Australia

Final Oz entry and to be honest we’re glad to be moving on. Although there have been numerous highlights, the 2 months spent here haven’t been as enjoyable/memorable as our 3 months in Asia. What will New Zealand have to offer?? Watch this space…

01/02/07 – 913 km (not all in 1 day, but we forgot to break down the trip from Sydney – Canberra – Batemans Bay – Lakes Entrance)
Drove all day (7 hrs +) through southern New South Wales into Victoria and finally arrived at the Lakes Entrance late afternoon. Wondered around town, down the Esplanade and over a pedestrian bridge to the sand dunes leading onto Ninety Mile Beach. Watched a kids surf school in action and witnessed the cries of one little girl who couldn’t hack the 3-day course: “Wahhhhhh, I don’t want to do it anymore, I get scared of the waves!!!! wahhhhhhhh” Probably not the best extra-curricular activity to enrol that child in then.

02/02/07
Walked down Ninety Mile Beach and completed a 6km circular route, walking back beside one of the lakes – surprisingly hard work in the sand…our legs were aching! We then drove to Metung to see Lake King, bit dull so no need to elaborate.

03/02/07 - 163km
Drove to and around Philip Island. Even duller than previous day so I won’t bother with any finer details.

04/02/07
Visited Churchill Island (tiny, tiny island 5 mins from Philip Island), which comprised mostly of a working heritage farm (first crops planted in Victoria were planted here), complete with its own cattle, shire horses, sheep and ‘chooks.’ The 1870s farmhouse was very pretty, as was Rogers Cottage (built by a Cornish immigrant) and the surrounding orchards.
Next stop: the Koala Conservation Centre, back on Philip Island. Not as good as the Koala hospital in Port Macquarie, but we spotted a few snoozing in the trees. Just off the southern tip of the island lies Seal Rocks, but surprise, surprise...we didn't catch a glimpse of a single seal. The views were fantastic though, and we did spot a tiny penguin in its burrow. We watched it peacefully for a few moments, before some Korean kids caught sight of us and started ranting and raving, scaring the poor thing back into the Earth.
At 18.30 we traipsed down to a beach, along with a few hundred others, and sat for a couple of hours, awaiting the ‘Penguin Parade’. We waited and waited and waited and finally, at around 21.30 (nose blue and fingers numb) the ‘smallest penguins in the world’ (according to the visitors centre) emerged from the ocean and waddled slowly up the beach in little groups, to their burrows. It was an awesome sight as there were literally hundreds, if not thousands of these tiny penguins waddling up to greet their young. The visitor’s centre has set up boardwalks and sensitive lighting networks, so you are only a few metres away from the penguins.
Appropriate at this point to note that the nights have become increasingly cooler the further south we’ve come, and recently we have been waking up in the middle of the night freezing cold (1 sheet and 1 blanket full of holes = bedding). Very strange considering we were hanging up the mosquito net in Cairns, so that we could get some air in by keeping the campervan door open.

05/02/07
Drove to Melbourne, grocery shop enroute created confusion and meant that we ended up driving through the city centre rather than around – whoops. Campsite = excellent, complete with a resort-like swimming pool, where we spent most of the afternoon as it was far too hot to venture into town. That evening we caught a tram (yep – case study comes to life Rich) into the city and although we are only 9km from the CBD it took an hour! Pretty place with a similar ‘city atmosphere’ to Sydney, but feels a bit smaller. Crossed the river and visited the gigantic Crown Casino Complex (hotel, showrooms, shops, cafes, restaurants, cinema etc. etc.) which is apparently the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Most notable parts of the evening: I got asked for ID - which I was quite impressed about as I have been wondering whether or not all this sun has aged my skin! Wayne got tempted by his Cairns win and lost half of his chips – will he ever learn?

06/02/07
Weather turned cold and cloudy, but we attempted to explore Melbourne by day. Visited Federation Square (empty rail yards were revamped into a ‘riotous explosion of steel, glass and abstract geometry’, in other words, the architecture =horrid!) and then caught a tram (free tourist service) around the city centre, although we couldn’t see a lot because everyone else had the same idea. Jumped off at Carlton Gardens, walked past the Royal Exhibition Building and up into Melbourne Museum. We then spent the next 4 hours submerged in all things Australian...from Aussie flora and fauna to a genuine ‘Neighbours’ treasure; an interior set, complete with scripts!

07/02/07 – 387 km
Weather awful again so we decided to stay in the car and drove down the Great Ocean Road. Although the 12 Apostles, London Bridge (now an arch, as part of the limestone structure collapsed in 1990, leaving 2 tourists stranded on the arch!) and Loch Ard Gorge etc. are stunning natural sculptures, we are unsure as to whether the 6/7 hour drive was really worth it? They were great to see, but I think we would have appreciated them more if we’d stopped off en route to Adelaide, rather than spending all day driving just to take a few photos! Stayed the night in a town called Warrnabool, on the southern coast of Victoria.

08/02/07 – 344 km
Headed back towards Melbourne via the A1 (rather than the slower Ocean Road), but diverted to the centre of the Goldfields region; Ballarat, a stunning Victorian town with tree-lined streets and pretty architecture. Our main reason for stopping here was to visit Sovereign Hill (see tomorrow), a tourist attraction recommended by a Danish couple who’d lived in Melbourne for a few months. Since we’d arrived late in the afternoon we decided to stay the night and visit Sovereign Hill the following day.

