jd's blogspot

get up and go to check out Bondi Beach. Get the subway to bondi junction - nice place has tons of great shops and great shopping centres. get the bus down to the beach. its smaller than i was expecting. both of us get there expecting it to be much larger, considering its so famous. again, its too cold for a swim, but doesnt stop the dozens of surfers out in the sea trying to catch a good wave. there are loads of them, just floating about like black seals waiting for the perfect wave. soem of them are really cool - they make it look so easy!  there is also one of those swimming pools that is built into the sea. its pretty cool, especially when the waves break into the pool. i know its sad, but i have always wanted to see one of them.  go for a walk along the beach and then head back up to bondi junction. go check out the shops - really great shopping.  wander about and both of us get bored cos we cant buy anything. decide to go to the cinema instead, but there is nothing we want to see. so we just head back to the hostel and realx for teh night. the two canadian boys in our room are having a bad day. one of them got a 3 month tourist visa instead of a years working visa - oops!!! the only way he can fix it is to leave oz and reapply and come back in once its sorted. its going to cost him a fortune, as he will have to go to NZ to do it. expensive cock up!!

29th April 2007

up early and realise that i have deleted Cirs phone number and we are supposed to meeting them today - oops!  after numerous attempts to get it back off my voicemail, so call vodafone australi, who dont work on sundays!! how brilliant is that for customer service!!  Emer comes up with a genius plan, that it should have saved on my answered calls. brilliant, manage to retrieve it.  arrange to meet in Coogee. head out to coogee and meet them at their house for lunch. cool appartment only 3 blocks from the beach.  head down to the beach - quite a nice beach. again loads of surfers bobbing about in the water waiting for good waves.   not a great beach day, but decide to go for a swim with pat anyway. the waves are enormous and break really close to the shore.  the water is "fresh" to say the least! relax on the beach for a while.   go to bondi junction  for a few drinks and then head back to coogee for dinner. go to a really nice Thai place. then head off to meet another friend of mine from college. havent seen him in about 6 yrs, so will be good to catch up.  have a great night catching up wih everyone.  head back home once they all go, as they have to work tom.  straight to bed, as its a 6am start tom.

Up early and head over to Camperdown, to the chinese consulate. We need to hand in our passports and visa applications in order to get our visas for China. Cant wiat, it will be really different although the language could be interesting!!  decide to check out the shops. its still raining outside, so it will as little as possible outdorr activities. some great shops - oh how I wish i had money!!  it just enforces my previous ide that i need to marry a millionaire!!  check out teh shops for a few hours and then head back to the hostel and get ready to go out. meeting a few friends for dinner. will be great to catch up with them again. head down to Darling Harbour. there are loads of bars ad restaurants around there. pick an italien place - its delicious.  have some really good seafood.  go to teh Mercantile bar in the Rocks after dinner. its dead. but picks up a little when a dodgy band starts playing.  one of the musicians is like an older Jerry Springer!! leave after one as the place is dead and also smells of vomit!!  wander down to the Oreitn hotel and its heaving.  its full of irish and english!  its also busy cos its ANZAC day tom and most people dont have to work.  the guys head home and we decide to go to a niteclub in kings cross. so head off to Rewind. Free entry!! its pretty packed, but a good spot. get home about 2ish and just flop into bed.

25th April 2007

 get up and potter about for a while. its raining again and most things are closed (anzac day). arrange to meet a friend of mine. so we spend half teh day in teh pab and then have dinner. have a good laugh. some of her travelling buddies were fined $220 by Aussie customs cos they had 2 apples and an orange in their bags. so they had to pay for brining in friut from NZ - hilarious!!  relax for the evening. go to bed about 10ish, and all the others in the room are in bed too. we begin to hear raised voices under the window so have a look out. yep, sure enough, looks like there is going to be a fight!! there are a few guys plaing a coin game but they are betting some serious money on it. obviously, someone hasnt paid up. by now they are shouting at each other and eventually one of them goes in for the bitch slap!  it sounded pretty painful, as we heard it through a closed window and general street noise.  excellent, nothing like a good street row before bedtime!!

