Hey hey there,
We made it up to the Yongala on Thursday, and had an absolutely amazing time. We didn't have to speak to the super cow who did the bookings for us (and was rude to Haz), and the rest of the staff and boat were lovely people.
The SS Yongala went down about 100 years ago, and wasn't found until after WW2 when divers were searching for mines. All 121 people died on the vessel when it hit a cyclone. Unfortunately, it was on its way to collect a radio in Cairns that would have notified it about the cyclone. The boat is intact, still has the skeletons in it and is now a protected area. You cannot penetrate the wreck diving, as the bubbles from the divers exhaling will encourage the rusting of the boat, but you can still peer in and see the loos, bathroom and anchor. It was a very rough ride out there and back again (and when we were moored up 11 miles out to sea), so had to lie down for most of it. H and J were very kind and accommodating for me, and helped me with my equipment so I wouldn't join the vomiting women!
The dive itself is rated by some as the best dive in the world. The amount and variety of fish you see is difficult to describe. We saw sea snakes, a turtle, clown fish (nemo), massive gropers, and lots and lots and lots of other weird and wonderful stuff. The day afterwards they saw some sharks. You could pretty much do the dive from the descent line as the fish always swim around you, but we decided to have a look around anyway. The people on the boat were great fun to talk to, so we ended up going to an area where we could park up for the night (and use lady bushes), and chatting until we were so exhausted we went to bed. The dive company also gave us a huge BBQ when we got back - luckily my stomach had settled by this point, and I was able to make a dent in the pile of meat. Delicious.
So we realised that we needed to get up to Port Douglas pretty quick on Friday (well needed to get there), so we hit the road and stopped briefly in Townsville (pretty city) and Mission Beach (nice beach, but cold, can't go in the water and lots of people). Eventually got up to near Port Douglas which was a relief... so we headed into the town on Saturday, and asked what the prices were like to dive. Because the weather wasn't great, and the markets are on on Sunday, so there are fewer people actually wanting to go out on the boats, only 1 boat was going to an outer reef, and not really the one we wanted to go on. We managed to get a discounted price from 330 to 245 dollars for the boat (full gear hire and 3 dives), but wanted to speak to an instructor before booking it up with Calypso, as the receptionist didn't really know anything about diving. To cut a long story short, Gary our instructor, put 2 of our dives towards our Advanced PADI certification, and took us on 3 dives on the gorgeous boat for only 215 dollars! Bargain...
We were parked up in the car park waiting to go diving on Sunday, when 3 guys came and started chatting to us, and laughing about us doing our diving 'homework' for the following day. They were interesting, but had a spare room in a 5 star hotel in Port Douglas. So... we took it. Absolutely beautiful! A TV, BATH! (with hot water), a huge double bed... they even stole us towels etc... a very random night, and we spent a couple of hours making use of the room before dropping off to sleep, in our $250/night accommodation... we loved those guys.
So headed out with Calypso company on 'Pure Dive', a beautiful, brand spanking new boat. She had a proper loo (amazing), hot showers, and only 29 people on board. She was a catamaran, and was wonderful to be on. (Luckily the sea sickness tablets worked). We went diving 3 times, so now we have 4 of our required 5 adventure dives to get Advanced certification. Only need to do 1 more and purchase the dive instructions book, and then we will be qualified! It means we can go down to 30m instead of merely 18m, and can dive in more places globally. Gary our instructor was awesome - a real laugh and a great teacher, and showed us a white tipped reef shark, a huge turtle, many many weird and wonderful sea cucumbers, and even took my fins off me when I was kicking up the sand a little too much for his liking.
Walking back to the van afterwards, a random guy stopped us and asked us where we were going, and then gave us 1kg of cooked fresh prawns, as his wife had bought them and he couldn't be bothered to carry them around! I worked out that the total money we had saved in the previous 24 hours was nearly $700... we loved Port Douglas, it was an expensive place, but the locals were so friendly, they kept on helping us out and showing where to go for cheap. So ended up having a drink with Gary and his friend last night, before heading down to Cairns this morning. Really recommend looking at the photographs on picasa as the diving ones are really good! (Not taken by me, but by Gary and an underwater photographer with $4000 worth of equipment... one day I'll do that!)
Dropping the van off this afternoon at Wicked, and then flying to Denpasar in Bali tomorrow... so will message when we get there.
Loads of love,
Alice xxx
Sunday 31 May 2009
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays...
Hey hey there,
I write a blog about 4 days ago saying about our trip up from Byron Bay to Airlie Beach, but unfortunately it hasn't come up on the website - looks like something went wrong there down the wires! Very very annoyed as it took me a little while...
Anyway, not going to bore you with every little detail that's happened, but we have just arrived back from the Whitsunday Islands. We arrived in Airlie Beach a couple of days before, and had fun just relaxing and finding Cedar Falls - a beautiful couple of waterfalls in a small pool a bit away from the town (and the bus loads of backpackers that seem to dominate areas like this!) We also enjoyed hanging around the lagoon, which is filled with beautiful water, where you can swim - jellyfish free. Lots of facilities, - bbq, loos, showers, lots of shops nearby... really really nice to escape the heat.
So we got onto Pegasus, our boat, on Sunday and sailed out to the Whitsundays, where we had a great time. Unfortunately the weather wasn't brilliant, so we didn't get to see Whitehaven beach, which was rated as number 2 in the world this year, (our skipper was stupid and didn't bother sailing us there as it was choppy), so we spent the time diving and snorkelling. The company wasn't good about preserving the coral, and it was horrible to see how much devastation there is and how much of it is dead. There were very few fish, much of the coral was dead, and generally very sad. Our dive instructor was exacerbating the problem by picking things up (if you touch coral you kill it). But we had a couple of dives to practise before diving in Yongalla - the ship wreck - tomorrow.
The boat was alright, loos horrible, food great (and lots of it too - and meat!) but the people were fantastic, and a real laugh. We stayed up socialising, and I stayed up a lot both nights getting over 300 bed bug bites. Hayley counted. I itch and scratch like a diseased thing. Horrible! Couldn't believe it - apparently they have super bed bugs here, from Indonesia (they think). I just think that they don't really scour the boats properly! But we had a great time on the boat anyway, and met some awesome people.
So came back last night, collected our van and ran a few errands (like going to the pharmacy for antihistamine tablets too). Met up with the others for a free pizza and a drink last night, so running errands again today before heading off to Ayr this afternoon. Diving the Yongala tomorrow morning, and then not really sure what we are doing! Probably heading up to Port Douglas, just north of Cairns, pretty quickly.
Anyway, hope you are all ok, with lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
I write a blog about 4 days ago saying about our trip up from Byron Bay to Airlie Beach, but unfortunately it hasn't come up on the website - looks like something went wrong there down the wires! Very very annoyed as it took me a little while...
Anyway, not going to bore you with every little detail that's happened, but we have just arrived back from the Whitsunday Islands. We arrived in Airlie Beach a couple of days before, and had fun just relaxing and finding Cedar Falls - a beautiful couple of waterfalls in a small pool a bit away from the town (and the bus loads of backpackers that seem to dominate areas like this!) We also enjoyed hanging around the lagoon, which is filled with beautiful water, where you can swim - jellyfish free. Lots of facilities, - bbq, loos, showers, lots of shops nearby... really really nice to escape the heat.
