Hello from Western Australia!!!
I made it to my final main land state and it feels good! And also very hot, it is by far the hottest place i have been in oz so far, 36 yesterday, now that is India revisited, sweating and all!
Completly love Broome, have very easily slipped into 'Broome Time' chilled and enjoying the sun and pool at the hostel. The town is very laid back and quite at the moment, as the wet season comes to an end, but it is still beautiful. The colours here are so vivid and if you get the opportunity you should definitly google earth this place! The sea is blue, the sand white and the red dirt that is everywhere makes you feel somwhere completly different!
80% of the world's pearls come from Broome. It has a rich pearl history and you can still see the pearl luggers out on the horizon. And if you wondering, of course i invested!!! Who wouldnt!? i have never seen pearls like it, shop after shop, thats all there really is to shop for here, lol!
So after nearly a week of going solo (which i soon settled into and have probably spoken to people who i wouldnt necessarily have done - inc. two lovely girls in my room for Tawain) Kirst arrived this afternoon and it has been so good to see her! It has also been good to have a great conversation and not in pigeon enlgish, hehe!! She has bought some homely comforts which have gone down very well! i am just about to tuck into only my second bar of galaxy since i have been away, its going to be good! something i have learnt from this trip, never take a good piece of chocolate for granted!
So what is the plan? Well we have decided to go on the ultimate road trip and drive down the west coast to perth, all 2,500km!! In two weeks! I am SO excited, its going to be amazing and will be great to have the luxury of a car and go where we want when we want! It turns out that it is cheaper than using the public transport and we will be able to see so much more! The internet is very expensive, so probably wont have time to blog now until we reach Perth two weeks on Friday.
Just a quick hello, to say all is well! Will update you when i can! xxx
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Friday, 20 February 2009
The Top End!
Hello from Darwin!
I love this place, its great!! So completly different to what i expected and so its been a really great week!
Darwin - loads of history and although all relativly young, all completly fascinating. Did you know as i sit here now, i am closer to Singapore than i am Canberra and closer to Jakarta than i am Sydney!! Thats slightly crazy, but kinda cool as well and is just one example of how huge this country is!! Darwin is really isolated from the rest of oz, once you leave town there is not a lot around, katherine and Alice Springs are probably the nearest towns and the later is 1,400 km away! So i was really surprised when i discovered that it is full of young people, a great nightlife and modern buildings.
One of the reasons for the modern buildings is because of the threat of cyclones here. There is no high rise buildings, because everything is built so that it is as protected as much as it can be against a cyclone. Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day 1974 was Australia's worst natural disaster and literally blew Darwin to the ground. There was nothing left, everybody was evacuated and many did not return. So really, where i sit now is only 30 years old. Whether the bush fires in victoria will now be seen as Australia's worst natural disaster, im unsure, but the pictures that i have seen of the effects of Cyclone Tracy, it is pretty remarkable how built up Darwin now is.
Another major impact on life in the top end, was World War II. Two weeks after Pearl Harbour, the Japeneese bombed Darwin with twice as many bombs, it just so happens that the anniversary of the attack was yesterday and so there was a service at the cenotaph. Darwin again was destroyed, and i think it is maybe these two major events that contribute to the positive vibe here. It makes Cairns look like a wet drip!!
So its been a great week, and its gone really quickly. It started off with my aunt visiting me for the weekend which was great! We had lots of fun, including hireing a car! First time of driving in 5 months, just like riding a bike! Was a really good way to see the suburbs, as its all a bit spread out. I also drove along the Stuart Highway, the road that goes all the way to Adelaide pretty much, so that was kinda cool as we started at the bottom of that road for our tour up to Uluru.
We have done 2 day trips this week. One to Litchfield National Park and on to Kakadu. Litchfiled was really great, we went on a jumping crocodile cruise, where they bait the crocs out of the water, so that they jump for you. Its quite controversial up here, especially between states and its actually the only place in the world that you can see it! Then the afternoon was spent, admiring waterfalls and swimming in the rock pools which was loads of fun! Jen and I realised on that trip how much we take for granted these days, it was awesome, but my aunt, Debra, just loved it!
