Young, Free and now...BROKE!

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

After only 6 days here I can confirm that this country is unfit for human habitation: EVERYTHING (including the vegetation) is out to scare our species away...we had contemplated spiders and snakes, had forgotten about the crocs, jellyfish and stingrays, but were completely naive to the fact that even the trees (stinging variety) like to have a go: this is a dangerous place!!! Despite the tough conditions we are still alive and are enjoying the drier climate (gladly left the 80% humidity in Asia) and beautiful landscapes...

15/12/06
Checked out of the family home in Singapore and wondered around Chinatown, trying to figure out how to fill our time (are flight wasn't until 10.30pm). We walked into a coffee shop and through what can only be described as a bizarre coincidence bumped into Thanh and Blanche (a couple from London who we'd met briefly in Krabi, Thailand and then again in Georgetown, Malaysia). We therefore spent the afternoon playing 'James Bond' style poker with little packets of sugar under the watchful eye of the coffee shops two employees (Thanh VERY discretely 'borrowed' the coffee shops entire sugar supply...they didn't seem too impressed.)

Got to the airport early and found out that Qantas had transferred us onto their 'ryan air' style JET airline - very, very sneaky as this meant ridiculously slow check in (2 desks open), no in-flight entertainment and very limited leg room. We were not impressed – if they were going to tamper with out flight they could have at least upgraded us! If the next flight is on JET I’m going to moan to Qantas – in the hope of being flown first class from LA back to London…wishful thinking?? In contrast, Singapore airport was luxurious…free internet booths and foot massage chairs, a cinema, spa and gym. We were reluctant to leave but the 4.5 hour flight to Darwin was painless. After a quick security check in Darwin at 4.30am we popped back on the plane for another 3 hours (stunning views) and landed in Cairns around 8.30am. With no sleep for the last 24 hours we were a little p*ssed off when we arrived at the hostel to find that our pre-booked room wouldn’t be ready until about 1pm.

Cairns city centre is nothing special…pretty bland and spread out (hostel = 45 minute walk to the centre). It doesn’t embrace the high-rise city landscape of most famous cities and therefore looks like any other town-centre. The best feature is the ‘lagoon’: a free public swimming pool, located on the waterfront.

16/12/06
The hostel is sooooooooooooooooooooo annoying!!! As soon as our pre-paid nights are up we’re moving out of here: they have an irritating speaker system (which they obviously think is high-tech modernism) installed into the guest rooms. Whenever they want to make an announcement (even to specific people), i.e. “Sarah Black your taxi’s arrived and waiting for you out the front” EVERYONE in the hostel gets the announcement blasted into their rooms (day and night!). It’s like being on Big Brother – I keep checking for cameras.

Anyway, today we made a dramatic change of plans: instead of catching the greyhound bus down the East Coast we have decided to hire out a campervan (decision made primarily because of 2 main facts: there are thousands of free camp sites in Australia – National Parks etc. and the accommodation in this country is a rip-off compared to Asia – our budget is spent after paying for a night in a hostel and one meal a day.) Only problem with hiring out this campervan is that it is x’mas time and the campers are VERY popular. The first one available isn’t arriving in Cairns until the 30th December, so we will not be on the move until New Years Eve. We now have to think of things to do in this not-so happening town??? Fortunately the area around Cairns is meant to be stunning so we will try and do lots of trips out of town…

17/12/06
Up early to sort out money probs with the campervan hire, then took a taxi ($30!) to Cairns Skyrail Terminal. Jumped into a car and took a ride on one of the longest skyrails over the canopy of the Barron Gorge National Park (7.5km cableway, towers lifted into place by helicopter.) Bit of a tourist trap (100’s of Koreans posing for each others cameras!) and completely blew our budget, but thought it was a worthwhile trip – the views were amazing. Stopped at 2 stations enroute to Kuranda: Red Peak, which had a boardwalk through the rainforest, and Barron Falls, which had numerous lookout points over the Falls, but there wasn’t much to look at since it’s the middle of summer here!

Kuranda is a pretty village in the rainforest – again another tourist destination, with numerous market stalls selling didgeridoos, boomerangs and kangaroo skin souvenirs. Visited ‘Venom Zoo,’ which breeds venomous animals for medical research purposes: supply venom in the hope that new drugs can be developed. Saw the most poisonous spider, snake and centipede in the world! Instead of catching the ‘Scenic Railway’ back to Cairns we opted for the $2 bus ride.

18/12/06
Checked out of the Big Brother style hostel and headed up the Captain Cook Highway (single lane each side – nothing like the M1!) in our Hyundai hire car. Beautiful coastal road: Great Barrier Reef to our right, rainforest to our left. First stop: Mossman Gorge, a freshwater swimming spot complete with huge boulders for sunbathing on. Unfortunately, being the budding photographer that he has now become, Wayne got a bit too into his snapping and accidentally slipped jumping from one boulder to another. He balanced on his back: both arms stretched out - one holding is his camera, the other with his camera case. Luckily he flipped himself upright and neither camera nor case got wet, although he was a little damp!

