East Coast Adventures

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So, I think you left me in Cairns - wandering the night markets as I recall. Well, I didn't come back burdoned with didgeridoos and boomerangs but I did have a really good curry, yum!! Eating and drinking have been major past-times whilst here in Australia (and in New Zealand too) so don't be surprised if there is a bit more of me when I get home.

Anyway so the bus trip to Airlie Beach was a 10 hour marathon. The bus itself was quite comfortable but the scenery was boring - hundreds of fields of sugar cane interspersed with the occasional field of banana plants. You could see on the way down the damage that was caused by the cyclone they had here about 4 months ago - some of the forests are starting to recover but there are lots of bare patches, and bananas are hideously expensive because of all the crops that were wiped out.

The worst thing was the driver - he spoke like Joe Pasquale and thought himself a bit of a comedian so kept up a running commentary for his shift which was about 4 hours. Not for the first time on this trip, the i-pod came in very handy. I've also noticed that the bus drivers standard uniform consists of shirt and shorts, which are usually worn knee-length, but some drivers for some reason feel the need to wear shorts that are so short they're almost hot-pants, which is wrong when the said drivers are usually over 50 and can't really carry off the look.

On arrival in Airlie Beach I signed in for the 3 day Whitsunday Islands sailing trip. First day, the wind was well up and while it was thrilling to be on a small yacht (called the Southern Cross) at full sail across the ocean, the fact that it was at a 45 degree angle for most of the time was a bit of a trial, particularly for one poor girl who spent the first couple of hours with her head hanging over the side throwing up. Actually I say 'small' yacht, but it was 68 feet, it was just the living quarters that were small. Once we'd moored in a little bay there was a chance to do some snorkelling and get to know the group (15 in total including 2 crew). There was a mix of people including 4 Welsh (one bloke, 3 girls), myself and one other English guy, a Czech girl, a Swedish guy, a couple of Israelis, an Aussie and a Spanish couple. We were going to get to know each pretty well over the 3 days as we were living in very close quarters with no showering facilities!!

The snorkelling was brilliant - under the amazingly turquoise sea were lots of nemo fish and really colourful coral. I was very brave and spent ages out there, getting snorkellers back (again!!). After another sail in the afternoon we went to a bay to moor for the night and on the way we saw a humpback whale with a baby (just to clarify that, a baby whale, not a baby). I was delighted to find that the Welsh lad Mike and the English guy Simon were well in tune with beer o'clock so I'd found my drinking buddies - everyone else was a bit lame.

The second day we went to Whitehaven Beach which has been judged to be one of the top 5 beaches in the world. It was very beautiful, the sand is pure white and is so fine it's like walking through flour - apparently its 98% silicone and is great for cleaning jewellery and giving yourself an all-over body scrub! That evening was a full moon so we decided to have a bit of a full moon party on the boat and Mike marked it by mooning his bare arse at any passing boats. Mike also introduced us to beer snorkelling - you had to don a snorkel, into the end of which was a bottle with the bottom cut off. Into the bottle you would up-end an open can of beer and then drink it through the snorkel - and let me tell you, you have to drink pretty fast in order to keep up with the constant flow of beer to stop it spurting all over your face. The main result of downing the beer so quickly were some pretty impressive gassy burps - Dominic, you would have been very proud of me. Much fun, though Mike, Simon and I were the only ones willing to make fools of ourselves over and over again in trying it.

On the last day we went to Black Island which is a turtle breeding site and were really lucky and saw huge loggerhead turtles swimming in the sea and when we went snorkelling. On our way back in to Airlie Beach we had the sails up and did some tacking and raced against other boats that didn't know they were in a race, which is probably why we won them all!

So after 3 days without washing or brushing our hair and with the wind meaning we had to wear layers we all looked like a bunch of aborigines and I then had to quickly pack my stuff and get on another bus (a full overnight) to head for Rainbow Beach so I arrived here having not washed for 4 days - nice!!!

From Rainbow Beach I was off on a 3 day self-drive camping trip to Fraser Island - the world's biggest sand island. I was in a group of 10 people and there were another 3 full groups who went to the island at the same time. It was brilliant fun - on the island you can only get around by 4 wheel drive and you have to either drive on the beach, keeping an eye out for the tide times so that you don't get washed away, or on the inland tracks which, because it is all sand, are full of holes and are completely uneven so lots of fun driving.