Kakadu National Park http://www.kakadu.com.au/ is Australia's largest at 22,000 sq/km. We were never going to see it in a day, and didnt really have the time or money to do a 3 day trip. Plus camping in the wet season, didnt really appeal either! It was a long day, but we still had a fantastic time. We saw some amazing rock art which has been there for 1,000s of years and went on a cruise along the Yellow Waters. We saw a croc there 2 which is always cool, and we had glorious weather which was great as the day before it had rained all day! There was so much water around, it really is wet here at this time of year, we did a cruise where people normally walk on a broadwalk during the dry season, now thats a lot of water!
Its really hot and humid here, so yesterday i decided that the hair had to go! It was an unecessary heat trap and so the bob look is back and i think it looks nice! I dont know, Jen leaves me for 5 minutes and thats what i end up doing!! although today has been a lot cooler with less hair, so thats got to be a good sign, its probably the first time i have worn it down in 5 weeks, lol!
I love the Northern Territory, it has to be my favourite state so far, and only one more to go, Western Australia, and i think WA will be its only contender. Its all very chilled out here, although Broome is meant to be even more relaxed, which hopefully means im in for a good weekend.
Jen left yesterday and after 5 months together, it was really sad to see her go and very wierd when she was not there this morning when i woke up. But im sure that i will just get used to some time by myself and then Kirsty arrvies on Weds! I cant wait to see her and journey down the west coast together.
So yet another time zone tomorrow, i will only then be 9 hours ahead and it is only 6 weeks until i fly to Singapore. Its completly crazy!
Have a gd weekend whatever you are up to, i think i might top up the tan, although i think 37degrees may be too hot for sunbathing!!!!
I love this place, its great!! So completly different to what i expected and so its been a really great week!
Darwin - loads of history and although all relativly young, all completly fascinating. Did you know as i sit here now, i am closer to Singapore than i am Canberra and closer to Jakarta than i am Sydney!! Thats slightly crazy, but kinda cool as well and is just one example of how huge this country is!! Darwin is really isolated from the rest of oz, once you leave town there is not a lot around, katherine and Alice Springs are probably the nearest towns and the later is 1,400 km away! So i was really surprised when i discovered that it is full of young people, a great nightlife and modern buildings.
One of the reasons for the modern buildings is because of the threat of cyclones here. There is no high rise buildings, because everything is built so that it is as protected as much as it can be against a cyclone. Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day 1974 was Australia's worst natural disaster and literally blew Darwin to the ground. There was nothing left, everybody was evacuated and many did not return. So really, where i sit now is only 30 years old. Whether the bush fires in victoria will now be seen as Australia's worst natural disaster, im unsure, but the pictures that i have seen of the effects of Cyclone Tracy, it is pretty remarkable how built up Darwin now is.
Another major impact on life in the top end, was World War II. Two weeks after Pearl Harbour, the Japeneese bombed Darwin with twice as many bombs, it just so happens that the anniversary of the attack was yesterday and so there was a service at the cenotaph. Darwin again was destroyed, and i think it is maybe these two major events that contribute to the positive vibe here. It makes Cairns look like a wet drip!!
So its been a great week, and its gone really quickly. It started off with my aunt visiting me for the weekend which was great! We had lots of fun, including hireing a car! First time of driving in 5 months, just like riding a bike! Was a really good way to see the suburbs, as its all a bit spread out. I also drove along the Stuart Highway, the road that goes all the way to Adelaide pretty much, so that was kinda cool as we started at the bottom of that road for our tour up to Uluru.
We have done 2 day trips this week. One to Litchfield National Park and on to Kakadu. Litchfiled was really great, we went on a jumping crocodile cruise, where they bait the crocs out of the water, so that they jump for you. Its quite controversial up here, especially between states and its actually the only place in the world that you can see it! Then the afternoon was spent, admiring waterfalls and swimming in the rock pools which was loads of fun! Jen and I realised on that trip how much we take for granted these days, it was awesome, but my aunt, Debra, just loved it!
