Queensland

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Australia (continued)

Having stayed longer than expected in Byron we skipped out Surfers Paradise and Noosa. We had heard mixed reports and weren't too dissapointed to have skipped Surfers when we drove through it on the way to Brisbane. Didn't look a touch on Byron.

Brisbane

As the bus pulled into Brisbane, I wouldn't say it was an aesthetically pleasing city: brick skyrise; crane; brick skyrise; crane....... Checked into our hostel and walked around much of central Brisbane in around an hour. Andy noticed there was a rugby match on at the Suncorp Stadium between the Queensland Reds and the Sydney Sharks. We had a bargain 6 dollar steak at the hostel bar then headed down the stadium to watch Sydney pummel the Reds by about 50 points to 16. Really nice stadium and glad we managed to get to the match otherwise Brisbane would have been a complete waste of time! (Andy - to be fair to Brisbane we didn't really see all of it and hardly spent any daylight hours there so there could have been more to do. Sounds like an ok place to live just not much in the way of a tourist city - bit like Birmingham maybe).

Hervey Bay & Fraser Island

We arrived in Hervey bay ready for our 3pm briefing for the Fraser Island 4WD tour. Instructions were given (labouriously), we were introduced to our group (3 Danes, 3 Germans, 1 Swissie, 2 Americans and the 2 of us), got our shopping in (including Goon and beers) and then went for an "all you can eat" mexican meal. Andy went out to some dicey nightclub with a few people from some of the other groups - not a wise move as we had to meet at 6.45am the next morning (Andy - I made it no problems and was in bed before midnight).

After some more briefings, we were ready to go. Being the only 2 who drive on the left in our native country, Fraser was nominated to drive the 4WD beast to the ferry port. After adjusting to the weight and strange suspension on the vehicle, we arrived at the ferry port without a scratch on the vehicle.

There were 4 groups sent out from the same hostel and we had a really decent group. One of the Danish lads Jonas (AKA Matt Damon) was a Michael Schumacher immitator who was keen to drive, meaning we didn't have to think too much about what we were drinking in the evening (we both drove only once more on the island and only for about an hour but that was as we wanted).

Fraser Island is all about driving around on the beaches and 4WD tracks, stopping at beautiful lakes for swimming then setting up camp (camp site - not camp in the Swarbrick sense) for BBQ and beers. The sites are best explained by the photos. It chucked it down with rain a couple of times in the evenings but this did not spoil the fun. One evening we tried to cook some potatoes on the little gas stoves they supplied - reckon it took over 3 hours to boil some potatoes - was dark by the time we actually got to eat.

The highlights of the Island were Lake Wabby (a lake next to sand dunes where you can slide down into the lake), Lake Mackenzie (huge clear lake with a nice beach) and the Maheno shipwreck on the 85km beach (most of which we drove along).

We had some really funny characters in our group including a Swiss guy (Roman) with whom Fraser spent many an hour doing seal/sealion impressions in the numerous lakes. We also mixed a bit with another group who had the misfortune of having someone who consumed a little too much goon and was sick in a tent on someones back. He also got lost in the forest and fell over on the BBQ and a tent. Swiss people really can't drink a lot which has been subsequently affirmed by a lad we met called Stefano. Shows what a small world it is that the other group had a girl who used to work in Deloitte Birmingham as a scholar (Stephanie Allen).

Back in Hervey bay, we had a BBQ with our left over food from the island and chilled at the hostel. As it got dark, a number of possums turned up, fighting each other and heading straight for the goon boxes.

We boarded the bus to Rockhampton the next day - glad we didn't have any longer in Hervey Bay - was a bit like Torquay off-season with retirement homes and not a lot to do.

Rockhampton & Great Keppel Island

Arrived in Rockhampton an hour late at 1am and pretty much crashed out at the Ascot hotel. Just after 10am the next day, we were picked up by Capricorn Dave for his "Beef 'n Reef' experience. He has been labelled crazy by the jackass boys and he didn't dissapoint. He walked into the hostel bar to meet us barefoot despite the fact it had been raining and chucked us into his battered out camper van for the "trip of a lifetime."

We drove about 20 minutes outside of Rockhampton and parked up. We then searched around by the billabong for snakes and spiders - found many large spiders and held them all (informed they were not dangerous!). The crazy guy then found the largest ants nest and jumped up and down on it barefoot until ants were covering his feet and ankles whilst biting him - whatever floats your boat. Apparantly the record is held by a Brummie (6 mins) and his feet took 3 weeks plus to recover. We also tried some bush tucka - live termites from a nest that Dave located. Not overly filling but might be useful if you were desperate!