These are unguided tours and you just get equipped with your 11 seater four wheel drive truck, some tents, a gas stove and your food and then you take your own booze and make your own fun. I ended up being the cook for our group of 10, it was just as well that everyone spent most of their time drinking as they didn't really care then what the food actually tasted like! At least being the chef meant that I didn't get lumbered with doing the washing up in the sea - we lost a few pieces of cutlery to the waves. At the briefing before the trip you're given lots of advice about what to do if you break down or get stuck in the sand, and also lots of advice about the dingos. You're not to feed them or try to attract them in anyway and you're not supposed to go anywhere alone. Also, if you do see a dingo the advice is to stand still and cross your arms over your chest, although nobody explained how shielding your nipples would protect you from an attack! They are considered a real threat - it was on Fraser Island that the famous 'Á Dingo stole my baby' incident occured - the authorities didn't believe the mother and she served time in jail before a young boy was killed by dingos on the island and everyone realised she'd been telling the truth.

The island was beautiful, full of huge sand dunes and amazing scenery. We went for a day at Lake McKenzie which was so turquoise is looked unreal though the water was icy cold. The first night all four trucks camped together on the beach so there were about 40 of us and we had a brilliant beach party.

The next day all four trucks headed for Indian Head to look out for whales and sharks. We managed to get there, but one truck got bogged and had to be pulled out and one other managed to hit a hole so hard it buckled the wheel!! The views at Indian Head were amazing - it's an outcrop over the ocean and you could see sharks in the water and loads of sting-rays, though to be honest they looked to me like bin liners floating just under the surface.

The next night we lost track of two of the groups but managed to camp on another beach with one other group and had another party - just a bit smaller than the first night. There were loads of dingo's about and they came right into the camps looking for food, so there was lots of crossing your arms and covering your nipples. Because we had no toilet facilities, when you needed to pee you had to just find a bush and go out in the fresh air. During the night you were best taking someone with you to dingo watch while you were coopying down!! The vans were equipped with a shovel in case anyone wanted to do more than just pee but predictably it was only boys that were spotted wandering off, shovel in hand. The girls managed a bit more self-control and waited until we were at spots with toilets which was usually once a day. Strange how my favourite trips have been those where you need to go feral with no washing or toilet facilities - not sure what it says about me.

We spent time at the Champagne Pools, which disappointingly were not full of Bolly dahling, but were huge rock pools where you could swim and where occasionally you got a wave crashing on your head when it came over the rocks from the ocean. On the final day we went to Lake Wabby which was awesome - a lake full of catfish, bordered on one side by forest and on the other by huge steep sand dunes about 40 feet high - you could slide down on your backside and go straight into the water!

After 3 days we were all completely shattered (not to mention stinking from not washing) and though we had planned a beach party back at Rainbow Beach, by about 9.30 everyone was sloping off to bed. I actually had a sea kayaking trip booked for the next morning at 6.30 and decided I would give it a miss, but woke up anyway at 6 so thought that I may as well go for it. So, by 6.45 I was being dumped into the sea out of my kayak when I hit waves at the wrong angle trying to paddle out past the breaking waves - I got there after being dumped out a couple more times though and after the first soaking you get used to being freezing cold, wet and drinking sea-water for breakfast. It was good fun but we didn't see any dolphins (which was kind of the point of the trip), so the guide taught us how to surf in on the waves which was great fun, though it did result in a couple more dunkings into the sea for me and Ryan who was my partner in the kayak. By the time we finished my arms felt like I'd been at a weightlifting session with Arnie Schwarzenegger.

On both the Fraser Island and Whitsunday trips because you were so remote the night sky was amazingly beautiful - you could easily make out the Milky Way and the stars were so bright it looked magical.

On the bus trip down to Sydney from Rainbow Beach we went through a town called Gympie where I was fully expecting to see the locals wandering around wearing rubber masks and studded leather pants - disappointingly this was not the case.