09/02/07
Sovereign Hill (a working 1850s township) describes itself as a living museum representing Ballarat’s first golden decade, following the discovery of gold in 1851. (The second largest nugget ever found was found at Ballarat = 64kg!!) It is set in the open-air (we had a warm sunny day at last!) on 25 hectares of ex-mine sites. After browsing the entrance museum displays we unsuccessfully panned for gold in the creek and then took 2 separate tours in the underground gold mines (evidence that Cornish tin mining techniques were transferred into the gold mines by the independent miners). The differences in general working conditions and mining techniques, between the independent miners and the ‘company miners,’ were highlighted to us throughout the tours (i.e. from what I can remember: the unskilled workers (company workers) received a wage from the mining company and relied heavily on the company-owned steam-powered pump, so that they could use their explosives below the water table. The skilled immigrant miners (independents) carved out mines by hand in the shape of an arch and never ventured below the water table. They were therefore a lot safer – no explosives and little flood risk.)
We then went and watched a ‘gold pour’ demonstration, where liquid gold (heated to about 250C and previously purified by combining with various metals) was poured into a mould and then cooled in water. The result = a 3kg gold bar – amazing process to witness and brought chemistry to life: wish that Dr Smith or Mr Whitmore had offered us a similar practical lesson!! (Haha – Claire, we probably would have bodged that up as well!) Apparently I looked like an ‘honest person,’ so the man demonstrating asked if I wanted to hold the $84,000 gold bar. I gratefully accepted (but was handcuffed first! only kidding) and went up to the front to receive my prize (we are now residing in the Hilton.) The bar was still warm and surprisingly heavy for its mere size.
With the gold bar wedged into my pocket, we rushed out onto the street and tried to mingle into the crowds on Main Street. We visited various 1850 style shops: haberdasheries, grocery stores, jewellers, bakers, and Wayne’s favourite…the sweet shop. We then watched boiled sweets (butter drops) being made with traditional ingredients and equipment…delicious.
The highlight of the day was watching a class full of kids (on a 3-day long school trip, dressed in traditional attire) in the town school. An English schoolmaster was telling them off but they didn’t seem to be taking the ‘role play’ very seriously and were all cracking up. The whole set-up was excellent (street actors roaming around) and we had a fantastic day – definitely recommended trip for anyone in the Melbourne area.

10/02/07
Back in Melbourne and decided to try and explore a bit more of the city…
· Queen Victoria Market: massive 130-year-old market with thousands of stalls selling everything and anything.
· Bourne Street Mall – just shops!
· State Library – free internet too busy so gave up.
· Chinatown – cheap internet access.
· Very old, but cheap cinema – watched Miss Potter, who came across as a bit Potty and the film was probably not worth the pennies!

11/02/07 – HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY BETH!!!! Hope you enjoyed Rome??
Caught the tram to St Kilda (a seaside suburb in the south) where there was a massive weekend-long festival in full flow: music events, BMX and crosser demonstrations and 100’s of market stalls. Lively and entertaining day out, but as A.A. Milne would say, it was a very ‘blustery day’ and a lot of events were cancelled. We managed to catch a tram back into the city, but the power lines were down on a huge section of our journey (north of the city), so we ended up having to walk for about 1.5 hours. We weren’t 100% sure of the way back to the campsite, but just followed the tramlines and hoped for the best! We made it and lived to tell the tale.

12/02/07
Final day in Oz, so we got our act together and after packing up the van’s contents into 1564 bags we headed towards the eastern suburbs of Melbourne in search of Pin Oak Court (a.k.a Ramsey Street). Well…what can I say…we were ALMOST star-struck (by a couple of houses.) Actually we felt like right plonkers taking pictures of peoples houses, but it was fun seeing the street that we so often catch a glimpse of on telly, at 5.35pm, on BBC1! The street is a lot smaller than it appears on TV, but the houses all look the same. Shame we didn’t see any of the fictitious residents.
Journey back from Ramsey Street was an absolute nightmare – we must have missed a turning and ended up in the middle of Sydney yet again. By the time we got back it was 3pm – what a wasted day!
We are now sitting in an internet café in Chinatown, and have just recently treated ourselves to the most expensive meal we’ve eaten in 5 months – 10GBP each.

Congratulations and thank you if you are still reading this sentence – I know this must have been one of the worst entries yet! We drove, drove and then drove again! Anyway, we’ll love you and leave you now and will write again in a couple of weeks once we’ve explored a bit of NZ…. Where’s this new baby Ang???? E and W xxxxx

21/1/07 – Scorching Day: 42 C!!
Rose late and then did a big grocery shop (to stock up on bread amongst other things!) Unbearably hot, couldn’t do anything so we lazed in the shade around the campsite pool and when bored ventured down to the bus stop. At 3.30pm Wayne’s watch temperature gauge read 42C (not even peak heat!). There was no shade and we had to stand in this heat for 30 minutes waiting for a bus – I thought I was going to pass out I felt so ill. Heading into town was a bit of a mistake as we couldn’t do anything in the heat. Ended up in an air-conditioned internet café, pondering whether to spend 1 month’s budget on a 3 day trip to Ayers Rock! Decided against it: at the end of the day it’s just a big rock!

Ate dinner and then wondered over to the harbour in the early evening to watch the sunset behind the bridge: beautiful! We sat in a waterfront bar and saw the sky change into a million shades of orange, red, purple and pink – excellent evening.

22/1/07
Caught the bus into the city again and took a tube to Kings Cross: backpacker hangout with very little there. Escaped, and returned to the Botanical Gardens again, venturing into the grounds of Government House (a stunning mansion built: 1837-1845). Bad timing meant that the house was closed, but the gardens were great to walk around.
Sat on the steps in front of the Opera House and ate lunch whilst watching tennis (the Australian Open) on the big screen. We then walked over to Central Quay and caught a ferry to Manly (‘jewel of the north shore’). Pretty coastal town, but far too busy : Australian teenagers crowd onto the beach during the school holidays. Too hot to complete the scenic walk so we just squeezed through the sea of people and found a spot on the beach to read.

