So we have reached our final destination in Australia - Melbourne. What took under 3 hours flight time has undone the 5 1/2 weeks of driving up to the north of the east coast and brought us to the very bottom!
Melbournes centre is quite small and is really easy to navigate with its new york style grid system of roads. Trams are the main form of transport and there is a free one that goes round the whole city (we spent a large proportion of our time being rocked to sleep on this tram - not much to do if the old cash flow is low!!).
It is a great city to walk around and just look around; plenty of shopping (which we didn't do) and loads of great restaurants (which we didn't eat in - free pasta at the hostel has meant we have become rather bloated!!).
We found a great little crepe place in the central station, which we have had every day on emmas demand!! The central station itself has been converted from a factory that used to make bullets, and has incredible brick work inside - though em was more interested in the UGG shop that was inside the old factory than the bricks that made it!!
We also spent time at the Queen Victoria Markets, a huge market that sells everything from veg to clothes to tacky tourist bits! We spent many an hour looking for uggs for livi (much to sams dismay!) Eventually we found the right size and colour!
Very sad to be leaving Oz, but onto our next adventure...Hong Kong!
Monday, 26 October 2009
Sunday, 25 October 2009
Cairns
Our first night in Cairns we still had our baby Jucy and stayed at a campsite. It rained - a lot! We sat in our car and played cards (remember Cairns has had no rain for 6 months so we were very unlucky!)
The following day we had an emotional goodbye to our home for the past 6 weeks - Jucy:( But Sam was very happy that he didnt get any speeding fines! We moved to a hostel and it was quite nice to sleep in a real bed! The hostel was great, it had a pool and gave us free dinner! It was strange having to walk around our room with all the space!
We met up with the Danish couple we had met on the boat and had a lovely dinner with them. We spent our days lazing around the pool (there are no beaches in Cairns), and were a bit sad to leave the gorgeous sunshine and head for a much colder Melbourne...
The following day we had an emotional goodbye to our home for the past 6 weeks - Jucy:( But Sam was very happy that he didnt get any speeding fines! We moved to a hostel and it was quite nice to sleep in a real bed! The hostel was great, it had a pool and gave us free dinner! It was strange having to walk around our room with all the space!
We met up with the Danish couple we had met on the boat and had a lovely dinner with them. We spent our days lazing around the pool (there are no beaches in Cairns), and were a bit sad to leave the gorgeous sunshine and head for a much colder Melbourne...
Townsville, Mission Beach, Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation
Townsville is the capital of North Queensland. It is a fairly large town with some gorgeous beaches and a lovely promenade. Whilst sitting on a deck overlooking the beach, Sam noticced in the 'whats on in Townsville' brochere, that Miss Saigon (Emmas favourite musical in the whole world) was playing. After much begging and pleading on Emma part, we went to see the show - it was great!!
The following day we left for Mission Beach, just a few hours north. Another small town, with stunning beaches (that you cant swim in because it is jelly fish season!!!!) This town had lovely restaurants, shops and beautiful secluded beaches that we enjoyed strolling on!
Port Douglas is just above Cairns, where the drive to it is along a winding beach front road (not always that safe as you are too busy looking out the window at the incredible views). The town itself has many luxiourious hotels and shops, none of which we frequented, but we did stay at a litle camp site, whose pool wasn't working - always good in the 32 degree heat. We did a couple fo day trips wilst we were there. One going up the Cape Tribulation - the daintree rainforest. A very short crossing over croc infested waters with our car was most exciting. The drive through the rainforest was amazing, particualry as you are in the only place in the world where the rainforest touches the coral in the sea; even the sea here has crocodiles in it as the rivers through the rainforest meet the sea. Remebering the dangerous jellyfish, we were a little surprised to see ppl swimming in the sea despite the warning signs for both crocs and jellyfish - bizarre! Despite this, it is safe to wander the beaches (most of which are secluded), and the scenery is like no other.
We left the rainforest and took a jungle safari boat trip were we spotted 5 crocs - ranging from a baby of 90cm to over 2m adults.
Returning to Port Douglas we sunbathed on the beautiful beach which you can swim in as there are stinger nets but we still were a little afraid! We went to the market, and again we surprised to see a crocodile sign postioned less than a metre from a children playground - love the safety in australia!!!
Reluctantly we left this town (one of three where we decided we could have a holiday home!) , and headed for Cairns!
The following day we left for Mission Beach, just a few hours north. Another small town, with stunning beaches (that you cant swim in because it is jelly fish season!!!!) This town had lovely restaurants, shops and beautiful secluded beaches that we enjoyed strolling on!
