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Published: December 18th 2010
Firstly, apologies that we’ve taken so long to publish this blog, it’s due to a mixture of us having too much fun and a lack of wi-fi in the places we’ve been staying. On the plus side it means you have more to read!
We landed in Sydney around 4:25PM and we were greeted with rain and the threat of thunderstorms, not quite what we’d expected from Australia’s weather! We grabbed our bags and re-checked them in before transferring to a different terminal in the airport. The three hour wait was a little dull. We set off at 7:35 and landed on time in Cairns. We grabbed our bags again and got onto a shuttle bus that took us to our hostel. We arrived just before 11:00 and grabbed the key to our room which was pretty stuffy, something we may have to get used to in the next three months here and the following month in Asia. We’d had a long day and quickly fell asleep.
The heat woke us early and we had breakfast. We went into town shortly afterwards and had a look around the town. We went into Peter Pan’s, a Australian tour operator, for
some advice on which tours to book whilst we’re in Australia. After a bit of a wait we were served by Aimee, who was really helpful and she helped us choose which tours we wanted to do. We had a look around the Esplanade, including the lagoon, a huge pool on the waterfront which is free to use, before going to the town square where we watched a musician play who was pretty good. We grabbed some supplies (and a poppy) before going back to the hostel. We did some laundry and had a dip in the pool which was sorely needed! We then got ready and got a bus into town and went to the Woolshed, a local pub/club which is hugely popular with backpackers, mainly due to there being plenty going on there and the free backpacker meals offered nightly. You had the option to upgrade to one of their main meals for a few extra dollars which Hayley did, it was huge! She also got a dessert for an extra dollar which offered excellent value for money. We had a couple of drinks before heading back to the hostel and relaxing before bed.
I woke at
7:00 and sorted out the laundry before having some breakfast. We checked out and made the very hot walk to Nomads. We changed hostels as Nomads were offering dorm rooms for $10 a night. We couldn’t check in until 2:00 so we got the free shuttle bus into town and went to the lagoon. The water was really refreshing and we mucked around in there for a while before catching some rays in the blazing sun. We stayed there until 5:00 then went for a drink before catching the shuttle back and checking in. Considering we were in a ten bed dorm, it was surprisingly cool and spacious. We had dinner at the onsite bar and showered before catching the shuttle back into town and going to Gilligans for a couple of drinks. We watched a cover band who were pretty good and caught the shuttle back. We had a couple of drinks in the bar before bed.
After breakfast we sat around the pool until 11:00 when we got the bus into town. We visited the two different markets in the town before going to the lagoon to cool down in the water. We sunbathed for a bit
until I had an unfortunate incident with a bird (all I’m saying is I can’t see how it’s supposed to be good luck!) We had an ice cream and picked some supplies up. Afterwards we went back to the lagoon and had a snack and relaxed. We got the bus back and watched New Zealand beat Australia in the four nations final. We showered afterwards and went back into town and watched some of the football in the Woolshed. We got the bus back at 2:00 and chilled out for twenty minutes before bed.
Sleeping on the bottom bunk is always dangerous when I’m on the top bunk, this was proved when my torch fell off my bed in the night and hit the Chinese girl sleeping below on the head, whoops! We went into town and booked the dates of our trips in and our first couple of Greyhound buses, which is the way we’re getting down to Sydney. We had a drink before going to the supermarket to get the meat for today’s barbie! The lagoon provides several barbecue areas for the public to use for free, they are very clean and well maintained so we took
advantage of this and cooked up a storm! We relaxed around the lagoon until we heard a rumble of thunder and a few spots of rain. We sheltered in a nearby pub until the bus picked us up. We sat in the dorm for a bit before going to the bar downstairs and having a drink. We then went back into town and after a bit of searching found somewhere showing the F1! Unfortunately the race wasn’t great and watching Vettel win the title whilst sitting next to some Germans wasn’t much fun! We watched the second half of the Arsenal game before getting the bus back and going to bed.
