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The start of two months in Australia begins in Sydney and a trip round the Opera House and a guided walk through the town and Botanical gardens where dozens of large bats hang upside down in the trees in broad day light! Later, we take to the harbour on a fascinating Aboriginal-owned boat tour for views of Sydney's waterways and hear the history from the perspective of its indigenous inhabitants, the Aborigines. A walk around the various beaches of Sydney is also undertaken finishing at the infamous Bondi beach.
We move on to Australia's oldest wine-growing region of Hunter Valley and another mountain bike tour to nearby vineyards to sample local wines and locally-produced cheeses and olives - another hard day. My fellow travellers and I are, at this stage staying in a cabin and, in groups of 3, take it in turns to cook for the rest. Me cook? I‘ve not got over the soup incident in Majorca - ah but that‘s another story - thus on my, Fiona and Miranda’s turn to prove our culinary skills to the rest of the group, I really push the boat out, throw caution to the wind and make the salad! Anyway I
make up for it by setting the table as per an Army Regimental Dinner and we serve 3 courses culminating in a port toast to finish! The next day we head to Myall Lakes National Park where we swim in the therapeutic tea tree lakes. Our tour then takes us inland through the Great Dividing Range. Our destination is a sheep station where we immerse ourselves in a traditional farmstay where we join in seasonal farm chores - mustering sheep on motorbikes where we had to then corner and catch them so that they could be injected with vaccine - I had a go of that too. Oh and we did a bit of snowpea picking too - joyous! We then move on to one of my favourite places - Byron Bay where I completed my first surfing lesson at cosy corner - which was absolutely great fun.
Back to city life we spend the day in Brisbane and there’s plenty of shopping to be had but I’d rather be at the beach! Leaving the city behind we head north through the Sunshine Coast with a side trip to Noosa Head where we see dolphins and a turtle along the
way. We then spent two days on Fraser Island in a 4WD, beach cruising, exploring the interior on rough sand tracks, swimming in gorgeous freshwater lakes and taking rainforest walks as well as visiting a washed up shipwreck just sitting on one of the beaches. Swimming isn’t recommended here because of sharks but as much as I kept a look out I didn’t spot one.
Heading further north we stay at our second farm stay where we cook outdoors and sleep under the stars around a roaring fire in oversized sleeping bags known as swags! Next day we have a go at milking cows and attend a cattle auction before a bbq and another night under the stars.
Airlie Beach is next on the agenda where we take a day trip around the Whitsunday Islands with time for lunch on a pure white sand beach. Further north we stay at Mission Beach in a place called “Sanctuary” where our accommodation here is in unique rainforest huts with mesh sides that “afford us an intimate view of the surrounding rainforest” - as well as dolby surround sound of all the animal noises during the night - some of which sound a
bit too close for comfort - not good when it‘s sooo dark you can’t see what’s lurking outside - good job I didn‘t need the bathroom! We also got to see a wild casselwary - an endangered bird that frequents the area. Finally we reach Cairns - the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. During my stay here with Fiona (another lass on the trip) we spend Xmas Day out on the Reef snorkelling, watching dozens and dozens of various fish and turtles. We also take a trip further north to Cape Tribulation trying to spot crocodiles on a river cruise.
Going solo I head back to Airlie Beach for 6 days tall ship sailing around the Whitsunday Islands, spending time on snow white beaches, snorkelling and just chilling out taking it easy.
One flight later I’m back in Sydney staying in the popular Rocks area where roads are closed to incorporate the colourful weekend markets. Time is also spent visiting the huge aquarium and wildlife centre - where they have on display numerous insects and animals found across Australia - some cuter than others, some deadlier than others. A further flight takes me to Alice Springs and onward to
the Red Centre, visiting Uluru and Kings Canyon where the rocks are scorched and burnt from the sun. With temperatures above 40 degrees centigrade it was rather hot to say the least. A two day trip takes me overland to Adelaide stopping off at the opal mining town of Coober Pedy where most people live underground to escape the heat - who can blame them. From Adelaide I take a ten day trip with a new group to Perth. Along the way we get to snorkel once again with dolphins and also with seals which prove to be especially playful particularly when diving down to their level. They’re a lot of fun and make for an absolutely brilliant day. We also partake in a camel trek and I get chance for another surfing session - again all great. Along the way we conduct various walks along rocky coastlines and forests, visiting a desolate (no longer used) telegraph station almost totally covered by sand as well as travel across miles of treeless plains and the longest straight road in Australia - over 90 miles without a bend. Our last day gives us the chance to climb up a fire lookout tree
- not for the faint hearted. (Of course I climbed it!!!!!) My last days in Australia are spent in Perth and Freemantle just chilling out before heading back into the Northern hemisphere to India.
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