Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 1257

Hello, After the whitsundays tour we made our way up to Mission Beach which was where we took part in the white water rafting. We were picked up around 7.30 in the morning and driven to the main base where we grabbed some breakfast and got our briefing. Within about half an hour we were on a coach being driven through the mountains to the top of the course. The sites were once again amazing and we were told that the course we were rafting through was actually surrounded by the oldest, untouched rainforest in world! The coach journey was long but when we arrived we spared no time in getting our life jackets on and getting in the water. There were seven of us and we all managed to get in the same raft together ... read more

We spend the whoooooooooole day shoe shopping. This was so we could get in somewhere for Skinny's birthday. I found some, Wendy found some even though she wasnt looking, but Skinny didn't find any... read more

I caught the bus up to the huge Botanical Gardens out of the city in Mt Coot-tha reserve. The gardens seemed a little dry but then Queensland is having drought problems....a number of the fountains in the city have been temporarily deactivated. The planetarium was closed but the fern hous, Japanese garden adn highly comical Bonzai house were entertainment and relaxation enough after all my action in Byron. Mt Coot-tha provided stunning panoramas of the whole city and valley, looking back towards Byron and on towards the gold coast. The evening held more intrigue as i used my day pass from the bus on the City Cat boat that runs along the river. I caught it in the south bank parklands and cruised along to the Riverside Centre from which i meandred up to china town ... read more

We were up bright and early, excited at our next adventure, we were going to spend the night in a bush camp followed by 3 days and 2 nights camping in the bush. The Everglades. One of only 2 in the world. Sean and Emma poped by to say their goodbyes which was nice. Then the rush started! As we were both so tired last night we still had to go and get our 4 days supplies from the supermarket, so it was all systems go! We got the free bus into Noosa Heads, then got the free courtesy bus to our new home. You should have seen it! Our first reactions were COOL! (We get criticised for using this word too often but stuff it) This was a REAL bush camp! and it immediately gave ... read more

Brisbane is great, I spent today wandering round the place exploring the botanical gardens and the south bank parklands....a big green blur on the south side of the river with a man made lagoon and sandy beach thronging with locals and tourists on this glorious sunday afternoon....baking hot. Took some respite from the sun and explored the markets at Stanley street. I crossed back over the river in to the city and back to the hostel, which is nice a clean, friendly and welcoming...the mixed shower facilities are a little unorthodox but hey no complaints...they're clean! Having glimpsed Brisbane at night i decided to take a proper look and headed out, camera in hand and found the Riverside Centre with its posh restaurants and glittering lights affording beautiful views of Story Bridge...lit along its length and ... read more