So I arrived in Sydney to stay with Katie and Marc and their family (Bob and Margaret, Katie's mum and dad, and the kids Zac and Eva - both real cuties). Its real bliss to be in a room on my own and not have to drift off to sleep to a background symphony of snores from your 5 other room-mates!

So since arriving in Sydney the weather has been beautiful - clear blue skies and warm enough to wear shorts and t-shirt. I did the Coogee to Bondi Beach walk which was really pretty and then hopped on a bus from Bondi junction (great shops!!) into Sydney for the obligatory harbour cruise - I get bonus points for spotting the nudist beach on far side of the harbour. The opera house was smaller than I thought it would be, but really stunning. I checked out the performances but not being a fan of the opera decided to save the $100 for a ticket and spend it on shoes instead - two pairs in fact!!! I was quite surprised to see that they had a billing for Pam Ayres performing at the Opera House - I thought the Australians had already taken all our rubbish when we sent the convicts over????????

On Saturday night Katie took me for a girls night out on the town with a couple of her friends and we headed to Darling Harbour. I had my new (very high) shoes on and found it really difficult walking in them after wearing only flip flops and trainers for 3 months. In the first bar we went to (drinking champage - hooray!!) I bumped into Jo Dadds and Leah Wooldridge (ex-Somerfield) again, - I'd met them earlier in my trip in Fiji. It really is a small world.
As the evening wore on my shoes were getting more and more painful and by about 2am I could barely walk. I was also slightly drunk, which didn't help with the balancing and had to hold myself up when going to and from the toilets. It was honestly mostly down to the shoes but I didn't feel like trying to explain this when the bouncer asked me to leave as he thought I was too drunk...... so, I came to Sydney and managed to get thrown out of a nightclub - class act!

We went to Manly Beach on Sunday which was really nice - nicer than Bondi I thought, and lots of surfers about. We've also visited Balmain markets where I managed again to avoid buying tat - I've shown a lot of shopping self-control on this trip (except for the shoes which is understandable).

Yesterday I went to the do the Harbour Bridge Climb and Katie and her mum, Margaret, who are both terrified of heights did it with me!! It was a gorgeous sunny day (again) and the views were great. The only drawback were the Star Trek/Telletubbies style suits we had to wear - not really what you'd call stylish. Katie was very brave even if she did look like a blind man clutching at everything and shuffling her feet as she walked the bridge! We finished the day off with a visit to the Aquarium to get up close and personal with the sharks.

So, I'm at the end of my time here in Australia - it has been amazing and I'm definitely coming back to see the bits I've missed and more of some of the places I've already seen. Sydney is a great city - I could happily spend a year or two working here. Hige thanks to Katie and Marc for being so kind to me - they've ferried me about, fed me, kept in wine and beer and generally gone out of their way to make my visit great.

Tomorrow I fly out to Hong Kong to sort my visa for China and to meet Pip for the final leg of my trip, I can't believe it's gone so quickly and I''m not entirely sure I''m ready to come home in only 4 weeks.

Loads of birthday mentions for the next couple of weeks - Happy Birthday to Lizzie for 21st August (it was great to talk to you), to Jossy for 20th (Bob sends his regards), to Luke (Happy Birthday babes, see you soon), to Alex and Sasha (we'll catch up when I'm back), to Olivia (have a lovely birthday party, I'll get you a present when I'm home), to Louise and to Nanny (lots of love to you both). Also, good luck Lizzie and Dominic with the imminent arrival - Dominic make sure you phone me immediately with the news.

I hope that I'll be able to continue the blog through China, but I'm not sure what the internet cafe network is like there, so look out for more, but if not, then I'll do a final update when I get home at the end of September.

thanks for all the messages and e-mails,

lots of love

Carole
xx

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Photos

Dingo!
Quickly, cover your nipples!

Aquarium
Elvis is alive and well and living in Sydney Aquarium

Comments

[Claire]

Hi
Hi Carole Just read your blog to date, dead funny, you should be on the stage(maybe a stand in for Pam Ayres when she retires!). Sounds like you're having a blast. Looking forward to seeing the photos when you're back( I've booked a couple of months off work for the occasion). Hope you carry on with the good work in China, and bring the Baker/Watson style to the local yokels. Look afta my baby sis for me, and enjoy every minute. Luv Claire xxx