26th April 2007

its not raining - yipee. quite a nice day out today. go for a wander around town  and city centre. walk across teh harbour bridge. dont do the bridge climb, very expensive and also doesnt go well with vertigo!! get some fantastic views of teh harbour and the opera house. it looks fabulous in good weather - a real icon.  the bridge is really cool, allows for some great views of the harbour.  head down to teh Rocks for a wander - its a lovely area, some great cafes around.  head back to the hostel ad arrange to go to a friends for dinner. jump in  a cab as we are running late. get to teh house, wow, its really lovely. have a great BBQ and a few bottles of wine. have a great nite. get back to the hostel and successfully manage to fall up the stairs!! nicely bruised my knee too!

27th April 2007

decide to check out Manly Beach today. not a great day weather wise so no need to bring swimming gear. head over to the ferry terminal - it only takes 30mins to get across. get some great views of teh harbour and circular quay. there are loads of baots and ferries, including one with parasailing on the back.  dock in Manly - teh beach is on the other side of town. its only about 500 metres across. pass a creperie along the way and end up stopping there for lunch. wow, its just devine. every sort of sweet and savory ingredients imaginable. its heaven!! wander down through the town towards teh beach. its a nice little place, some great cafes and eateries. we fall victim to an icecream shop as well!! head across to teh beach - nice beach, a few surfers out in the water. not a great day for the beach, so just go for a walk along the prom and take in some fresh air. head back to the ferry and again get soem great views of teh opera house and teh bridge. its gets windy really quickly so dont stay outside too long. head back to the hostel and just realx for the evening.

Finally get off to sleep about 1am. wake up in a ball and very sore. body is getting stiffer and sleeping rolled up in a ball on a bus doesnt help!! get into sydney about 9.30am  get a great view of the opera house as we come across the bridge - cant wait to actually get out and really see hte city. get the subway to the hostel - check in and go for a nap. wake up and its lashing rain. not too fussed, am knackered so an easy day is welcomed. we are staying in kings cross - area of sydney know for its nitelife and red light district. some beautiful 60yr old hookers wandering around during the day - cant wait to see it at night!!  loads of lap dancing and "adult" shops around - leads to an interesting mix of poeple roaming the streets!! very colourful indeed! dont do much, wander around teh area, find a samll market adn end up buying two necklaces. find teh supermarket and get soem stuff for dinner adn just relax in out of the rain for the day.

23rd April 2007

Up early, going to start exploring sydney. the sky is a bit grey looking, so the rain caot is coming too.  head down ot the subway and go to hyde park. its very pretty and kept beautifully. some lovely flowers and fountain. wander over ot the cathedral for a look. actually a very nice church, nice and simple, nothing extravagent about it. its started raining again, really heavily too. but we plod on and head over to the National Art GAllery. walk through another lovely park and the domain. the art gallery is a magnificant building, some great archetecture and high ceilings. enjoy the art. there is a great mix of classic stuff from the usual suspects as well as a good collection of more modern works. there are some great photographic pieces and sculptures.  altogether, a very impressive gallery. go down to the cafe for lunch, but its a bit expensive, so go for a wander to see what else we can find. head for the botanical gardens next. they are beautiful, very well manicured. some great colours and a fab variety of flora. wandering through, we begin to notice that there is a really high pitched noise overhead.  all around us are enormous bats - they are flying foxes and they are just enormous. they are all over the trees - literally hundreds of them. their wingspan is incredible as they zoom around the trees.  continue walking along the harbour and finally it comes into view - the OPera House. yes, it does live up to expectations. its fantastic, a definite msaterpiece. when the harbour brige comes into view as well, its just spectacular. go for a walk around the opera house and check out what shows are on. pick Don Quixote, performed by the Australian Ballet. however, the cheapest tickets are AU$95, so unfortunately is out of our budget on this trip. still lashing out of the heavens, so dont get to see the opera house in all her splender, but she is still fantastic.  continue around to circular quay, some nice bars and reataurants around here. Wander over to teh are known as teh Rocks - an area that has been rejuvenated over the years. some good bars, restaurants and cafes. go to the rocks museum. its quite an interactive museum that gives the history of teh area and its development over a few hundred years. its the area where a lot of the irish and english convicts were sent and ended up here. its quite interesting. they even have a mummified rat in the museum - obviously, the plague was an issue here.  head back to the hostel, as its still raining outside and have  been wandering around sydney all day. so far a great city and easy to get around. hopefully the weather wil be better tom.  