The next day we went down to the town early, checked the internet, got some supplies and came back to the hostel at 11:00 for brunch. We went in the pool until the bus picked us up at 2:00 to take us to the lagoon. As the barbecue was so successful the day before we decided to use what we had left over and had another one which was equally as good! We got back to the hostel around 6:30 and bought a day’s internet and checked flights
to Alice Springs before bed. The day after we pretty much spent the whole day on the internet, checking things and updating things. It also rained most of the day which combined with sitting in the dorm most of the day equalled one of the dullest days we’ve had since we came away! We got the bus down to town and had a drink and came back around 9:00. Hayley found a cockroach in the room but for once pest control was unable to catch this one! We had some dinner and watched TV before bed.
We woke at 6:00 the next morning and got ready for our trip to the Great Barrier Reef. The bus took us down to the ferry terminal at 7:00 and we checked in and boarded the boat. We set off just after 8:00 and cruised up to the reef whilst catching a few rays. We were given a talk on the correct way to snorkel before getting kitted up (we looked very fetching!) We reached the first site, Paradise Reef, which was exclusive to the company who took us out. We jumped off the back of the boat and into the sea. It
was fantastic there were so many different fishes and corals to see. We spotted some clown fish (nemos) and some reef sharks. We used the underwater camera we’d bought the day before to get some shots under the water. We snorkeled for a couple of hours before having lunch on the boat which was good. We then arrived at our second site, Michealmas Cay, where we snorkeled for just over an hour off the beach. The coral wasn’t as nice but we did manage to swim with a giant turtle and spot some stingray! We got back on the boat around 2:30 and grabbed a drink. Hayley sunbathed and I listened to one of the guides who was giving a talk on all the different types of fishes and corals we’d seen which was interesting. I then joined Hayley on the sun deck for a while. One of the guides (who had a particularly impressive moustache for movember!) showed us a magic trick to round the day off and we arrived back at the port at around 5:00. We used the operator Passions and we would recommend them, we were really well looked after throughout the day and the crew
were really helpful and knowledgable. We walked past the lagoon and checked the internet in Peter Pan’s before having dinner. We got the bus back at 9 and showered and used the internet until bedtime.
We woke at 8:30 and saw the cockroach crawling across the wall, still couldn’t get it! We had breakfast and checked out. We left our luggage in storage for the day and went into town and checked out the shopping mall near the railway station. We spent a couple of hours looking around and had lunch there. We saw our first christmas tree as well, when the weather is so warm it’s hard to feel festive, it just doesn’t seem right! We had a drink and got to the lagoon just after 3:00 and relaxed for a couple of hours. When we booked with Peter Pan’s we got a lot of discount vouchers that can be used in different places all over Australia. We took advantage of the free chicken wings and fries voucher we had at a local bar which was good. We got back to the hostel at around 7:00 and watched TV and used the internet all evening. We were getting
a night bus to Airlie Beach that was leaving from downtown at 12:25AM and we were supposed to be there twenty minutes prior to departure. We’d pre-arranged with the bus driver that he’d be able to drop us off at the bus stop. So when it got to midnight and him nor the bus was nowhere to be seen we were getting a little anxious.
Thankfully he turned up at 12:10 and although we were cutting it fine we got there in time and boarded the bus. We didn’t end up leaving until 12:50 so we needn’t of worried. We set off and the driver put on a film which we watched. We stopped just before 3:00AM and when we set off twenty minutes later I fell asleep. We woke around 7:00AM and we arrived in Airlie Beach around 11:00. The trip wasn’t actually too bad and it didn’t feel like we’d been on a bus for ten hours. We walked to our hostel and stored our luggage until we were able to check in. We had a wander around the area which seemed very nice, it had a seaside town feel to it. We went for a drink
and had some lunch before checking in. The Nomads here is new and was very nice, with a good setting to match. We checked in for our Whitsunday's cruise tomorrow before using the internet and coming back and packing our bag for the trip tomorrow. We chatted to one of the guys in our room before going out to a pub. We used another of our Peter Pan’s vouchers and Hayley had a free Dominos pizza which she destroyed! Afterwards I found a place doing cheap steak and I also destroyed that! We then came back to room, showered and had an early night after a long day.