Port Douglas is just above Cairns, where the drive to it is along a winding beach front road (not always that safe as you are too busy looking out the window at the incredible views). The town itself has many luxiourious hotels and shops, none of which we frequented, but we did stay at a litle camp site, whose pool wasn't working - always good in the 32 degree heat. We did a couple fo day trips wilst we were there. One going up the Cape Tribulation - the daintree rainforest. A very short crossing over croc infested waters with our car was most exciting. The drive through the rainforest was amazing, particualry as you are in the only place in the world where the rainforest touches the coral in the sea; even the sea here has crocodiles in it as the rivers through the rainforest meet the sea. Remebering the dangerous jellyfish, we were a little surprised to see ppl swimming in the sea despite the warning signs for both crocs and jellyfish - bizarre! Despite this, it is safe to wander the beaches (most of which are secluded), and the scenery is like no other.
We left the rainforest and took a jungle safari boat trip were we spotted 5 crocs - ranging from a baby of 90cm to over 2m adults.
Returning to Port Douglas we sunbathed on the beautiful beach which you can swim in as there are stinger nets but we still were a little afraid! We went to the market, and again we surprised to see a crocodile sign postioned less than a metre from a children playground - love the safety in australia!!!
Reluctantly we left this town (one of three where we decided we could have a holiday home!) , and headed for Cairns!
Airlie Beach and The Whitsundays
After leaving the town of 1770 we began the long drive to airlie beach - 9 hours drive away!! We drove and we drove and we drove through a whole lot of nothingness (except the cows) and we drove some more....
Airlie beach is a small buzzing town close to the Whitsunday islands and the Great Barrier Reef. We stayed in a campsite voted top campsite in Queensland - it had a massive pool with slides, tennic courts, mini golf plus more! We stayed in Airlie beach topping up our tan for 4 days before embarking on our Whitsunday adventure! Emma got bitten an amazing 88 times (Sam counted!!!) by horible sandflies:(
Our boat was called the Alexander Stewart. A sailing boat that took 17 years to build in someones back garden. http://www.tallshipadventures.com.au/webpage.php?wp=Alexander%20Stewart It was an incredible journey which we shared with 16 others from around the world. Though are rooms were pretty small (to say the least), the food, wine, trip, snorkling, whitehaven beach, star gazing, helping out with the sails was absolutely incredible and possibly the highlight of our whole trip. We met some really nice people from Denmark, Germany, France and Hertfordshire!
During our snorkelling trips in the great barrier reef we had to wear stinger suits. These highly attractive suits look like wetsuits but are made from lycra. We had to wear them because it is jellyfishg season - box jelly fish and the irukandji, 2 of the most deadly jellyfish around! The latter of which is about 2cm long, invisible to the human eye and can kill you - nice!
After disembarking the boat we were swaying for the rest of the day (we are not destined to be sailors!!!) After one more night in Airlie Beach which we spent with ppl we met on the boat we left for our next destination - Townsville.
Airlie beach is a small buzzing town close to the Whitsunday islands and the Great Barrier Reef. We stayed in a campsite voted top campsite in Queensland - it had a massive pool with slides, tennic courts, mini golf plus more! We stayed in Airlie beach topping up our tan for 4 days before embarking on our Whitsunday adventure! Emma got bitten an amazing 88 times (Sam counted!!!) by horible sandflies:(
Our boat was called the Alexander Stewart. A sailing boat that took 17 years to build in someones back garden. http://www.tallshipadventures.com.au/webpage.php?wp=Alexander%20Stewart It was an incredible journey which we shared with 16 others from around the world. Though are rooms were pretty small (to say the least), the food, wine, trip, snorkling, whitehaven beach, star gazing, helping out with the sails was absolutely incredible and possibly the highlight of our whole trip. We met some really nice people from Denmark, Germany, France and Hertfordshire!
During our snorkelling trips in the great barrier reef we had to wear stinger suits. These highly attractive suits look like wetsuits but are made from lycra. We had to wear them because it is jellyfishg season - box jelly fish and the irukandji, 2 of the most deadly jellyfish around! The latter of which is about 2cm long, invisible to the human eye and can kill you - nice!
After disembarking the boat we were swaying for the rest of the day (we are not destined to be sailors!!!) After one more night in Airlie Beach which we spent with ppl we met on the boat we left for our next destination - Townsville.
Rainbow Beach, Hervey Bay, Town of 1770
Rainbow Beach is a tiny village at the foot of a stunning national park. Driving through the park was beautiful and we saw many wild horses which was amazing! The village is called rainbow beach as the cliffs are made from mulit couloured sand! We spent a day and night at this pretty town, and moved on to Hervey Bay.