Check out and get the bus to Byron Bay - only about 1.5hrs away. watch some of Superman on the bus. I wont be rushing to see the end of it either. i dont ever remember superman being so slow moving !! Byron is a nice place - quite a relaxed, cool hippy/surfers type place. wander around town. we had heard about this fortune teller. i know its a waste of money and a load of cheesy rubbish, but it wil be a laugh. wander about looking for a while, eventually find teh place and it has closed down!  but dont dispari, its beside a homemade chocolate shop. so feel obliged to invest in a few sweets!! find anoter place where you can get your tarot cards read. the usual stuff, familym career, lovelife etc. apparently, its all good for me - excellent!!  Wander about byron for a bit and check out the shops. go back to the hostel and cook dinner. get a compliment on my cooking. Always nice.

19th April 2007

get to sleep in today - yipee! head down to the beach fora few hours. the hostel actually backs onto the beach - you go out the back and across a railway line and there is the beach! its really nice. its quite long, so means there is loads of space for everyone. nothing worse than a crowded beach. the water is lovely. however, its a bit windy, so the sand is blowing everywhere. so we decide that the pool is a better option. relax by the pool for the day. god, how i love this bum lifestyle!!

20th April 2007

YIpee, heading to Nimbins for teh day. Nimbins is a small hippie town famous for its it weed!! a small banger of a bus collects us - we are all squished in. one girl is sitting on teh esky (chiller box). its a funny little place. its only got one main street with a Weed bar, teh marijuena museum, the herbal high shop etc. teh driver keeps reminding us, only in a half mocking tone, that it is illegal to have possession in australia!!!  check out the weed bar - a long narrow bar with a few guys smoking joints. you can get "cookies" aswell.  wander across to the museum next - weird place. lots of hippie stuff - quite amusing really!  its funny walking down the street, there are some really old, weather beaten hippies openly offering you weed.  a strange place with lots of old "happy" people!! one of the girls on teh bus gets her fortune told by a woman on the side of teh street, she came to Nimbin in the 1960's from london and she has been here ever since!! wonder what she likes about the place!!  back on the bus and one of teh guys has managed to get ketchup all down his side - he was hungover to start with so the joint is begining to numb his senses and spacial awareness!!  head off to a small waterfall/rock pool place. we can go swimming if we want, its a bit chilly, so none of the girls bother getting in. there are some hugh steep rocks surrounding a small rock pool and the guys are all jumping off and throwing themselves into the water. its quite small and all teh girls are watching almost waiting for one of them to hurt themselves. one guy, who is definately showing off, climbs up a tree, which is on the rocks, so it makes him about 10/12 metres above the water and then jumps in - insanity! head off to a nice little park where we a re having a BBQ for lunch.  driver recommends a walk while we a re waiting for food, apparently it takes about 20mins. neither if us can be bothered and a few others just play on the swings. BBQ is fun, the group is a good laugh - could be due ot the joints!!  time to head back to byron bay - most people just want to nap! just cook dinner and realx for the evening. but to our delight, the " I dont understand", really dumb english girls are here as well - goodie!!