Out next stop was a country pub for a steak burger (made from one of the local cows) and then onto the nearby national park to look for huntsman spiders. We managed to find a number of spiders and just as we were about to leave, Dave found a pretty big female huntsman spider. We both had our photos taken with it on our face before returning it to its nest (see the photos).

Pretty pleased with finding the huntsman, Dave rushed us over to an old farmhouse where he thought he would find some snakes. We found a small brown one and a carpet python. Had a hold of them both, got the photos taken with them and then headed off to find some wild Kangaroos.

On the way to the paddocks where we would search for the Roos, we spotted an emu, which strolled past us, and also located some scorpions, which we again held for the photo shots. After that, we saw over 20 kangaroos bouncing around, some of them with Joeys in their pouches. The final stop was a swim in the billabong which came complete with a rope swing. On the way, Dave noticed a large tree snake at the side of the road - another photo op not to be missed. After the photos, Dave and Andy both wound up the snake on purpose to get bitten - Fraser declined the experience gracefully! Oh yes, forgot to mention, Dave also insisted on putting the two larger snakes in his mouth to see if they would fall asleep in the warmth of his tongue - mentalist! Check out his site:

Capricorn Dave

After the day out, we went to the Great Western hotel to watch the Rodeo practice - some pretty crazy guys riding some incensed bucking animals. Quite a backwards little town. On the way home, we popped into an Irish bar for some live music then hit the sack.

The next morning, we got the ferry over to Great Keppel Island which has to be one of the best islands we have visited, better than many of the Thai islands. The guy on reception had messed up the bookings so we got upgraded from our dorm room to a large luxury tent with two single beds, fans, bedside lights and our own veranda. Our time on Great Keppel involved a large amount of walking around the island exploring the different beaches and bays with our snorkelling gear. It was a very relaxed island to say the least. We saw loads of stingrays (some absolutely huge) and some turtles. On the final day, we were heading out to see some sharks at Wreck beach but spotted a number of jellyfish. Unsure if they were deadly stingers, we spun around and got out of there. It had involved a 7km walk to get there but its not worth chancing it. It wasn't so bad as it was a really cool walk with snorkelling on the way seeing much more rays and turtles.

Back in Rockhampton, we both went for a 500 gram prime rump stonegrill steak. They bring the steak out on a stonegrill plate and you cook the meat how you like it. It also comes out with veggies and peppercorn sauce and was ace - we both consumed the full 500 grams pretty rare, hoping this would assist us with sleeping on the overnight bus to Airlie beach leaving at midnight - how wrong we were! It wasn't exactly a backpacker meal.

Airlie Beach & Whitsundays

Arrived in Airlie beach tired and fearful about the state of our accomodation. Many people had almost guaranteed we would have bed bugs, ants, cockroaches and badly smelling rooms. Having checked into the room, whilst it was not a palace, it was better than we were expecting and we left without any incidents (hangovers aside).

The first night in Airlie beach, before the Whitsundays trip, was spent dining at a top dollar restaurant (Nando's). We relaxed at the lagoon the next morning before boarding the Pride of Airlie catamaran with about 70 other people. We sailed a few hours over to South Molle Island, admiring the views around the Whitsunday Islands, while savouring the taste of a couple of VBs. There wasn't a lot going on at the island although there was one small bar where everyone from the boat went for food and a couple of drinks (well ok maybe 3 or 4).

There were six of us in our room: the two of us, Jay (Scouser - planning his trip around the football), a couple of boys from Reading and a girl from Canada. All the lads, with the exception of Andy due to his ear plugs, were awoken around 1am by the Canadian girl shouting in the room. As we slowly woke up, it transpired that an Irish lad had drunk too many beers and got into the wrong room and passed out in the Canadian girls bed. After a lot of screaming, hitting and kicking him, she finally woke him up and booted him out of the room. Everyone was pretty scared of her after that and it took a while to get back to sleep for fear of being attacked by this lunatic! We subsequently befriended the lad for the next week or two and he was a good crack (as were his 7 buddies).

The next day on the boat, we sailed about 3 hours over to Whitehaven beach for some sunbathing and swimming. The sand was very fine, with people cleaning there jewellery in it. It was absolutely boiling and there is minimal shade on the boat, which led to a number of people looking like lobsters by the end of the day.

