus far the biggest mistake of my travelling career to date and a definitie schoolboy error, it was more like The Munsters! Money wise it was a disaster, it ended up being $750 each for just 14 days, so already my entire coast budget was blown, then added on to that was the daily petrol and the fact that for 6 days we didn't even stay in the van as we were on Fraser Island etc so it sat parked up costing
The tank!
Hell on wheels us money. On top of that the trips to Fraser and Whitsundays cost $500 as they weren't part of a package, plus after a few days of the van the girls refused to stay in it any longer, and after a night in a hostel they also decided they didnt like them either, so would only stay in motels or hotels, which of course cost a fricking fortune. There was nobody to blame for all this really and perhaps I was just being cheap but before long I was feeling very much like Barings bank must have when Nick Leeson rang up to say 'umm I've had a bit of a balls up at the office today". The van itself was so expensive because they would only go if we got a big fancy one and did it in luxury, so we ended up with a 6 berth caravan for just 4 of us, which had 3 double beds, fridge, toilet, shower, microwave, tv and dvd-I think the technical term is being middle aged. Then my final complaints on it (nearly done!)were that we only had 14 days to rush up to Cairns and fit in everything, which of course
we couldn't possibly do, so ideas like the skydive and rafting went plummeting like my bank balance. Also, because we didn't stay in hostels we didn't meet any other people, and even when we did meet some amazing people like on Whitsundays Islands, when back on dry land we then had to leave them to continue speeding up the coast whilst they all stayed together and did the same places as a group. As a final kick in the groin, they only lasted 12 days and gave up before Cairns, flying back to the safety of the apartment early, so I had to drive the van on my own for the last 2 days to Cairns. Staying in a campervan in the middle of a caravan park in the middle of nowhere on my own is not something I am in a desperate hurry to repeat! Of course it wasn't all bad, we did have some great laughs and times, there was no fall out at the end and we all left on good terms and I will of course meet up with Claire once I get back to Sydney, so now lets move on to all the many great
highlights of the trip.
Genesis We flew to Brisbane and collected the tank like campervan, getting that through a roundabout was fun I can tell you. Initially we headed South, the idea being to get to Nimbin(hippy 70's throwback place) but as with all things on the trip even that didn't go to plan, although on the random scale it was way up there. As we headed there Hutton suddenly veered off the motorway and headed to some random suburb, nobody really noticed him doing this (I was reading) and before long we pulled up outside a strange house, well I say house it was more of a mansion! Turns out a friend of his dad's lived here and he was going to pop in for 5 minutes, what he failed to mention was that this guy was a self made millionaire and that he would be harder to get rid of than an STD. Paddy dragged us in and pretty much didnt let us out of his sight for 2 days, insiting on Irish hospitality, therefore making us drink non stop, feeding us to bursting point and letting us stay in the palatial waterfront surroundings, this really wasn't
Not a bad view either
His boat could sail straight into the sea from here a bad start at all-except for the fact that it left even less time to do the rest of the coast! The poor guy was even desperate to come with us and had a bag packed ready until we voted in Hutton to go and tell him the bad news and make up a lie. Eventually we did a kind of 'wow look at that in the sky!!' manouvere and when his back was turned ran for our lives and got back on the road. We passed through Surfers Paradise, spent a night or 2 in some non descript places along the way and eventually got to Hervey Bay.
Fraser Island Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, and is full of dune lakes, freshwater lakes, forests and a tonne of wildlife. The last time I went to Fraser Island a few years ago was a one day quickie scenic tour around it in a massive bus, with a tour guide pointing things out like 'this is a grasstree, so called because it looks like it has grass on" and alike, but I'm afraid for me it was one of the worst days of my life
Fraser Island: A dingo ate your baby!?
