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Published: January 11th 2008
We ain't in the Outback no more...
Thom getting absolutely soaked filling Mitzy up. Gympie, Qld.We hit the outskirts of the Outback with a very rainy bump. As you can see from our first pictures we were hit with a heavy rain storm as we crossed back over into more populated lands. Unfortunatley this coincided with our running on petrol fumes so we had to stop at our last yocal petrol station to fill er up. Thom was the perfect gentleman of course and got out to actually do the filling up and he was soaked after being out there for about all of 3 seconds. I'd previously heard 2 farmer/cowboy types saying goodbye to each other at a different petrol station the day before by simply exclaiming "Hope you get wet mate!" - I thought it was just another ironic dessert/Aussie saying or something, but it obviously related to how much the farmers were hoping for a huge storm. Driving was extreme and many cars simply pulled over, but we ploughed on through for the Brits and pulled over in a nice little rest stop to see out the rest of the storm with a beer and a chill out. 2 hours later we were both paranoid that the gravel surface we'd parked up on
was now making poor Mitzy sink, and when we tested the engine we found out we weren't wrong. Looking back on it now it must have been a hilarious sight seeing me manipulating the bite point and both of us rocking back and forth in our seats to give ole Mitz the oomph to pull herself out of the four little ditches we were in. After much swearing, oomphing, rocking and just plain screaming (from me) our beaut of a van hauled herself out of the mud and we parked up on some tera firmer to sleep the rest of the storm out. Now the exagerated cambres on the usually arid roads make sense!
We officially crossed the QLD NSW border a day or so after this, having driven through unreportable plain jane landscapes and straight roads. Our first stop was Nimbin - just to check out the hippie culture. We were both delighted with how much the whole area seemed so much like an idylic Hobbition for all 60's & 70's fans, the greenery was astounding. We only stayed for a leisurely lunch in the famed Rainbow Cafe - supping on thickshakes and people-watching.
By the time we got
How to gets to kill a Roo.......
.....its all you gots to do. Grab his flaming balls!!!
Sorry to those not in "The Might Boosh" know. To fill in the blank check 'Killaroo', series 1. into Byron Bay we'd heard an awful lot of hype for the "Schoolies" on the radio (we were deleriously happy to have been able to re-tune back onto tripple J FM having been starved of any contact with news and general funny Aussie jingles). As it turns out, "schoolies" are the kids who finish school for the summer having done their last lot of exams (like Year 11 in the UK). Instead of drinking cider and trying to get into nightclubs to celebrate they are granted permission to wreak havoc along the Gold Coast to celebrate school being out forever. So this meant we were unable to get into any of the cheaper campsites, which was a real nightmare as we'd rocked up in Byron at about 8pm. We eventually found a place that had a sign on the door saying "Night Check-ins can pay in the morning" so we drove on in and did our barrels of laundry and enjoyed lavish showers. I was woken up the next morning by a very chipper Thom fully dressed and ready to go - at the ghastly hour of 7:30. He'd sussed that the front desk didn't open till 8:30 so we
That lady has a beard
Me doing my Guy Fawkes impression in Byron Bay, NSW. were going to leg it and not pay. So to coincide with my lineage I got dressed and, well, we legged it. I hadn't realised how much Thom is prepared to "opt for the free route" - the occasional bags of ice we failed to pay for in garages that don't lock their outdoor freezers just seemed to me like a bargain, that we could quite easily talk our way out of by being "Silly English folk" but this kind of antic was getting into Bonnie & Clyde territory! I think it's only fair to add here that I didn't complain, especially when we spent our saved dollars on a slap up breakfast before hitting the beach for the day.
Next day we got to Brisbane and saw all the best parts of the culture, toured around on the ferry and ate in all the cheapest places. A day isn't really enough to decide on how much we liked the place but despite it's smallness in size (in comparison to the other Oz cities we've seen) it seemed kinda cool in it's own way.
Running short on time we blasted up the coast towards Forest Glen - AKA Australia Zoo's
location. The best zoo either of us have been to - and of course the fruits of all of Steve Irwins labours. The day was great fun, we went to the Crocoseum to learn a lot about all the animals in the Zoo, all things conservation, and of course tonnes about crocs. Even though we both have our opinions on how the Irwin kids may be being exploited from their father's fame we had decidedly warm Irwin fuzziness by the end of the day.
Next stop after this was a chilled beach day again, but this time in the vogue location of Noosa. Lay on a lush beach and watched many posers. It was a really nice place, but one of those places we'll go back to with a load of money to give the rest of the clientele a real run for their money.
After checking out Hervey Bay and Rainbow beach we headed on up further to make a pit-stop in Bundaberg to make sure we got Finn's crimbo present back to the UK in time. For the record I am a die-hard fan of the bundie rum (especially pre-mixed in a can with coke) but the price
Surfers Paradise
Waiting for the right wave, with the gaudiness of the Gold Coast, QLD. you need to pay to get into their brewery is a joke, along with the fact that you must relinquish all electronical devices at the door, all meant we decided to just keep on heading north towards The Whitsundays.
After arriving in The Whitsundays and booking a pricey day out on a boat we went off in search for a free rest stop to try and compensate for the next days spending. The best we could do was pull over at a swamp - which seemed to be home to all the March flies in the world that night. March flies are like huge house flies but they can bite. Bite bad! So instead of arriving in the epitome of paradise with luxury and cocktails we ended up in a van, next to a swamp eating a tuna pasta. Rough! We made up for it the next day with a lush snorkelling trip with stop-offs at Whitehaven beach and a hearty BBQ all-in. The sexy Kraftwerk suits are stinger suits which we needed to wear to survive the deadly tropical seas that were full of box jellyfish which can finish you off. But if looking like a nonce in a
lycra onesy was going to mean we could see the wildlife under the surface of the ocean then as you can see, we both happily obliged!
We tore through Townsville & Mission Beach (most backpackers hang out in these parts for ages for the vibe and nightlife but our budget and timespan just couldn't allow it) over a couple of days. More laying on beaches was done and we got back on it to arrive in Cairns in time to clean out Mitzy ready for her handover. Thankfully they didn't seem to care about the odd nicks and scrapes we'd made - the guy didn't even check to see if all their stuff had been left in the van. So as we were homefree and able to indulge in a place where we could dump all our stuff and relax for a few days, that is what we did. We loafed and enjoyed the perks of being in a hotel (breaking the no food allowed in rooms rule repeatedly) and set sail for the Great Barrier Reef for a one day extravagansa in boating, snorkelling and diving (for me). I found Nemo & fed him, I finally got to meet
Brisy Baby.
On our ferry ride round brisbane's waterways. and play with a turtle, saw moray eels and big schools of giant grouper and many more fish. The place is teaming with fishes and beautiful corals. This happened to coincide with the release of that science-bod report on how quickly the reef is dying which kind of gave the whole thing a solemn undertone - but at least we got to see it, ethically.
With this grand finale to our Australian trip we reduced the size of our rucksacks ready for flying and headed on over to New Zealand!
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mammy p
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Fab !
I am soooo jealous of your big adventure ...travel blogs are fab ...when you gonna publish and make a fortune ? love yas xxxxx