So we got onto Pegasus, our boat, on Sunday and sailed out to the Whitsundays, where we had a great time. Unfortunately the weather wasn't brilliant, so we didn't get to see Whitehaven beach, which was rated as number 2 in the world this year, (our skipper was stupid and didn't bother sailing us there as it was choppy), so we spent the time diving and snorkelling. The company wasn't good about preserving the coral, and it was horrible to see how much devastation there is and how much of it is dead. There were very few fish, much of the coral was dead, and generally very sad. Our dive instructor was exacerbating the problem by picking things up (if you touch coral you kill it). But we had a couple of dives to practise before diving in Yongalla - the ship wreck - tomorrow.
The boat was alright, loos horrible, food great (and lots of it too - and meat!) but the people were fantastic, and a real laugh. We stayed up socialising, and I stayed up a lot both nights getting over 300 bed bug bites. Hayley counted. I itch and scratch like a diseased thing. Horrible! Couldn't believe it - apparently they have super bed bugs here, from Indonesia (they think). I just think that they don't really scour the boats properly! But we had a great time on the boat anyway, and met some awesome people.
So came back last night, collected our van and ran a few errands (like going to the pharmacy for antihistamine tablets too). Met up with the others for a free pizza and a drink last night, so running errands again today before heading off to Ayr this afternoon. Diving the Yongala tomorrow morning, and then not really sure what we are doing! Probably heading up to Port Douglas, just north of Cairns, pretty quickly.
Anyway, hope you are all ok, with lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Saturday 23 May 2009
Airlie Beach
Good evening everyone,
We spent a little time in Mackay and headed off to see some platypuses in the Eungella national park. Luckily our van, Pinky, just about made it up the mountain ranges and we did see one platypus (we think - could have been a turtle), before we got lost heading back for the hotel... but we did eventually make it, and the hot shower in the morning was still absolutely brilliant.
Stopped off at Cape Hillsborough - absolutely stunning. Rainforest comes down onto a deserted beach with white sands and clear waters. Unfortunately still the threat of poisonous jellyfish and we didn't have stinger suits, so couldn't cool off in the water, but it was absolutely beautiful. Very rare to find such a gorgeous beach like that - and practically deserted too! We stopped off at Seaforth to go swimming in the nets so safe from jellyfish... but unfortunately the tide was out and the nets are stationary. So no water in them. Oops.
We headed along and made it to Airlie Beach yesterday afternoon. It's not a great place, but nice enough. Basically one main road with loads of tourist offices for trips to the Whitsunday islands, internet cafes, restaurants, bars... but we actually paid for a campsite last night, and it was brilliant. Proper loos, hot showers (whenever we want them!) and somewhere to wash up our pots and pans... heaven. Lucky with the weather too...
Today we went to Cedar Falls - a beautiful couple of waterfalls into a turquoise pool of clear water in the middle of a forested area. Stunning, and small. Only a couple of people there - was gorgeous swimming in the water and generally relaxing before making our way back to Airlie...
Tomorrow we head off to see the Whitsunday Islands on Pegasus - a boat. We will be on the boat for 2 nights, so will return early Tuesday. Got a dive booked up for Thursday in Ayr, so will hopefully get a chance to check in sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday again. Don't worry if we're not in contact for a bit, we'll be busy snorkelling and diving on the Great Barrier reef... such a hard life! (Still got Oz phone on us though for emergencies or general happy text messages, but not sure about reception at sea...)
Anyways, loads of love to you all,
Alice xxx
We spent a little time in Mackay and headed off to see some platypuses in the Eungella national park. Luckily our van, Pinky, just about made it up the mountain ranges and we did see one platypus (we think - could have been a turtle), before we got lost heading back for the hotel... but we did eventually make it, and the hot shower in the morning was still absolutely brilliant.
Stopped off at Cape Hillsborough - absolutely stunning. Rainforest comes down onto a deserted beach with white sands and clear waters. Unfortunately still the threat of poisonous jellyfish and we didn't have stinger suits, so couldn't cool off in the water, but it was absolutely beautiful. Very rare to find such a gorgeous beach like that - and practically deserted too! We stopped off at Seaforth to go swimming in the nets so safe from jellyfish... but unfortunately the tide was out and the nets are stationary. So no water in them. Oops.
We headed along and made it to Airlie Beach yesterday afternoon. It's not a great place, but nice enough. Basically one main road with loads of tourist offices for trips to the Whitsunday islands, internet cafes, restaurants, bars... but we actually paid for a campsite last night, and it was brilliant. Proper loos, hot showers (whenever we want them!) and somewhere to wash up our pots and pans... heaven. Lucky with the weather too...
Today we went to Cedar Falls - a beautiful couple of waterfalls into a turquoise pool of clear water in the middle of a forested area. Stunning, and small. Only a couple of people there - was gorgeous swimming in the water and generally relaxing before making our way back to Airlie...
Tomorrow we head off to see the Whitsunday Islands on Pegasus - a boat. We will be on the boat for 2 nights, so will return early Tuesday. Got a dive booked up for Thursday in Ayr, so will hopefully get a chance to check in sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday again. Don't worry if we're not in contact for a bit, we'll be busy snorkelling and diving on the Great Barrier reef... such a hard life! (Still got Oz phone on us though for emergencies or general happy text messages, but not sure about reception at sea...)
Anyways, loads of love to you all,
Alice xxx
Wednesday 20 May 2009
Brisbane, avoiding national disasters, lots of cows and finally sun!
Hey hey there,
So we left Byron and headed up to Brisbane. We went through Surfers Paradise - oh my goodness, what a culture shock! Like a mini Las Vegas on the water's edge - full of money and beautiful skyscraper apartments. But also quite tacky in places. Could only afford to fill up with petrol so we decided to find somewhere to park up for the night on the way up to Brisbane.
Unfortunately there aren't many rest stops in Queensland, so we had to double back on ourselves the following morning to go into Brisbane to sort out our van. Yes, again. Luckily she still goes - just, but wouldn't recommend the company to anyone else! Just needed a new aerial (they wouldn't replace it, even though we didn't break it), a new gearbox (wouldn't give us one either), and the handbrake needed tightening (they didn't tighten it much). Still, we stole yet more stuff from the free table!
(Very glad to have left Brisbane, as now the floods are a national disaster - someone has died, many are stranded and roads are blocked. It's sunny here and 26 degrees - what a hard life! But well out of all the rain now, very luckily.)
So headed up and drove to Tairo on Monday. Had a brief stop at the Big Pineapple, then stopped for a couple of hours at Noosa Heads - meant to be like Byron Bay, but it was raining so we couldn't tell if it was or not. The place was quite pretentious and full of money (we much prefer hippy places!) and the beaches weren't appealing in the rain. Yes, it was still pouring, so we decided to head north again and ended up stopping in Tairo. It was a brilliant campsite with hot showers and loos - for free! Unfortunately it was pouring down with rain most of the time, so spent quite a while huddled in our new van, Pinky (Pink Panther themed). Quite annoying needing the loo when the rain is pouring down on the top of the van, making a right racket!