The final day on the boat involved a snorkeling stop, where unfortunately the water was not that clear, before returning to Airlie beach. Five of us had a texas hold 'em tournament in the hostel, with Fraser being victorious. We went to Morocco's nightclub in the evening to meet up with everyone from the boat - Jay decided to show off his pole dancing skills which didn't massively impress anyone.

Let's talk a bit more about Jay. He's not your typical scouser - he brought GHD hair straighteners away with him - it's ok though as they are only the slimline version!?! He spends two hours getting ready as after washing and conditioning his hair, he leaves it 45 minutes to dry naturally before straightening. Then comes the moisturising stage. This guy even takes longer than Sanjay to get ready - unbelievable!

The next day, we boarded the Greyhound bus north to Townsville.

Townsville & Magnetic Island

Our first night in Townville was pretty uneventful as we were tired after the Whitsundays trip. We had a roast beef dinner (yeah) down a local Irish pub then got a couple of drinks to enjoy whilst watching tv in the hostel. Unfortunately, loads of girls in the hostel wanted to watch Bring It On (the Howlster's favourite film)- what a waste of an hour and half of our lives!

The next few days in Townsville, we visited the Reef HQ Aquarium, seeing sharks, turtles and a wide variety of other reef life, and the Museum of Tropical Queensland, with a huge shipwreck display. Afternoons were spent relaxing/sleeping by the lagoon. On our last evening there, we headed out of town with a Swiss guy (Stefano), to watch a Rugby League game. ANZAC day was approaching and they had a military band just before kick off - amusing listening to them do covers of songs by The Killers and a few other bands. Townsville lost the game 10-6 to South Sydney Rabbithos (with Russel Crowe in attendance).

From Townsville we headed over by Ferry for two nights, three days on magnetic island. The place was really nice but paled in comparrisson to Gt Keppel. We still had Stefano in tow and also caught up with an English guy and a very funny Irish lad. We spent the daytimes snorkelling and walking and the evenings bevving. On the second day we hired a car to reach some spots further out and also to watch the sunset from the Western side of the island. It was pretty fun driving (particularly the offroad bits) and some of the views were stunning.

We jupmed on the greyhound for the 6 hour trip up to Cairns

Cairns, Port Douglas & Cape Tribulation - daytime activities

We arrived in Cairns at 8.30pm and by 9pm we were showered changed and in the pub with a beer (well technically 2 as it was buy one get one free). Imagine that Sanj - less than 30 mins for two people to get ready. The bar was called the Woolshed and is a popular spot in Cairns which we had been recommended many times by people travelling down the coast. Think Walkabout with buy one get one free and dancing on tables (complete with shelves for your drinks). Some people's idea of hell but we had a good time catching up with a lot of people we had met on the way up including 8 Irish people who we met on the Whitsundays trip and some people from Fraser Island. Going to the Casino afterwards was perhaps unwise in hindsight.

Won't do a day by day run down of Cairns as we spent about 10 days there all in all. The hostel we checked in to is luxurious for a backpacker (maybe not for others) so we decided to stay longer in Cairns and do Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas as day trips rather than overnight stops as originally planned. Cairns was a pretty sociable place to be as most people we met had been travelling the same direction up the coast (following the sun) ending their trip in Cairns so at various points there were a lot of different people around. This combined with the fact that we met a lot of people on the trips we did do meant we completed rather less day trips than were available whist still visiting everything we were particularly keen on.

The highlight of all the trips was undoubtedly the snorkel trip to the Great Barrier Reef - itself bigger than England! We visited two snorkel sites stopping for between 1-2hrs at each. The coral and marine life was fantastic as you can see from the photos with turtles etc. There was also a couple of really interesting people on the boat with whom we went out in the evening and an activity called boom netting. This is being dragged behind a boat holding on to a net. Fraser almost lost his swim shorts (which are a little too loose) and a number of girls had to hold on / replace there bikinis due to the speed of the boat).

