SJ's Grand Adventure

Unfortunately we didn't have long in Adelaide, about 17 hours and most of them were spent in an Irish bar!!

We hired a car in Adelaide to drive the great ocean road to Melbourne. I have no idea what type of car it is but it's big and red. The first stop was the Maclaren Valley just south of Adelaide as it has LOADS of vinyards. So we had to stop at a few and sample and buy. Gorgeous scenery, rolling hills and off course vinyards!!

We then drove round the peninsula, the scenery round this section reminded me a lot of some parts of the UK. We then pulled up at a backpackers to check in for the night only to find it didn't exist anymore and everywhere else was fully booked as it's the school holidays - ooopsssss!! Donuts was set on sleeping in the car but I managed to find a cabin in a random caravan park 2 hours down the road. So it had a happy ending!!

The next day was mainly driving with a couple of stops to stare at the beautiful scenery and walk around a bit. We spent the night in a strange town called Waranbool with some even stranger locals. Excellent for people watching though!!

The 3rd day definately had the most spectacular scenery, amazing rock formations, gorges and blowholes. Also the biggest road kill, huuuge kangaroos. We only managed a wee bird though.

We spent the night in a very cute hostel in Appollo bay. 3 of the other residents were from Edinburgh, the only scots I've met so far!!

The last day on the road we started with some koala spotting. We saw loads in the wild and even one awake. They're gorgeous cuddly animals. We then extended our wildlife skills to feeding parrots and a few ducks. The drive again was beautiful, right on the coast. The next cultural stop was the lighthouse from Going round the twist!! Didn't see the ghostie that lives in the toilet though! Then to finish the road trip we took a stunt flight in a Tiger moth plane over the coast. The cockpit was open so we got to wear the biggles helmets and jackets!! A fantastic end to the trip and my time with Donuts!! He's buggered of to Canada now!!

I'm in Melbourne now, staying in St Kildas with 2 girls I know from waaaayyyyy back in Juniper Green! Still got the car so planning a couple of day trips in the next few days. On Sat I fly to Darwin to start my west coast adventure!!

The last activity we did in Cairns was white water rafting on the Tully River. It was absolutely amazing, loved every minute of it, well almost. Apart from the rapid swimming which was actually very scary and for some reason, I still don't understand, I did twice!?!?

We then flew to Alice Springs which is pretty much in the middle of the country and extremely isolated. It's actually a lovely wee town, with a fair amount to see and is the home of the flying doctors. We didn't have a huge amount of time as the next morning we set of on our 3.5 day tour round the red centre. The drive is not all that interesting very flat,red, dusty landscapes with a few trees here and there. The first stop was King's Canyon where we did a long walk through gorgeous rock formations and a natural water hole.

The camping was actually fairly civilised, we had showers and electricity! We camped out under the stars in swags every night. They are basically massive, comfy sleeping bags. The sky was soooooo clear and the moon so bright you could read by it. Our group mainly consisted of Japanese and Koreans who took about a trillion billion (no exageration!) photos every day and they did the peace sign in every single one! They also built amazing camp fires.

The first night we watched the sunset over Ayers rock (now called by its aboriginal name, Uluru)which was pretty impressive. The second day we got up stupidly early to watch the sunrise over Uluru which wasn't all that impressive. We were told it changed colour but all that happened was it got lighter!! Then we walked round the Olgas, a group of head shaped rocks right next to Uluru. Some people find them more impressive than the big rock.
That afternoon was spent chilling by the pool, we had it tough!!

The next day was Uluru day,again we got up stupidly early to watch the sunrise. We then walked all the way round the base of it.It was too windy to climb and the locals prefer you don't climb it anyway. I was a lot more impressed by the rock than I thought I would be. It's got all sorts of bizarre craters and lines all over it. The aborigines have loads of cool dreaming stories about how they got there.

It's a fascinating place, full of mystery and spectacular scenery.

We then had a loooooong drive back to Alice Sprngs and spent a night gawping at the very strange locals and their 'unique' dancing styles.

Another ridiculously early start the next morning to catch the Groove Grape bus to Adelaide. We saw many cultural sights like Dinky the singing dingo and some camels. The lanscape is impressive, it's been in loads of filllms like the red planet and Mad Max. We stopped for the night in a bizarre opal mining town, Cooper Pedy. It is in the middle of nowhere and is pretty much entirely underground. The locals spend their Sundays making bombs for their mining the following week. I was glad to leave the place it gave me the creeps!!

After a 13 hour drive the next day in a bus with no air conditioning we arrived tired and very sweaty in Adelaide.

Another looooong journey with an absolutley raving bus driver. The scenery on the way up to Cairns is stunning; banana plantations and rainforests.

Cairns is not a particluarly beuatiful town but there is LOADS to do around here. There isn't a beach here but there is a massive lagoon. It was good to spend a couple of days chilling out as the last few weeks have been soooooo stressful!!?? One of the guys from Fraser Island and the Irish guys from the boat have followed us up here too. Everyone pretty much does the same route up the East coast.