Anyway, we headed north - again, to Maryborough, which was running for the capital of Queensland against Brisbane a few years ago. It is now a really cute little town, with gorgeous coffee shops, second hand book shops, charity shops (Op shops - Opportunity shops) - and little strange and weird shops. But, we had to see the house where the author of Mary Poppins lived, and I took pictures of Mary Poppins characters on plinths, and her statues.
Jetted on to Childers, which is where the Palace Backpackers Hostel burnt down a few years ago. It has been renovated into an art gallery and a memorial for the 15 people who died - it made UK news. The man who intentionally started the fire is behind bars, (he was chucked out of the hostel for his behaviour), and it was a very sobering experience for us. The community really seemed to rally round, and really helped the 69 backpackers who did survive. The memorial was beautiful, but what was more touching was a folder full of cards and letters left from friends and family who had lost loved ones. I'm not good enough with words to really write about this. I'll just say that what happened was horrific beyond belief, but they have made something beautiful out of the mess.
Next stop, Town of 1770. Not a town at all, just a piece of land where Captain James Cook landed on Australia! Drove quite a while just to see the sea again. Oh well, we can say we have been cultural! We did get to see a few boats and some hostels...
Stopped for the night in a random town - well in a layby by a random town with free loos and cold showers. Spent the evening listening to a German guy play his guitar beautifully as he was cooking supper. A little bit of card playing and goon, before turning in for the night (late at about 8.30pm!)
So yesterday we drove through Rockhampton - 66,500 residents, and MILLIONS of cows in the 250km radius. Lots of cow models (see the photos), an interesting art gallery, and some surprisingly pretty buildings. Quite nice for a little rest stop. We then drove for hours up to Mackay, which is where we are now. Ended up sleeping in a rest area - a car park - out the back of a hotel and pub just south west of Mackay. Quite a strange pub, full of locals, but free camping, loos and cheap showers, bliss. Woke up this morning to find the sun shining, and we had parked near sugar cane fields, sooooo pretty. It's a hard life here!
So this evening going to find some platypuses, then head up to the northern beaches tomorrow. Maybe hit Airlie Beach tomorrow or the next day, for a 3 day boat trip Sunday - Tuesday around the Whitsunday Islands, snorkelling and diving on the reef. Dashing up to Ayr on Tuesday night to dive the Yongala ship wreck (top 10 wreck dives in the world) on Wednesday morning... so will desperately try to email sometime in between all that, but please don't worry if we don't get a chance - internet not very common here!
Anyway, love to all from us all, and will write again when we can next.
Love Alice xxx
So we left Byron and headed up to Brisbane. We went through Surfers Paradise - oh my goodness, what a culture shock! Like a mini Las Vegas on the water's edge - full of money and beautiful skyscraper apartments. But also quite tacky in places. Could only afford to fill up with petrol so we decided to find somewhere to park up for the night on the way up to Brisbane.
Unfortunately there aren't many rest stops in Queensland, so we had to double back on ourselves the following morning to go into Brisbane to sort out our van. Yes, again. Luckily she still goes - just, but wouldn't recommend the company to anyone else! Just needed a new aerial (they wouldn't replace it, even though we didn't break it), a new gearbox (wouldn't give us one either), and the handbrake needed tightening (they didn't tighten it much). Still, we stole yet more stuff from the free table!
(Very glad to have left Brisbane, as now the floods are a national disaster - someone has died, many are stranded and roads are blocked. It's sunny here and 26 degrees - what a hard life! But well out of all the rain now, very luckily.)
So headed up and drove to Tairo on Monday. Had a brief stop at the Big Pineapple, then stopped for a couple of hours at Noosa Heads - meant to be like Byron Bay, but it was raining so we couldn't tell if it was or not. The place was quite pretentious and full of money (we much prefer hippy places!) and the beaches weren't appealing in the rain. Yes, it was still pouring, so we decided to head north again and ended up stopping in Tairo. It was a brilliant campsite with hot showers and loos - for free! Unfortunately it was pouring down with rain most of the time, so spent quite a while huddled in our new van, Pinky (Pink Panther themed). Quite annoying needing the loo when the rain is pouring down on the top of the van, making a right racket!
Anyway, we headed north - again, to Maryborough, which was running for the capital of Queensland against Brisbane a few years ago. It is now a really cute little town, with gorgeous coffee shops, second hand book shops, charity shops (Op shops - Opportunity shops) - and little strange and weird shops. But, we had to see the house where the author of Mary Poppins lived, and I took pictures of Mary Poppins characters on plinths, and her statues.
Jetted on to Childers, which is where the Palace Backpackers Hostel burnt down a few years ago. It has been renovated into an art gallery and a memorial for the 15 people who died - it made UK news. The man who intentionally started the fire is behind bars, (he was chucked out of the hostel for his behaviour), and it was a very sobering experience for us. The community really seemed to rally round, and really helped the 69 backpackers who did survive. The memorial was beautiful, but what was more touching was a folder full of cards and letters left from friends and family who had lost loved ones. I'm not good enough with words to really write about this. I'll just say that what happened was horrific beyond belief, but they have made something beautiful out of the mess.
Next stop, Town of 1770. Not a town at all, just a piece of land where Captain James Cook landed on Australia! Drove quite a while just to see the sea again. Oh well, we can say we have been cultural! We did get to see a few boats and some hostels...
Stopped for the night in a random town - well in a layby by a random town with free loos and cold showers. Spent the evening listening to a German guy play his guitar beautifully as he was cooking supper. A little bit of card playing and goon, before turning in for the night (late at about 8.30pm!)
So yesterday we drove through Rockhampton - 66,500 residents, and MILLIONS of cows in the 250km radius. Lots of cow models (see the photos), an interesting art gallery, and some surprisingly pretty buildings. Quite nice for a little rest stop. We then drove for hours up to Mackay, which is where we are now. Ended up sleeping in a rest area - a car park - out the back of a hotel and pub just south west of Mackay. Quite a strange pub, full of locals, but free camping, loos and cheap showers, bliss. Woke up this morning to find the sun shining, and we had parked near sugar cane fields, sooooo pretty. It's a hard life here!
So this evening going to find some platypuses, then head up to the northern beaches tomorrow. Maybe hit Airlie Beach tomorrow or the next day, for a 3 day boat trip Sunday - Tuesday around the Whitsunday Islands, snorkelling and diving on the reef. Dashing up to Ayr on Tuesday night to dive the Yongala ship wreck (top 10 wreck dives in the world) on Wednesday morning... so will desperately try to email sometime in between all that, but please don't worry if we don't get a chance - internet not very common here!
Anyway, love to all from us all, and will write again when we can next.
Love Alice xxx
Sunday 17 May 2009
Byron Bay, a broken van, diving and sharks!
Hey hey there,
Well, just managed to jump into the free internet so can't waffle on for ages (you'll be heart broken I know). Basically just wanted to give you an update in case we don't get to an internet cafe in the next few days...
