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Published: February 15th 2007
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Mike and his winery.
They produced some good wine to! After leaving our friends in the blue Mountains we drove out to the Jenolan Caves a huge network of limestone caves. We took a tour through Lucas cave and visited the famous broken pillar. It was a fascinating tour and the caves were spetacular and included music and light displays.
From here we headed to Hunter Valley and the wine region. It was boiling hot so the cool (free) wine was gladly recieved. We took a tour of a winery and learnt all about how they produce the lovely stuff! After a couple of intoxicating days we headed back out to the cooler coast but not before we found "The Evans Family Winery." Brilliant!
Back on the coast we met up with some friends we'd made in the blue mountains (hi Lyndal, Paul, Jake and Chad) and they showed us around Shoal Bay where they were on holiday. It was a great, relaxed couple of days visiting the beaches. We both really enjoyed it. On the last morning Mike and I got up at 6am to walk to a local lookout (It is to hot at any other time of day). Next to the path their were lots of
The spiders in Shoal Bay
Yes, all those black things are spiders! As an Aussie told us "don't worry they won't hurt you, they only bite!". spiders sitting in their webs. They were huge! Becky was not impressed. When we finally reached the top there were massive webs full of even more spiders!
We continued our journey up the coast stopping at little beaches and sampling Australia's beautiful coastline and eventually arrived in the infamous Byron Bay where we met up with Hannah and Gareth. We had a great time, the girls sunbathing and the boys playing endless games of beach cricket. We also enjoyed a great night out to!! It was great to see them again. We always have great fun together.
Next stop on the grand tour was Brisbane, here we stayed with Daniel a friend we made in Avalon, north of Sydney. We explored the city and spent Australia Day down on South Bank in the city by the lagoon - a huge fake beach in the centre of Brisbane. It was great. Australia Day was busy with lots of activities and everyone enjoying the day off. Mike and I drove up to a lookout just outside the city to watch that evenings fireworks. We sat on the terrace of the restaurant up there and enjoyed the spectacular fireworks with a
Ugh a horrible close up!
Mike was really pleased with this shot. glass or two of wine!! Just outside Brisbane we stopped at Steve "crikey" Irwins Australia Zoo. The croc shows were brilliant, exactly like you see on tv. So good infact Mike made me go twice!! We also got to stroke Koalas and Kangaroos. We were like big kids running around to see all the animals and the shows! We stayed in alittle campsite just 3km from the zoo and that evening were sitting chatting to a couple of other campers when the guy we were talking to jumped up, a snake was sliding over his foot!!! Glad it was him and not us!!!! Especially as odds are it was a poisonous snake!!
After a short drive up the coast we stopped at Noosa, a beautiful place surrounded by waterways and great beaches. We spent a few days enjoying the little town and celebrated Hannah's Birthday with a fantastic meal at a Bistro on the beach. The food was amazing, even more so because it has been along time since we ate out like that!! Following this we stopped at Hervey Bay and booked onto a 2 day 1 night tour of Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the
world. We tore around the Island in a 4wd truck/coach. It was so beautiful swimming in clear water creeks, walking through rainforest and across sand dunes. We admired the crystal clear sea water but were not allowed to swim in it as this area of coast is inhabited by sharks and stingers!! We spent the night at a small resort on the island and that night decided to walk the 50m to the beach to look at the stars. We were warned to watch out for the wild dingos (wild dogs)! We went anyway but didn't stay long after we saw the dingo shadows in the sand!! We loved exploring the island and the highlight was definetly Lake McKenzie in the centre of the island with its clear blue waters and white sands. It was beautiful.
After leaving the island we headed north to Bundaberg and to a small beach called Mon Repos. Here at night between November and March you have the chance of seeing Turtles come onto the beach. We arrived at the turtle conservation centre about 7pm and waited. We were allocated a group to go down to the beach if turtles were spotted. We were
warned we could be waiting until 1am. Suddenly we were called to the beach as some tiny hatchlings had been spotted emerging from their nest. When we got to the beach a warden had gathered the tiny turtles in a temporary pen to count and log them all. They were so small and were trying to scramble to the water. We all formed two short lines down the beach and watched as they ran to the sea to swim away from the dangers of the beach and shallow waters. It was an amazing sight to see. It was like watching a wildlife programme on tv. We were told we could wait around for more turtle activity so we looked at the displays and watched their wildlife documentaries. Again we were called back to the beach. This time a huge loggerhead turtle had come ashore to lay her eggs. She dug a 60cm hole in the sand with her back flippers and then laid her eggs and spent 30mins covering them with sand and disguising the nest from predators. We were sat so close watching her that when she started to cover her nest we were both covered with sand as
she flicked it over the nest. We had to be careful not to disturb her and could only take photos at certain times. After about an hour she finished and went back to the sea. It was easily one of the best things we have done in Australia. It was a fantastic experience and we felt really lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
We leave Australia shortly for Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. We finish our trip in Hong Kong before arriving home on the 11th of April. We are really looking forward to catching up with you all. Keep your messages coming we love to hear from you all.
Also a very Happy Birthday to Mike's Mum.
See you all soon, lots and lots of love to all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Danni
non-member comment
wow!!!!!!!!
Hello beautiful people!! Guys you both look amazing and look like you're having a time of a life time!! The pics say it all really!! My Inka Trail article is out in a few weeks,i'll send you a copy if it. When you come back we'll def have to meet up in the sunny midlands! Lots and lots of love Danni xxxxxxxxxxxx