When we woke the next morning it was throwing it down! The trickle of water that was running past our room was now a fast flowing river! There was also a leak in our roof that was positioned at the foot of my bed! We checked out and walked our bags down to the luggage store in the rain. We grabbed a snack and a drink and after lunch we made our way down to Abel Point marina for our cruise aboard the Atlantic Clipper. We set sail at around 3:00
and were given a short health and safety briefing by the crew. We put our alcohol into the boat’s fridge room and put our stuff in our room. The beds were a good size but head space was a little limited! We went up to the middle deck and talked to some of the other passengers and had a couple of drinks before dinner. Thankfully the weather had cleared up a little and we dropped anchor for the night at Hook Island. We sat on the top deck with the other passengers and had some drinks. The lights on the side of the boat attracted some fish to the side on the boat, including a dolphin who swam around the boat for most of the evening.
The boat’s engine woke us at 6:00 the next morning. I felt a little rough this morning (I blame the sea sickness) but I managed to refrain from hanging my head over the side of the boat, unlike some of the others! We had breakfast before the boat dropped us at Whitehaven beach. We walked to the lookout point, where there was a great view of the beach and the surrounding islands. We
then went down to the beach and got our stinger suits on. The sand at Whitehaven is 99.8% silica making it really soft, it’s very easy to sink into the sand! The sand can also be used as an exfoliator and can also be used to clean silver. We spotted some huge stingrays in the water and mucked around in the waves. We got back on the boat around 11:00 and had some lunch. We then made our way to the next destination, as it was quite a long journey I made use of the onboard hot tub to pass the time. When we arrived we put our snorkels on and jumped in. The coral was really good here and Andy and Binkey were feeding the fish so there were hundreds swimming around our faces which was great. Hayley also managed to spot a turtle which we followed for a while. When we got back to the boat we were allowed to jump off the roof into the water. The crew also got out a water slide that we could use which was good fun. After a shower and some dinner we played some games. Binkey played a true or
false game with us and anyone who answered a questioned wrong was punished by being fed a teaspoon of Vegemite! The fancy dress box came out afterwards, all the lads had to dress as women and vice-versa. We then played a game to determine who was king or queen of the Clipper. Challenges involved wiggling like a fish, standing still, dancing and other things I’d rather not go into (although I’m sure you can use your imaginations!) Guess who beat the other 53 people on the boat to the title?! (although I couldn’t have done it without Dave!) It was a very funny night and I also acquired a new hat (again it’s a story to be told rather than written!) Afterwards we had a lot of goon! For those of you who are wondering what goon is it’s basically a wine box but for some reason it’s called goon here, maybe it’s because it can make you act like a bit of a goon! We called it a night around 12:30.
Once we’d had breakfast we got our snorkels on and jumped in the sea. Unfortunately due to the weather the visibility wasn’t great and there wasn’t as
many fish as yesterday. When we got back on board we had hot dogs and the crew put the sails up and we sailed back to Airlie. We met some really great people on the Clipper and the crew was first class. We arrived back on dry land around 12:00 and walked back into town. We picked our bags up and checked into our hostel. We went for a drink and chatted to a couple of guys from the boat. After going back and getting ready, we met some of the other passengers from the boat. We had a few drinks before the crew joined us and we had a few more drinks and a dance. We had a great time but we were tired so called it a night around midnight.