So Friday we got up after watching The Reader on Thursday night - very good - and got ready to head into Byron. But this plan was foiled by Candy's radiator fluid running all over the layby. Fluorescent green. Not so pretty. I managed to jump into a van with 2 Spanish guys (one was very good looking) to hitch a ride into Byron, as I needed to do a session in the dive pool in the afternoon. H and J were fantastic and sat with the van for 4 hours until the tow truck arrived. Unfortunately the van was not able to be mended in time for us, so we switched that afternoon to Pinky (Pink Panther themed). She's not as pretty as Candy, and we do miss Candy terribly, but Pinky is bigger. But she's an automatic and her gear choosing is questionable at best. Still, at least we have a new set of wheels and the company was very grateful we hadn't overheated her at all (we knew that 2 litres of water daily was a lot!) So drove to Nimbin that night and paid for a campsite (I know, wow!)
Nimbin is a strange placed, with much touristy stuff based around hemp etc. The pictures of the Nimbin museum have to be seen to be believed - advertised with '2 dollar donation if you can, but come in anyway'. The back had 'Nimbin Museum - refugees welcome'. Such a hippy town, absolutely fantastic, loads of alternative shops etc... really I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the pictures come out! (Maybe in the next few days I'll get them on)...
So it was back to Byron for a very difficult time relaxing on the beach, sunning ourselves and cooking food in our van again. H and J have been really kind in hanging around Byron for longer, as today I went diving twice and got SSI Open Water certified! It was absolutely amazing... was absolutely terrified before I got into the water at 7.50am - went to the loo 3 times - but once was in the water it all came back again which was great. In case you fancy a gander, I spotted -
SHARKS! Many of them - Hale's wobbegongs. Up to about 3m long.
A huge white spotted eagle ray (huge stingray)
White spotted guitarfish (looks very shark like)
Moorish idol
Eastern blue groper
Southern fusilier
Estuary cod
Black spotted porcupine fish (look very funny) - www.julianrocks.net/fish
It was absolutely fantastic, I survived, and really enjoyed it too. Met the girls on the beach again and we treated ourselves to huge fruit salads and paninis as was end of day discount. We're heading north for about an hour tonight to find another layby with toilets that smell nicer than the ones we have been using. Then driving through Surfers Paradise tomorrow, and heading onto Brisbane for a couple of hours to get our van serviced, before heading north again tomorrow night. So will be in contact soon when possible!
Anyway, loads of love to all,
chat again soon,
Alice xxxx
Well, just managed to jump into the free internet so can't waffle on for ages (you'll be heart broken I know). Basically just wanted to give you an update in case we don't get to an internet cafe in the next few days...
So Friday we got up after watching The Reader on Thursday night - very good - and got ready to head into Byron. But this plan was foiled by Candy's radiator fluid running all over the layby. Fluorescent green. Not so pretty. I managed to jump into a van with 2 Spanish guys (one was very good looking) to hitch a ride into Byron, as I needed to do a session in the dive pool in the afternoon. H and J were fantastic and sat with the van for 4 hours until the tow truck arrived. Unfortunately the van was not able to be mended in time for us, so we switched that afternoon to Pinky (Pink Panther themed). She's not as pretty as Candy, and we do miss Candy terribly, but Pinky is bigger. But she's an automatic and her gear choosing is questionable at best. Still, at least we have a new set of wheels and the company was very grateful we hadn't overheated her at all (we knew that 2 litres of water daily was a lot!) So drove to Nimbin that night and paid for a campsite (I know, wow!)
Nimbin is a strange placed, with much touristy stuff based around hemp etc. The pictures of the Nimbin museum have to be seen to be believed - advertised with '2 dollar donation if you can, but come in anyway'. The back had 'Nimbin Museum - refugees welcome'. Such a hippy town, absolutely fantastic, loads of alternative shops etc... really I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the pictures come out! (Maybe in the next few days I'll get them on)...
So it was back to Byron for a very difficult time relaxing on the beach, sunning ourselves and cooking food in our van again. H and J have been really kind in hanging around Byron for longer, as today I went diving twice and got SSI Open Water certified! It was absolutely amazing... was absolutely terrified before I got into the water at 7.50am - went to the loo 3 times - but once was in the water it all came back again which was great. In case you fancy a gander, I spotted -
SHARKS! Many of them - Hale's wobbegongs. Up to about 3m long.
A huge white spotted eagle ray (huge stingray)
White spotted guitarfish (looks very shark like)
Moorish idol
Eastern blue groper
Southern fusilier
Estuary cod
Black spotted porcupine fish (look very funny) - www.julianrocks.net/fish
It was absolutely fantastic, I survived, and really enjoyed it too. Met the girls on the beach again and we treated ourselves to huge fruit salads and paninis as was end of day discount. We're heading north for about an hour tonight to find another layby with toilets that smell nicer than the ones we have been using. Then driving through Surfers Paradise tomorrow, and heading onto Brisbane for a couple of hours to get our van serviced, before heading north again tomorrow night. So will be in contact soon when possible!
Anyway, loads of love to all,
chat again soon,
Alice xxxx
Thursday 14 May 2009
Diving!
Hey hey there,
Just a quickie - again - we are still in Byron Bay and having a wonderful time sunning ourselves on the beach, going around the quirky boutique shops (I resisted - very difficult - having my fairy portrait done!) We have booked up the Whitsundays tour and have forgone the Fraser Island, as it seems pretty similar to fantastic places we saw in central and south America. And also we can't put up with too many people drinking all night!
But... we realised that I need to dive pretty quickly, so we stayed in Byron Bay for another couple of days, and I had a checkup with the doctor - ears are now absolutely fine! Also chest, wee, lungs, eyesight etc etc is all perfectly healthy. So I am going in the pool for a practise with the instructor tomorrow (J and Haz are also allowed to come along and use their hot showers!) and then will join a lovely group of only 3 others for their finals dives on Sunday - the same dives that I missed. So then should be qualified! The only thing is that the instructor forgot to renew his PADI membership, so he cannot certify me with PADI, but can with SSI - which is identical (pretty much) - and I can still dive in exactly the same places and depth as I would with PADI. So we are going to head to the cinema tonight, then I'll go swimming tomorrow.
Heading to Nimbin on Saturday quickly, - it's only 40 minutes away - but then will return to Byron Bay for Sunday diving. Very exciting!
Gotta go and eat scrummy kebabs and falafel now (the nice kind, not the donner variety)
Lots of love to you all,
from us all,
Alice xxx
ps is having to refill our van with 2 litres of water daily after only driving about 200km worrying? We think we might have a leak around the radiator...!
Just a quickie - again - we are still in Byron Bay and having a wonderful time sunning ourselves on the beach, going around the quirky boutique shops (I resisted - very difficult - having my fairy portrait done!) We have booked up the Whitsundays tour and have forgone the Fraser Island, as it seems pretty similar to fantastic places we saw in central and south America. And also we can't put up with too many people drinking all night!
But... we realised that I need to dive pretty quickly, so we stayed in Byron Bay for another couple of days, and I had a checkup with the doctor - ears are now absolutely fine! Also chest, wee, lungs, eyesight etc etc is all perfectly healthy. So I am going in the pool for a practise with the instructor tomorrow (J and Haz are also allowed to come along and use their hot showers!) and then will join a lovely group of only 3 others for their finals dives on Sunday - the same dives that I missed. So then should be qualified! The only thing is that the instructor forgot to renew his PADI membership, so he cannot certify me with PADI, but can with SSI - which is identical (pretty much) - and I can still dive in exactly the same places and depth as I would with PADI. So we are going to head to the cinema tonight, then I'll go swimming tomorrow.