21st April 2007

UP early and check out. put our stuff in storage and head down to the byron bay surf school - yes, we have a surfing lesson. could be interesting with the possibility for injuries!  get to the school and get kitted out in some more highly fashionable gear!!  get a wetsuit and a rashie. very attractive - i love spandex, it does so much for your flabby bits!!  there are 5 grils and 1 bloke, so we all jump inot the van a head off to the beach. its teh beach right behind the hostel, so should have brought my bag instead of leaving it at the surf school - oh well!! walk through the hodtel anf over the train tracks wiht the surf board. get instructions on how to get onto the board . we are all total beginners, so this should be good!  we a re all on the sand slising onto the boards - seriously, we must look so ridiculous to onlookers! after a few dry runs we are alowedin to the water. the waves are perfect for us, not too big but enough mementum to get us moving.  its actually great fun and so far so good. after about 30 mins, we al get out of the water and get instructions on how  to stand up on hte boards.  again , after a few dry runs we a re to put it to the test. Apparently, Im a "goofy" as I use my left leg behind to stand up!! ok, here we go, out inot the ocean. got teh theory down, but not surprisingly, the practice is not working out that well! do manage to stand on the board, but also manage to fall off a lot! its so much fun, quite addictive - you just want to get back up and get a good wave. its also difficult to get out far enough in order to get a good run at it. the waves keep pushing you backwards - its like two steps forward and one step back. its absolutely brilliant, despite some classic falls! the knees take a bit of a battering and manage to fall off head first at one stage! so worth it, hopefully get to do it again further down the coast. lesson is about 3hrs and feel great afterwards. head back to the surf school and collect our stuff. walk back ot the hostel and have lunch and a shower. now is when tiredness kicks in - the adrenaline is wearing off and my arms feel like they are a ton weight. wander downtown later to get a proper dinner, as we have a 14hr overnight bus to Sydney. spend quite a while looking for somewhere cheap and cheerful to eat. have to say, for a major tourist spot, there are not that many eating establishments around.  eventually go to an old mans bar, but it does good food. have dinner and just kill time in the hostel. my arms are seriously begining to hurt now. get courtesy bus down to the greyhound stop.  watch a cheesy movie and take a sleeping tablet. hopefully, I will get a few hours sleep.  

Check out and head over to the transit centre. getting the bus to surfers paradise. YIpee - the stupid english girls are going our way too!!  bus is only about two hours. they are even in the same hostel as us - we cant get away from them. arrive and head down town. its a nice place, a little commercialised with all the chains, but is has a really nice feel about it. teh beach is lovely. its a bit windy , so after about 2 hrs we give in and head home. cant do with anymore sand blowing in my face!! some very scary speedos as well!!  i will need therapy!! chill oput for the evening. there is a "dive in movie" in the hostel - you get a takeaway and watch a movie in the pool! 

Check out and get the bus to brisbane at 10.25. but on teh courtesy bus from the hostel - its almost full and doesnt have two seats left. a stuck up english girl , who very quickly tells us that there is no room for us. so then another girl appears and she is one of her friends and she gets a guy on the bus to get out and give her the seat so she can get on. he isnt going to get a bus. so Im not prepared to let this go, so say that we are first in line to get a seat and we also have a bus to catch. well, she doesnt like that!  so she says, one of us can get on. really cant be bothered at this stage, so let the other girl get on. so anyway, get to the greyhound stop and to our delight they are on the bus to brisbane with us - super!! we watch teh Lakehouse on the bus and we are sitting opposite the dumb english girls and for the entire film they keep saying, I dont understand it, I dont get it and how can they be in different time zones?? I felt like going they are not in different time zones, they are in dirrefert times!!  anyway, get to brisbane about lunchtime, so check in to the hostel and go for lunch. dont really do much , just play on the internet and watch tele.

16th April 2007

get up and wander downtown to see what brisbane has to offer. wander down to queen street, the main retail.commercial drag. check out some of the shops. the city is very nice, really clean. wander further downtown to the botanical gardens and then across the river to the south bank. there are some beautiful buildings here. south bank reminded me a bit of the south bank in london - with lots of bars and cafes all along the river front. its kept really well, quite pretty. the walkway is surrounded by metal arched/curved pillars covered in lovely greenery and purple flowers all through it.  further down there is a "beach" - well, a fake manmade beach, right in the middle of a concrete jungle.  it looks a bit out of place, and has a lifeguard station as well!!  walk back across the bridge and go back to the hostel, go to the pub downstairs for cheap and cheerful dinner. relax for the rest of teh evening.   

Get up when I wake up, well except for the surprise wake up I got when two canadian girls in the room decided to have a conversation at full volume at 7am!  get up and wander downtown. teh walk along teh river is lovely, lots of nice cafes and  a beach type area with places where you can hire boats etc.  cook dinner and just enjoy a drink with the television.