We checked out the next morning and went for breakfast. I wasn’t feeling particularly great, think it was a combination of a lot of drink, being tired and not eating particularly healthily recently! The weather wasn’t great so we didn’t do too much, we just sat in Magnums most of the day watching the TV. We also checked Dave was OK and he felt as rough as
a lot of us did! We grabbed a subway for the long bus journey ahead, grabbed our bags and the hostel’s bus took us to the bus stop. Our bus was an hour late so we set off around 8:00PM. The TV on the bus had broken so there were no movies to watch so we listened to some music to keep ourselves entertained. The bus wasn’t particularly comfortable so we didn’t sleep too well. We arrived in Rainbow Beach at 9:40AM, our hostel was directly opposite the bus stop which was very handy. We used the internet until we were able to check in. Once we’d checked in, we put our bags in our room and went for a walk to the beach. We came back and relaxed for a bit before our briefing for our Fraser Island trip. We were told what we could and couldn’t do and what to expect from our trip. As I haven’t had my driving license for over two years I wasn’t able to drive the 4x4’s we’d be using which was a little disappointing but Hayley was able to put her name down to drive. We were also put into our travelling
groups for the next few days. We got a good group and we recognised Cat, Danielle and Matt from the Clipper. We went for a shower before meeting up with the rest of the group to decide what alcohol to buy for the next few days. We had dinner with the group but after the long bus journey we were really tired so we called it a night around 9:30.
We were up early the next morning and had breakfast. We checked out and met in the car park for a briefing. We were in the lead car which meant we had the guide driving our 4x4. As the guide has to drive at all times Hayley was worried she wouldn’t get the opportunity to drive but she was assured that she would. We had to check the 4x4 for any bumps or scratches before we loaded our bags, food and drink onto the 4x4. As with the Clipper, all our food was provided for us which was really good. We then squeezed into our 4x4’s and set off. We boarded the barge to Fraser Island around 10:30 and arrived on the island ten minutes later. The guide, Muzza,
was a really good laugh and told us loads about the different trees and animals that inhabit the island, he reminded me of Steve Irwin! We had to drive along a really bumpy road for around half an hour until we reached the beach. We drove along the beach and after about ten minutes we saw our first dingo of the trip! The waves in the sea were huge and we’d been told not to go into the sea, a lot of sharks surround Fraser Island and the water is considered dangerous due to the large rip tides. Our first stop was to set up camp. Once we’d set the tents up, we drove to Lake McKenzie, a freshwater lake. We mucked around in the water, played frisbee and had a swim before getting back in the 4x4’s and driving to Central Station where we walked through the forest. We arrived back at the camp around 6:30 and had steak and potatoes for dinner which was good and afterwards we had a few drinks with our group which was fun. We saw a couple of dingos in the evening but there were no problems. We went to bed around 12:30
after having to kick two guys out of our tent who had drunkenly mistaken it for theirs!
We woke early and had breakfast before jumping in the 4x4 and driving to Ely Creek, where we walked down the creek. We saw a few guys float down the creek in rubber rings which looked like good fun! Hayley got the opportunity to drive when we left the creek so we swapped 4x4’s for a section and she really enjoyed it, think it was a little different than driving the ginge! We had lunch and switched back to our 4x4 and drove to the champagne pools. The pools consisted of a little area secluded by the rocks from the sea but the strong waves crash over the top of the rocks and the foam created from this looks like champagne and we had really good fun trying to hold onto something as the waves crashed over us! Afterwards we went to Indian Head and after a bit of a walk we reached the top where there were some great views of the coast and out to sea. We got back in the 4x4’s and went back to camp. We had stir-fry
this evening which again was really good and afterwards we attacked the goon! We went over to the other camp where we saw a couple of girls from the Clipper. We stayed there for a while before coming back to our camp with our group and we had a great time drinking, singing and dancing! There were a lot more dingos around this evening but again there were no problems. We think we went to bed between 2 and 3 in the morning, we can’t really remember!