23/1/07 – A bad day gets worse….
NB. 387km backlog: Newcastle – Sydney – Blue Mountains
Breakfast with the birds….about 6 rainbow lorikeets joined us for breakfast (obviously word had spread to friends and family that the guy in the camper feeds generously). One sat on our cereal box, another (to my horror) tried to feed off my plate (!!) and as the final straw one decided my head was a perfect landing spot!!
Decided to get out of the city for a few days and head to the Blue Mountains…left the campsite and briefly stopped off at a petrol station to fill up. As we were heading back down the highway we stopped at a set of traffic lights and then stalled – whilst the clutch was down?!? Wayne tried to get the van back into gear again but it was stuck…GREAT!! We were holding up the traffic on a busy highway, so Wayne jumped out and (with the help of a random passer-by) pushed whilst I steered. Once we were safely on the grass verge we phoned the hire company (as instructed) and told them that we had broken down. They then put us through to a recovery company in Brisbane!!! USELESS!!! We rang up again and explained yet again that we were in SYDNEY not Brisbane!! Second time round we got through to someone that could help and were told that someone would be with us within the hour. Since we had no ice in our Esky I walked back to the garage to save our chilled goods. As estimated, a recovery man arrived on the scene about 11am (an hour after our breakdown). He was useless and a complete ******! He could have easily towed us himself to a garage, but decided to bring yet another person into the equation. To make matters even more complicated we were meant to tell the towing company where to take us!! As if we had a clue?? We phoned the rental company again and they said they’d get back to us. By the time they did, our helpful recovery man had buggered off! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Another 30 minutes passed until the tow turned up, where once again we went through the palaver of phone conversations with our rental company. Eventually it was decided to tow us to a garage in Epping (suburb of Sydney). The mechanics were on lunch by the time we arrived and so they said they’d look at it in an hour and told us to come back about 4pm, as the anticipated problem wasn’t too much of a job. We did as told and spent the day in a shopping centre (a 45min uphill walk from the garage!) Arrived back at 4pm and were told that the wrong part had been delivered! They were still waiting for a little hose before they could fix it. AGHHHHHH!! Couldn’t be bothered to trek back to the shopping centre so we waited at the garage for another 2 hours (listening to Aussie banter: mostly regarding cricket, fishing and drinking...zzzzz).

At 6.30pm (8.5 hours after setting off) we were finally back on the road. The mechanics had been really friendly and recommended a classic car event (“lots of pommy cars – you’ll like it”) that’s on every year in Hyde Park, on Australia Day – Wayne can’t wait!

Drove up to the mountains upon my insistence (since we hadn’t done anything all day I thought we should get to the mountains so that we could start looking around early the next day). Actual drive was stunning as we witnessed another sunset (pinks, oranges, purples). Arrived in Katoomba about 8pm and found that the campsite was shut! We considered parking in front of the office and using the facilities, but realised we needed a key to get into the kitchen and toilets – damn! Tensions were high (i.e. “Emma, I am FUMING so don’t even try and talk to me”) – I do take full responsibility for this mishap - and since there were no other campsites around (and parking up in a rest area was a ‘no no’ due to the possibility of getting arrested) we had to fork out $60 for a motel room (originally quoted $90 but I offered a sob story and my ‘natural charm’ (?!?!?) seemed to persuade the guy to drop the price – RESULT!) Although we’d obviously have preferred to stay on a campsite (due to our financial state) this motel room did brighten our moods: ensuite, kitchenette, tv: LUXURY!

24/1/07 – 150km
Pouring with rain: great day to explore the mountains! Our good fortune continues…views were ruined as the cloud cover below was too thick. Since the campsite was ‘cash only’ we decided not to bother and planned to explore the mountains in a day and head back to Lane Cove National Park in the evening. Despite weather we did manage to have a great day and fitted quite a lot in:
• Echo Point: viewed the ‘Three Sisters’ rock formations which roved to be a spectacular sight as they jutted up from the clouds. We walked down to the ‘Three Sisters’ through the Eucalyptus forests: the smell was overwhelming (probably because it had been raining), it felt like you were breathing in aromatherapy oils!
• Scenic World – a trip on the skyrail would have been a waste of money as all you would have seen was cloud cover, so we opted for a ride on the Worlds steepest (and possibly, although not advertised, Worlds SHORTEST) railway down to the old coal mining area. We then wondered around the mountain side for a couple of hours and saw a few interesting sites (including an old miners hut). We then caught a cable car back up the mountain.
• Katoomba Waterfall: short walk down to the waterfall, which Wayne decided to climb….bit unremarkable.
• Evans Point: meant to be a spectacular view but the cloud cover was too thick so we gave up and headed back to Sydney (this time we booked and luckily there was one spot left – phew!)
The Blue Mountains are beautiful and it’s amazing that they are only an hour’s drive from Sydney. It’s a shame the weather wasn’t better otherwise we would have stayed a few more days.

25/1/07
The bad weather continued (25C and we are in trousers and jumpers – we are going to get a shock when we get back to UK!) Caught a bus into the city and since we the weather was so poor all we could do was window shop and visit the cinema (for the thousandth time!) Saw ‘Blood Diamond’ – excellent movie.

Headed back to the campsite and went into the camp kitchen to make dinner. Unexpectedly bumped into Thanh and Blanche (the couple we’d met in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and whom we were planning – via e-mail - to meet up with for a drink the following day – such a small world!) They had hired exactly the same campervan as ours (hadn’t seen another one like it on our entire trip down south), from the same back-alley rental company in Cairns (and got it at a cheaper rate!!) We spent a few hours catching up with them before they headed off to a friends house in the city and then got talking to another couple (Hailey and Simon, from Wales, who’d been in Melbourne for 2 months and were on a 10 month honeymoon!). Got on really well, so we invited them out for a drink with Thanh and Blanche the following evening (Australia Day).

26/1/07 – Australia Day
After breakfast with the Welsh couple we caught up with some laundry and then headed into the city a bit later in the day. The Harbour was heaving with boats and the quay was packed with people! Live music concerts were scattered around the city and overall there was a fantastic atmosphere in the city. The Aussies are very patriotic (especially with regard to their dress – see photos!)

Sat on the steps of the Opera House and had lunch, then strolled through the Botanical Gardens (yet again) and this time got to venture inside Government House. The interior was a little disappointing (not nearly as nice as a lot of our national heritage buildings) but there was a fantastic Concert Band playing in the grounds (took me back to music GCSE!), so we sat on the grass and were entertained for about 30 mins. Made our way up Macquarie Street to Hyde Park (where the citizenship presentations were taking place). The streets were lined with thousands of vintage cars, which kept Wayne entertained until I was begging to go back to the campsite. Fantastic day as the sunshine had returned and there was so much to keep us entertained.
After dinner we caught the bus (with Hailey and Simon) into town AGAIN! Darling Harbour was just a sea of people, so we couldn’t see the presentations going on next to the water, but we stood on the bridge and waited for the fireworks. They didn’t disappoint – millions must have been burnt that night. Just as the crowd was about to disperse a fighter jet with a humungous fireball shooting out of its behind roared through the night sky: awesome sight. We tried to find Thanh and Blacnhe at a bar on the waterfront, but Simon and Wayne weren’t allowed in anywhere because they were wearing ‘thongs’ (flip-flops to the English-English speaking world!) Since we’d been standing up for so long all we wanted to do was find somewhere to sit down and get a drink: impossible as the city was heaving. We slowing snaked our way out of the harbour, following a massive crowd until we found an Irish pub in the CBD. We were all pretty fed up by this time and said – “oh, lets just go in for ONE and then head back”….at 4am we staggered onto the street: ONE drink had turned into ONE TOO MANY! Need I say anymore… It was a great night out (I introduced a UK dance-off: Beth, Claire - you would have LOVED IT) – hahaha , but our bank balances have been obliterated! Since we couldn’t find our bus stop, (thinking about it now I doubt there would have been a bus anyway!) we had to catch a taxi back to the campsite. To add to the hilarity of the night, Simon tripped over a ‘sleeping policeman’ (speed bump to you and I) whilst running away from a caravan that Wayne had knocked on.