Heading to Nimbin on Saturday quickly, - it's only 40 minutes away - but then will return to Byron Bay for Sunday diving. Very exciting!
Gotta go and eat scrummy kebabs and falafel now (the nice kind, not the donner variety)
Lots of love to you all,
from us all,
Alice xxx
ps is having to refill our van with 2 litres of water daily after only driving about 200km worrying? We think we might have a leak around the radiator...!
Monday 11 May 2009
... and all the way up north to Byron Bay.
Hey hey again,
Sorry the last entry was so rushed - it was very difficult when my money was running out! Oh well, these things happen... anyway, just wanted to say again really how great it was seeing our friends, and catching up with them. Katy and Ross were so kind in putting us up - we felt thoroughly spoilt, and it was a nasty shock again when we opened the van doors to find out that Candy wasn't smelling her sweetest... these things happen!
So anyway, we headed on the road after Newcastle, and went through many different places. We saw a very windy Old Bar beach - miles and miles of greyness (the weather wasn't great that day!), passed through Taree, and ended up in Port Macquerie. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and the weather was terrible! Really heavy rain, - in fact we didn't feel up to doing anything that day. Unfortunately, when the weather is bad, and it is a Sunday, there is practically nothing to do in Port Macquerie. So we spent time writing in journals, finishing books, and just generally chilling out. We didn't feel like cooking supper so ended up driving back to where J had seen a meal deal at a pub down the road. She didn't mention it was about 30 minutes backtracking where we had been! So we braved the weather again, only to eventually find it in a very random place called North Haven, in the Bowling and Recreation Club. It was as awful as it sounded! But somehow delightfully tacky... bright neon lights, the average age was about 60, and lots of gambling machines... but we braved it out (had to sign on as a visitor), and had the hugest roast dinner for $8.50 (4.25 quid). The amount of meat I got was fantastic! Huge portions, and well worth it...
So we battled on into the night, and Haz had found a campsite with showers (that you had to pay for), 13km away from a little town called Crescent Head. So we tried to find it... after going 5km down a horrifically potholed road (and filled with muddy water - yes it was still raining!) The road was terrible - it was virtually impossible to avoid the potholes. And we are not allowed to drive down the unsealed roads according to the Wicked contract... so if we broke down we were in trouble! We decided, eventually, that a hot shower was not worth this fuss, so we ended up turning back and heading up the Pacific Highway for a little longer, until we found a rest area with toilets. Still, it was quite an experience, and one that we didn't really feel like repeating! The waves looked awesome though, and there were a lot of surfers hanging around, waiting for dawn.
So we headed on up the road the following day, stopping off to see a beautiful lighthouse at Smoky Cape. It was gorgeous, really elegant all in white, and looked out to the turbulent waters below. Next stop, Old Trial Gaol, in Old Trial Bay. It was built to house prisoners to work on a breakwater for the bay. Unfortunately, the breakwater never really worked out (it cost far too much in time and money), and was ravaged by a storm. So it was really an easy prison for 'aliens' during the first world war. They were allowed to walk along the beach, play games, form a theatre group, and so on and so on. We had great delight in walking around and looking into the cells.
Next stop, Nambucca Heads, - meant to have great views of the coast, and was quite pretty, but we unfortunately didn't manage to find the right lookout! It was pretty anyway, although the town was pretty average. But what it did have was the V-Wall. One of the only truly democratic pieces of artwork I've ever seen. The wall of stones that protects the town against the sea was coloured in with paints, stones, shells and mosaics. Anyone could write on it, and some of them were great. It wasn't interfered with by the authorities (as far as I know of), and people were very respectful of other works there. Not many people vandalised paintings on the rocks, and it was fantastic in that families painted a picture of themselves on a beach for example, and painted down each year they returned to Nambucca Heads. It was so bright and colourful - I loved it.
We carried onwards, and arrived at Coffs Harbour. The town was nice enough, but the weather was slightly too cold to go swimming in the beach. We did see the 'Big Banana' though - you really have to look at the picasa photos to see for yourself! It started the craze for the 'Big Things' that are mainly along the East Coast. So we sniggered and took a photo or two, before heading to the 'Surf Legends Museum'. Run by Scott Dillon (we didn't realise how famous he was until afterwards), - he was absolutely mental! We turned up and there were 3 policemen and 2 police cars looking for his 'wayward grandson' - he also invited us to jump in his hot tub. Very tempting (we hadn't had showers in a day or more), but instead declined as we needed to head on. He was so interesting to talk to - obviously a very famous surfer, who also made lots of surfboards. He showed us many photographs of shark attacks, people having their photo taken underwater, and a HUGE shark is in the photograph behind them - they were completely unawares! The surfboard collection was massive, as was his collection of photographs and memorabilia as well. He had collected many things from his times in Bali, Hawaii etc surfing, and his museum (house) was very strange. But fantastic to see - and great to chat to Scott.
So we felt as though we had done Coffs Harbour, and headed north to find ourselves a (free and HOT!) shower in a service station. Drove near to Grafton last night, and entertained ourselves with wine and card playing until we finally fell into bed, at 8.30pm. It was a late night! Then up at a fair time today to drive to Grafton (a couple of nice buildings, but not that special really), before stopping off to see the Scottish town Maclean and the Witzig art Gallery, showing Papau New Guinea artwork and surf artwork too. They have painted telegraph poles different colours according to the clan - absolutely brilliant! A few photos on Picasa...
And then to be cultural again and to see the Big Prawn. Brilliant. Such a great advert against nuclear stuff (agreeing here with the Lonely Planet (plonker)). A quite disturbing sight! And we finally made it to Byron Bay, which is where we are for the next couple of days. It is full of natural remedy stuff (you can have your aura photograph done, and have your portrait done as a fairy... need I say more?!) The upshot is that the food here is great, and very cheap. The beach looks beautiful (full of surfers) - but there are a lot of campervans! Because we were in the Outback, and then around a lot of unvisited areas, plus we have been sleeping in laybys on the side of the roads (they always have toilets - we make sure of that!) we are unused to being around other travellers, tourists, people in general really. It is quite disconcerting, but we have to be brave and go out and enjoy ourselves. It is a hard life! We are very unused to it though, especially here as there are so many campervans! But at least it is off peak season...
So currently I have been on the internet for over 3 hours, have burnt 7 CDs (put photos on them, not setting them on fire), and still have 4 to do...
So love to all, and will write again soon.
Loads of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Sorry the last entry was so rushed - it was very difficult when my money was running out! Oh well, these things happen... anyway, just wanted to say again really how great it was seeing our friends, and catching up with them. Katy and Ross were so kind in putting us up - we felt thoroughly spoilt, and it was a nasty shock again when we opened the van doors to find out that Candy wasn't smelling her sweetest... these things happen!