14th April 2007

up early, going to Australia Zoo today. its Steve Irwins place. there is a free bus to take us to the zoo. its about 1.15hrs away. watch a DVD about his life on the way and how the animal park/zoo got started by his parents.  get to the zoo - its pretty impressive. i have to admit, a really nice, well designed zoo. the habitats look really good, loads of space with lots of trees and vegetation.  looks quite natural. obviously, there are loads of crocodiles. some of them are just enormous - up to 17ft long. they are incredible to see. wander around for a bit and see some koalas, iguanas, snakes, kangaroos, elephants, tigers, emus, cockatoos, eagles, dingoes, wombats and some others. there is a show in the "Crocaseum" and we are lucky enough to be here during easter holidays, so we get to see Bindi perform with teh Crocmen. Thats Steve Irwins daughter!  teh crocaseum is really cool - a big stadium like structure. apparently, cost AU$9m. well the croamen and bindi come out first. its a bit cringeworthy, but they put on a good show. its the routine from her fitness DVD - baring in mind that bindi is 9 yrs old!! the crocmen have got to be gay! its quite fun to watch, as they get all the kids to come down and dance along wiht the moves. then they bring out some of teh snake handlers and about 10 snakes. some of them are really big. they are quite impressive. one of the handlers gets into the water and has a swim with one of the snakes. then a few of teh bird keepers come out. they actually let the birds fly loose around the crocaseum. its fantastic. some of the birds are just beautiful. there is one white bird, but on the underside of teh wings is vivid orange - its so pretty.  another bird, sililiar to a large parrot, is just so colourful - really bright blues, reds, yellows and greens. really are stunning creatures. they also bring out an eagle. its fantastic. their wingspan is just amazing.  truely magnificant birds.  then the good part of the show - Terri Irwin comes out for the crocodiles. there are a few real croc men as well. they are going to feed Mossman, a 17th foot croc. they have massive chunks of raw meat. apparently, Mossman is a very unpredictable croc, he never reacts the same way twice. he takes his time, as terri holds the meat in front of him. he just sits there and waits and eventually pounces. its fab to watch - they can move very quickly when they want to.  then they get him to do a deathroll. they have an enormous piece of meat attached to a rope. once they get himto bite it, he begins to struggle because of the rope and he thrashes about and does a deathroll. Brilliant. as each group does their piece, they are teaching some conservation and safety tips. 3 asian elephants make an apperance as well, god they a re hugh.  there is one bit where a guy comes out with a massive Steve Irwin head on, which I thought was a bit distasteful. but overall, the show was excellent. under one of teh stands there is a massive memorial section to steve. there are dozens of kaki shirts with things written on them. there must be about 150 shirts in total. its quite nice cos its quite understated - ther are no signs announcing it.  continue on through the zoo and get to pat a koala. they look so cute and cuddley. they are like teddy bears!  I was waiting for some animal to pooh on me, but thankfully escaped that one!!  waiting for the bus back, there are tv screens playing bindis dvd. there are a few little girls watching it and dancing along, they know all the moves! its really funny to watch.  watch the rest fo the dvd on the way back to Noosa.

Check out fo teh hostel at 10am. get breakfast and just chill out for most of the day.  play on the internet and update my diary. getting bus to hervey bay at 20.00.  head down to the bus station a few mins before th e bus is due. station is packed, so no chance of getting two seats to myself. bus is a bit late, but finally get going about 20.30. watch the pink panther. take a sleeping tablet, so hopefully this driver wont insist on waking me up to go to the loo! seriously, if im asleep, I wont need to go - i havent done that in my sleep since I was 3!!

7th April 2007

Sleep until about 3am and get off at a petrol station for a few mins break.  back on board, sleep again until about 5am . am awoken by the bus chugging along and jolting to a stop. the driver is on the phone saying that the clutch is gone and the gears have jammed - super! although, after 5 months on teh road, we were bound to get a broken bus sooner or later.  thankfully, the driver gets us into the next town, Bundaberg. its about 6.45 and teh only thing open in town is McDonalds. so we all queue up for coffee!  head back to the bus and only have to wait about 1.5hrs for another bus to turn up. its funny to see, there are about 30 people sitting on the side of teh road with all their luggage! bus shows up and all aboard to hervey bay. shuttle buses from the hostel are waiting for us at teh staion so check in to teh hostel and have a nap. hervey bay is a nice place, quite spread out. the beach is very nice too. cook dinner and just realx for the day.