They came scavanging for food most nights as I was horrendously hungover and the bumping rocky nature of the drive left me using swear words that I didn't know existed-am sure the boys remember it well. This time around it was to be a 3 day, 2 night excursion, the basic idea being you get put into a group of 11, taken to the island, given a 4x4 jeep,a suggested itinerary, map of the island and away you go, no supervision, no real rules, see you in a few days time! Our days were spent taking it in turns to drive the jeep from place to place-pretty tricky on sand-then take in whatever sights we found, relax by some lakes, take up a bit of sunbathing etc etc-it was a tough life. We'd have to make our own food and ate well, plenty of BBQ's and steaks etc, and then at night we would set up camp in whatever spot we fancied, sat around drinking, singing and have a laugh, then sleeping in our tents. The next day you got up, packed up, and did it all again! On arrival there were 40 or so people, so we were split into 3 groups, ours was called Group
A, so of course we named ourselves the A-Team-yup genius! Our group of 11 was a great one, there was me and the 3 Irish, 3 Swedish girls (that was hard work on the eyes as I'm sure you can imagine) a Canadian guy called Ian, a Korean called Joo and finally a cool Scottish couple called Chris and Steph-to top it off Chris could play the guitar amazingly well and brought it, so every night we sat around and get drunk while singing songs under the moonlight-too good for words!! That aside, the highlights were also swimming in the lakes, letting yourself float down the creeks, walking through the rainforests, seeing the shipwreck, swimming in the champagne pools and sitting on Indian Heads (thats a place, I didn't just sit on a random tribal chief to annoy him). Got to see some great wildlife too, dingoes (skinny little dogs if you ask me) spiders, whales, dophins and stingrays(ahhh Steve). Sadly we did not see a single shark, despite being promised there were loads off the island, I was not impressed-it's a tourist trap and myth I tells ya! (Obviously I am now going to be eaten by one as
I have tempted fate but its a good way to go!) Overall I really enjoyed it and had a great time.
Whitsundays The Whitsunday Islands were even better than Fraser and was a brilliant time. 55 people on a boat, so many random people and nationalites and stories to hear, we spent our days cruising around the stunning scenery, shades of water like that on a postcard, gorgeous islands, turtles and fish swimming by, and all whilst you laze about on the boat drinking and sunbathing-hard to beat! We then got to snorkel in the clear waters and saw a load of beautifull fish and coral-but still no bleedin' sharks!! Each night we would then be taken back to a remote little island with a small resort where we would be fed (lovely food by the way), then happy hour and drinking games would begin and you would sit in the bar all night getting drunk before kicking out time around 2, down to the beach for a guitar led sing song and more fun-I miss it already just writing about it! There were too many people met and laughs had to name them all and everything but I
The view from Indian Heads
We saw dolphins, whales and stingrays from here think it was the best thing I have done in Australia and would do it again (money allowing!) in a heartbeat. As I said sadly we are too far ahead of most of the people we met so, and also some were heading down the coast instead of up but hopefully may still meet some of them along the way.
Great Barrier Reef And so eventually I made my way to Cairns, my favourite place around Aus last time I was here with the boys. It still maintains its drunken charm and I have made my way through the various pubs and clubs (the Woolshed still wins) and my tan is also coming along lovely! Cairns is good for something else though-the Great Barrier Reef-although I think that Great isn't the best adjective to describe it!(I offer no suggestions either though). This was my main reason for coming up the coast initially, whilst I have done it before there was no way I could leave Australia wthout doing it again, when do you ever get so close in a lifetime and it wasn't too expensive so I went for it. I'm glad I did too as it was a
Champagne pools
Tasted more of salt to me! completely different diving experience, we went to the outer reef which is meant to be the best one and it didn't dissapoint. The trip organised was also a good one and meant that we did 2 different dives in different locations which was another great facet but also a kind of downfall. The weather wasn't great that day and meant the water was really choppy, this wasn't a problem in the first dive and after the usual inital adjustment to being under the water and breathing through the mouthpiece and tank we had a brilliant dive, the guide taking us about 9 1/2 metres deep at one point. There was lots of colourful fish and coral and led to many ooh's and ahh's, or as many as you can muster through a mouthpiece! Its difficult to write about this properly as I don't think words really do it justice, its just everything you might imagine it to be and more, another world, serene and simply stunning, its just such an experience.