So anyway, we headed on the road after Newcastle, and went through many different places. We saw a very windy Old Bar beach - miles and miles of greyness (the weather wasn't great that day!), passed through Taree, and ended up in Port Macquerie. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and the weather was terrible! Really heavy rain, - in fact we didn't feel up to doing anything that day. Unfortunately, when the weather is bad, and it is a Sunday, there is practically nothing to do in Port Macquerie. So we spent time writing in journals, finishing books, and just generally chilling out. We didn't feel like cooking supper so ended up driving back to where J had seen a meal deal at a pub down the road. She didn't mention it was about 30 minutes backtracking where we had been! So we braved the weather again, only to eventually find it in a very random place called North Haven, in the Bowling and Recreation Club. It was as awful as it sounded! But somehow delightfully tacky... bright neon lights, the average age was about 60, and lots of gambling machines... but we braved it out (had to sign on as a visitor), and had the hugest roast dinner for $8.50 (4.25 quid). The amount of meat I got was fantastic! Huge portions, and well worth it...
So we battled on into the night, and Haz had found a campsite with showers (that you had to pay for), 13km away from a little town called Crescent Head. So we tried to find it... after going 5km down a horrifically potholed road (and filled with muddy water - yes it was still raining!) The road was terrible - it was virtually impossible to avoid the potholes. And we are not allowed to drive down the unsealed roads according to the Wicked contract... so if we broke down we were in trouble! We decided, eventually, that a hot shower was not worth this fuss, so we ended up turning back and heading up the Pacific Highway for a little longer, until we found a rest area with toilets. Still, it was quite an experience, and one that we didn't really feel like repeating! The waves looked awesome though, and there were a lot of surfers hanging around, waiting for dawn.
So we headed on up the road the following day, stopping off to see a beautiful lighthouse at Smoky Cape. It was gorgeous, really elegant all in white, and looked out to the turbulent waters below. Next stop, Old Trial Gaol, in Old Trial Bay. It was built to house prisoners to work on a breakwater for the bay. Unfortunately, the breakwater never really worked out (it cost far too much in time and money), and was ravaged by a storm. So it was really an easy prison for 'aliens' during the first world war. They were allowed to walk along the beach, play games, form a theatre group, and so on and so on. We had great delight in walking around and looking into the cells.
Next stop, Nambucca Heads, - meant to have great views of the coast, and was quite pretty, but we unfortunately didn't manage to find the right lookout! It was pretty anyway, although the town was pretty average. But what it did have was the V-Wall. One of the only truly democratic pieces of artwork I've ever seen. The wall of stones that protects the town against the sea was coloured in with paints, stones, shells and mosaics. Anyone could write on it, and some of them were great. It wasn't interfered with by the authorities (as far as I know of), and people were very respectful of other works there. Not many people vandalised paintings on the rocks, and it was fantastic in that families painted a picture of themselves on a beach for example, and painted down each year they returned to Nambucca Heads. It was so bright and colourful - I loved it.
We carried onwards, and arrived at Coffs Harbour. The town was nice enough, but the weather was slightly too cold to go swimming in the beach. We did see the 'Big Banana' though - you really have to look at the picasa photos to see for yourself! It started the craze for the 'Big Things' that are mainly along the East Coast. So we sniggered and took a photo or two, before heading to the 'Surf Legends Museum'. Run by Scott Dillon (we didn't realise how famous he was until afterwards), - he was absolutely mental! We turned up and there were 3 policemen and 2 police cars looking for his 'wayward grandson' - he also invited us to jump in his hot tub. Very tempting (we hadn't had showers in a day or more), but instead declined as we needed to head on. He was so interesting to talk to - obviously a very famous surfer, who also made lots of surfboards. He showed us many photographs of shark attacks, people having their photo taken underwater, and a HUGE shark is in the photograph behind them - they were completely unawares! The surfboard collection was massive, as was his collection of photographs and memorabilia as well. He had collected many things from his times in Bali, Hawaii etc surfing, and his museum (house) was very strange. But fantastic to see - and great to chat to Scott.
So we felt as though we had done Coffs Harbour, and headed north to find ourselves a (free and HOT!) shower in a service station. Drove near to Grafton last night, and entertained ourselves with wine and card playing until we finally fell into bed, at 8.30pm. It was a late night! Then up at a fair time today to drive to Grafton (a couple of nice buildings, but not that special really), before stopping off to see the Scottish town Maclean and the Witzig art Gallery, showing Papau New Guinea artwork and surf artwork too. They have painted telegraph poles different colours according to the clan - absolutely brilliant! A few photos on Picasa...
And then to be cultural again and to see the Big Prawn. Brilliant. Such a great advert against nuclear stuff (agreeing here with the Lonely Planet (plonker)). A quite disturbing sight! And we finally made it to Byron Bay, which is where we are for the next couple of days. It is full of natural remedy stuff (you can have your aura photograph done, and have your portrait done as a fairy... need I say more?!) The upshot is that the food here is great, and very cheap. The beach looks beautiful (full of surfers) - but there are a lot of campervans! Because we were in the Outback, and then around a lot of unvisited areas, plus we have been sleeping in laybys on the side of the roads (they always have toilets - we make sure of that!) we are unused to being around other travellers, tourists, people in general really. It is quite disconcerting, but we have to be brave and go out and enjoy ourselves. It is a hard life! We are very unused to it though, especially here as there are so many campervans! But at least it is off peak season...
So currently I have been on the internet for over 3 hours, have burnt 7 CDs (put photos on them, not setting them on fire), and still have 4 to do...
So love to all, and will write again soon.
Loads of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Friday 8 May 2009
Sydney (again), Palm Beach and Newcastle
Hey hey there,
Well we eventually managed to meet up with our friend, Beth, in Wollongong, and had a great night out (student night so we felt very old), dancing away to some great tunes. We've been beaching it up the coast since then - only got 7 mins left on internet so trying to type fast!)
Ok, quick summary -
Bondi Beach - my favourite, water beautiful, sand clean, huge beach, and waves warm and great to play in. Bondi area fantastic - great little cafes and boutique shops.
Manly Beach - colder water, smaller beach, loads of surf shops and cheap places to eat. But still beautiful beach.
Palm Beach - Home and Away!!! We saw the surf club, (run by A. Stewart as notified on the sign outside), - stunning watching the sun come up. Not such a wide beach, but beautiful water again, loads of yummy surfers and the beach was so clean.
Nobby Beach at Newcastle - 'most friendly beach' (we can't wait to see what that means!) with loads of surfers, hotter sun (brilliant), clean sands and beautiful water.
Also seen Simon - lovely catching up on Bondi Beach and drinking coffee, Katy and her brother Ross who very kindly put us up (and let us shower!) in their beautiful apartment in Newtown - also ate delicious supper at Thai Tanic restaurant, and Thierry who met us for a natter, some fish and chips and retail therapy around Manly Beach. So it has been fantastic seeing everyone, bumming around on the beach, and drinking goon (boxed wine).
Must dash, but love to all and will write again soon.
Alice xxx
ps we are wearing lots of suncream!
Well we eventually managed to meet up with our friend, Beth, in Wollongong, and had a great night out (student night so we felt very old), dancing away to some great tunes. We've been beaching it up the coast since then - only got 7 mins left on internet so trying to type fast!)
Ok, quick summary -
Bondi Beach - my favourite, water beautiful, sand clean, huge beach, and waves warm and great to play in. Bondi area fantastic - great little cafes and boutique shops.
Manly Beach - colder water, smaller beach, loads of surf shops and cheap places to eat. But still beautiful beach.