8th April 2007

very quiet day. did intend going to laze on the beach, but since its wet and a bit miserable out have deided against it. watch tele and play on the internet for a bit. wander downtownfor a bit. basically, do nothing much all day.

9th April 2007

up ealry, going to Fraser Island today. its the largest sand island in the world. its 162km long. get collected at the hostel in the "unimog" - our 4WD/bus/truck thing. its a big green tank of a thing and the door opens at the back. teh door is quite funny - its like a drawbridge or spaceship! feel like i should be in a very low budget space film!!  anyway, head around town collecteing the rest of the group.  then drive down to the dock. get a small ferry across to teh island. we have to reverse onto the ferry. it only takes about 10 jeeps and the unimog. the crossing is only about 1hr. meanwhile, i have noticed that i am developing a peculiar rash on my thighs - excellent! its a really dark purple colour, like bruises, but its not itchy. its also making an appearance on my arms and hands. oh well, not much i can do about it out here!! arrive on teh beach called Moon Point. there are no docking facilities, so the boat just drops its door on the sand and we all drive off. takes a bit of a run at it, as its all soft sand which is harder to drive in. we head straight in to the yidney rainforest. some of teh trees are enormous.  there are also some massive kauri tress. its beautiful. its hard to believe that they are all growing in sand. there is no roak or earth underneath - its so cool. there are some great green and brown colours. we stop and get out to go for a walk. but before we set off, the driver gives a few safety tips on what to do if we come across snakes or dingoes. the walk is fab. very peacful out here. back in to teh unimog. the track is really bumpy, which makes for a nice rocky ride in the spaceship!! keep along teh rainforest track until we get to Happy Valley. its a tiny dot of civilisation - few houses, a shop, off licence and a restaurant. pitstop for lunch, veyr nice. all you can eat buffet. move on to the beach - the beach here is actually an official state highway in Oz!! its beautiful - its quite windy so the waves are fairly big. its mesmorisingwatch them crash and thunder onto the shore. head south past yidney rocks - dont know where they get the name from as there are no rocks here!! teh island is just gorgeous. a miny paradise. head further south and go for a 45 mins walk across a sandblow to Lake Wabby. it looks like a little oasis. the wweather isnt great so everyone is a little sceptical about going swimming. but most of us do get in and swim to the other side and back. its abit cold at first, but frin once you get moving. the driver has to go back to the bus before the rest of us, and I manage to get myself picked to ensure that everyone has left the lake by 3.10 - excellent! anyway, get everyone moving and heading back towards the bus. its raining, so get a bit wet. get back to the bus after walking through another lovely forest track. back on the "state highway" and head north up to th eMaheno shipwreck - something the Aussie air force used as target practice in WWII. its enormous and apparently, out of 240 bombs dropped, teh aussies only had 4 hits!! go the aussie airforce!!  its pretty cool to see - you can still make out the dining room through all the steel pillars.  had on a bit further north to Cathedral Beach. get to the campsite and pitstop at the "bottle shop" first. actaully get wine in a bottle and with a proper cork - none of this screw top business!!  the campsite is just luxery. the tenst are enormous, you can actually stand upright in them! and there are real beds. the best bit is they have wooden floors - I am not messing the tents had wooden floors. i have photos cos I knew no one would believe it!! then we get a llok at teh kitchen facilities - wow, there are two dishwashers!! this campsite is better than some of teh hostels we have been in !! I could do with a few more nights here! have a great night with the group. get delicious steak for dinner - yum. head off to bed to my luxery tent - now I could get used to this type of camping!!

