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Published: October 25th 2006
Whitsundays
Unbelievable veiws of Whitehaven. Well I have been away from the internet (with USB ports) for almost a month, so this blog might be long (okay it's definitely going to be really long)...I have seen some amazing things since the last time I wrote...but it might take some of you weeks to read this, if you ever do 😊 But luckily I'm in a good internet cafe with card readers so there are more pictures this time too! (there is more than one page of pictures, FYI...make sure to select page 2 too!)
October 5, Herbie Flys to Cairns
Cairns (pronouced more like "cans") is not known for their beaches because it sits on a mud flat, but rather this popular backpacker destination is used to access the great barrier reef and the rainforests in Cape Tribulation.
After arriving in the tiny airport, you are shuttled to the small city centre next to a man-made swimming lagoon where your days inbetween tours are spent working on your tan. (remember no "beaches" in Cairns). There is a neat market by the lagoon on Saturdays where I finally purchased the famous Queensland boulder opal. It took me a while to find one that I
Swimming Lagoon in Cairns
Beyond this lagoon there as nothing but a ton of mud! loved, yet could actually afford. You can only find them in the state of Queensland in Australia and being the opal freak I am, this was the only thing I really didn't want to leave Australia without. I also really enjoyed a cheap fruit and veggie market called Rusty's Market open from Friday-Sunday. I loaded up on some good vitamins I have probably been lacking in my "pasta and cheap eats" backpacker diet!
I met some great people in the dorms in Cairns, and you would be reading for weeks if I wrote about all the crazy, fun, interesting people I meet over the course of the last few months but one in particular needs to be mentioned....
...my "korean" roommate named "Douglas"...of course his real name is not Douglas and I don't think his australian boss has realized that he is not japanese yet. He was hired to lure Japanese tourists to purchase kangeroo jumpers, but it's not surprising that Douglas would come home every day with a frown saying "no sale today". His translator's voice (mini computer) used an Asian-American accent instead of an indigenous english accent so words like "apple" sounded like "aaa-ole" (think toddler
New friends in Cairns
Sarah (canadian), Karen (dutch), Me, and then Meta (dutch, but just met Karen too!) from movie, Meet the Fockers)...we tried our best to help Douglas but I believe he will still encounter a few embarassing moments...my favorite Douglas moment, was when he attempted to do his laundry for the first time and ended up putting all his clothes (AND soap) in the dryer instead of the washer. Not to mention, he would let out a high pitched scream at anything remotely interesting/funny, and he got really silly (drunk) after only one beer. But I am not trying to bust on him, he was a really sweet person, he just needed some help from time to time.
While I was in Cairns, I met up with two of the irish I met in Gili Islands in Indonesian and the three of us went on a 2D/1N tour to the rainforests north of Cairns in Cape Tribulation. This region is part of the Wet Tropics World Hertiage area and it is one of the few places where tropical rainforests met the sea. It was about a 3 hour drive north from Cairns and each day we had a few stops at different interesting places. On the way up, we went to an animal sancutary where
Green Ant Cantina
With new friends in Cairns after enjoying an open mic night I saw cassowaries swallow whole tomatoes (they went down like there was a spiral staircase in their throat), next we saw an amazing overlook (picture) and had a guided rainforest walk where we learned about rainforest fauna like Mangroves, Strangler Figs and Archer fish. We then went to our accomodation where we had a relaxing afternoon on the beach. Meta (a dutch girl I met on the tour) and I were the only ones to successfully get up at 5am to see the sunrise...the picture does not give it justice. The water was about 100 meters closer to shore when we were there the afternoon before so you could not see any of the rocks/mudpiles shown at sunrise. On our way back to Cairns, we took a river cruise along the Daintree River where we saw snakes, more mangroves and even a baby croc on a little branch. But my favorite stop was next at the Mossman Gorges for a swim/walk. These cold green watering holes were surrounded by boulders and tropical plants. These particular gorges are actually owned by the original Aboriginal tribes that first settled here, some areas of these spectular gorges are special to these indigenous people
so they are allowed to deny access to parts they deam as scared. Before arriving back in Cairns, we also stopped to see Port Douglas and their famous "4 Mile Beach". We returned to Cairns Tuesday night exhausted and I woke to my first bits of bad weather on my trip thus far.