Kakadu National Park http://www.kakadu.com.au/ is Australia's largest at 22,000 sq/km. We were never going to see it in a day, and didnt really have the time or money to do a 3 day trip. Plus camping in the wet season, didnt really appeal either! It was a long day, but we still had a fantastic time. We saw some amazing rock art which has been there for 1,000s of years and went on a cruise along the Yellow Waters. We saw a croc there 2 which is always cool, and we had glorious weather which was great as the day before it had rained all day! There was so much water around, it really is wet here at this time of year, we did a cruise where people normally walk on a broadwalk during the dry season, now thats a lot of water!
Its really hot and humid here, so yesterday i decided that the hair had to go! It was an unecessary heat trap and so the bob look is back and i think it looks nice! I dont know, Jen leaves me for 5 minutes and thats what i end up doing!! although today has been a lot cooler with less hair, so thats got to be a good sign, its probably the first time i have worn it down in 5 weeks, lol!
I love the Northern Territory, it has to be my favourite state so far, and only one more to go, Western Australia, and i think WA will be its only contender. Its all very chilled out here, although Broome is meant to be even more relaxed, which hopefully means im in for a good weekend.
Jen left yesterday and after 5 months together, it was really sad to see her go and very wierd when she was not there this morning when i woke up. But im sure that i will just get used to some time by myself and then Kirsty arrvies on Weds! I cant wait to see her and journey down the west coast together.
So yet another time zone tomorrow, i will only then be 9 hours ahead and it is only 6 weeks until i fly to Singapore. Its completly crazy!
Have a gd weekend whatever you are up to, i think i might top up the tan, although i think 37degrees may be too hot for sunbathing!!!!
Thursday, 12 February 2009
The East Coast Finale!
Hello from a lovley and sunny Cairns!
Well this week hasnt been quite as i had originally planned, but nevertheless its been great. Im so pleased that we took the decision to fly, the road only opened yesterday and i cant imagine to begin the back log of people at both ends of the road who couldnt afford to fly. It is also a much needed relief here as well, although the rain hasnt been as bad as around the Townsville area there has been no way to get supplies to the supermarkets, so there has been no fresh food all week and the shelves are getting barer by the day. So im pleased to be fly to Darwin tonight, although im sure things will get back to normal here now the road is open.
Cairns is ok, its not the greatest place i have been so far but has actually been a good base for things to see and do and we have been staying in the most lovely hostel which always makes things a bit easier. http://www.dreamtimetravel.com.au/index.html
Although this one maybe too homely, if thats possible and some mornings i have woken and thought i was at home (the bed is that comfy!). The staff have been really friendly here and the whole place just has a very chilled vibe, with a great kitchen (such a rarity on the east coast) and a great lounge area and room. I like hostel life, although you never seem to get a good room and a good lounge, its always one or the other, but this place has both, bonus!
So putting aside a couple of days of r and r we went up to Cape Tribulation for the weekend (as you do!) and it was brilliant! The rainforest was full of life during this 'wet' season and we did some great walks. Cape Trib is home to the oldest rainforest in the world and is wher the Great Barrier Reef starts. Interesting fact, its called Cape Tribulation as good old Captain Cook came into trouble here, when his boat ran aground, so the bays along this coast are named, sorrow, doubtfull, tribulation...i think we get his thinking! I had my first 'accident' of the trip, i fell over crossing a creek, the road was flooded and we werent sure how to do it without getting wet. It turns out i needn't have worried, i got soaked as i slipped on some moss and gained some pretty impressive war wounds too, (like dad said...no need for a tattoo now ;-) ) but fear not im ok and at least there was no wildlife lurking....
