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Published: August 13th 2007
Hiya, you see, I knew EVENTUALLY I'd get round to another blog entry!!
Granted its been a lottle longer than I had thought, but I didnt account for
1) laziness,
2)staying in Oz quite this long, or
3)losing my camera and therefore all my photos...whoops!
Anyhow, here I am, and I've finally decided on my flight away from Australia and on to New Zealand...yeah I know, mum, you've heard that like 4 times before, but this time I think I'll actually stick to it! My bank account is kinda forcing me to apart from anything else! I'm on my last day in Melbourne today, and am going off on a tour on the Great Ocean Road tomorrow, and then on to Ayers Rock so I'm really looking forward to that. Then I fly back to Sydney for my flight to New Zealand on 28th August. Now that kinda means I'll be back in England on 21st October, about 2 months later than I originally thought, lol
Australia has been great, and despite it being winter the weather for the most part has been fine- kinda like an English summers day!
I started off in Perth visiting my family, which
Quakka on Rottnest
SOOO cute!!- we tried to feed one diet coke- don't think it really liked it. Obviously a foolish animal!I loved. The cooler weather was very much appreciated after the humidity of Asia, and it was pure luxury to be able to properly unpack my stuff and relax with family for a while. Also, my friend Stu who I'd met earlier in my travels, in China, was able to fly over from Melbourne to visit me, so that was great to have a catch up and someone to go exploring with me 😊. We went on a few adventures round Fremantle- the suburb of Perth where my Aunt and Uncle live- and off to Rottnest Island, which was beautiful. We found some Quakkas which are like little rat-like marsupials, I thought they were well cute! And then my family treated me to a weekend in Margaret River, a gorgeous area FULL of wineries- I think I certainly had my share of wine and food in those few weeks!
It was a bit of a shock to the system actually, when I took my flight to Cairns, and was forced to be a minging, poor backpacker again- I'd grown accustomed to luxury...thanks Andy and Trish!! And it felt like I was starting my travels all over again.
I actually
Stu and a Quakka
The dietcoke testing in action! did panic abit when I arrived in Cairns, the weather was miserable (very unusual for that time of year which is actually North Queensland's peak season...just my luck!) and it seemed really 'cliquey' in the hostels, cos a lot of people were living and working there for a few months so had no interest in mingling with the mere travellers who weren't part of their little gangs! It was all good in a couple of days though, I befriended a couple of canadians, and went on some gorgeous trips around the area, involving a dive round the Great Barrier Reef. the weather had improved by that point and it was beautiful- there were plenty of Reef Sharks around, and I swam with a Green Turtle which was a dream come true- it even nibbled some seaweed from out of my hand!! And then I went on a sky dive over Mission Beach...this was soooo exhilerating, I loved it. The beach was picture perfect, and you could see the rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef in the distance- it was just like jumping into a postcard picture, I'd definately recommend it.
After Cairns, was Magnetic Island, where I started my
Me and skippy!
feeding kangaroos at Australia Zoo (they're wierdly obsessed with Steve Irwin there by the way- they even have plastic dolls of his daughter in the giift shop...) travels with Anna, Alex and Sophie. The four of us stuck together most of the way down the coast, and had a few laughs. I'd actually randomly met Alex in Thailand, and me and Anna had a few mutual friends from Sheffield which was wierd.
Magnetic Island was beautiful and I really enjoyed chilling out a bit (apart from the losing the camera part!!...it may still be lying somewhere on the beach..so if anyone goes there soon?...hence, why there's NO photos from my trip until I get to Brisbane where I bought another!...see facebook for more photos if u want). And I also did the most amazing dive from off the coast as well, the Yongala shipwreck is famously one of Australias best dive sites so I couldn't really not do it. There wasn't much reef around that area, and so ALL the fish from nearby would just crowd around the wreck. You couldn't even really see the ship anymore because of the sheer quantity of fish and coral that had built up- and the fish, although they were many of the types that I had seen before, were massive, it was like they were on steroids or something, so
Me and Paul
messing about in Brisbane botanical gardens on my supposed 'last day' there...before I came back again!! that was really exciting.