I spent a day snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, amazing! Sooooo much to see and I'm pleased to say I found Nemo! We managed to fit in 2 different locations on the reef before having to head back. The colours and variety of fish and coral out there was waaaaaaaayyyyyyy better than I imagined.

Which brings me to the hippes........ I need to set the scene a wee bit: I met a girl in Cairns who went to the same uni and did the same course as me, a very small world. She is up in Cairns and we met up, her name is Jen. Jen has 2 german friends, Liza and Sybil and they are all very nice and a good laugh. They went up to a small village just north of Cairns, Kuranda, last week missed the last bus home so had to hitchike back. They were picked up by a lovely old lady called Eunice. Eunice met them a couple of times in Cairns for a bite to eat or for a coffee. She then invited them to a 'party' up in Kuranda. She has a spare flat with loads of room for them to stay. The 3 girls invited me along too.

We arrived in Kuranda yesterday afternoon, a cute wee, touristy village in the middle of the rainforest with some good markets. Eunice picked us up and took us back to her place which was really lovely. All we knew about the party was that it had an international theme.

Eunice picked us up at 6 and took us to 'Aurora' which is a series of properties in a huuuge area of land. We were based in the main hall which was beautifully set up with food from Indonesia, Japan, India, USA and Holland. Everyone was dressed up in national dress from one of the particular countries. There was a wide age range but mainly families and older people. We now start wondering who these people are and why they all live together. Although we weren't too concerned as there was loads of free, yummy food and off course wine!!

Everyone we chatted to seemed fairly normal until a red book was handed out. Half the people present stood up, round the piano, and proceeded to sing random hymns for half an hour. We start to get worried....!!

Thankfully there was no sermon or mad sacrificial ceremonies but there were, oddly enough, a candle dance, mini ninjas running around the place and a flute recital.

A very bizarre evening, I did manage to find out they're a community originally from Indonesia who then moved to Holland and then Australia for some bizarre reason. We did do quite well though, 1 bottle of wine, 1 bottle of Ouzo and plenty of takeaway food. We also denied their many invitations to stay and join their 'community'

After such an eventful evening what better way to spend the next day than at a fruit bat rescue centre. Very odd looking animals but kinda cute in a strange ugly way.

I'm now back in Cairns, probably going to spend a 'peaceful' evening with the Irish guys and Donuts when he gets back from his diving. Of to Cape Tribulation tomorrow to do some crocodile spotting, kayaking and zip lining through the rainforest.

We got a loooooong overnight bus up to Airlie beach on the 25th,which is the setting of point for the sailing trips. It's a manic crazy place, not the prettiest but a lot of fun. We met up with 4 others we went round Fraser Island with, 2 girls and 2 guys.

After being swapped boats 4 times we ended up on Hammer, an ex-racing boat that holds the record for the Sydney-Hobart race. Apart from 2 Irish guys we were the only people on board that weren't part of a bus tour. Which wouldn't have been too bad apart from they were mainly German and most were doing phd's in physics!!! Needless to say they were a bundle of laughs, they also had interesting taste in speedo swimwear mmmmmmmmm nice!?!?

The first day we started late so motored to a safe harbour and spent the night. The sky is incredibly clear out there. The germans went to bed at 10pm on the dot so we stayed up with the crew. Sleeping was in tiny swinging bunks that were surprisingly comfortable.

The next day was an early start and we got a chance to see the islands and do some proper sailing. The sails were massive and took 4 of us to hoist up. Luckily we didn't have anything to do with all the ropes as one of the crew on a neighbouring boat had his pinky finger shorn of, blood everywhere, not pleasant at all!

The whitsundays consist of 74 islands, mostly uninhabited and all gorgeous. We spent most of the second day snorkelling and sailing. I even got the chance to steer the boat for quite a while, just as well I didn't need to reverse!! We ended up at Whitehaven beach which is a long stretch of beautiful white sandy beach. It's one of the most isolated beaches in the world and looks like it's right of a postcard. Loads of stingrays and a few more sharks and turtles. Absolutely stunning.
Yet another night of German fun and frolics!!?! They very clearly didn't like our choice of music so switched the CD when noone was looking to some cheesy old man music that they said was "more appropriate!!??"

The last day was mainly spent snorkelling, sailing and dolphin watching before we, unfortunately, had to drop of the Germans. We then had the whole boat to the 4 of us and the 3 crew for the rest of the afternooon. I can't think of a better way to spend a Monday afternoon!! I could easily have spent at least another week sailing round the islands, minus the germans of course!!

Again, I'm struggling to describe the whole experience it was fantastic!!

The night we got back we spent in Airlie beach, was supposed to be a boat night out but we ended up with the 4 of us and lots of free beer, so we didn't complain that the Germans didn't turn up!!

Next stop Cairns......

This is the sky line of Brisbane from the river

Noosa beach at sunset

Our 4WD and most of the group at lunch on the first day, Fraser Island

Lake Mackenzie, Fraser Island

The whole group in front of the Moheno wreck, Fraser Island

Loads of room inside the jeep!!!

Walking back from Lake Wabby, Fraser Island, I'm the one on front!

Donuts and me on the whale watching boat, Hervey Bay

A whale breaching the water

A whale 'tail slapping'