We also went on a croccodile cruise along the Daintree River. Our first experience of crocs here and they are pretty massive and powerful animals. Unfortunatly our trip was overshadowed as on our way up crossing the river (just by ferry) a little boy had been taken by a croccodile just 30 minutes before we got there. Apparently this is a very uncommon experience, the little boys parents run one of the croccodile cruises and he was on the edge of the river (tide was really high that morning) with his brother and dog. sadly the dog went into the river and the little boy followed and into the mouth of the croc. It was pretty stomach churning, the helicopter was hovering as we got there and all the rescue workers. Sadly he hasnt been found. That made our cruise on Monday slightly upsetting, but the guide spoke a lot of sense, it was a tragic accident, but they are wild animals and the crocs dont diffientiate between kangaroos, frogs or humans.
Anyway, we still had a great trip and im really pleased that at least we got up there, it hardly rained and we got back to Cairns without any roads being closed due to flooding, bonus!
Yesterday we also went out for the day as it was Jen's birthday. We went to a small village set in the hills of the rainforest, 25km out of Cairns, called Kurunda. It was a really good afternoon out, it was a gloriously sunny day and very hot. We had a lovely lunch and just browsed the shops. Both Jen and I have been looking out for some idigineous art ever since we went to Uluru and hoped that over the next week at Darwin and for me in Broome we would find some really authentic and not just for the tourism market. We went into a really nice gallery at Kurunda yesterday, the paintings were very beautiful but very overpriced, you were looking at $800 plus. We just kept wondering and then came accross a local artist with a very small gallery. We got chatting to the guy, who was very passionate about the stories the paintings tell (i find that really interesting) and poor guy i think between us we ended up buying about half of his collection!!! They are beautiful and i am so pleased with the pieces i got. What was $500 down the road, i got for $0, which is just crazy. It has never been about the money, but it just shows what sort of cut these places. It was very special, we got them signed (and Jen got happy birthday on hers which is really cool!) and we now know that this old chap will benefit from his profits, which is great!
So it was such a great day, indigineous art in one hand and mango smoothie in the other, it was a moment when i thought life cant get much better than this! I was like the cat that had the cream! We then went out for dinner last night, which is just always such a treat and then went to a couple of bars although Cairns was very quite.
So today we are just getting a few odd jobs done and then we fly to Darwin this evening. After months together, Jen starts to make her journey home next Thursday. I will really miss her, i have never spent this amount of time with one single person and its been great. But its also really exciting as i then fly to Broome at the top of west coast where i am meeting up with a great uni friend, Kirsty and we are going down the west coast together, which im really excited about. This is where the real adventure starts, no one tends to travel the west and so its going to be great to do something a bit off the beaten track. It probably means there wont be as many blog updates, as i expect the internet to be expensive, but i will check in when i can.
So thats it really, I hope all is well with you and the weather (rain, snow, cold) is not causing too much chaos!
Have a good weekend, lots of love, E xxxxx
Well this week hasnt been quite as i had originally planned, but nevertheless its been great. Im so pleased that we took the decision to fly, the road only opened yesterday and i cant imagine to begin the back log of people at both ends of the road who couldnt afford to fly. It is also a much needed relief here as well, although the rain hasnt been as bad as around the Townsville area there has been no way to get supplies to the supermarkets, so there has been no fresh food all week and the shelves are getting barer by the day. So im pleased to be fly to Darwin tonight, although im sure things will get back to normal here now the road is open.
Cairns is ok, its not the greatest place i have been so far but has actually been a good base for things to see and do and we have been staying in the most lovely hostel which always makes things a bit easier. http://www.dreamtimetravel.com.au/index.html
Although this one maybe too homely, if thats possible and some mornings i have woken and thought i was at home (the bed is that comfy!). The staff have been really friendly here and the whole place just has a very chilled vibe, with a great kitchen (such a rarity on the east coast) and a great lounge area and room. I like hostel life, although you never seem to get a good room and a good lounge, its always one or the other, but this place has both, bonus!
So putting aside a couple of days of r and r we went up to Cape Tribulation for the weekend (as you do!) and it was brilliant! The rainforest was full of life during this 'wet' season and we did some great walks. Cape Trib is home to the oldest rainforest in the world and is wher the Great Barrier Reef starts. Interesting fact, its called Cape Tribulation as good old Captain Cook came into trouble here, when his boat ran aground, so the bays along this coast are named, sorrow, doubtfull, tribulation...i think we get his thinking! I had my first 'accident' of the trip, i fell over crossing a creek, the road was flooded and we werent sure how to do it without getting wet. It turns out i needn't have worried, i got soaked as i slipped on some moss and gained some pretty impressive war wounds too, (like dad said...no need for a tattoo now ;-) ) but fear not im ok and at least there was no wildlife lurking....