Palm Beach - Home and Away!!! We saw the surf club, (run by A. Stewart as notified on the sign outside), - stunning watching the sun come up. Not such a wide beach, but beautiful water again, loads of yummy surfers and the beach was so clean.
Nobby Beach at Newcastle - 'most friendly beach' (we can't wait to see what that means!) with loads of surfers, hotter sun (brilliant), clean sands and beautiful water.
Also seen Simon - lovely catching up on Bondi Beach and drinking coffee, Katy and her brother Ross who very kindly put us up (and let us shower!) in their beautiful apartment in Newtown - also ate delicious supper at Thai Tanic restaurant, and Thierry who met us for a natter, some fish and chips and retail therapy around Manly Beach. So it has been fantastic seeing everyone, bumming around on the beach, and drinking goon (boxed wine).
Must dash, but love to all and will write again soon.
Alice xxx
ps we are wearing lots of suncream!
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Canberra, Wollongong...
Hey hey there,
Well we finally wrenched ourselves away from Melbourne - had an absolutely fantastic time with Nick and Mike and family. They were all so friendly and kind to us, (and Melbourne is a great place), it was very difficult to leave. But the rest of the country is calling, so we jumped back into Candy - after throwing away the smelly fruit - and started driving north. Yesterday was pretty uneventful, just kept on driving and driving, until we got to a free campsite just north of Canberra.
So drove into the city this morning. It was a horrible shock again sleeping in the van, but luckily it wasn't the coldest it has been, and the socks Chris bought us were fantastic in keeping our tootsies warm. Anyway, Canberra isn't very nice. It's basically a massive office block, very similar to Washington D.C. It is built around a man made lake, and is a very new city. Basically it was great in that we could simply see the sights from our car, but the mixture of fog and grey concrete wasn't very cheery. However, we did get out to see the National Portrait Gallery - quite good, with a great photographic competition displayed there - and also the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The Embassy is assembed outside the Old Parliament House, and has been since 1972, as a protest against the state not recognising Aboriginal people as citizens. Apparently there are plans to build a visitors centre or cafe there. Personally, I find the Tent Embassy far more exciting and provocative.
So we headed out and pulled over further up the highway to a basic campsite with free showers. Brilliant, apart from they were freezing! Think it was the coldest shower I've experienced. It was so cold it made my head hurt, and I couldn't even conceive of getting in the shower properly... but it was free. So headed into Wollongong this evening, and are meeting up with Beth (we met in Panama) this evening. Heading north tomorrow...
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Well we finally wrenched ourselves away from Melbourne - had an absolutely fantastic time with Nick and Mike and family. They were all so friendly and kind to us, (and Melbourne is a great place), it was very difficult to leave. But the rest of the country is calling, so we jumped back into Candy - after throwing away the smelly fruit - and started driving north. Yesterday was pretty uneventful, just kept on driving and driving, until we got to a free campsite just north of Canberra.
So drove into the city this morning. It was a horrible shock again sleeping in the van, but luckily it wasn't the coldest it has been, and the socks Chris bought us were fantastic in keeping our tootsies warm. Anyway, Canberra isn't very nice. It's basically a massive office block, very similar to Washington D.C. It is built around a man made lake, and is a very new city. Basically it was great in that we could simply see the sights from our car, but the mixture of fog and grey concrete wasn't very cheery. However, we did get out to see the National Portrait Gallery - quite good, with a great photographic competition displayed there - and also the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The Embassy is assembed outside the Old Parliament House, and has been since 1972, as a protest against the state not recognising Aboriginal people as citizens. Apparently there are plans to build a visitors centre or cafe there. Personally, I find the Tent Embassy far more exciting and provocative.
So we headed out and pulled over further up the highway to a basic campsite with free showers. Brilliant, apart from they were freezing! Think it was the coldest shower I've experienced. It was so cold it made my head hurt, and I couldn't even conceive of getting in the shower properly... but it was free. So headed into Wollongong this evening, and are meeting up with Beth (we met in Panama) this evening. Heading north tomorrow...
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Sunday 3 May 2009
Melbourne
Hi everyone,
Hope you are all well and that things in the UK are going alright. We have just checked our email for the first time in about a week, and so are tracking the story of the swine flu outbreaks. Hope that everyone is ok and that this doesn't spread too badly.
So... we are in Melbourne now. We dashed out of the internet cafe the last time I checked my email, to see Paul and his boys Daniel and Ben. They were very kind and a great laugh, and we had great fun learning poker and eating Indian takeaway with them too. We then headed to Pauline and Jeff's again, who were their lovely, welcoming selves, and had a good catch up with them too about our trip to Uluru. Also managed to do quite a lot of well needed washing which was absolutely fantastic!
So we departed Adelaide, and decided to see the Gorge Wildlife park on our way out. It was fantastic. Kangaroos and wallabies came bounding up for a little chat to us, a puma paced in its cage, fruit bats hung from the ceiling and looked curiously at us, and we saw wombats, which are stocky, fluffy pig things. Absolutely brilliant place, really enjoyed seeing all the animals, - most of them you could pet which was great. We also saw a koala - and managed to have a cuddle with it. About 6kg heavy, and the size of a small toddler, she was beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. Definitely wanted to keep her for our trip!
But we had to leave her behind, so we headed along the Great Ocean Road. It was pretty and nice, but nothing like the raw, deserted beauty of the Outback. It was great stopping and taking photos of the many rock formations, especially as we weren't with a massive coach of people... but it was freezing at night, and our van's heating had packed up! We were sooooooo cold. And it took ages to cook anything on the BBQ. Luckily H was able to get us quite a few discounts by fluttering her eyelashes at the campsites, which was always a bonus. We stayed at Apollo Bay on Thursday night, after a bit of an issue during the evening...
We were desperately low on petrol. We had a 40 litre tank (not much for a van), and not sure if we had a reserve tank. We were 30km away from the nearest town, and the pointer was already resting on the 'E'. Luckily by doing a lot of coasting, we managed to get to the town and put in 39.5 litres into the tank (thank goodness it was downhill a lot of the way!) but we were very worried! Not many petrol stations on that road... And then the following morning, our battery was absolutely flat, so we had to kidnap a random man to help us jump start the van (we had jump leads already luckily!). However, we did have to phone up Wicked's 'Roadside Madam' to ask her where the battery was... (underneath the driver's seat in case you need to know!) We eventually made it into Melbourne, and went straight to the Wicked Depot. We then raided the free table again, and managed to come away with a blanket (the guy felt sorry for us), 3 more pairs of fluffy handcuffs (he was bemused by us), and a couple of stickers too. We found out that the reason the van wasn't starting properly was because it had a manual choke. Oops!
So we stayed with Nick on Friday and Saturday night - we met him in Mexico. Absolutely great guy, and so kind. He lives in a mansion! It is in Melbourne, and his family are lovely. We were so well looked after, fed and wined, and had a great couple of days exploring and looking around the town. Also had a couple of drinks with his friends on Friday night, which ended up in a quite a late bed time... oh well, it was fun. Saw some brilliant art exhibitions in Melbourne - the whole city is fantastic. It reminds me of Covent Garden in places - small alleys with lovely cafes and shops along them, with jazz buskers playing in the street (International Jazz festival that weekend). The river is beautiful - as is their South Bank. Wouldn't complain if I had to live there! But as always, we had to leave Nick and his pool and gorgeous house, so...