Second stop was taken when we realised we’d ‘seen it all before’ and had evidently taken a wrong turning ending up looping around Daintree Village a couple of times?!? Following a shopkeepers directions we backtracked 11km and found Daintree River Crossing (rope pulled ferry contraption). We then continued north through the stunning Daintree National Park, reaching Cape Tribulation later that afternoon. Found the cheapest accommodation available in this isolated town: a tent! But this was no normal tent. It had proper beds, a light and even a fan! There were cooking facilities and hot showers, so it actually seemed better than a lot of Asian guesthouses. Perfect location: right next to the beach. Only problem is the fact that you can’t swim in the sea due to the presence of crocodiles, stingrays and jellyfish. This is a cruel strike of nature as the beach is stunning: fine white sand and in swimming distance to a coral reef! To cool down we had to walk up to Masons Store (extortionate prices as it has sales monopoly) and swam in the freshwater swimming hole in the forest next to the store. Pretty cool place full of fish and supposedly turtles (although we didn’t spot any). Later that evening we walked down Myall Beach in search of the resident croc (who attacked a Danish guy a few weeks ago because he WALKED INTO THE WATER in the hope of getting a better picture! What an idiot!) Unfortunately/Fortunately we didn’t see him, but we did notice loads of stingray swimming in the shallow waters.

Days are great, but evenings are getting pretty dull because we can’t afford to do anything! We are hoping that fellow travelers will be residing on various camp sites along the east coast, otherwise we are going to be going to bed around 8pm every night. Whilst discussing this predicament we were mucking around with our cameras and Wayne accidentally deleted ALL of his photos! This isn’t as bad as it seems as he uploaded most of them onto the computer, but all of the last few days have been lost (aghhhh!!!!) You therefore haven’t got any illustrations of the basketball match, Kurunda or Mossman (although I think I took a few pics).

19/12/06
Ever wondered why people don’t lie in when staying on a camp site?? Because you cook to death if you stay in the tent past 7am! It was scorching when we woke up this morning! After breakfast we went in search of the local croc again, but this proved fruitless, so on the way back we diverted down Dubuji Boardwalk: a 1.8km circuit through rainforest and mangroves (giant crabs and massive fan palm canopies = highlight). In the afternoon we attended an ‘Exotic Fruit Tasting’ session at a local organic farm, which turned out to be excellent. Digby (the farmer) and his wife used to be a Biology teachers, but had enough of teaching (in Melbourne, Darwin and in an Aboriginal school in the middle of the outback: school = a caravan) so decided to purchase 9 hectarres of land in Cape Trib. They lived in another caravan for a few years whilst building their home and planted a variety of fruit trees to see what would prosper in this tropical environment. Their philosophy has been to let things grow that want to grow and let the others die off – no chemicals used. The problem with this is that they can’t produce enough of one thing for it to be commercially viable and therefore rely on these fruit tasting sessions as their main source of income (popular: 20+ people there). Many of the fruits are simply not suitable for mass market, mainly because their shelf life is just one day. We tried 10 different fruits, including an ‘abiu’ which was a very sweet, (almost condensed milk like flavour) fleshy fruit with a latex rim (had to be careful how you ate it!); ‘soursop’ an ugly looking chewy, fibrous, fruit-salad flavoured fruit that you couldn’t really chew – you just had to swallow and a ‘Davidson plum’, which was incredibly sour but after eating a ‘miracle berry’ (which kills your sour taste buds temporarily) the plum tasted like jam! Very odd. We were also given a tour around their garden and orchards. It is an amazing place because everything that grows possesses edible parts, whether it be the foliage, flowers or roots. They grew coffee, peanuts, all spice, pineapples and even chocolate pudding fruits (no calories but same texture as mousse – just add cocoa!)

That evening when we were having a wash, Wayne was joined by a humungous Huntsman Spider (regarded as one of the largest and most frightening spiders in existence, but fortunately harmless). It was bigger than my hand! In fact all the insects here seem to be five times the size of ours back home – I told you this place is dangerous (especially if you are living in a tent!)

20/12/06
Another search for the croc proved futile so we packed up and headed to Port Douglas which is a very up market holiday destination (boutique shops, art galleries etc) and also where the late Steve Irwin died. It is far too expensive for us backpackers, and yet again we found our budget merely stretching to a two-man tent. The tent was located at a backpacker hostel, so we had access to the bar and kitchens etc. After a few hours lazing on 4-mile beach we spent the evening playing cards again!