We also went on a croccodile cruise along the Daintree River. Our first experience of crocs here and they are pretty massive and powerful animals. Unfortunatly our trip was overshadowed as on our way up crossing the river (just by ferry) a little boy had been taken by a croccodile just 30 minutes before we got there. Apparently this is a very uncommon experience, the little boys parents run one of the croccodile cruises and he was on the edge of the river (tide was really high that morning) with his brother and dog. sadly the dog went into the river and the little boy followed and into the mouth of the croc. It was pretty stomach churning, the helicopter was hovering as we got there and all the rescue workers. Sadly he hasnt been found. That made our cruise on Monday slightly upsetting, but the guide spoke a lot of sense, it was a tragic accident, but they are wild animals and the crocs dont diffientiate between kangaroos, frogs or humans.
Anyway, we still had a great trip and im really pleased that at least we got up there, it hardly rained and we got back to Cairns without any roads being closed due to flooding, bonus!
Yesterday we also went out for the day as it was Jen's birthday. We went to a small village set in the hills of the rainforest, 25km out of Cairns, called Kurunda. It was a really good afternoon out, it was a gloriously sunny day and very hot. We had a lovely lunch and just browsed the shops. Both Jen and I have been looking out for some idigineous art ever since we went to Uluru and hoped that over the next week at Darwin and for me in Broome we would find some really authentic and not just for the tourism market. We went into a really nice gallery at Kurunda yesterday, the paintings were very beautiful but very overpriced, you were looking at $800 plus. We just kept wondering and then came accross a local artist with a very small gallery. We got chatting to the guy, who was very passionate about the stories the paintings tell (i find that really interesting) and poor guy i think between us we ended up buying about half of his collection!!! They are beautiful and i am so pleased with the pieces i got. What was $500 down the road, i got for $0, which is just crazy. It has never been about the money, but it just shows what sort of cut these places. It was very special, we got them signed (and Jen got happy birthday on hers which is really cool!) and we now know that this old chap will benefit from his profits, which is great!
So it was such a great day, indigineous art in one hand and mango smoothie in the other, it was a moment when i thought life cant get much better than this! I was like the cat that had the cream! We then went out for dinner last night, which is just always such a treat and then went to a couple of bars although Cairns was very quite.
So today we are just getting a few odd jobs done and then we fly to Darwin this evening. After months together, Jen starts to make her journey home next Thursday. I will really miss her, i have never spent this amount of time with one single person and its been great. But its also really exciting as i then fly to Broome at the top of west coast where i am meeting up with a great uni friend, Kirsty and we are going down the west coast together, which im really excited about. This is where the real adventure starts, no one tends to travel the west and so its going to be great to do something a bit off the beaten track. It probably means there wont be as many blog updates, as i expect the internet to be expensive, but i will check in when i can.
So thats it really, I hope all is well with you and the weather (rain, snow, cold) is not causing too much chaos!
Have a good weekend, lots of love, E xxxxx
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Day 150!
Hello from Cairns!
I realise that i havent blogged about life in a drier (yay!) Cairns just yet, and today my internet time is coming to an end, but be assured its on my list of things to do!
But i just wanted to document that today i have been travelling for 150 days, which equates to 5 months on Saturday!! Thats pretty hardcore i reckon, but is slightly worrying that i only have 3 months left and there is still so much to see! Well you cant do it all first time around, can you!!
I realise that i havent blogged about life in a drier (yay!) Cairns just yet, and today my internet time is coming to an end, but be assured its on my list of things to do!
But i just wanted to document that today i have been travelling for 150 days, which equates to 5 months on Saturday!! Thats pretty hardcore i reckon, but is slightly worrying that i only have 3 months left and there is still so much to see! Well you cant do it all first time around, can you!!
