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Published: August 18th 2006
From the plane
Good first impressionsSydney
Arrive in Sydney to catch our first glimpses of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House as the sun is setting as we are landing.
Our introduction to the Aussie way was actually from a Kiwi taxi driver and 2 gay guys from LA. Having checking into our centrally located accommodation, we took a night walk to the Opera House. Just that sight alone makes you fall in love with this city. We had a compulsory visit to see the steel drum Jamaican guy on Circular Quay - a permanent fixture!!
After a much needed good nights sleep we walked to the Botanical Gardens, to 'hang-out' with the flying foxes in the trees. A beautiful place well worth a visit to soak up some sun and appreciate the views.
A relocation of accommodation and we are now a short walk from Darling Harbour, where the International Sydney Boat Show was just setting up. We took a walk over the Harbour bridge via 'The Rocks' (to scoff some roasted chestnuts) and browse the weekend markets.
A 'Daytripper' ticket allowed us unlimited travel on the busses, trains and ferries. Therefore, we visited Manly to watch the surfers, then
onto Bondi Beach to relax and get some dinner - a deal for $6 a meal!! Looked around the Kings Cross area - the red light district (not as bad as it sounds) and the neighbouring more affluent Rushcutters Bay, the main yachting centre of Sydney. To complete our day we took a ferry back to Darling Harbour for a coffee.
Our fifth day involves a tour of the Sydney Opera House. It consists of three buildings and was designed by a dutch guy who won an architectural competition in the 1940's. While we were doing the tour, we were lucky to witness the local school kids rehearsing for an event being held in the concert theatre that night. For the sunset we went up the 'rip-off' AMP Skytower. Not a patch on the Auckland Sky Tower! However, the views were spectacular and the sunset over the Blue Mountains made up for the poor tower experience.
Campervan pickup day!
Our new home for the next 4 weeks. Started badly. Our van wasn't ready for collection when we got there, but it wasn't all bad as the company offered to pay for us to go and have some
breakfast in a nearby cafe. This was music to our ears as we had skipped breakfast! An hour and a half later than anticipated we have our van and head North up the east coast to Forster-Tuncurry. This place was recommended tp us by an Aussie guy on our very first day of travelling when arriving in LA. He told us that his favourite place in Australia was Forster and we HAD to go there, so off we went to see if it lived up to the expectation. It had some great beaches and worthwhile viewpoints.
Further up the coast we make a stop at a donation only Koala hospital at feeding time, our first sighting. Cute!
On an outing to Smoky Cape Lighthouse we spotted whales in the distance from the lighthouse lookout.
Later on that day we arrived in Coffs Harbour to watch a thunder storm over the sea at sunset whilst eating our fish and chip dinner.
Onto Byron Bay, a popular tourist/ traveller/ surfer destination, we arrived there in strong winds and terrential rain! Having missed out on visiting the Cape Byron Lighthouse the last time I (Alex) was there, we made the trip
to see the most easterly point in Oz. Due to the prolonged bad weather, it wasn't worth us hanging around for the next few days - so headed north. We did manage to book some flights from Cairns to Brisbane during our time in rainy Byron, to save us retracing our steps back South in the camper. A night spent in the BP service station in Brisbane..... long story behind this one (save it until we're home).
A slightly chilly day in Brisbane, we purchased translink tickets to allow unlimited travel on public transport. By making the most of this we made a full length of the river.... in both directions. A day in Brisbane was long enough we felt and move on north........
..... To the Zoo!!!
Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's ("Crocodile Hunter") home. Ky has been looking forward to this since we heard that you can actually hold a Koala here. It was a must to do, the photo cost very little and was well worth it. Next time we can't wait to cuddle the new additions of the Orangutans!! Loved it. "CROCS RULE!"
Noosa is a popular place, so much so that we
Opera House
Science behind the structure couldn't get into a camp site. It's illegal to camp overnight on the roadside in Australia, but we managed to find a quiet street with lots of other cars in it and thought our camper would blend in?? Come morning all the other cars had gone and we stuck out! Decided to save some money and risk repeating the same spot for the next night too. The only downside to this is the lack of showers and loos when you camp on roadside - Noosa was beautiful and wealthy...... we were not! Next night we managed to get into a camp site in a neighbouring street. A coastal walk took us to secluded Alexandria Bay (a nudist beach) where on our return trip we were able to watch dolphins playing. Some great photo opportunities of surfers as the sun was setting too.
Rainbow Beach. A gateway to Fraser Island, which was supposed to be a cheaper alternative to Hervey Bay as our book told us. However, when we asked around about the hire of a 4x4 (a requirement for Fraser Island) for the day the prices were astronomical. There were too many taxes and hidden costs that were hard
to justify. No ragging around on the sandy beaches for us :-( A compromise was the offer of a free trip onto the Island from one of the car ferry companies. Also, a short walk from our campsite to Carlo Sand Blow and rainbow sands were sights much like that on Fraser Island. While we were up on the sand blow, there was a cloud of smoke forming in the sky from controlled bush fires in the surrounding area. We met a local of 80 years old who told us his life story and also about the fires.
The Town of Seventeen Seventy, this is where Captain Cook made his first landing in Australia. A really pretty place where we spent 2 nights enjoying the peace and tranquility.