21/12/06
Headed back to the beach. The water is very choppy, a real contrast to Thailand’s calm waters. I was reluctant to go in the sea (due to the deadly stingrays and jellyfish – quite justifiable reluctance!) but Wayne spent most of the morning riding the waves strictly in the confines of the stinger nets. After lunch we made our way back to Cairns, where it was pouring down with rain (we are lied to in the UK – Australian weather isn’t all sunshine!) and found that we were returning our car a day early?? See what happens when your life doesn’t revolve around a working week! You loose all sense of time! We were advised by the hire guy to spend the afternoon at Crystal Cascades (another swimming hole in the rainforest) but it was pouring when we got there so we turned around and came back. Pleased with our new residence as the hostel provides free breakfast and dinner – result!

Right that’s us up to date – hope everyone has a brilliant Christmas. We have booked ourselves into a bit more ‘up market’ establishment for x’mas eve, x’mas day and boxing day so I doubt we’ll have much more to report in a few days time. In Cairns until the 31st so our blog entry next time will be much shorter as we won’t have done much! E x

11/12/16
Target: to spend as little as possible…we therefore spent most of the day wondering around the city, avoiding museums and therefore hefty entrance fees. Started off in Chinatown and wound up in the Central Business District. The contrast between Singapore and Vietnam is unbelievable: where as in Vietnam people wander the narrow streets in traditional dress, selling goods on the streets and just generally hanging around, Singapore is just like any Western city; everyone is rushing around in smart, business attire with a Starbucks coffee at hand. There are numerous expensive restaurants and bars (which we also had to avoid), but Singapore is unusually clean (due to strict police rule). We were both really impressed with the city and surprised by how green and spacious it is. If I was to live/work in any of the places we’ve visited so far, Singapore would be my first choice: it has everything (including good weather!)

We visited Fort Canning Park and ate our picnic lunch (common occurrence these days – saves us a few dollars) and then found Raffles Hotel, where the minimum price for a room is 250GBP/night. Unfortunately we couldn’t go inside (surprise, surprise: no shorts or sandals/flip-flops allowed). Walked along the waterfront and went inside Singapore’s’ 200 million GBP flagship development: Esplande (Theatres on the Bay). We then splashed out on 2 Christmas stockings (1 GBP each) so that we could celebrate Christmas in style: we will ‘fill’ our stockings with the small gifts we have bought for each other: one from each of the countries we have visited.

12/12/06
Headed to Sentosa Island (dubbed by the locals as Concrete Island because it has been developed purely for tourism – you have to pay an admission fee for stepping foot on the island). Visited Underwater World, which featured a huge underwater tunnel: as you walked around, sharks, rays and divers etc. surrounded you. The admission price also entitled us to see the pink dolphins at a lagoon towards the south of the island. However, the most interesting attraction we visited was Fort Siloso, built in the 1880’s as part of a ring of British Fortresses guarding Singapore Harbour (Siloso is the only remaining coastal fort). It was really well put together: as you walked around you got a feel (and smell) for colonial army life as it was re-enacted by life-size models and audio commentary. It featured the surrender chambers, where wax-works recreated the British surrender to the Japanese in 1942, and then another room showing the Japanese surrender to the Allied Forces in 1945. You could also explore the tunnels (which reminded me of the air-raid shelter in our garden at Bloomfield Road). Only drawback of the day was the temperature: it was sweltering (event the locals have been saying it is unusually hot for December).

13/12/06
Visited the new outdoor swimming pool (30p each!) in Little India. Fantastic pool – it is an Olympic sized pool and, to Wayne’s delight, had bookshelves scattered around the perimeter: full of car magazines. After writing up a bit of the blog we ventured to the National Indoor Stadium to watch the Singapore Slingers play the New Zealand Breakers. It was actually a really enjoyable evening – I would definitely go to a basketball game again, if not for the sport then for the music – I didn’t realise they play such wicked tunes all the way through a game (Claire, Beth – you would have loved it!) The actual game was quite amusing; they only played for 8-minute intervals then took a break – lame! Before we arrived I was a little concerned that the Slingers would get thrashed: have you ever seen a tall Asian man?? Surely Basketball is not a suitable sport for Asian’s to be competing in: even the taxi driver seemed a little confused! However, it transpired that the ‘Singapore’ Slingers comprise of second-generation expats: I only saw one Asian player. The crowd also consisted of mainly white expats (I think most of them worked for the sponsor companies and had been given free seats). Anyway, regardless of the player’s race, they won; beating the Kiwi’s 111-94…well done the Slingers!!!

14/12/06
Our last day in Singapore and Asia We have had an excellent 3 months and have so many memories to take away with us…we’ll defiantly come back one day to explore more of the continent, but for now we can’t wait to reach Australia…