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
One Big Adventure!
Well im still sat here in Airlie Beach!
And its just a quick post to bring you all up to date, as our plans for the east coast change everyday. Thankfully the rain has now stopped, although there are still showers around. Cyclone Ellie did her damage further north around Townsville and Mission Beach (where we should be right now!)
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24993854-952,00.html
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news.html
The highway is still shut and with more rain fall predicted there is just no way that we will be making it up to Cairns by bus in the next week to get our flight to Darwin on 12 Feb. So, we have had to cut our loses and have decided to fly out of here tomorrow (thurs) to Cairns. We are missing out on a few east coast highlights, but its not worth worrying about as we wouldnt be able to enjoy them at the moment and would just be worrying all the time about how we are going to get out of the next place! All part of the adventure, but i do need to be on that plane next week, weather permitting!
it is going to be a bit of an indian jones style get away with bus, boat to Hamilton Island, fly out of here on a very small quantas link plane and on to Cairns. although we will now have a week there, i hope there is more to do than there is here in Airlie, although i cant believe how quickly time has gone really. Hopefully we will still get up to Cape Tribulation as planned, although there is still rumour that the cyclone is reforming at sea, the met are now saying this is unlikley, so fingers crossed!
Its been a frustrating week, people here havent been very helpful basicaly saying its our fault we chose to come here in wet season, however it is thier worst flooding in 30 years and no one can help that! Yesterday, after our bus was cancelled we moved hostels (just made a quick dash because everybody on the bus didnt have a bed!) and stumbled accross a really great hostel, which even has an oven, which although a common sight in New Zealand hasnt been here. It is so lovely and clean i took my thongs (flip flops!) off for the first time last nite in nearly 2 weeks and boy did it feel good! We had a mamouth lay in as well, the bed is lush and there is a pillow!! :-) So im feeling re charged, slightly more chilled and will be a lot happier when we make it to Cairns tomorrow.
So thats the update really, i will let you know how i get on!
And its just a quick post to bring you all up to date, as our plans for the east coast change everyday. Thankfully the rain has now stopped, although there are still showers around. Cyclone Ellie did her damage further north around Townsville and Mission Beach (where we should be right now!)
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24993854-952,00.html
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news.html
The highway is still shut and with more rain fall predicted there is just no way that we will be making it up to Cairns by bus in the next week to get our flight to Darwin on 12 Feb. So, we have had to cut our loses and have decided to fly out of here tomorrow (thurs) to Cairns. We are missing out on a few east coast highlights, but its not worth worrying about as we wouldnt be able to enjoy them at the moment and would just be worrying all the time about how we are going to get out of the next place! All part of the adventure, but i do need to be on that plane next week, weather permitting!
it is going to be a bit of an indian jones style get away with bus, boat to Hamilton Island, fly out of here on a very small quantas link plane and on to Cairns. although we will now have a week there, i hope there is more to do than there is here in Airlie, although i cant believe how quickly time has gone really. Hopefully we will still get up to Cape Tribulation as planned, although there is still rumour that the cyclone is reforming at sea, the met are now saying this is unlikley, so fingers crossed!
Its been a frustrating week, people here havent been very helpful basicaly saying its our fault we chose to come here in wet season, however it is thier worst flooding in 30 years and no one can help that! Yesterday, after our bus was cancelled we moved hostels (just made a quick dash because everybody on the bus didnt have a bed!) and stumbled accross a really great hostel, which even has an oven, which although a common sight in New Zealand hasnt been here. It is so lovely and clean i took my thongs (flip flops!) off for the first time last nite in nearly 2 weeks and boy did it feel good! We had a mamouth lay in as well, the bed is lush and there is a pillow!! :-) So im feeling re charged, slightly more chilled and will be a lot happier when we make it to Cairns tomorrow.
So thats the update really, i will let you know how i get on!
Monday, 2 February 2009
Highs & Lows
Well what a week! And today its not the typical hello from a very suuny airlie beach but a hello from a very wet and soggy Ellen!