27/1/07 – HAPY 20th BIRTHDAY NATALIE!!!
Uuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………………....NEVER EVER DRINKING AGAIN!!!!
Woke up at 9am: hot and extremely hung-over. Just about managed to have a shower before falling back into bed. Felt awful!!! Campsite = worst place to nurse a hangover: toilets too far away and too many screaming kids/birds. Slept until 1pm, and then managed to eat something. Lazed around for the rest of the afternoon and that evening, whilst Thanh and Blanche sipped their wine, we stuck to a nice cuppa. Played a card game: Backpackers until the lights in the camp kitchen went off.

28/1/07
Grocery shopping and then went to Bondi Beach (massive surfers paradise) with Simon and Hailey. The guys spent most of the time drowning in the humungous waves, you literally got washed off your feet – I was too concerned about loosing my bikini to venture in! That evening we sat outside Si and Hailey’s campervan and chatted: they’re so funny, so Welsh! We got on really well, so we swapped contact addresses and promised to meet up once we are all back in the UK. That evening we spotted a mother and baby possum, a pregnant possum and 2 other possums fighting in a tree!

29/1/07
We were both quite sad to leave Sydney; great city and great times there, but as we only have 2 weeks left in Australia we thought we better move on. Drove to Canberra (aka Crapberra), which can only be described as the dullest and most useless capital city on Earth! We deliberately diverted here to find an internet café so that we could catch up with this blog (as southern NSW is meant to be a bit less developed than the north). No internet cafes to be seen, the only place that had computer access was a photo shop! The campsite wasn’t much better. They stuck us (and charged us for) a powered campsite even though we insisted that we don’t need power. This site was about 50km from all the amenities – we actually had to drive to the kitchen!
Both thoroughly pissed off and wouldn’t recommend visiting this city to anyone!

30/01/07
A new day, a new perspective. Since we’re here we decided to try and see something of Canberra and picked the National Museum of Australia (primarily because admission is free!) The museum was surprisingly good…it documented Australia’s history (albeit short!), environment and culture. Drove over Lake Burley Griffin, past Anzac Parade and the citys’ war memorial, towards the highway…next stop Batemans Bay. The landscape we passed was incredibly dry – all the grass and trees were dead. Arrived at a campsite late afternoon (cheapest yet - $18/night) and lazed around the pool.

31/1/07
Weather has declined again, so our plans to visit the beach here have been abandoned. Although saying that I have been sitting here half the day, so we haven’t got much more time until it gets dark!

Until next time....E and W xxx

Haven’t managed to locate a reasonably priced internet café this time round, in fact, I’ve only just managed to locate an internet café! They have become few and far between ever since Sydney so I need to undertake a comprehensive update now….

11/1/07
After finishing the BLOG entry last time round we went to the cinema (the weather hadn’t improved) and watched ‘Pursuit of Happyness’ (Will Smith), which I thought was pretty good. We then caught the ferry to Kangaroo Point (residential area of Brisbane) and viewed the bright city skyline by night.

12/1/07 – 350km
Retraced our steps BACK up the highway to Australia Zoo (the late Steve Irwin’s), but were a bit disappointed as it was a lot of money and nowhere near as good as the Singapore Zoo. We did however see and touch some Koala’s (who were always asleep) and Kangaroos (free ranging). We also saw a humungous Giant Tortoise and the infamous live Croc Show (where they paid tribute to Steve Irwin’s work.) After a few hours we got fed up and headed back down the highway past Brisbane and through the Gold Coast to Byron Bay. Manic!! This place was so busy: all of the hotels had ‘no vacancy’ signs hanging up outside and the first campsite we stopped at was charging $40/night! We therefore backtracked out of town to a $24/night camping spot: let’s just say battery chickens are kept in better conditions (2000 places, kitchen for 10).

13/1/07
Rose early and wondered around Byron Bay: a really pretty coastal town with loads of boutique shops. The beach was also beautiful and the sea was choppy, offering massive waves for surfers to ride (not good conditions for bikini wearers!) Spend about 5 hours on the beach and then returned to our cramped quarters to do our laundry. Cooked dinner and ate by the lake.

14/1/07– 320km
Decided to venture up to Cape Byron via the pretty 4km coastal walk (a very popular running route). Walked past the most easterly point on mainland Australia and then up to the lighthouse: gorgeous views. From here we continued around the circular track and wondered through the rainforest where, in the middle of nowhere, Wayne was stung on his foot (whilst wearing walking flip-flops) and proceeded to hop around on one leg in agony. At the time we didn’t know if he’d been bitten or stung and so we stopped for a few minutes to assess his condition (there was no swelling or obvious marking but we checked for any other symptoms…) Fortunately nothing seemed to come of it and the pain receded after about 10 minutes (I was getting worried that I’d have to drive that day!!!) We returned to the van and continued on down…destination = the unknown. See how far we can get before dark.

Arrived at Monnee Beach (near Coffs Harbour) early evening and decided to stay one night and move on the next day. Weather was appalling: it rained all evening and all night so we sat in the camp kitchen and went to bed early: boring when it rains! That evening we realised that we had possibly been travelling around for days with a warped concept of time. The office at Byron Bay seemed to always be open ahead of time and our receipts were always wrong. We now realise that on crossing the New South Wales border we lost an hour (so we are now 11 hours ahead of you lot) due to their daylight summer saving…and we though we were doing well: getting up and going to bed early!