Our journey to hervey bay was an experience! We set off with over a quarter of a tank of petrol, which in any normal car would be sufficient to get to the next town. However, not for our Jucy! She (of course a woman!) eats petrol like girls eat chocolate when its that time. We were driving through the national park (normally very nice) when the red light came on. We panicked! But 2 miles on the red light went off. Then on again. Then off. This went on for a little while, and blood sugar levels were dropping. May we remind you Oz national parks is where the 9/10 most deadliest snakes in the world reside, so its not the kinda place u wanna break down or walk through. We finally got to some roadworks where we were told a petrol station was a litle more than 10 miles away - great! we turned the a/c off, the radio off, closed the windows and sweat our way to the petrol station, where we finally got there!!!!!!!! Gave ourselves a pat on our sweaty backs and decided to always fill up, even when going to the supermarket.
Hervey Bay is the gateway to Fraser Island. It is not really one town but lots of little towns spread across an area of coastline, therefore there was not really a nice area to walk around and the beaches werent that nice! So we spent the day by the pool at the campsite (yes campsites have pools!!) Our slot for the night was positioned right next to a tree full of magpies. So Sam had to go to the reception and request us to be moved!!!! We didnt really like Hervey Bay so first thing the next morning we left for the town of 1770!
Town of 1770 was the first place the drunken Captain Cook set down on when he discovered the prison of Australia! Not the most original of names and not the most of happening towns (probably the same as when we first got there). However, there is 1 thing that every backpacker (and mid-life crisis victims) has to do - the scooteroooooooo!!! http://www.scooteroo.com.au/ A 3 hour journey on motorbike looking scooters, flexing a leather jacket with sunglasses, we could join hells angels any day! the 3 hour ride takes in the surrounding areas of the town and the local wildlife (kangaroos!). They were also filming for the best job in the world documentary, which should be on our screens soon. At the end of the trip we ended up right on the beach watching the sunset with a packet of chips! It was so much fun and we wished we could do it again!
Our journey to hervey bay was an experience! We set off with over a quarter of a tank of petrol, which in any normal car would be sufficient to get to the next town. However, not for our Jucy! She (of course a woman!) eats petrol like girls eat chocolate when its that time. We were driving through the national park (normally very nice) when the red light came on. We panicked! But 2 miles on the red light went off. Then on again. Then off. This went on for a little while, and blood sugar levels were dropping. May we remind you Oz national parks is where the 9/10 most deadliest snakes in the world reside, so its not the kinda place u wanna break down or walk through. We finally got to some roadworks where we were told a petrol station was a litle more than 10 miles away - great! we turned the a/c off, the radio off, closed the windows and sweat our way to the petrol station, where we finally got there!!!!!!!! Gave ourselves a pat on our sweaty backs and decided to always fill up, even when going to the supermarket.
Hervey Bay is the gateway to Fraser Island. It is not really one town but lots of little towns spread across an area of coastline, therefore there was not really a nice area to walk around and the beaches werent that nice! So we spent the day by the pool at the campsite (yes campsites have pools!!) Our slot for the night was positioned right next to a tree full of magpies. So Sam had to go to the reception and request us to be moved!!!! We didnt really like Hervey Bay so first thing the next morning we left for the town of 1770!
Town of 1770 was the first place the drunken Captain Cook set down on when he discovered the prison of Australia! Not the most original of names and not the most of happening towns (probably the same as when we first got there). However, there is 1 thing that every backpacker (and mid-life crisis victims) has to do - the scooteroooooooo!!! http://www.scooteroo.com.au/ A 3 hour journey on motorbike looking scooters, flexing a leather jacket with sunglasses, we could join hells angels any day! the 3 hour ride takes in the surrounding areas of the town and the local wildlife (kangaroos!). They were also filming for the best job in the world documentary, which should be on our screens soon. At the end of the trip we ended up right on the beach watching the sunset with a packet of chips! It was so much fun and we wished we could do it again!
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Brisbane, Noosa, Montville
Staying in a campervan in Brisbane is not ideal. All the campsites are located quite a distance to the city centre and we had to catch a bus to get to town!! We successfully got the right bus ( an achievment in itself!) and headed to the centre of town. We strolled around the city, looking in the shops and walked along the river seeing Brisbanes version of the London Eye - its a little bit more like a ferris wheel! That night returning (again successfully on the bus!) we decided that although Brisbane seemed like a very nice place - we were satisfied that we had seen all we really wanted to see and did not really want to go on the bus again (Emma and Sam do not like public transport!) And so after a lovely day and night we continued our journey north.
Just north of Brisbane is a gorgeous holiday town called Noosa. It sits where the river meets the sea and is made up of little islands created by the river. We spent our first day sitting on the sandy river bank (which was just like the beach!) and had lunch on a lovely roof terrace!