Last week started out great and we had a fantastic trip to Fraser Island, I had so much fun, it was such a beautiful place with beautiful weather and great people and we had loads of fun on a self drive 4WD around the island for a couple of nites. We camped on the beach (very basic!!) but was great and didnt get attacked by a dingo which is always a bonus! Although im still not sure what i would have done if i had been caught squatting by a dingo....answers on a postcard!!!
Unfortunatly this weekend hasnt gone to plane and our trip to the Whitsundays was cut short because of Cyclone Ellie that is hitting the Townsville and Cairns area at the moment, we are a few hours south but getting the tail ends although it feels like some one has turned the tap on and it aint going anywhere! so no, fear not we are not caught up in the searing heat or bush fires, we are in a very very wet Queensland and just will be lucky to get out of Airlie tomorrow as planned! It sounds like the main roads a bit further north are the problem and although we still have to get up to Cairns to fly out, we are pretty flexible over the next week as to how and when we get there! But when they say wet season it really is wet! Oh well, I havent even seen rain like this at Glasto!
So the boat trip wasnt what i quite had in mind, the first afternoon everybody felt pretty rough but did manage to get out for a snorkel and thats still pretty cool to say i snorkled on the great barrier reef i suppose !! :-) The crew were really good and the food great (although Jen suffered more than i did!) Yesterday after a snorkel in the morning we were called back in and so have just spent today getting wetter and wetter moving from hostel to hostel and trying to stake a claim for some compensation (which were kind of succesful in), checking weather and buses!
It is the first major thing not to go quite to plan on my trip (the photos look more like Milford Sound in NZ than teh postcards that are for sale here at the Whitsundays!) but hey ho, its just another thing to add on my list for next time :-) and its all part of the adventure!!
Spirits are low today but im sure they will pick up again soon, i cant wait to get over to the west coast now! I think the east will need a re run at some point, anybody up for that?!! ;-)
Hope your not all too cold, it sounds like everybody has bad weather at the moment! Wrap up warm and i will don the waterproof!
xxx
Last week started out great and we had a fantastic trip to Fraser Island, I had so much fun, it was such a beautiful place with beautiful weather and great people and we had loads of fun on a self drive 4WD around the island for a couple of nites. We camped on the beach (very basic!!) but was great and didnt get attacked by a dingo which is always a bonus! Although im still not sure what i would have done if i had been caught squatting by a dingo....answers on a postcard!!!
Unfortunatly this weekend hasnt gone to plane and our trip to the Whitsundays was cut short because of Cyclone Ellie that is hitting the Townsville and Cairns area at the moment, we are a few hours south but getting the tail ends although it feels like some one has turned the tap on and it aint going anywhere! so no, fear not we are not caught up in the searing heat or bush fires, we are in a very very wet Queensland and just will be lucky to get out of Airlie tomorrow as planned! It sounds like the main roads a bit further north are the problem and although we still have to get up to Cairns to fly out, we are pretty flexible over the next week as to how and when we get there! But when they say wet season it really is wet! Oh well, I havent even seen rain like this at Glasto!
So the boat trip wasnt what i quite had in mind, the first afternoon everybody felt pretty rough but did manage to get out for a snorkel and thats still pretty cool to say i snorkled on the great barrier reef i suppose !! :-) The crew were really good and the food great (although Jen suffered more than i did!) Yesterday after a snorkel in the morning we were called back in and so have just spent today getting wetter and wetter moving from hostel to hostel and trying to stake a claim for some compensation (which were kind of succesful in), checking weather and buses!
It is the first major thing not to go quite to plan on my trip (the photos look more like Milford Sound in NZ than teh postcards that are for sale here at the Whitsundays!) but hey ho, its just another thing to add on my list for next time :-) and its all part of the adventure!!
Spirits are low today but im sure they will pick up again soon, i cant wait to get over to the west coast now! I think the east will need a re run at some point, anybody up for that?!! ;-)
Hope your not all too cold, it sounds like everybody has bad weather at the moment! Wrap up warm and i will don the waterproof!
xxx
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