Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 1309

The Reef II

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns May 10th 2005

Snorkeling the reef

Tanya

Views in the water.... read more

The Great Barrier Reef

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns May 10th 2005

The Great Barrier Reef

Tanya

The Great Barrier Reef.... read more

fraser island- the biggest sand island in the world!

Oceania » Australia » Queensland May 7th 2005

lots and lots and lots of sand

manjit jaya suhi

for this trip we were in a group of 11, luckily everyone was really nice so it was a good trip. we had to drive a 4x4 toyota landcruiser round the island, which was sooo much fun!! i am definitely like my dad cos i love to drive... i need to drive somethihng bigger like a lorry or something now! this was bigger than the taxi we usually get when we go india with 3 seats in front and 2 benches in the back where 8 people sat. theres no tarmac roads and the roads inland are dodgy dirt like tracks, which is just sand and then theres the beach where we mainly drove on, which was really cool! i was very impressed by myself!! we saw the sights of the island like the lakes and ... read more

DINGO!!!!

Oceania » Australia » Queensland May 6th 2005

Lake MacKenzie

Eva

Stephan emailed me that he wanted me to join him on Fraser Island.....he even postponed his trip so we could do it together....how sweet! So I went to see him in Noosa, and we stayed there for three days before heading up to Hervey Bay and over to Fraser. We had bad luck with the weather on Fraser, but it was still an experience. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, and a UNESCO protected site. People normally go over there camping, and the hostels provide you with tours over there. You are normally 11 people in a van, alternating the driver whenever you want. I decided not to drive, as I was a bit petrified of being responsible for ten other people. And also, the conditions are different from what I am ... read more

The Great Barrier Reef

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns May 4th 2005

First Glimpse of the Reef

Lou in Oz

I took advantage of a 'cheap' flight and headed to Cairns for three days for a spot of diving and snorkelling. Didn't get up to much on my first day in Cairns - it was 26ish degrees, but raining - yuck! Just explored the town, but there's not much there besides hotels/hostels/bars/clubs. There's no beach just mudflats but they've built this lagoon type pool as was done in Brisbane. However, unlike the one in Brisbane, it's only kids who use it and not 'grown-ups'! Found some nice bookstores and cafes. That night I went to the races, i.e. cane toad racing! At a Blues bar! Bizarre experience. An Irish girl won the 'Fashions on the Field'. Far out is the only way to describe it. The next day I took a trip to the Great Barrier ... read more

Cairns - Reefs and Tropical Rainforest

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns May 3rd 2005

The reef from the air

PeteSarah

It is a bit hotter up here in Cairns, hopefully a taste of things to come in Thailand. We booked on to a dive with Tusa on the reef and headed out on Wednesday. We did our dives on Saxon's Reef, our first on a site called Twin Peaks and our second on Reef Magic. Our first dive was with a guide, Willy, and we saw some sea cucumbers, lionfish, reef sharks and some coral, of course. There were signs of damage from the cyclone that went through there in 1998, a lot of the coral is just growing back. Pete and I did our second dive alone. It was a good experience for us and we saw lots and lots of really nicely coloured fish and some nice coral like staghorn, bubble and mushroom leather. ... read more

Fun in Australia

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Brisbane May 1st 2005

"Steveo"

Bond Family

Aboriginal Dancers - Steve Irwin - Dreamworld What on Earth do these things have in common? Sure, they can all be found in Australia, but the thing they really have in common is Fun, Fun, Fun! We definitely had fun on our last week in Australia. The last night we were in Cairns we went to The Tjapukai Aboriginal Dinner Show. The buffet dinner was excellent but the real fun started when the dancers took the stage. The mixture of thought-provoking storytelling dances with humorous songs and skits were brilliant. We even got a lesson on how to play an aboriginal musical instrument called the didgeridoo. Our last few days in Australia were spent around Brisbane. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see the Australian Zoo. As Steve Irwin might say “CRIKEY” it is a ... read more

Birthday girl

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Brisbane April 30th 2005

at the haridressers

Eva

Well, I've got a few entries to put in, so I've decided to do them in the correct order, starting with my b- day in Brisbane. After leaving Sydney in April, I went up the east coast to Byron Bay. I met some awesome people there, some that I feel I can now call my best friends! I had an amazing time there! After that I headed up to Surfers Paradise, which was a bit of a dissapointment after Byron....I only stayed there for two days before making my way to Brisbane to meet my girls, Alys, Jaimie and Ali for my 24th birthday. On the bus up I bumped into Stephan, the German guy I met in Byron Bay. We exchanged emails, and talked about travelling together. For my birthday we had a girl's day ... read more

CAIRNS or CANS?

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns April 29th 2005

Crocodile Express

Bond Family

Cairns or Cans? Why is a city spelled Cairns pronounced Cans? After spending a fantastic week there we still don’t know. Maybe it’s because they have words without an R that they stick an “R” sound into (ie cinema is pronounced cinerma). We DO know that Cairns has warm tropical breezes, a lush green rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef right in it’s front door. So who really cares how they spell it? As we already shared, the first thing we wanted to see was the reef, but there are many other things to see and do around Cairns. The Rainforest Cable car is a thrilling way to see the tropical rain forest from the tree-tops. We were able to exit the car twice for walks along the forest. At the end of the line we ... read more

The Demon Within

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Brisbane April 28th 2005

The Travel Camel

The curious and the converted meandered into the slick modern surrounds of the International City Church to witness and experience the fundamentalist exorcist Christian preacher, Bob Larson. After taking a seat near an aisle to ensure an uninterrupted view, I was approached by various friendly Christians who queried which Church I normally visited, and why I had attended tonight. My reply was “none” and “a church is a more appropriate place than a theatre for such an event”, which was my way of saying that I was a interested observer and that I refused to pay $40.00 to watch Bob repeat the same display the previous night at the Tivoli. This was to be my second exorcism in six months, for in India I attended the tantric temple in Balaji, a famous site for those possessed ... read more

Brief history of Australia

Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name...more history

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