The second dive was in another location further out which was billed to be the best dive of the two and more to see etc. Sadly the weather
played its part, it was a little cloudy but very windy and the water was as choppy as a Bruce Lee movie (come on thats a great pun!). This meant not only the boat rocking like a drunken sailor but that the dive was semi dangerous too. On first getting in the water the power of the ocean was felt immediately and adjusting to it was difficult, the guide told us that hopefully a metre or two down would be calmer-he was ever so slightly wrong!! The underwater currents were unreal and massively powerful making swimming difficult, I was diving with an Irish couple and an instructor and it was such hard going that after 5 minutes or so the girl (I shall make no sexist comment..)couldn't handle it, panicked a little and had to be brought back up. This was a little annoying as we then had to go back to the boat and drop her off, then go back out to our original spot, by which time half of our dive had passed and we hand't got very far at all. I understand her problems though, her partner was a 6 foot plus mountain of a man from
the Irish Guardia and he and I both struggled throughout, my legs were sore as hell the next day from the kicking required. It was thrilling though, battling against the current and if you stopped for a moment to take a breather the current would push you back and drag you quite off course, it was knackering but enthralling too. I think I may have killed some of the reef mind when being thrown against it on occasion so if it dies out soon you know why! The limited time and also the fact that the strong waves resulted in less fish around to see meant that the second dive wasn't quite as good as the first but was still amazing to do. Over the two dives I saw plenty of fish in the sea (sorry ladies, no decent men down there), turtles, stingrays (Steve must be fuming, they are as scary as Flipper), and all the superb coral and reef imaginable-it gets better every time.
The Aftermath So now I am treating myself to a kind of holiday from the holiday, have decided due to the lack of money that I am having to cut out the flight
Western hospitality
Joo had never really got drunk before, he was wrecked by this end of this night to Darwin then slow trail down the west coast to Perth. Instead I am going to waste a week or so here in Cairns soaking up the roastingly hot sun, enjoying the abundance of nightlife and just relax. I have fallen in with a great group of people from my hostel (incidentally its the best hostel I've ever stayed in around the world-Gilligans-future travellers go there) so am quite happy to stay here a while and enjoy myself. After that I intend to fly to Perth and waste a week or two there doing as much touristy stuff as I can afford, meet up with an old Barry boy Dave-which I imagine will involve alcohol and seeing Perth in all its hazy drunken glory, before returning to Sydney. This means the trip has been cut dramatically short, and I am having to miss out quite a bit of stuff which is saddening me, but it needs to be done now after this financial disaster, and as much as it pains me to head back to Sydney by mid November and have to work another 2 months to get cash I realise it is for for a greater good-i.e. getting me
Whitsundays sailing
Picture dosen't even do justice to the colour of this water around the rest of the world-so it shall be done, besides a year of living in Australia isn't the worst thing in the world now is it!
Some other news just before I depart, congratulations to my friends Jonathan Holmes and Louise Thyer (see Lou I do know your name!) who had a beautifull baby girl-ellie louise holmes at 2:26am-17/10/07, 7lb 2oz-I think thats heavier than me already?! Both mum and baby are fine and doing well so thats great news, congrats again! Also my brother and nan had birthdays so happy birthday to them, as did my flatmate Sean before I left which of course led to a drunken night out, great times. Other than that I am done here my blogettes-well done if you made it this far!!
Take care all
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Sarah-Jane
non-member comment
Nice set of wheels...
Some stunning views there, not least you in a stinger suit, blue really brings out the colour of your eyes!! Glad you weren't snatched by a dingo either. Very impressive van too! xx