We all felt pretty rough the next morning! We took down the tents and packed up the 4x4. As we drove to Lake Wabba, the bus was very quiet, I think we felt every bump a lot more than we had in past couple of days! When we arrived we walked to the lake which was around twenty minutes away. The lake was situated at the bottom of huge sandhill which I ran and then rolled down into the lake. Jumping into a lake is possibly the best hangover cure I’ve ever come across! I had then had a swim across the lake and saw some huge catfish along the way. Afterwards
we walked back to the 4x4 and we drove to a bakery for lunch before driving onto the barge to go back to the mainland. We arrived back at Rainbow Beach around 3:30. We got petrol and drove to the shed where we cleaned out the 4x4. Muzza then dropped us back at the hostel and we checked back into the hostel. We had a fantastic time which was made even better by having a great group (Thanks Cat, Danielle, Matt, Jillian, Katie and Ivo, group D!) We used the operator Dingo’s and again we’d highly recommend them, it was a great few days. We had a much needed shower and had dinner which was rubbish (when I think of an Aussie BBQ I don’t think of two really bad sausages and some salad!) We saw a few more guys from the Clipper, it’s strange how many people you meet again as you go to different places! We had a drink but but we were all shattered and went to bed at 10:00.
We woke up and checked out and went to the bus stop. Again the bus was around an hour late and we left around 10:30. We
arrived in Brisbane around 2:30 and after a short walk we arrived at our hostel. We used the internet for quite a while and then decided to go to the supermarket to grab some dinner. When you’re travelling you lose track of what day it is, not realising it was 6:15 on a Sunday evening we were surprised to find the supermarket closed until it dawned on us! We had a walk around but couldn’t find anything open so we had to settle for noodles for dinner! Originally Hayley was in a different dorm to me but when she got to her dorm there was only a top bunk left with no ladder. Being vertically challenged she found it impossible to get up to her bed! Luckily there was space in my dorm so she switched rooms. We spent the rest of the evening on the internet and watching films.
The next morning we got ready and set off for the Gabba! We had managed to get a couple of really cheap tickets for the last day of the first ashes test. We popped to the supermarket before getting the free bus to the ground. We picked up out
tickets and entered the stadium which is pretty impressive. We sat at the front to begin with but as it was a really hot day we moved back after a while into the shade. Although the stadium wasn’t full, the atmosphere was fantastic, mainly due to the barmy army! The Aussie fans were definately in the minority! It was a fantastic day of cricket, Cook and Trott batted superbly to reach 235 not out and 135 not out respectively and once England had declared we saw Broad take a wicket and Ponting reach 50 not out before the end of play. After the game we got the bus back and did some laundry before walking up to Fortitude Valley to meet Danielle, Matt and Grant. We had a few drinks with them before making our way back.
We woke early and enquired about work for accommodation at our hostel. As with most hostels we’d spoken to, they were looking for people to work over the christmas period and as we will be in Sydney this wasn’t possible for us. We did the rest of our laundry, after Whitsunday's and Fraser Island, our whole bags needed cleaning! We hung that
out and enquired at a few hostels about their cheap weekly rates. We settled on Chill Backpackers, a hostel nearby and booked in for two weeks. We went back to the other hostel and packed our bags and made the short walk down the road. The hostel we stayed at has five films on daily and we were pleasantly surprised to find out they had the hangover on when we arrived! We watched that and then got ready and went to a nearby bar and met up with Nomes and Jack! We caught up with what they’d been up to and swapped stories over a few drinks and it was good to hear that they’ve settled in really well. We went to a couple of different bars and had a bite to eat and called it a night about 11:00.
We woke up the next morning to find it was raining. We watched films in the morning and relaxed. There was no let up in the rain all day (at least it’s better than snow and freezing temperatures I guess!) We went to the supermarket and on the way there we decided to try a bit of sushi! We
had a few salmon rolls but we couldn’t really decide whether we liked it or not! After getting back we watched some TV we made some dinner and watched a couple more movies, it hadn’t felt like the first day of summer, or the first of December for that matter! We woke the next morning and again the weather wasn’t great. We spent the morning watching movies before venturing out to have a look around the shops. Unfortunately Hayley wasn’t paying attention to her green cross code and one eagle eyed traffic cop spotted her cross the road on a red light and she copped a $40 fine which she wasn’t happy about! We came back to the hostel and had some dinner and watched a film before bed.