The following day we went to the famous Australia Zoo - Steve Irwins Zoo! We were both really excited for the crocodile show which made Steve Irwin famous. We arrived at the zoo a little bit early and sat and waited. And waited. At about 9.20 Sam went and asked what time the park opened. '9.00am' was the response. A very confused Sam said but its 9.20! The lady responded 'um no its only 8.20! Basically noone had told us that there was a time difference between New South Wales and Queensland - we had been living for nearly a week on the wrong time! - typical sam and em!
The zoo was amazing and there are way to many animals to even begin, but the main show is one where they bring in snakes, birds (much to emmas delight), elephants and of course crocs! You will have to see our photos to see how cool, but here is a taster!http://www.team-endeavour.com/012%20Australia%20Zoo%20croc%20show.JPG
That night we ate once again on the river beach in the camp kitchen and got chatting to an israeli family, who didn't quite believe that we were jewish at first, but after a little while (and a portion of my bar mitzvah) we were accepted!
On the way to our next destination (rainbow beach) we stopped off in a great little town called Montville. High up in the mountains and a quite a scary drive to get to, the town is centred around a single road with lots of chocolate and fudge shops (much to emmas delight - its surprising how we haven't become poor after all the chocolate and fudge this girl has eaten - oh wait we have!!!!!). There is a definite european feel to the town, particularly as many of the residents are french and spanish!
Just north of Brisbane is a gorgeous holiday town called Noosa. It sits where the river meets the sea and is made up of little islands created by the river. We spent our first day sitting on the sandy river bank (which was just like the beach!) and had lunch on a lovely roof terrace!
The following day we went to the famous Australia Zoo - Steve Irwins Zoo! We were both really excited for the crocodile show which made Steve Irwin famous. We arrived at the zoo a little bit early and sat and waited. And waited. At about 9.20 Sam went and asked what time the park opened. '9.00am' was the response. A very confused Sam said but its 9.20! The lady responded 'um no its only 8.20! Basically noone had told us that there was a time difference between New South Wales and Queensland - we had been living for nearly a week on the wrong time! - typical sam and em!
The zoo was amazing and there are way to many animals to even begin, but the main show is one where they bring in snakes, birds (much to emmas delight), elephants and of course crocs! You will have to see our photos to see how cool, but here is a taster!http://www.team-endeavour.com/012%20Australia%20Zoo%20croc%20show.JPG
That night we ate once again on the river beach in the camp kitchen and got chatting to an israeli family, who didn't quite believe that we were jewish at first, but after a little while (and a portion of my bar mitzvah) we were accepted!
On the way to our next destination (rainbow beach) we stopped off in a great little town called Montville. High up in the mountains and a quite a scary drive to get to, the town is centred around a single road with lots of chocolate and fudge shops (much to emmas delight - its surprising how we haven't become poor after all the chocolate and fudge this girl has eaten - oh wait we have!!!!!). There is a definite european feel to the town, particularly as many of the residents are french and spanish!
Surfers Paradise & The Gold Coast
After leaving Byron, we were also leaving New South Wales and entering Queensland. Queensland is famous for crocodiles and other scary things like that! It is also known as the sunshine state so not all bad!
Surfers Paradise - to those who have not been there you would expect what we expected - a sweet little surf town much like Byron - wrong! As we approched we thought we had taken the wrong turn and got to Brisbane. Its all high rise buildings and really is a city - there is nothing that screams paradise, although the beaches are lovely and we did see some more whales! We spent the day here and although we are glad we saw it - it was more than enough time!
The Gold Coast is Australias Florida - its all about the theme parks. We resticted ourselves to one park and Sam chose Wet n Wild the water park! Emma agreed but was very concerned that as she is about to be a bridesmaid (wearing a strapless dress) that it was ESSENTIAL that she buy a strapless bikini so she didnt get funny tan lines for the wedding photos!!! So she spent the first day dragging Sam around swim wear shops (and obviously in the end bought the first one she had seen!) It was worth it - we had a really fun day at the park and Sam ran between the rides dragging Emma behind. Emma did not have to worry about funny tan lines - we were both happy. The happiness was short lived as Emma got an eye infection and had to go to the doctor!
After a fun filled 2 days we were haeding to Brisbane!
Surfers Paradise - to those who have not been there you would expect what we expected - a sweet little surf town much like Byron - wrong! As we approched we thought we had taken the wrong turn and got to Brisbane. Its all high rise buildings and really is a city - there is nothing that screams paradise, although the beaches are lovely and we did see some more whales! We spent the day here and although we are glad we saw it - it was more than enough time!
The Gold Coast is Australias Florida - its all about the theme parks. We resticted ourselves to one park and Sam chose Wet n Wild the water park! Emma agreed but was very concerned that as she is about to be a bridesmaid (wearing a strapless dress) that it was ESSENTIAL that she buy a strapless bikini so she didnt get funny tan lines for the wedding photos!!! So she spent the first day dragging Sam around swim wear shops (and obviously in the end bought the first one she had seen!) It was worth it - we had a really fun day at the park and Sam ran between the rides dragging Emma behind. Emma did not have to worry about funny tan lines - we were both happy. The happiness was short lived as Emma got an eye infection and had to go to the doctor!
