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!
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