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Published: March 1st 2006
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WOW...that's all i can really say...what a month! It's all gone so quickly! I can't actually believe that my time in Oz is coming to an end! We've managed to jam-pack so much into the past 4 weeks, it's crazy!! Unfortunately, i won't be able to tell you everything that i've been up to, but i'll try and pick some of the best bits...the rest will have to wait until i get home and can tell you all in person!!
After Sydney, i had a quick stop over in Coffs Harbour for one night. It was a really nice place to stay, and would definitely be a good place to relax. It has a lovely little beach to chill on, and some beautiful botanical gardens to admire, but other than that there's not too much happening - one night was plenty for me, plus i had the girls to meet in Byron Bay..yay! It was nice to have another little "breather" though, before the East Coast monster journey begins!
I found Byron a FANTASTIC place to visit. The whole atmosphere just seems to sum up my idea of "Australia" - gorgeous beach, brilliant little shops, lots of surfers, and
a general party-summer time vibe! Us girls had plenty of fun - especially dancing on the tables in Cheeky Moneys bar - though we did also have a good look around the area = doing a walk to the Lighthouse which took about 2 hours in the sweltering heat!!
We then briefly stopped over in Surfers Paradise, just to check it out...turned out to be one of our LEAST favourite places!! I didn't like the fact that the built-up ugly-ass buildings were SO CLOSE to the beach, you literally couldn't escape the city 😞 It felt like a really tacky Las Vegas by the sea!! It didn't help that our Hostel was a DISGRACE, that i was falling ill, and that it RAINED whilst we were there, but still, it didn't make the right first impression - we couldn't wait to leave the next day!!
Brisbane, our next port of call, was also slightly tainted by the fact that i got really quite ill - had to go to the doctors for antibiotics and everything - i had Phlarengitis (acute throat infection) 😞 We didn't really get to see much of the city because of this - i
basically had to spend my time resting. Luckily we were staying with friends of Gemma's family, so we were in a PROPER HOUSE and i was being looked after quite well!
When i felt a bit better, we continued with our journey up to Noosa! I still had to take it a bit easier, but i was able to do the Rainforest walk through the National Park - where we saw dolphins in the sea as we overlooked Dolphin Point (how quaint!). I also felt well enough to go SURFING, so me and the girls booked ourselves in for a lesson, and had the best couple of hours so far on our trip up the Coast!!! We ALL managed to stand on our boards and ride a few waves into the shore...i even managed it 5 TIMES!!! Such a pro, obviously! We're hoping to maybe get some surfing in somewhere else too, though the weather and Stingers have caused a bit of a problem so far!
From Noosa we travelled on up to Rainbow Beach, which was our stop-off location for our FRASER ISLAND trip!!! Fraser was an absolute BLAST!! There were 5 groups of 10 people all
from our resort, bundled into 4x4's and let loose to explore the Island any way we pleased...WICKED! We drove around the Island at top speed, swam in countless lakes and creeks, partied till late on the beach, dingo-watched, saw the sunset over a shipwreck, and even had a moonlit dip in a lake..so cool!
The next logical step for us, was to carry on up to Airlie Beach, to go on our tour of the WHITSUNDAYS! OH MY GOD...it was one of my MAIN HIGHLIGHTS of Australia...relaxing and sunbathing on a racing boat, whilst everything else was taken care of! The water was oh so smooth and the weather was fantastic...we spent 2 days in the sun, stopping off to snorkel in amongst some of the Great Barrier Reef and visiting STUNNING Island beaches, such as the BREATHTAKING Hill Inlet on Whitsunday Island!
We partied a little in Airlie Beach, and then had a brief stop in Mission Beach, which was beautiful but full of blood-sucking mozzies that took a shine to us girls 😞 Not surprisingly we only stayed a couple of days and then headed up to Cairns! We chilled there for a bit, Natalie had
her birthday, so we spent the day on a boat in ROUGH SEAS (we all felt SO SICK - the wind was 30 knots Dad!!) in order to snorkel the Barrier Reef and attempt to Scuba Dive - unfortunately due to my ears, i was unable to dive, but the other girls did it and had a really good time...i stuck to the snorkelling, which was cool enough (though i was disappointed of course!) Naturally, we danced on more tables that evening and spent the next day recovering! We had a couple of days up in Cape Tribulation, which was awesome - we did some Rainforest walks, took a boat trip up the Daintree River and spotted wild CROCODILES, strolled along some beautiful beaches, visited Mossman Gorge, and had a little stop off in Port Douglas on the way back to Cairns!!
And so, here i am, all alone in the little city of Cairns - Gemma and Nataile caught their plane to Auckland this morning. Until i leave for Auckland on the 3rd March, i plan to relax a bit again, tie up any loose ends here in Oz, and try to mentally prepare myself for New Zealand!
I have NO IDEA what to expect, but hopefully that'll be a good thing! I can't believe that in just over a month's time, i'll be at home, boring you all to death with my photos and stories! Till then, tune in for my next instalment from across the Globe........
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