After a fun filled 2 days we were haeding to Brisbane!
Byron Bay
Byron Bay is an awesome little surfing town in the northern part of New South Wales. Unfortunately for us we arrived during school holidays (unknown to us!) and the price of the camp sites were doubled! ($46 for a square patch of gravel!!!!!!) However, the camp site did have some advantages, it was right in the centre of town - unlike many campsites which are a long way out, and it had access to a stunning beach. We spent our first day lazing around the beach and wandering through the boutique shops. That evening we went to a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant where they cook the food in front of you (delicious!) On the way home from the restaurant Emma 'fell in love' with a ring in a shop window that she simply 'had to have' and marched sam straight back to the shop first thing in the morning! (It is really pretty!!)
It had become clear that Sam has caught the surfing bug and was desperate to get back into the waves. He found a guy willing to give him a private lesson for the same cost as a group lesson, so off Sam went to hire his gear. He came back with, what can only be described as a canoe - the biggest surf board ever made!!! Kitted out in his wet suit, he had tourist written all over him!! Off we went to meet the surf instructor (Sam waddling in his wet suit and hitting anything in his path with his GIANT surf board). Brad the surf instructor was a very cool middle aged guy with a full on beard that could have easily mistaken him for a tramp!!! While Sam surfed, Emma watched from the beach, working on her tan and trying to take photos of Sam where it looked like he knew what he was doing (harder than it sounds!!!) Emma had 1 second and 1 second only to get the shot where it looked like Sam was standing and not falling!!!
From the beach Emma noticed something moving in the distance out to the ocean - it was a mother and baby humpback whale breaching so close to the shore it was incredible!!! Brad told us that if the baby whales were out it also meant that the Great Whites would be out hunting for their dinner! Sam (whose surfing ability closley resembled that of a drowning seal) was anxious to end the lesson and get out of the water, however Brad seemed totally unfazed (australians are totally relaxed when it comes to deadly creatures like snakes, sharks, crocs its really bizarre!!!)
After a 2 hour lesson Sam was exhausted and could barely carry his canoe, sorry surf board back to the shop (but he was encouraged by the fact that he had to get back his $500 deposit for the surf board - no that is not a typo - $500!!!!!!!!)
The following day we visited some nearby towns Lennox Head plus a few others we cant remember the names of! We spent the afternoon up at the famous lighthouse in Byron which is also the most Easterly point in Australia. There were a number of magpies up there - Emma screamed a little bit! The view was incredible and we also spotted a number of whales which are migrating south to antarctica for the summer!! After a bbq dinner with some lovely Swedish ppl we had met we went to bed and prepared for our next stop - the Gold Coast!
It had become clear that Sam has caught the surfing bug and was desperate to get back into the waves. He found a guy willing to give him a private lesson for the same cost as a group lesson, so off Sam went to hire his gear. He came back with, what can only be described as a canoe - the biggest surf board ever made!!! Kitted out in his wet suit, he had tourist written all over him!! Off we went to meet the surf instructor (Sam waddling in his wet suit and hitting anything in his path with his GIANT surf board). Brad the surf instructor was a very cool middle aged guy with a full on beard that could have easily mistaken him for a tramp!!! While Sam surfed, Emma watched from the beach, working on her tan and trying to take photos of Sam where it looked like he knew what he was doing (harder than it sounds!!!) Emma had 1 second and 1 second only to get the shot where it looked like Sam was standing and not falling!!!
From the beach Emma noticed something moving in the distance out to the ocean - it was a mother and baby humpback whale breaching so close to the shore it was incredible!!! Brad told us that if the baby whales were out it also meant that the Great Whites would be out hunting for their dinner! Sam (whose surfing ability closley resembled that of a drowning seal) was anxious to end the lesson and get out of the water, however Brad seemed totally unfazed (australians are totally relaxed when it comes to deadly creatures like snakes, sharks, crocs its really bizarre!!!)
After a 2 hour lesson Sam was exhausted and could barely carry his canoe, sorry surf board back to the shop (but he was encouraged by the fact that he had to get back his $500 deposit for the surf board - no that is not a typo - $500!!!!!!!!)
The following day we visited some nearby towns Lennox Head plus a few others we cant remember the names of! We spent the afternoon up at the famous lighthouse in Byron which is also the most Easterly point in Australia. There were a number of magpies up there - Emma screamed a little bit! The view was incredible and we also spotted a number of whales which are migrating south to antarctica for the summer!! After a bbq dinner with some lovely Swedish ppl we had met we went to bed and prepared for our next stop - the Gold Coast!