15/1/07 – 220km
Back on the road for a few hours and parked up in Port Macquarie (the 3rd town to be established on mainland Oz (1818), by 1821 it was a Penal Colony.) The Lonely Planet believes it has a ‘touch of cosmopolitan about it’ and this does deem true (for once!) We wondered around the coastal town which boasts numerous tree-lined avenues and beautiful beaches. Sunbathed and then went to a local rundown cinema for 3GBP. Beans on toast for dinner – hard times!

16/1/07
Returned to the beach in the morning and then visited the Koala Hospital (main complaints: dehydration, conjunctivitis and road accident/bushfire injuries). Although you couldn’t go inside the hospital (had to wonder around the fenced off enclosures) we did see a lot of Koalas and at feeding time we saw little joeys being hand fed milk by volunteers – ahhhh.

17/1/07 – 330km
Left Port Macquarie and headed south again, diverting off the highway to follow the tourist drive through stunning lake lined road networks. Paused for a break in ‘Seal Rocks’; a magnificent little fishing village. We walked up to the lighthouse to get a better view of the ‘seal rocks’ but unfortunately (as anticipated) didn’t spot any of the summer breeding seals. It was well worth the drive though as the rock formations and gorge were beautiful. We continued down to Newcastle and got a bit frustrated upon arrival as there were no campsites anywhere! The information office was shut, but a notice on the window stated that the only campsite in the area was back out of town in Stockton (Wayne = fuming! I did offer to drive but this was declined – I tried!) We were pleasantly surprised by our drive through Newcastle as the city offers the best architecture we have seen in Australia so far (not much competition to be honest!) Whilst driving along the coast we pulled over to admire the ocean liners dotted across the horizon – it was an amazing sight as they were all heading in the same direction down the South Pacific Ocean – total count: 33!

Finally found the caravan site, which had a beach front position, so we ended the day with a stroll down the beach to the pier (which doubled as a memorial to the numerous shipwrecks that had occurred in the surrounding seas.) Cooked dinner in the camp kitchen whilst Bingo was in full swing – highlight of our night life!! Its surprising how many Australians live permanently in campsites: many of the mobile homes have mature gardens surrounding the perimeter.

18/1/07
Spent the day in Newcastle (caught the passenger ferry over from Stockton). Found a second hand book shop, visited the internet and then wondered down the river to Noby Head Beach.

19/1/07
Since we’d spent most of the day in the car driving down to Sydney we thought we’d try and save some money by staying outside the centre and then move on to the city early morning. Diverted off the highway at Gilford and headed through Brisbane Waters and Woy Woy to Etalong Beach. The campsite cost $44/night!! Not saving at all! When the friendly couple at the desk saw our horrified reaction they proceeded to help us find a cheaper site, which ended up to be only 10km from Sydney city centre ($30/night)! We therefore drove back through Brisbane Waters to Lane Cove National Park (Greater Sydney). We were really pleased with the campsite as it was a great sanctuary to return to after a hectic day in the city and our site was right next to all the amenities for once!

20/1/07
Following a 20 minute walk to the stop we caught the bus into Sydney (over the harbour bridge). The city has a great atmosphere and contrary to standard reputation we found the people of Sydney to be really friendly (if anyone saw us looking lost with the Lonely Planet at hand, they’d come up to us and ask if we needed any help!) Probably quicker if I just run through where we went:
• Fleet Park – excellent view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
• The Rocks – 1st European Settlement where convicts, prostitutes and street gangs resided, but now a beautifully restored ‘tourist precinct’ (1970’s redevelopment) comprising of narrow cobbled lanes, mock-colonial buildings and a fantastic market.
• Circular Quay – on shores of Sydney Cove and basically a transport hub which leads round the harbour to the Opera House.
• Royal Botanical Gardens – fantastic green space full of humungous fig trees and numerous walking tracks. We spotted 1000s of fruit bats hanging upside down (in the middle of the day!) off the trees towards the northern end of the park – amazing sight.
• Main shopping streets: George Street, York Street etc. where we found an internet café to check our mail before heading back to the campsite.

Wayne has been leading us down the path of poverty as he keeps feeding the damn ducks and beautiful rainbow lorikeets all our bread! There are loads of birds in our campsite and at night we have spotted numerous wild possums and bandicoots. Wayne has also been feeding the possums and managed to stoke one the other day….’Nature Boy’ returns! He has been bitten on the odd occasion though – never learns.

To be continued.....

03/01/07
Drove to Conway National Park, which is part of the same coastal mountain range as the Whitsunday Islands (the islands were cut off from the mainland following post ice-age floods, so the highest peaks of these mountains are now in fact the islands). Walked up Mount Rooper - free entertainment and kept us fit, but ‘mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun’ did spring to mind on numerous occasions – it was unbearably hot! After a couple of hours we made it to the summit and were rewarded with fabulous views of the Whitsunday Passage and some of the islands. Cooled down by the swimming pool for the rest of the afternoon and fought competitively for the title of ‘crazy golf champion’ in the early evening (Wayne won – no surprise there!)
At this point I should probably mention our nightly ritual: a 30-40 minute regime which includes re-arranging luggage onto the floor of the campervan (‘storage’), transforming the inside seating area into a bed (the MDF boards are falling apart and this can be quite a tricky balancing act), exterminating the vans bug population – we think we have an ants nest which needs to be dealt with, making up the ‘bed’ with sheets that are too small for the ‘mattress’, fixing up the mozzie net over the curtain wire and pegging it to both the inside and outside of the van, and finally….climbing into the van over the front seats (as mozzie net is now blocking the side entrance)…this ensures a well aired, spacious, midge-free nights sleep (until 4.30am – as we haven’t figured out how to block out the birdsongs yet!)