It was wet again the following day so we watched a couple of films before going out. We got our underwater camera developed and watched a bit of the cricket. After dinner we met up with Katie, Jillian and Ivo and had a few drinks and a dance with them before bed. The next day followed a similar pattern, we went for lunch and watched some of the cricket and
spent the evening watching movies. We went to the supermarket the next morning to get some supplies and then watched Crocodile Dundee (classic!) The movie room at the hostel was great as it gives you something to do when the weather isn’t as good. It also gave us the chance to relax after a hectic week on the Whitsunday’s cruise and Fraser Island trip. In the afternoon we walked to South Bank. South Bank is home to a couple of museums, a man made beach, local markets, a few bars and the Brisbane Wheel. We had a look around and checked out the Sunday market before popping into one of the bars for a drink. We walked back to the hostel and after dinner we watched a couple of films before bed.
The following day followed a similar pattern but the day after the sun came out! We used the internet before going to the department of transport offices where Hayley paid her fine! We had lunch and headed down to the South Bank. We went into the water and had a swim and spent some time on the beach before going for a drink in a pub nearby.
We then went back and had dinner and watched a couple of films before bed. The following day was also sunny so we went back down to South Bank to try and work on our tans and had a drink before coming back to the hostel for dinner and a film before bed.
December 10th marked the halfway point in our trip. It’s scary how quickly the time has gone! I woke at 9:45 and found Hayley already awake. This happened twice in the space of a few days, scary! We did some shopping and had lunch before going down to the beach to catch a few more rays. We came back to the hostel and got ready to go out. We met Nomes and Jack for a drink and went for dinner. Afterwards we all went to Caxton Street and had a couple of drinks in different bars before going to the good old down under bar in the city. The bar is a regular spot for backpackers and you see some impressive dance moves being performed as the night goes on! We called it a night around 1:00.
We woke the following day and got ready
to go and meet Nomes and Jack. We met at 12:00 and headed down to South Bank. We had a huge burger each for lunch and as we were finishing the heavens opened and it started throwing it down! Luckily there is a really cheap cinema at South Bank so we decided to get some tickets. We had an hour before the film started so we decided to visit the chocolate bar. The chocolate bar is a must for any chocolate lovers, they serve loads of different chocolate based drinks and desserts. The chocolate was really good, Hayley adored it! We then went back to the cinema and watched Due Date which we all found hilarious. It was still raining really heavily when the film finished so we got a taxi back to Nomes and Jack’s. We made a plan for the following day and met their housemates who were cool. We had a few beers before getting on the Bundaberg rum which slipped down a treat! We sat talking to everyone and after quite a few drinks we called it a night.
We woke early the next morning and met Nomes and Jack at the train station. We
bought our train tickets and headed to Coomera. We arrived at 10:00 and bought our Dreamworld theme park tickets at the station. We caught the free bus which took us to the park. When we got into the park our first stop was a ride called claw, which swung us around and at one point tipped us upside down. Nomes wasn’t too keen on that one! We then went on a couple more rides and then went on the amusements for a bit. We then played the Alien Vs Predator Vs You laser game which was good fun. We had an all you can eat buffet lunch which was good and afterwards we went on the tower of terror which shoots you out of a tunnel and halfway up a tower before hurtling you back towards the ground and back through the tunnel, it was my favourite ride! We then looked around the wildlife section and saw tigers, dingos, lizards, kangaroos, crocodiles and koalas. We also got to pet some wallabies. We then went on the big drop ride which lifted us 119 metres into the air, held us there for forty seconds and then without warning, shot us back
down to the ground! Nomes did really well as she was worried about a few of the rides but went on every single one! We went on the rapids which were a bit tame and then went on the log flume where we all got absolutely drenched! We got changed and got the bus back to the train station and got the train back to Brisbane. We had a great weekend with Nomes and Jack it was really good to see some friendly faces, thanks guys! We had some dinner and watched a film. It was Oliver and Alliyah’s baptism today and we were sad we had to miss it but we hope they had a great day!