Port Macquaire, Port Stephens, Byron Bay
Port Macquarie was our next stop. The caravan park (yes remember we are still in the campervan) was right on the sea shore and had an incredible promenade all the way into town from it.
Our first stop was at the billabong wildlife park (www.billabongkoala.com.au) a family run park with Koalas, kangaroos, dingos etc. It was amazing!! We had our first ever encounters with koalas and instantly fell in love. These mini bears sleep 18 hours a day (like emma) and eat up to 500 leaves a day too (unlike emma, unless leaves are the new cookies!!). You have a chance to hold them here too, and the owner of the park got out a 5 week year old baby koala which was just adorable. These koalas are of course used to human contact, however wild koalas are not as friendly as one might think; their claws are incredibly sharp and can cut right through you - so careful next time u encounter one!!
Also at the park there were loads of kangaroos (our first hands on encounter), which you could feed by hand. They were just amazing, bouncing up to you and holding you by the hand whilst they munch away at the food. In one of the female kangaroos we saw a tiny joey pop out of her pouch and begin to nibble on the crumbs that the mother was leaving behind (loads of pictures to show u of this - got a little snappy happy in the park!!).
Finally we had an encounter with dingos. Not many people know what dingos are (we certainly didn't); they are descendants of an asian wolf and look like a mix between a wolf, fox and dog with the climbing, hunting and cuteness factors of all three animals. Wild Dingoes can be vicious however the ones in the park had been trained and were as friendly as pet dogs! In Australia, you have to have a license to have a dingo as a pet and are forbidden from breeding them with house dogs as they fear that the Dingo specie may soon become extinct!
Our second day started off at the Koala Hospital www.koalahospital.org.au. This is where all the koalas that are unable to fend for themselves (many have been run over by cars) come and stay for as long as they need. The facilites are incredible, with a large icu centre and best of all you can visit it for a gold coin donation (good chance to get rid of some old pesatos!!). There was a 23 year old koala with arthritis staying there, who was unable to climb up any of the trees to reach the leaves, so had to be hand fed. Her arthritis came from overclicking her fingers (anyone know another 23year old who does that!!).
Later on in the afternoon we did what seems to be the law here in australia - surfing!!! We booked on for a 2 hour lesson and it was awesome!!! Fine your falling over 90% of the time (100% in emmas case) but the thrill of even getting to your knees on the board and standing up for 5 seconds is amazing. By the end of the 2 hours we were exhausted, but I (Sam) knew that it would not be my last surf in Oz!!
On route to our next destination (Byron Bay - see later) we stopped off at Port Stephens, a lively little port famous for its whale and dolphin trips, so we decided to stop and do a dolphin trip. It was great - we saw a load of dolphins who swam curiously up to the boat.
We spent the night at Coffs Harbour famous for a big banana but we are not really sure why! We left Coffs early to get to Byron, stopping at a sweet little town of Yamba for breakfast- visiting the local market and bought a load of fudge!!!
Our first stop was at the billabong wildlife park (www.billabongkoala.com.au) a family run park with Koalas, kangaroos, dingos etc. It was amazing!! We had our first ever encounters with koalas and instantly fell in love. These mini bears sleep 18 hours a day (like emma) and eat up to 500 leaves a day too (unlike emma, unless leaves are the new cookies!!). You have a chance to hold them here too, and the owner of the park got out a 5 week year old baby koala which was just adorable. These koalas are of course used to human contact, however wild koalas are not as friendly as one might think; their claws are incredibly sharp and can cut right through you - so careful next time u encounter one!!
Also at the park there were loads of kangaroos (our first hands on encounter), which you could feed by hand. They were just amazing, bouncing up to you and holding you by the hand whilst they munch away at the food. In one of the female kangaroos we saw a tiny joey pop out of her pouch and begin to nibble on the crumbs that the mother was leaving behind (loads of pictures to show u of this - got a little snappy happy in the park!!).
Finally we had an encounter with dingos. Not many people know what dingos are (we certainly didn't); they are descendants of an asian wolf and look like a mix between a wolf, fox and dog with the climbing, hunting and cuteness factors of all three animals. Wild Dingoes can be vicious however the ones in the park had been trained and were as friendly as pet dogs! In Australia, you have to have a license to have a dingo as a pet and are forbidden from breeding them with house dogs as they fear that the Dingo specie may soon become extinct!
Our second day started off at the Koala Hospital www.koalahospital.org.au. This is where all the koalas that are unable to fend for themselves (many have been run over by cars) come and stay for as long as they need. The facilites are incredible, with a large icu centre and best of all you can visit it for a gold coin donation (good chance to get rid of some old pesatos!!). There was a 23 year old koala with arthritis staying there, who was unable to climb up any of the trees to reach the leaves, so had to be hand fed. Her arthritis came from overclicking her fingers (anyone know another 23year old who does that!!).