04/01/07
Wayne woke up with a total of 57 bites on his body: from ankles up to biceps – we think this must have occurred before entering the midge-free oasis of the van, but who-knows?!? I think this makes up for his lack of suffering, as I have been attacked daily for the last 4 months (albeit moderate attacks of 4/5 bites) and Wayne thought he was invincible so hadn’t been bothering with the repellent! That will teach him!
Anyway, we rose early and were picked up from the campsite and taken to Abel Point Marina…we were boarding ANOTHER boat (wasn’t too keen after the last venture – but how else were we going to visit some of the Whitsunday Islands?)
Set sail on the Voyager; a 23m, high-speed catamaran. First stop: Day Dream Island, which is basically a resort island. We wondered around, lazed by their pool for about an hour and tried to enjoy the views of the Whitsunday Islands, but it was very foggy and we couldn’t see much! Set sail again and were dropped off at the infamous Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island. Although unbearably touristy (exacerbated by the fact that all us tourists were confined to the southern part of the beach because a movie (Fools Gold, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey) was being shot on the beach further north), the beach is stunning and regarded as one of the most beautiful in the world. There are no resorts here, so everyone was on a few hour drop-in visit. The sea was surprisingly cool (compared to Mission Beach) and we had to wear stinger suits (as there are no nets), which ruined the whole ‘paradise’ image, but it was beautiful place to stop. Since the weather had brightened up we were then able to enjoy the next leg of the trip: to Hook Island. By snorkeling in the surrounding waters (a Marine National Park) we absorbed spectacular views of the Great Barrier Reef, but a lot of the coral immediately offshore has been killed – this is probably due to poor leisure management, as these trips let anyone snorkel (and many people don’t seem to appreciate the fact that if you stand on the coral it dies!) There was, however, a lot of tropical fish in the area, and the captain of the ship kept throwing out bread to the fish, who scrambled in a mad rush to get a bite. I found this a bit scary when they rushed towards you bearing their teeth! Wayne thought this was amusing and kept getting bread from the captain to through in my direction – it’s pretty hard to scream through a snorkel without inhaling a mouthful of saltwater! Not pleasant.
Later on, when boarding the ship, the crew fed the fish again from the pier. This attracted a huge array of fish, including massive Mauri Mantas (1m in length) and turtles!! The mantas are all born female, but the dominant female in the shoal transforms into a male when its predecessor dies – strange fact. We also took a fleeting visit down a historic underwater observatory, which was a bit crap as there was more steel than glass so you couldn’t really see anything!
On the journey back we sailed past Hamilton Island, home to numerous celebrity cribs, including George Harrisons’ old abode. Overall we had an excellent day.
That evening we watched a free outdoor movie (Over the Hedge) on the big screen at our campsite. We sat on our camp chairs, it rained a little, but we enjoyed the al fresco viewing experience.

05/01/07 – 695 km, 20km of which I expertly navigated down one straight highway before Wayne got bored of being a passenger and decided to take over again! I think he wanted a laugh when he suggested I drive the van, but when I managed to pull it off without stalling, kangarooing etc. it got boring. There were no complaints from me – at least I can ‘read’ my way down the long straight roads. I now understand why the government insists on plastering the roads with signs every km. They are quite inventive: ‘Rest or RIP’, ‘Drive, Revive, Survive’, ‘Tired drivers die’, ‘Has your car got a knut loose at the wheel? K is a killer’….
As you can gather from that elaborate intro on ‘distance covered’, we set off again, back down the Bruce Highway with the hope of reaching Hervey Bay (we weren’t sure if it was manageable in 1 day). Passed 100’s of empty creeks (so dry here), paused in Rockhampton (Beef capital of Australia) for a coffee (not a steak), a random rest area (where we saw a kookaburra) for lunch and after 8 hours on the road (passing only 2 major towns) we arrived in Agnes Water (surfing capital of Queensland) in the hope of snatching a look at some turtle hatchings in nearby Deepwater National Park. Unfortunately we couldn’t get on the tour and since the track was only suitable for 4WD we couldn’t get there independently. Since it was getting late we abandoned the idea of getting to Hervey Bay and stopped the night in a campsite just outside Agnes Water (where kangaroos are renowned to bounce around.) Unfortunately we didn’t get a sighting (of either turtles or kangaroos)!

06/01/07 – 287 km
Back down the highway, took a brief stop in Bundaberg (pretty town; popular with working backpackers as there is a lot of fruit to pick, and birth town of Bert Hinkler, who made the first solo flight between the UK and Oz in 1928) and then parked up near Mon Repos Beach to try and get onto another turtle tour – waste of time!
Arrived at Hervey Bay early afternoon and wondered down the beach (where we can actually swim in the sea for the first time without the confines of stinger nets or suits!) Reason for this stop is to visit Fraser Island: the world’s largest sand island, which has been formed over 1000’s of years by longshore drift (useful case stuffy Rich!) Since its only accessible by 4WD (like much of Australia) we can’t take the camper there, so had to book a day trip.

07/01/07
Woken at 4.45am as usual by the birds. Carried out some chores (yes, we do have some): the laundry and grocery shopping and then hit the beach. Hervey Bay has a fantastic beach, beautiful and not too busy. It was a boiling hot day so the freezing cold, non-stinger infested water was very welcoming. This is how we imagined Australia to be. It seems to have become better the further south we’ve gone.