Another decent day trip was the Cape Tribulation trip (which we made on the second attempt). We had already paid a deposit for the same trip earlier in the week but decided not to go having stayed out rather too late the night before (4am - with a 6.45am alarm). We were better behaved for this trip and only stayed out till 1.30am so were fresh and rosy. What was most annoying for Andy is that I had watched the extra time in the Liverpool Vs Chelsea game from 6.40am and then the bus arrived just after Robben's (Chelsea's first penalty taker) had his shot saved. The trip involved visiting the towns of Cape Tribulation (named becasue of the tribulations it caused Captain Cook), a stop off in Port Douglas (which we spent in an Irish bar), a visit to Mossman Gorge for some paddling, a walk in the Daintree rainforrest and best of all a Crocodile Safari along the Daintree river where we saw 3 wild crocs and numerous other wildlife with a very informative guide. Apparently crocs do still eat people. The whole day involved really scenic driving through the Daintree rainforrest and along the ocean road between Cairns and Port Douglas (which some people managed to sleep through despite the maniac driver). There were some fantastic views along the way and also a beach stop around lunch time. Its really starnge to see Rainforest going right up to the beach.

Fraser also went on a day trip to Kuranda on the scenic railway and cable car while Andy opted to skip preferring a day relaxing (saving money), catching up with various stuff. Money wasn't saved though due to the impulse to buy warm clothes for NZ, where it will be winter on arrival. The Kuranda scenic railway is over 100 years old and winds its way 34km through the mountains in just under 2 hours up to the mountain town of Kuranda. Here, Fraser walked around the markets of aboriginal arts and cratfs and ate a large cheese filled Bratwurst at a genuine German Tucker stall. The return trip was a 7.5km cable car over and through the rainforest, which at points was about 500 metres above sea level - pretty amazing views across the rainforest, Cairns and out into the ocean.

Within Cairns there was also a really decent swimming lagoon where Andy spent a couple of afternoons (one when Fraser was at Kuranda and another just with some friends from the trip up the coast). Also our Hostel (or rather backpacker Hotel - Gilligans) had a pool with attached bar and occassional live music which was good for relaxing. The bar was also pretty busy and noisy till the wee hours however this didn't effect our sleep too much due to earplugs and frequent nights out.

Cairns - Nightime activities

As mentioned earlier there were numerous nights out (with the people from the Cape trib trip, snorkel trip, the Irish boys, Nathan an English lad and Danish lads from the Fraser Island trip. There are photos of most of these up (or on different peoples facebook sites - a site that Jimmy and Batch use far too much). Evenings generally involved a familiar pattern often involving PJ O'Briens for some football replays, sometimes Rhino bar for some cheap food and almost invariably ending in Woolshed (where they even have goldfish racing).

We went on an organised pub crawl one night which was fun though we were pretty tired from the night before. An amusing aspect was that Fraser had just washed his shoes so he could look smart for the arrival of the Bo's but the trip had a no thongs (flip flops) policy so Fraser had to wear wear wet shoes all night.

Another evening out was spent playing a poker tournament at the local bar and grill (which Andy had noticed advertised there on an earlier night out with some of the Irish lads). Very amusing night (both of them) with Fraser finishing ahead of Andy yet again at the poker. Both nights ended (poker & Andy + Irish) at the Woolshed bar for dancing on tables and cheap jugs (no pun intended).

On one particular night Andy was out with one of the Irish lads (Timmy) and a lad from the Dorm called Robin. Everyone else was either broke or hungover. A quiet night ended up on a pub crawl stopping at a couple of Irish bars, Gilligans, the bar and grill and ending up in the Woolshed where there were about 15-20 familiar face including the Irish Girls from the Whitsundays, Nathan, Scouse and two sets of English girls we had met on the way. That gives you an idea of how small Cairns is to go out in but what a friendly place it is. There will certainly be a lot of people we will miss when we leave whilst at the same time looking forward to a respite from the heat (its a hard life) and the return of Marie and visit of Mr and Mrs Bowyer.

Despite all the nights out unfortunately we missed the Kylie tribute act that was on the whole time we were in Cairns.