Later on in the afternoon we did what seems to be the law here in australia - surfing!!! We booked on for a 2 hour lesson and it was awesome!!! Fine your falling over 90% of the time (100% in emmas case) but the thrill of even getting to your knees on the board and standing up for 5 seconds is amazing. By the end of the 2 hours we were exhausted, but I (Sam) knew that it would not be my last surf in Oz!!
On route to our next destination (Byron Bay - see later) we stopped off at Port Stephens, a lively little port famous for its whale and dolphin trips, so we decided to stop and do a dolphin trip. It was great - we saw a load of dolphins who swam curiously up to the boat.
We spent the night at Coffs Harbour famous for a big banana but we are not really sure why! We left Coffs early to get to Byron, stopping at a sweet little town of Yamba for breakfast- visiting the local market and bought a load of fudge!!!
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Blue Mountains, Lake Macquaire & Hunter Vallley, Australia
Two hours out of Sydney lie the Blue Mountains - a stunning national park (which you may have heard about because earlier this year a young English guy got lost in the rainforest for about 9 days and had to be rescued!!) Learning from our mistakes we booked a camp site in Katoomba (the main habited area of the Mountains) before we got there! On arriving in the quaint mountain village we wandered around the town before visiting Scenic World http://www.scenicworld.com.au/ where we saw the incredible scenery and went on the cablecar across the mountains and hiked to a waterfall! That night we cooked our first meal in our very own kitchen (ok it was only pasta! - but it was exciting nonetheless), and were asleep by 8pm!! The following day we left the Blue Mountains and headed for the lake district (australians version) about 2 hours away -choosing Lake Macquaire to become our home for the next few days.
We spent our first day relaxing by the stunning lake and admiring the black swans! The following day we met up with a friend we had met in New Zealand who lives in a town called Newcastle, only about 20mins from the lake. We spent the day exploring Newcastle and watching sea planes take off and land on the harbour!
Hunter Valley was our next destination. The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest and one of its most well-known wine regions. We met our friends at the Hunter Valley Gardens were we played Aqua Golf http://www.hvg.com.au/VisitorInformation/Activities1.aspx. That afternoon we went on a sunset horseride in the hills overlooking the vineyard. Sams horse was even called Sam too and was incredibly handsome (just like his owner!!) The ride was fantastic and we even saw our very first Kangaroos!!! As Emma was the only one in the group to have ridden before, she led the group and the instructor stayed at the back. As we went across one field, out of nowhere a giant black and white bird swooped down and started trying to peck Emmas head! The lady was screaming from behind for Emma to look at the bird, however Sam misheard and told Emma to NOT look at the bird, and it kept coming, swooping and trying to peck at her!!! The lady told us that it was a Magpie (although in the UK we call them Crows), and it was nesting season and we had ridden though her territory. Emma had been wearing a black helmet, and the others had been wearing white and the predator of this bird is black so it kept attacking Emma. They will only swoop from behind, so if you keep looking at them they stay away. The lady told us that when they go get the horses from the field they wear helmets and draw faces on the back of them to keep the bird away. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO scary, and ever since, if Emma sees a bird fly anywhere near her she screams and runs away!!! We learnt that one girl in New South Wales had her eyes taken out by one of these birds, and to make it worse, they are protected species!!! - though it was quite funny to watch!
That night we went to bed as normal only to be awoken at about 4am by birds going crazy! We looked out the window to see the sky was bright red!! http://images.2ue.com.au/2009/09/23/748603/DustStorm_53-600x400.jpg At first we had no idea what it could be and thought it may be a bush fire! We got up and literally could not see in front of us - it was really surreal! We learned that it was a dust storm that had taken over a vast proportion of the east coast, and that even sydney was covered over by it - the worst for over 30 years!!! We had booked to do a wine tour which was still going ahead despite the strange weather! The wine tour which took us to about 6 wineries to sample wine, as well as cheese tasting, chocolate and fudge tasting, olives, bread and a whole lot more!! The tour was fantastic - the only disappontment were the views. The usual stunning mountain and vineyard views were clouded by the huge dust storm!! By the end of the tour we didn't want to see another bottle of wine, but we are now connoseurs (spelling??) of wine and shall be expecting everyones collection of wine upon our arrival home!
Our next destination was port macquarie - about a 3 hour drive from the hunter valley region!
We spent our first day relaxing by the stunning lake and admiring the black swans! The following day we met up with a friend we had met in New Zealand who lives in a town called Newcastle, only about 20mins from the lake. We spent the day exploring Newcastle and watching sea planes take off and land on the harbour!