08/01/07 - Day Trip: Fraser Island; World Heritage Site and basically a giant sandbar (120km x 15km)!
Picked up at 7.30am and taken to River Heads Pier. Took the ferry across to Fraser Island and then climbed into a massive 4WD/offroad coach. Visited various locations around the island:
1. Central Station: an old logging village (now only 2 buildings) in the centre of the island (used to be a railway that ran to the coast). Fraser Island is incredibly green for a sand island and has a diverse array of fauna and flora. One of the trees here (name escapes me) is unique to the island and has been used in the construction of the London Docklands and the Suez Canal. We walked through the forest and saw 2000-year-old ferns, scribbly gum trees and a freshwater creek amongst other things.
2. Lake McKenzie: a beautiful freshwater lake with sandy beaches. This, as far as I’m concerned, is more like paradise than any other beach we’ve visited. The water was crystal clear and I could enjoy swimming in it without the fear of jellyfish, stingrays and sharks. Definitely my favourite swimming spot of the trip (well, on par with the blue lagoon in Laos). Would have liked to have spent more time there, but since we were on a tight schedule we were rushed off to lunch at Eurong Beach Resort and then driven down part of Seventy-Five Mile beach in the 4WD. This beach is more like a congested highway of 4WD vehicles than a beach. Stopped off at:
3. Maheno shipwreck, a former passenger liner, turned WW1 hospital ship. It was sold to the Japanese in 1935 but as they were tugging it back a cyclone hit and the Maheno was washed up onto Fraser Island. The Japanese didn’t react fast enough and the ship sunk into the sand making it too hard to remove and it has therefore been sitting there ever since. Fantastic sight. Inspired us to dive around a wreck.
4. Coloured Sands of the Pinnacles – bit of an anticlimax, not very colourful and at the end of the day only sand.
5. Eli Creek; a fast-moving, crystal clear waterway and a massive tourist spot. Very shallow, so we just waded in the water. Apparently 4 million litres flow of this freshwater source flow into the sea every hour! Considering Queensland is experiencing a drought I don’t understand why they don’t utilize this resource?
We were just about to head back down the beach in the coach when the tour guide mentions that there is a scenic flight available in a 7-seater plane that takes off and lands on the beach. “Anyone want a go?” I pretend to put my hand up – JOKING (as we are BUDGET travelers) which Wayne takes as a ‘yeah lets go for it’ hand up and shouts out ‘YEAH WE’LL GO!!!!!!!!!’ So we end up sitting in a tiny 7 seater plane which is zooming down a busy beach (full of thousands of tourists and hundreds of vehicles), evidently it acts as a highway and a runway! Although the take off was uncomfortably close to other objects, the views of Fraser Island were breathtaking (and it was actually only 20GBP each - too much for us, but reasonable for the actual trip). Wayne even managed to act as co-pilot; sitting in the front seat. We saw a butterfly shaped lake, the shipwreck from air, gigantic sandblows and a massive expanse of greenery.

09/01/07 – forgot to take a note, but about 400 km
Reacquainted ourselves with Bruce and stopped off at Rainbow Beach for about an hour to walk up to Carlo Sandblow; a truly awesome sight (like a mini-desert on the coast). We walked through the sand down to the cliff edge and then made the strenuous trudge back up again. Spent the rest of the day driving to Brisbane. Parked up at a site 12 minutes south of the city but not very impressed as there is no fridge and you have to pay for the BBQ’s and stoves!! (In the country where BBQ’s are free on the side of the highway – bloody cheek!)

10/01/07
We therefore moved to a site 4km north of the city, which has better facilities for a similar price, and then caught the bus into the city and explored. Visited City Hall (its museum and clock tower), browsed the shops, walked through the Botanical Gardens and walked across the bridge to the South Bank (where there is the standard lagoon – free public swimming pool). Weather wasn’t great so ended up sitting inside an internet café for most of the afternoon and here we are again! Finishing off where we left off… Its now midday 11/01/07 and I shall report back in a few weeks time…

Phew………………………. I’m done xxxx

Happy New Year!! Finally managed to locate a reasonably priced internet café so I will sit here all afternoon until this update is complete – and since I haven’t written for a while I think this is going to be a long afternoon…warming up with a few finger exercises – something I’m sure Freya must have taught me!

23/12/06
Just a quick note here to announce that after 3 months of being on the road, today was our first laundry day….no, we are not THAT disgusting, it is purely because in Asia they do it for you – we couldn’t find anywhere where you could use machines yourself (any money-making opportunity is abused on that continent). Anyway, to complete this tale we washed our clothes and due to the fact that most of the stains had been settling in nicely throughout our time in Asia, nothing seemed to come out clean. Spent the rest of the day wondering around Cairns and playing cards in cafes and watched ‘The Queen’ at the cinema (very English!).

24/12/06 – Christmas Eve: Appalled that they don’t sell mince pies in the shops!!
Checked out of the hostel and walked 5 minutes down the road to a ‘posher’ establishment: huge room, ensuite, kitchenette, TV, sofas – complete luxury!! (NB - The shower is so powerful that you can feel gusts of wind when you turn it on, and it feels like millions of pins are stabbing you – although painful, very impressive as shampoo washes out of your hair in seconds. Our recent experiences of showers have been occasional drips, so although this may seem like a trivial detail it was the highlight of the day for us!) Put up our Christmas cards, stockings and our single decoration: a hanging star given to us by a little Cambodian girl. Watched Christmas crap on tv (1000 times worse than UK crap) and then went for a swim. In the evening we went to the hostel BBQ (the place we’d just checked out of – they didn’t seem to mind??) and participated in a Christmas quiz. We then jumped on their free shuttle bus into town and went spent the rest of Christmas Eve in Cairns Casino: Wayne transferred money from HIS account so that he could re-enact the latest 007 movie, as I wasn’t keen to hand over the rest of our travel money to an Australian ‘fat cat’! We actually had a really good evening, as there was a great atmosphere. Wayne even came out with winnings (probably because I kept hold of them so he couldn’t bet them away!) He recouped his $250 and made a further $100 – not bad! Needless to say I didn’t participate in any betting – I don’t have any money to loose L

25/12/06 - Christmas Day
Woke up early and made snowflakes out of paper ?!? Ate breakfast in our luxury room (usually we’d have to fight for some space in a shared kitchen) and then opened our stocking presents…we had both bought each other little souvenirs from Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia to open on Christmas Day (ahhhhh). Watched a Christmas film (The Family Stone) before heading out for Christmas lunch at a nearby hotel. No music, no mince pies and no roast – bit disappointing as it was a buffet lunch, but there was a good atmosphere and we had a good time. Walked off the calories along the seafront: bright blue skies and scorching temperatures – very weird…spent the rest of the day on the internet and by the lagoon (Cairns public swimming pool). Once again, we went to the cinema (on Christmas day!!!) and watched ‘The Holiday’ – good English, Christmas chick-flick!

26/12/06 – Boxing Day
Hit the Christmas Sales: bought two bargain cardigans, suitable for wearing to work – once I get a job! Walked 45 minute journey back to hotel before realising that I’d left my new purchases in the internet café – I was sooooooooooo mad at myself!! Stormed back in the midday heat and luckily my bag was still sitting underneath the computer – phew!!

27/12/06 – 28/12/06
Back to the hostel, more film viewing (due to bad weather) and more window-shopping. I now have enough books to open my own library (despite the fact that I have exchanged and sold half of the books I’ve read) and Wayne could possibly open up his own dvd rental shop when he returns.