Other random facts


* You recieve more emails when your team gets relegated than at any other point in the year.
* Its difficult to wake up to watch Champions league semis at 5am after a night out.
* There is someone in the world who takes longer to get ready than Sanjay
* Swarbrick is still struggling at fantasy football.
* Fraser has beaten Andy in two/three successive poker games.
* Watford were deservedly relegated.
* There are some very big fish in the world.
* Drinking on a boat from 7.30am in the sun is unwise.
* Marie and the Bo's arrive soon and the shoes are being cleaned for there arrival (to look smart for them obviously)
* Andy is now staying away an extra two month until Christmas
* Fraser now snores
* Bed bug bites look horrible
* Its going to get cold in New Zealand
* England gave us no reason to gloat with the Aussies over the cricket.
* No one got any tickets for the Euros in 2008 :<
* Swarbrick owns a silly hat.
* Jimmy and Batch join too many groups on facebook.
* Sarah Mullineaux likes to put pictures up on facebook where people look there very worst.
* Paying $6+ for doing your own laundy rather than paying a hostel owner in Asia $2 to do it for you and fold it up neatly sucks.
* Cooking for yourself and paying more for your food than eating out each day is also a chore.
*Neither Fraser or Andy are very budget focused (particularly when under the influence - or in the casino for Andy)
* We are 6 months in to our trip and it has flown by.
* Arsenal are not interested in Anton Ferdinand
* It's difficult to be jealous about things at home but we are very jealous about Glastonbury, and the fancy dress outfits, and the Scummers birthday party (Lovejoy).

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Photos

Mad fan
One of the Red Army fans at the Brisbane Suncorp stadium where we watched the rugby union match against Sydney Sharks

Line out
Sydney sharks winning a line out - managed to capture the ball as being caught

Suncorp stadium
View of the stadium just as second half about to start - pretty nice stadium

Goanna
Flat lizard climbing the tree near one of the lakes on Fraser Island

Dirt tracks
One of the better inland roads on Fraser Island

Shipwreck
The Maheno shipwreck on the eastern beaches of Fraser Island - pure photographic genius with the sepia effect

Maheno
Us in front of the shipwreck

Stereo
Fraser and Kasper struggling to hear the music from Andy's ipod over the sounds of the sea at night

Sick in a tent
Swiss guy from the group next to us just after he threw up on the Canadian lad - can you spot the puke?

Beach party
Us and two of the Danish boys (Kasper and Jonas) enjoying some goon by the beach. Marie - note that Fraser's head torch was very useful on the island and thus not a rubbish purchase

Beach driving
Towards the top of the 85km long beach, taken from our 4WD tank

Eastern beaches - Fraser Island
The waves on Fraser Island are too rough to swim in and there are also a number of sharks in the waters

Indian head
Lunatic standing near the edge of the cliff face

On the head
Us on Indian head - not anywhere near the edge as the guy on the other photo

Stuck in the sand
Andy and Alex digging the tank out of the soft sand on the island

Pinnacles
One of the sacred aboriginal sites on Fraser Island with its darker coloured sand

Lake Wabby
Lake Wabby next to the sand dunes which you can run down into the lake

Lake Wabby's clear waters
Strange coloured water all around us with Andy looking mighty guilty and Fraser trying to get away from it

Run run run
Launching ourselves down the dunes towards the lake

Superman
Diving into Lake Wabby from the dunes

Team photo
Our group in Lake Wabby - Roman the seal is under the water as ever

Beach camping
Our campsite the second night on the island - superbly put up by Andy, Fraser and Roman with a rain shelter on the left which came in very handy

Rain shelter
Taking cover from the rain

Lake Mackenzie
Supposedly the best lake on the island but possibly prefered lake Wabby

Relaxing
Luckily, it didn't rain when we were at Lake Mackenzie, our final stop before heading back - there were worrying clouds around however (see previous picture)

Lake Mackenzie blue waters
As the clouds passed, the true beautiful colours of the water came out

End of the trip
Our group just before boarding the ferry back to Hervey Bay

Driving
In the driving seat in what proved to be a huge responsibility driving 11 people around for 3 days, with only us two and Jonas doing any driving

Possom on Goon
Not even the possum could avoid the lure of the GOON

Fraser St
Even on the island and around where it is clearly spelled Fraser, many people were still calling it Frasier Island and me Frasier

Ants
Crazy Dave after jumping on a hug ants nest to "wake them up"

Country pub
Finally the sort of Aussie pub we expected to see

Spider
One of the many spiders we found on our trip with Capricorn Dave

Huntsman close up
Close up of the huntsman spider which we put on our faces for the photos - having just removed it from its nest of eggs

Andy and the huntsman
Looking very comfortable with the situation

Unsure
Having just been told it could bite

Didn't get bitten
Got the spider on and off without a bite

Lunatic
Dave putting a snake in his mouth

Show them the whole thing
Sanj - are you happy now? Andy has been wearing the t-shirt religiously

Carpet python
The second snake we found that Dave took home - hoping his Mrs would let him take a photo of it with his 2 week old baby girl

Emu
This strolled past us without a care in the world

Scorpion
Was expecting them to be a bit bigger