Hunter Valley was our next destination. The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest and one of its most well-known wine regions. We met our friends at the Hunter Valley Gardens were we played Aqua Golf http://www.hvg.com.au/VisitorInformation/Activities1.aspx. That afternoon we went on a sunset horseride in the hills overlooking the vineyard. Sams horse was even called Sam too and was incredibly handsome (just like his owner!!) The ride was fantastic and we even saw our very first Kangaroos!!! As Emma was the only one in the group to have ridden before, she led the group and the instructor stayed at the back. As we went across one field, out of nowhere a giant black and white bird swooped down and started trying to peck Emmas head! The lady was screaming from behind for Emma to look at the bird, however Sam misheard and told Emma to NOT look at the bird, and it kept coming, swooping and trying to peck at her!!! The lady told us that it was a Magpie (although in the UK we call them Crows), and it was nesting season and we had ridden though her territory. Emma had been wearing a black helmet, and the others had been wearing white and the predator of this bird is black so it kept attacking Emma. They will only swoop from behind, so if you keep looking at them they stay away. The lady told us that when they go get the horses from the field they wear helmets and draw faces on the back of them to keep the bird away. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO scary, and ever since, if Emma sees a bird fly anywhere near her she screams and runs away!!! We learnt that one girl in New South Wales had her eyes taken out by one of these birds, and to make it worse, they are protected species!!! - though it was quite funny to watch!
That night we went to bed as normal only to be awoken at about 4am by birds going crazy! We looked out the window to see the sky was bright red!! http://images.2ue.com.au/2009/09/23/748603/DustStorm_53-600x400.jpg At first we had no idea what it could be and thought it may be a bush fire! We got up and literally could not see in front of us - it was really surreal! We learned that it was a dust storm that had taken over a vast proportion of the east coast, and that even sydney was covered over by it - the worst for over 30 years!!! We had booked to do a wine tour which was still going ahead despite the strange weather! The wine tour which took us to about 6 wineries to sample wine, as well as cheese tasting, chocolate and fudge tasting, olives, bread and a whole lot more!! The tour was fantastic - the only disappontment were the views. The usual stunning mountain and vineyard views were clouded by the huge dust storm!! By the end of the tour we didn't want to see another bottle of wine, but we are now connoseurs (spelling??) of wine and shall be expecting everyones collection of wine upon our arrival home!
Our next destination was port macquarie - about a 3 hour drive from the hunter valley region!
Sydney, Australia
We landed in Sydney on a cloudy Wednesday lunchtime and were extremely excited to arrive at our hotel (yes hotel not hostel!!!) Ok it was only a travelodge, but compared to our huts in Fiji it may as well have been the Ritz!! We went for a walk around the city, visiting a few shopping malls along the way and determind NOT to see the opera house or harbour bridge (we wanted to wait til it was sunny so it would be like we imagined it!!!) Very tired we went back to our palace and ordered room service!! The following day we took the very touristy open top double decked bus around the city to see all the sights. Fortunately we did not have to go around keeping our eyes closed to aviod the opera house and bridge because it was a beautiful sunny day! Sydney is a stunning city - the harbour is just beautiful, and the bridge and opera house did not disappoint either. Later in the day we went to the top of the sky tower to look at the incredible views across the city which go straight out to Bondi and the ocean. As we walked throught the streets we noticed that Wicked the Musical was playing. We went to investigate ticket prices and found out that they do something called the wicked lottery everyday, which means that if you write your name on a piece of paper and they draw it (they pick 15), you get front row tickets for A$30! So off Sam went to flirt with the staff and sure enough we won the tickets for that night! The following day was a very special day for us-we collected our baby! Baby juicy that is - http://www.jucy.com.au/jucy/jucy-choppa.asp?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=400&width=430 After speaking to a number of ppl we decided (much to everyones amusement at home) to rent a camper van! In Australia this is very much the done thing and the campsites are really holiday resorts with pools, tennis courts, bbqs the whole works! After collecting our baby (we were a little nervous) we took her on her first outing to Bondi Beach and had a walk around trying to spot great whites!!! That evening as Rosh Hashana came in we went to Emma's cousin Taryn for dinner and enjoyed our first home cooked meal in months! We left at about 10.30pm and off we went to our first campsite - or so we thought!!! Naively we thought you could just show up to these places unannounced at anytime you like - this is not the case!!! All the campsites were closed for the night in a panic at about 12.30 we asked the sat nav to take us to the nearest hotel - a marriott (great!!) They were asking $300 a night so off we drove and eventually found a travelodge. Sam flirted again and they let us stay in their secure car park and use their facilities for $5!!! The following day, after wandering through the hotel in our pjs we set off for the first part of our road trip - the Blue Mountains!
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