29/12/06 - Two dives around the Great Barrier Reef!
Got up at 5.30am and walked to the other side of Cairns to the Marina. Boarded Seastar and embarked on a very, very rocky ride to Michaelmas Cay (endured a 2.5 hour journey with numerous passengers spewing overboard. Wayne threw up in the toilet and I had to keep my head bowed between my legs for the entire journey to stop myself from joining the party.) We were advised to go snorkelling before our dive to restore our balance – I didn’t think I could get up, let alone swim! However, after a few minutes in the water we both felt fine and did our first 40-minute dive with a dive master (just the 3 of us = excellent!) Visibility wasn’t fantastic (8m) – typical, always seems to be the way when we dive – and because we weren’t wearing wetsuits the water felt a bit cold, but the actual dive was fantastic. We saw so much marine life: upside down jelly fish, clown fish (nemo), white damsels, parrot fish, longfin batfish, blue spotted stingray and a couple of giant clams (when you stroke their inside with your hand they clamp up – very cool!) Our dive master also handed us sea cucumbers: odd looking things that breathe in through one end (their mouth) and out through their bum?!?
After lunch we took a small boat to the outer edge of the reef (we were meant to go Hastings Reef but the conditions were too rough) and carried out our second (13m) dive, which was awesome. The coral was so much more colourful (pinks, reds, yellows, browns and blues) and we swam through massive coral walls and canyons. We also encountered a 2m long white-tipped reef shark!! It swam past us, rather than towards us, so I didn’t freak out and use up all my air. Other creatures of interest (well for us) were triggerfish, potato cods, a black-saddled toby and a spotted sweetlips.

30/12/06
Took a bus to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Centre, where we spent a few hours learning about the Tjapukai Tribe. Visited the History Theatre (film), Creation Theatre (aboriginal performance with holographic images and music), Dance Theatre (where one of their toddlers joined in the performance – so cute (hence numerous pictures!)) Also listened to a Bush, Foods and Medicine talk, learnt about how to make and play a didgeridoo, threw spears and threw a boomerang (well I TRIED to – my attempt was just embarrassing! Someone actually shouted out ‘at least the kangaroos are safe!’) I dismissed this failure: hardly a vital life skill and if needs be at least I know I can crush a few ants/worms with a boomerang.

31/12/06 – 150 km (nothing)
FINALLY!!! Picked up our new home for the next 6 weeks: a small campette. We are now living with no electricity (no fridge, charging devices etc.), no water (toilet/shower) and no mirror!!! But, we can finally get out of Cairns, which can only be a good thing after spending over 2 weeks here. First stop, supermarket to stock up on groceries (we can now cook our own meals) and then headed south, down the Bruce Highway. Destination: Mission Beach. The drive through north Queensland highlighted the beauty of the area: lush mountains, sugar cane fields, banana plantations, waterfalls and hundreds of creeks. It also highlighted the enormity of this country! Where as in the UK towns merge into each other, or at least crop up every 5/10 minutes, here in Australia you drive for hours to reach the next settlement!
We arrived at Mission Beach mid-afternoon and set up camp in a basic park: no cooking facilities and just 2 toilets/showers for the entire campsite. But, we found a beautiful shady spot right next to the beach so were happy. Wondered into town but upon realising how small it was (and that most of the shops were shut, due to the fact it was New Years Eve), we headed down the beach for ½ km to the safety of the stinger nets and swam in the warm bath-like waters. Spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening reading on the beach as the sun began to set for the last time in 2006.
Headed back, showered and started chopping vegetables for our Mediterranean Chicken Pasta dish, then realised that we had no light. The electrician therefore got to ‘work’ and managed to orientate our al fresco kitchen in front of the campers’ headlights. With a little torch and a blinding headlight we cooked dinner on our portable gas stove. It tasted good so we just sat in the dark and prayed the chicken was properly cooked! Celebrated New Year with a few beers and walked along the beach (where some people had lit fires). Although quiet, it was a New Year’s Eve to remember!

01/01/07 – New Year’s Day – 560 km
Our first night in the camper was hot and stuffy – we had to open the side door and therefore got eaten alive. Due to the chorus of thousands of horrendous birdsongs we were woken up at 5am and briefly saw the most beautiful sunrise across the ocean. We then managed to doze back to sleep and got up at 7.30am. Upon opening the Esky (Oz Ice Box) we realised that the ice had completely melted and all our fresh supplies (fruit, veg, cheese etc) were soaking!! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Spent about half an hour drying off saveable items and then had to boil water in a saucepan to make a cup of coffee – oh the joys of camping….and this was day 1!!
Although beautiful, Mission Beach is a very small, quiet place and we decided to move on since we had wasted valuable time in Cairns. Headed back down the Bruce Highway: long straight road that seems to go on for eternity. We keep seeing mirages in the distance – the first time I saw it I shouted at Wayne because I thought he was heading at full speed into a lake!!
After 560km and possibly 560 McDonalds Advertisement Boards, we arrived at Airlie Beach: gateway to the Whitsunday Islands.

02/01/07
Moved campsites as we needed a fridge and were in desperate need of a socket so that we could charge up our camera batteries (the previous place didn’t have any electricity). This new site is massive and a bit too up-market for our little campervan (half these people have converted coaches into moving homes and the other half have the latest campervan models that probably cost more than the average house!) We just hid our van and headed straight to swimming pool.
Later in the afternoon we attempted to wonder around Airlie Beach town (pretty but a bit touristy) but gave up and went back to the free swimming pool to sunbathe!

NB. Have forgotten to mention, since writing up about Australia, the incredible number of free BBQ’s that the Aussies provide – they are literally in every public space imaginable…town parks, national parks, local swimming pools, highway rest areas etc. etc. (and they are always in use!)…Its quite amusing to us Brits as it is such a stereotypical Australian image.

Ok, I have been on this computer for over 2 hours so I’m going to have to give up – I know I said I’d sit here until it’s complete but my bum has gone numb! We are currently in Brisbane for those of you I haven’t e-mailed/spoken to…it’s a high-rise city – completely different to Cairns. Weather is a bit poor so haven’ t done much, but we’ll head out now and see if its improved? I’ll try and add to this tomorrow…Hope all are well? E and W xx