Unfortunately, my 2D/2N snorkeling trip to the outer reef starting on Thursday was canceled due to the windy/rainy weather...therefore, it was time to get the hell out of Cairns. I had been there for almost a week, and I had a great time, but if you are not on tours, you don't need many days here. But no fear, my sailing trip in the Whitsundays would also include snorkeling on the great barrier reef. So I had a one final night with all my new friends including one last free meal from the skanky venue of Woolshed's, and one of the largest games of Ring of Fire (Kings) you have ever seen...then there was a Matthew McConaughey appearance at PJ OBriens. (I respected his wish of no photos, probably because he looks like Tom Hanks from Castaway...he's definitely seen better days, but he did give me
Strangler Figs
These trees wrap around and kill their host tree till only these crazy patterns are left. a big "american" hug...since I mentioned he was the 4th american I had met thus far on my travels!) I danced the night away and a tired Kristen arose very early to catch my bus to Mission Beach.
October 12 - Mission Beach
Mission beach is about 2 hours south of Cairns by bus and is the destination for Tully River Rafting tours. I absolutely LOVED river rafting but other than that, there is not much to say or do for that matter in Mission Beach. There was nothing to really explore, it's not really that pretty and the weather was crap. I had two days there BEFORE my rafting where time seemed to stand still, but it was all worth it once I went rafting on Saturday. I had a great group of people on my boat and a ton of laughs. It was about 20km of Grade 4 rapids. All the hard stuff was first which was exciting, but less scary than I thought after the "death" speech on the way to the river! We stopped for lunch midday, and the sun finally came out. After lunch we headed for some more playful/fun rapids. We jumped
Fan Palms
Rainforest fauna... off of small cliffs, had splashing wars and all in all the day was filled with a lots of laughter. There was a drop when we purposely all flipped our rafts but I never fell out unintentionally. However, Paul who sat in front of me was getting flown all over the place, so I had a bunch of bruises from him landing on me!!!
October 15 - Townsville and Magnetic Island
I arrived in Townsville (4 hours south of Mission) around lunch time and instead of heading straight to Magnetic Island, I stayed a night in Townsville to see the sights. The sights in Townsville consist of "The Strand" a lovely beach that strectchs for miles and has a lot of shops and things around it and "Castle Hill" a steep 3km hill with a beautiful overlook of all of Townsville. I was absolutely exhausted when I arrived back in my hostel after 5 hours of walking (which included 6km of 14%!s(MISSING)teep grades).
Monday I headed to Magnetic Island on the ferry and landed at a disgusting but cheap hostel in Acradia Bay. The island was beautiful, but my dorm room, although filled with a great
Sunrise
at Cape Tribulation group of people, smelled like a**! It was painful to be in the room, but luckily on Monday night they had Trivia night at the hostel bar. My team didn't come close to winning but we did get a free jug for the most creative team name, "Possum Pussies and Crocky Cocks"...but everything on the island shuts down at 10pm.
Tuesday's weather was not good, but Emma and I (new british friend) took off for what ended up to be 13km hike all around to the best bays on the island. Luckily, it was overcast and rainy so it wasn't super hot but once we got back and sat down my body did not want to move! It felt good though to have a good workout...the island is full of huge hills and rock trails down to different little bays...it was not easy terrain! However, Emma proved that you can get burnt in the rain!! I never go outside without 30 SPF, the Australian sun is deadly! (2 out of 3 Australians get sun cancer in some point of their life...or so the doctor office's campaign says)
There was talk of "free laundry" in Townsville, and since the
weather wasn't getting any better in Magnetic Island (there is nothing to do here without the scenery)...a group of us decided to spend our last few nights in the area in Townsville rather than on the island. I had a great time in Townsville, but many will tell you not to bother staying here. It is a small military town but I thought it was gorgeous. I think everything is subjective and a lot has to do with the company you are with. We all did laundry (which ended up being problematic for me since some of my things have mysteriously gone missing, including my only pair of jeans!!) but later that night we had a great night out on the "strip".
The following day, Darron (an old aussie friend of Charmaine's), borrowed a minibus and took five of us out to the Paluma Ranges about an hour outside of town to go "Rock Sliding" in Crystal Creek. And this free tour was one of the best days I have had thus far on my trip. We were drinking "Goon" (box o' wine) by 11am, and there was a constant roar of laughter throughout the day. There were natural
Green Tree Frog
Taken on the Daintree River Tour rock slides where you could run and slide down like you were at a water park. Come Friday morning I had to depart my newfound girlfriends and continue south to Airlie beach to make my sailing trip on Saturday. But there is a good chance I will see Emma again in New Zealand.