We woke the next day and used the internet before going to the cinema. We watched the social network this time which was a good film. Afterwards we came back to the hostel and as it was Dad’s birthday we caught him on skype and had a good chat with him. We used one of our Peter Pan’s vouchers in the evening as we had one for a free barbecue at Tinbilly’s bar which consisted of a sausage, some onions and
two pieces of bread! We came back and did our laundry and watched a film before bed. We sorted out our bags the following morning and afterwards we went down to South Bank and sunbathed for a few hours. When we got back we had dinner and went to Nomes and Jack’s and had a couple of drinks and tried some mango which was delicious! We said our goodbyes before walking back to the hostel and going to bed. We enjoyed our time in Brisbane, we had mixed weather over our two and a bit weeks there but there is plenty to see and do in and around Brisbane and it was also really good to see Nomes and Jack, good luck for the rest of your stay here!
After a bad night’s sleep (due to having noisy room-mates!), we got up at 6:20 and had breakfast. We checked out and got our deposits back from Ian 2 (He really did look like you Mr Henderson!) We walked down to the transit centre and caught our bus to Byron Bay. We arrived just after midday and as we’d crossed from Queensland to New South Wales we put our clocks
forward an hour. We got picked up by the hostel’s bus which took us to our hostel for the week, the arts factory. The hostel’s set-up is quite impressive, it is surrounded by dense forest and you can stay in dorms, tents or tee-pees. Being an arts factory there are a lot of workshops going on such as bracelet making and digeredoo lessons. They also have a pool, spa, cafe, bar and a cinema onsite. After a short wait we checked in, dropped our bags off and walked into town and had a look around. Although it’s only a small place, Byron Bay is a bustling little town with many little shops and cafes. We found out why when we walked to it’s main attraction, the beach, it was amazing! The sun was shining and we laid on the soft white sand for a while before going to swim around in the huge waves which was great fun. We stayed there for a few hours and then grabbed a snack. We checked the internet and grabbed some shopping before walking back to the hostel. We had a dip the pool and the spa before having dinner. We then went to
the onsite bar where they had an open mic evening which we watched whilst having a couple of Bundaberg ginger beers (very nice!) Afterwards we came back to the room and watched a film before bed.
We woke the next morning and got ready and went down to the beach. We mucked around in the waves for around an hour until Hayley got stung twice by a bluebottle jellyfish. The lifeguard gave her some ice to ease the pain and reduce the swelling and after an hour the pain had gone. We heard some claps of thunder so we headed to a nearby pub to watch the start of the third ashes test which turned out to be another good day for England. We watched it for a couple of hours until the rain stopped and the sun came out. We went back to the beach and spent a couple of hours sunbathing before coming back to the pub and watching a bit more of the cricket. We then went to the supermarket and checked the internet at Peter Pan’s before getting the bus back to the hostel. We had dinner and then went to the bar to watch
the end of the cricket and have a drink. Afterwards we went for a swim in the pool and then watched a film before bed.
We didn’t do too much the following morning as it was overcast but at around 12:00 it brightened up so we headed into town. We booked a surfing lesson and a sea kayaking session that we will be doing in the next few days and then went to watch some of the cricket and it turned out not to be such a good day for England! We had fish and chips for lunch and sunbathed until it started raining. We ducked into the beach bar and watched some more of the cricket and avoided the thunder and the torrential downpour that followed! We stayed there until the rain eased off and then went to the supermarket and walked back to the hostel. We watched the end of the cricket at the bar and had some dinner before showering and relaxing before bed.
We’ve really enjoyed our time in Australia so far, again we’re experiencing so many things I never even dreamed we would experience a year ago. We’re having the time of our
lives and we wake up every day wondering what the new day will bring, we just hope the weather clears up in time for christmas haha!
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cathy
non-member comment
hi glad to c u 2 having a brill time it looks and sounds lovely enjoy the rest of ur time and have a good xmas cathy x