We said goodbye to him yesterday, and came to see Mike, Chris, Daz and Nathan (Hayley's stepdad's cousin is Mike), on the outskirts of Melbourne. We had to do a vital detour to see Ramsey Street first - very surreal! Kept an eye out for Susan Kennedy, but unfortunately they weren't filming outside on a Sunday afternoon. Very sensible!
So we are staying with Mike again tonight - he and his family were brilliant last night. Had a delicious barbeque (we definitely don't do them right in the UK) with a gorgeous steak and red wine. The kids, Daz (21) and Nathan (14) are brilliant too, - it's such a pleasure staying with them.
We went with Chris today to see where the bushfires had been. Words cannot do justice to it. The fires were travelling 33km in under 2 minutes. Mike and Chris's house is 15 minutes drive away from where the fires were - they were incredibly lucky that the wind changed direction. The extent, the temperature and the aftermath are things that in the UK we just cannot fathom. It was miles and miles and miles of burnt trees. You could see along valleys which used to be covered in leaves. There was nothing on the floor of the forests - no leaves or vegetation. Occasionally there was a burst of life, as leaves great out of the tree trunks. But the devastation is just horrific. Melted buildings are still lying on the ground. Metal is warped and bent. There is so little left. Whole houses have been reduced to a few scraps of metal and bricks - nothing else survived. It was emotional and awful to see, however we are really glad we have seen it. Just to be more respectful of the damage these bushfires can do. It is very different now, as to when we were hearing about them in Bolivia, where names and places didn't mean anything to us. Now they do.
So we are back in the house, and have run a few errands again. Chris has been great and has done our laundry (simple pleasures really excite us!) and we are looking forward to chilling out with the family tonight. Might go skiing in Mount Buller if the snow is good enough - must call to find out. So we are going to start heading up to Canberra tomorrow, not sure how far we will get, but will use an internet cafe there and upload some more photos.
Lots of love from us all, to you all,
Alice xxx
Hope you are all well and that things in the UK are going alright. We have just checked our email for the first time in about a week, and so are tracking the story of the swine flu outbreaks. Hope that everyone is ok and that this doesn't spread too badly.
So... we are in Melbourne now. We dashed out of the internet cafe the last time I checked my email, to see Paul and his boys Daniel and Ben. They were very kind and a great laugh, and we had great fun learning poker and eating Indian takeaway with them too. We then headed to Pauline and Jeff's again, who were their lovely, welcoming selves, and had a good catch up with them too about our trip to Uluru. Also managed to do quite a lot of well needed washing which was absolutely fantastic!
So we departed Adelaide, and decided to see the Gorge Wildlife park on our way out. It was fantastic. Kangaroos and wallabies came bounding up for a little chat to us, a puma paced in its cage, fruit bats hung from the ceiling and looked curiously at us, and we saw wombats, which are stocky, fluffy pig things. Absolutely brilliant place, really enjoyed seeing all the animals, - most of them you could pet which was great. We also saw a koala - and managed to have a cuddle with it. About 6kg heavy, and the size of a small toddler, she was beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. Definitely wanted to keep her for our trip!
But we had to leave her behind, so we headed along the Great Ocean Road. It was pretty and nice, but nothing like the raw, deserted beauty of the Outback. It was great stopping and taking photos of the many rock formations, especially as we weren't with a massive coach of people... but it was freezing at night, and our van's heating had packed up! We were sooooooo cold. And it took ages to cook anything on the BBQ. Luckily H was able to get us quite a few discounts by fluttering her eyelashes at the campsites, which was always a bonus. We stayed at Apollo Bay on Thursday night, after a bit of an issue during the evening...
We were desperately low on petrol. We had a 40 litre tank (not much for a van), and not sure if we had a reserve tank. We were 30km away from the nearest town, and the pointer was already resting on the 'E'. Luckily by doing a lot of coasting, we managed to get to the town and put in 39.5 litres into the tank (thank goodness it was downhill a lot of the way!) but we were very worried! Not many petrol stations on that road... And then the following morning, our battery was absolutely flat, so we had to kidnap a random man to help us jump start the van (we had jump leads already luckily!). However, we did have to phone up Wicked's 'Roadside Madam' to ask her where the battery was... (underneath the driver's seat in case you need to know!) We eventually made it into Melbourne, and went straight to the Wicked Depot. We then raided the free table again, and managed to come away with a blanket (the guy felt sorry for us), 3 more pairs of fluffy handcuffs (he was bemused by us), and a couple of stickers too. We found out that the reason the van wasn't starting properly was because it had a manual choke. Oops!
So we stayed with Nick on Friday and Saturday night - we met him in Mexico. Absolutely great guy, and so kind. He lives in a mansion! It is in Melbourne, and his family are lovely. We were so well looked after, fed and wined, and had a great couple of days exploring and looking around the town. Also had a couple of drinks with his friends on Friday night, which ended up in a quite a late bed time... oh well, it was fun. Saw some brilliant art exhibitions in Melbourne - the whole city is fantastic. It reminds me of Covent Garden in places - small alleys with lovely cafes and shops along them, with jazz buskers playing in the street (International Jazz festival that weekend). The river is beautiful - as is their South Bank. Wouldn't complain if I had to live there! But as always, we had to leave Nick and his pool and gorgeous house, so...
We said goodbye to him yesterday, and came to see Mike, Chris, Daz and Nathan (Hayley's stepdad's cousin is Mike), on the outskirts of Melbourne. We had to do a vital detour to see Ramsey Street first - very surreal! Kept an eye out for Susan Kennedy, but unfortunately they weren't filming outside on a Sunday afternoon. Very sensible!
So we are staying with Mike again tonight - he and his family were brilliant last night. Had a delicious barbeque (we definitely don't do them right in the UK) with a gorgeous steak and red wine. The kids, Daz (21) and Nathan (14) are brilliant too, - it's such a pleasure staying with them.
We went with Chris today to see where the bushfires had been. Words cannot do justice to it. The fires were travelling 33km in under 2 minutes. Mike and Chris's house is 15 minutes drive away from where the fires were - they were incredibly lucky that the wind changed direction. The extent, the temperature and the aftermath are things that in the UK we just cannot fathom. It was miles and miles and miles of burnt trees. You could see along valleys which used to be covered in leaves. There was nothing on the floor of the forests - no leaves or vegetation. Occasionally there was a burst of life, as leaves great out of the tree trunks. But the devastation is just horrific. Melted buildings are still lying on the ground. Metal is warped and bent. There is so little left. Whole houses have been reduced to a few scraps of metal and bricks - nothing else survived. It was emotional and awful to see, however we are really glad we have seen it. Just to be more respectful of the damage these bushfires can do. It is very different now, as to when we were hearing about them in Bolivia, where names and places didn't mean anything to us. Now they do.
So we are back in the house, and have run a few errands again. Chris has been great and has done our laundry (simple pleasures really excite us!) and we are looking forward to chilling out with the family tonight. Might go skiing in Mount Buller if the snow is good enough - must call to find out. So we are going to start heading up to Canberra tomorrow, not sure how far we will get, but will use an internet cafe there and upload some more photos.
Lots of love from us all, to you all,
Alice xxx
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