Yeppoon. In Ky's eagerness to become the fastest campervan on the East Coast we clocked 118kmph on a 100kmph road and scored a fine of a whopping $150!!!! All in all, a rubbish day with a long drive ahead of us. Take the good with the bad.
UPDATE - Airle Beach
Having faced the dilemma of a 3 day/ 2 night sailing trip or the more affordable option
Zoo
"Crocs Rule" of a day trip to the stunning Whitsunday Islands, we decided upon the latter!! An early start and we are picked up to be driven to the marina to catch our boat for the day. Firstly we get taken to the viewing platform of Whitehaven Beach. The platform was packed full of other tourists... but well worth the wait. All we need to say about this is - look at the photos!! Then it was a race to reserve some space on the popular Whitehaven for a traditional Aussie BBQ. Luckily our boat was faster than the others around and we were given the option of swimming ashore, so we took the plunge. Whitehaven Beach will definitely be a highlight at the end of this trip. Two hours later, back on board and on our way to Manta Ray Bay for some snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, complete with a visit from 'Elvis' (a huge Napoleon fish) who was very friendly and too friendly for Ky!! As we left the snorkelling site, Alex was cleaning off the snorkel and managed to drop it overboard - the boat hand had a quick eye and dived in from the top deck
to get it for Alex. We were happy with our choice of a one day trip over the 3 day, not only as it was cheaper, but we managed to see all of the highlights of the Whitsunday Islands in a single day.
A few stops later we made an early start from Townsville to ensure we could get a space at the free campsite on Balgal Beach. Luckily we arrived to find a space with the beach on our back door step - not bad for free! A pretty place with not much to do (but avoid the crocs in the creek and the persistant sandflies). This gave us a good opportunity to relax for a few days and play some frisbee.
On the road up to Mission Beach the rainforest became much more obvious with warning signs of Cassowaries (big, ugly, endangered birds with a killer instinct). Mission was another place to ralax and play frisbee and watch the sky divers falling to land on the beach.
The next day we drove to Cairns and booked into a site close to the city centre. By this point we have driven a total of 3890km -
so how come the calculated distance from Sydney to Cairns is 2695km?? - possibly something to do with our lack of navigational skills....... or probably poor signposting!?! The city is packed full of didgeridoo shops and restaurants, but the most popular area is the new lagoon swimming pool. This was built as there is only mud flats and no beach, so you can imagine how busy the lagoon was with backpackers!
Ky's auntie and uncle live between Cairns and Port Douglas on a beach called Oak Beach. We were looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and getting some home comforts (not to forget the great location). We were grateful for their hospitality and generosity during our six day stay (especially Paul's cooking!). Other than rest and relaxation, we borrowed their kayaks for an afternoon for a paddle out to sea. The four of us took a drive in the 4x4 up to Cape Tribulation, hitting the Bloomfield Track to Cook Town on the way for some real off-roading. Then a great pic-nic on a deserted beach where the rainforest meets the sand. The next day we took a day trip to Kurunda on the Cairns Skyrail and returned
on the scenic railway, armed with a packed lunch provided by Paul once again.
Leaving Oak Beach and the luxury of a four poster bed with sea views, we travel our last leg with the camper back to Cairns. This day became slightly hectic once we arrived in the city. We had to return the camper by 5pm (or so we thought was closing), pay Ky's speeding fine, Ky had a hair cut and colour appointment, check into our accommodation, fill up the gas botttle and we also had two packages to post home. All this in 3 hours - cutting it fine. Once we had paid the fine and Alex had dropped Ky off for the hair appointment, it was down to Alex to do the rest. A slight panic as Alex left the post office at 4:30 after getting all the jobs done apart from returning the camper (one of the most important jobs as we were leaving the country the following day at 5am!). Alex arrived at the campervan returns office to see the gates closed and nobody home. PANIC set in......... Alex managed to find the nearest phone and beg and plead with the staff
Coffs Harbour
Just before the storm hit at the 24hour roadside assistance to help! 30 mins later after having a 3 way conversation with the manager in Sydney and the Cairns depot manager on his mobile it was resolved....... PHEW. We were told to just leave it outside with the keys in a post box - turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it saved us a taxi fare to the airport the following morning. Next slight panic was Alex thinking for about 30mins that he'd left the bank card in the post office when coming back to pay for Ky's hair cut - by 6pm the post office would obviously be closed. PANIC........ again. The card turned up in the camper (just where he'd left it) and blood pressure came back to normal.
That evening there was an outdoor screening at the lagoon of the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show', so we sat with the hundreds of others around the lagoon and relaxed.
02/09/06 - The alarm goes at 4:30am...... time to leave Australia for Singapore. We had to fly down to Brisbane first to connect with our flight to Singapore. With 4 hours to kill in Brisbane airport, having checked in, Ky took
control of the trolley forgetting that the luggage had now been removed and continued to 'fly' along on the trolley as if she was in the supermarket. This was a bad move, as she scooted along the trolley was now unable to take her weight and slipped out from underneath her leaving her flat on her face in the middle of a busy airport. - Her excuse being..... the strong pain killer she was taking for tooth ache made her feel drowsy!!! Other than this little hillarity it was a painless journey to
Singapore.
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Jane Carroll
non-member comment
Oh My God....
Oh My God those pictures are just beautiful... Did you make it to Byron Bay? Love it there... so jealous. xxx