Onwards then, we headed to Airlie Beach- from where we were to do the Whitsunday Islands. Basically, I had the most amazing time on this trip. The weather was gorgeous, and the waters were sparking blue, and the views over Whitehaven Beach were spectacular. We were on a boat with a pretty cool group too, so that always helps! I think my favourite thing, which I also found on Fraser Island, was just looking at the stars, I don't think I've ever been that far away from other lights before, and just hadn't seen the amount of stars that bright, it was gorgeous to just lie on the deck and stare at them 😊.
Fraser Island, was the next trip and that was pretty cool. Basically Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. And you can hire a 4WD with a group if people and just drive round it for a couple of days, camping on the beach. It was pretty fun and there were LOADS of dingoes, although how good a time you have is completely dependant on the people you are with- although I enjoyed myself and liked the
Me and Anna
Our last drunken night together in Byron Bay! island...I'll just say that I'd have probably liked it better with a different group of people!
Anyway, that part of my trip all kinda went to plan, its just then that I started to get sidetracked! I'd met Paul on the Whitsundays, and we'd got on really well, so we decided to meet back up again in Brisbane after I'd had a last few days in Noosa with Anna and Alex. When I went though, and we had a lovely few days sighseeing and going to Australia Zoo (severe lack of sloths though, grrrr, cant wait for Vancouver zoo!) then I didnt really want to leave!
SO, I went off to Byron Bay for a last rendezvous avec my mates, where we shared a few boxes of goon- basically very very cheap wine (i.e. about 4 quid for 4 litres!). In fact, according to the Door Men at Cheeky Monkeys, who I bumped into the next day, I think I had a bit more than my share! Byron was cool though, I'd reccommend it to anyone- its really laid back and small, but full of cool shops and cafes- very surfery...though I'm ashamed to say that I've not actually
Byron Bay
Last night of Goon together.by the way, Sophie had left us by this point- unfortunately have no photos of her due to lost camera! :( tried surfing since iv been here- whoops! I also went for a day trip to Nimbin, which is the most random place ever!! Although theoetically the same laws apply here as in everywhere else, the authorities seem to turn a blind eye to the hippy culture, and so you can get what ever you really want, and a few 'home-made cookies' were purchased by a few people I'm sure (...no, of course not by me, dad!!...)
After saying goodbye to my mates while they set off to Sydney, I traipsed my way back to Brisbane to see Paul!! Brisbane is cool though. Its a really nice size and the riverside on the South Bank is gorgeous. Paul had got himself a job working in the bar of one of the hostels there, and soon they said that although I couldn't get paid, seeing as I don't have a working visa, I could work a few shifts in exchange for accomodation and bar tabs etc. That worked really well for a couple of weeks, although when the bar is open until 5am every night, even working a couple of shifts a week seemed to turn you nocturnal!!
I couldn't
Nimbin
highly random....! do that forever though, and the extra couple of months that my original plans have altered by have knocked my bank balance quite a bit...well it was either that or the dives, or the skydives, or the random trip to ayers rock, or the eating out, or the drinking....! Anyhow, I need to start moving before I end up stranded here!lol
So I flew here, to Melbourne last week, was pretty tough to abandon Paul there, he's not heading back to England for another few months, but I'm sure the rest of Australia, and New Zealand and Canada will be good...
Australia has been cool in all, although I still think I preferred the experiences in Asia. Here is just that bit too much like home to be as exciting. It is more laid back I guess and the sights are amazing, don't get me wrong, but when you're just walking around the streets or drinking in bars and clubs, it's like being at home, and I can spend money just as easily!
I'm excited bout New Zealand though, I've heard it's beautiful, and even though it'll be freezing, people have said that the weather at the
moment just makes the scenery even more amazing 😊
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Stu
non-member comment
Quakka Plying
Hey, that guy feeding the Quakka looks kinda like...Tom Selleck! Or maybe a young Sean Connery...? Rumour has it that the Quakka in question has moved on from Diet Coke , and is now addicted to smack...just a rumour though...