October 20 - Airlie Beach and Sailing the Whitsundays
My last east coast bus trip landed me in Airlie beach around 5pm on Friday the 20th. The town's beaches/marinas are gorgeous blue waters filled with tons of sail boats. You hear some shady stories about the night life in Airlie so you have to be careful with your drinks here. When I arrived, I once again ran into old friends, met new friends and the quiet night I had wanted turned into dancing till 3am. Luckily I am poor and was drinking water at the bar so I was tired, but not too hungover Saturday morning for sailing, and I even fit in a nap by the marina which was much needed since I had to check out of my hostel by 10am.
I took a 3D/2N sailing trip around the Whitsundays. And anyone
Mossman Gorges
Hard to pic the best shots from little thumbnails, but loved it here! coming to Australia, this is a must!! There was 22 travelers on board our old racing sailboat called "Broomstick" along with three fun crew members. Our first day consisted of introductions/rules, and our first sail to the South end of Whitehaven beach. Whitehaven is supposedly the most beautiful place in all of Australia and I would not deny the rumor. The sand was so soft, not to mention extremely white and squeaky!! Unfortunately it is illegal to leave the country with any sand. I got to learn how to sail the first day (it's a lot harder work than it looks) and after sunset on the beach, we headed back on the boat for dinner not to mention my first overnight stay on a boat.
We started early after breakfast and we were dropped off on another beach to hike up to the Whitsunday (Whitehaven) overlook (see picture), and then down the other side of the island for a swim/walk around Hill Inlet (Tongue Bay). Next stop was snorkeling at Moreen's cove on the Great Barrier Reef. The visibality wasn't the greatest but there were tons of bright colored fish and interesting coral (however it still did not compare
to snorkeling in the Komodo national park while on Flores). Lastly they dropped us off for a play at Longford island and we later spent the night at Nara Inlet. On our way to Longford Island, we saw and fed an eagle...not sure if you can see this well in my photo.
Our last morning we woke up to rain and overcast weather....but we had a great sail home in our rainjackets. We even had a line break right before we were going to lower our sails...this added a little bit of action to the day. As we arrived back in Airlie beach the sun was shining and I returned to my hostel to find that I only had one roommate where I should have had 7! It was a pleasant surprise, but very rare. I met my boat members for a little after party later that night and invited my one roommate. The large group of us had a great night. Tuesday evening I fly out of the Proserpine airport back to Syndey. (airport is just 40 minutes west of Airlie)
I arrived in Syndey late last night and the weather is rainy here yet again. But
that's okay because I don't feel guilty spending the time in this internet cafe where they actually have card readers and real broadband! It hard to send a lot of photos without a reader because it used up all your battery power and the fast connection allows faster uploading!!
I am having a barbie (bbq) with Lisa's dad and Neets tonight in Syndey and I head off to Adelaide to see Mary tomorrow early afternoon (Thursday 26th) The boys from Shiprock Dive did end up using the logo I designed, and because I have little time here in Syndey I had to met them at 7am this morning for breakfast before everyone went to work. They wanted to thank me with a nice dinner/wine but there was no time for that. I am just excited to say that I am now an "international designer" ha!! They did end up getting more samples from other designers so it was a nice feeling to beat out the competition! Anyone looking to dive in Cornulla, let me know and I'll send you their way!
Well if anyone is still reading this, I hope you enjoyed my mini novel and all the
Four Mile Beach
Port Douglas, the sun was about to set so pictures didn't really come out. photos (even have some more faces this time!) My next blog will be Adelaide, Flinders Ranges, the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne and Tasmania!! (I'll try to write two if I can) I have about 2.5 weeks left in Australia before I head to Christchurch, New Zealand on November 14! Happy Halloween (in a few days!), I want to see people's costumes!!
Much love, Kristen
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Sara
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Home..Home on the range
Herbie....Yee=ha! I am so motivated by your blog. Sounds like you are doing EVERYGHING and anything and it's all awesome. We are currently planning our trip and most places you are going to! YEE_HA! Enjoy the Great Ocean Road! Be Safe