10th April 2007

up early, as we have to be on the "sand" by 8am. have a great breakfast and all climb back in to the unimog. some of the others were woken up by a dingoe during the night, but I didnt hear a thing. head off to Indian Head. its officially the only rock on the island. climb up and get some spectacular views. its absolutely beautiful up here. there is a girl in the group wiht a broken ankle, so she cant do soem of the walks. but her boyfriend gives here a piggy back up to the top of the rock. then we go to the Champaigne Pools. they are really pretty. they are like big rock pools, which have lots of oysters and mussles growing in them. so we have to wear flip flops in so we dont cut our feet. teh water is a bit chilley and its a bit windy, so dont stay in long. relax on th ebeach and read for a bit. head down south to Eli Creek for lunch. Eli creek is lovely, its a little river with some beautiful trees and flowers surrounding it. its abit windy so teh sand is blowing all over the place, so picnoc lunch is a tad gritty at times!! there is a lovely walk along the creek. head back in to the rainforest - another thrilling rocky journey. pitstop at another lake where there are loads of little turtles. they are so nice and there are loads of them just swimming about. go for a walk around the lake - really nice. loads of pretty trees and flowers. some pretty cool spiders as well. back on the unimog and head through the rainforest and bounce our way back to  Moon Point to get the ferry back to Hervey Bay. Unimog drops us all back at our respective hostels. absolutely knackered so just have dinner in hte bar and watch tele for the rest of the night

 11th April 2007

wake up and just relax for the day. do some laundry and go to the chemist to see what this strange rash is all about. Chemist says to stop taking the penicillan and take some antihistimines and if its not gone down in 24hrs to go see a doctor. not a great day weather wise, so just spend most of the day on the internet and watching tele.

12th April 2007

Check out of teh hostel and go the the greyhound station. getting the bus to Noosa. journey is only about 6hrs. get to Noosa about 3.30. nice town. get to hostel and check in. lie down for a few mins and am so knackered, dont wake up for 2hrs.  dont do anything for the evening.

 

head down to the bus station at 00.25 to go to Airlie Beach. 12hr journey, so not too bad. have a greyhound pass, so can get on and off anywhere down the east coast. check in and take a sleeping tablet. not impressed when the bus driver wakes us all up at 3am to get off and go to the loo! He does it again at 5am and he drops us all off at a ferry terminal, which doesnt open until 6am - excellent!! My body, especially my legs are asleep cos of teh tablet, but Im awake, so I not exactly steady on my feet - very amusing for the others!! Everytime i walk I end up wobbeling!! Finally get moving again and get to arilei beach about 11am. check into the hostel and go for a nap for the afternoon. potter around town - nice place, absolutely full of backpackers. very seaside resort to teh place. teh views from the lagoon and marina are beautiful. dont really do much for teh rest of teh night.

3rd April 2007

check out of teh hostel and leave our main rucksacks in storage. get breakfast and check in with Oz Adventures for the sailing trip to teh Whitsundays. its a 2 day/2 night sailing/snorkeling trip around the whitsundays and teh great barrier reef national park. Boat is called teh Whitehaven. set sai labout 1pm and sail for about 2.5hrs out to Hook Island, just north of the whitsundays.  Drop anchor there so we can go snorkeling. however, as we are not allowed into the water in just bikinis, cos of teh jellyfish etc, we have to wear Stinger suits to protect ourselves from being stung. again, very attractive all in one spandex type catsuit, that clings to every wobbly flabby bit!! Looking good!! the snorkeling is amazing - again teh colours of the coral are stunning. there are some peices that look like spikey christmas trees, with kind of blue/grey branches but with really bright purple tips - so beautiful. in some sections the water level is so low that you are almost afraid you are going to scrap off the surface. the fish are very funky. ones that look like zebras, ones that look like you can see through them and ones that look like you took a highlighter to them. it is just a visual wonderland out here. the fish vary in size from really tiny ones smaller than your baby toe to enormous ones that are about 1m long and .5m wide - its really incredible.  back on board for some tea and coffee to warm up. sail onfor about 2hrs to a location where we can anchor for the night. its quite rough on the water, but most people are ok.  since you can only have a 2 minute shower, i decide not to bother . we are going to the beach in the morning, so I dont see the point.  good bunch of people on the boat. everyone has a few drinks and gets chatting. dinner is served and everyone gets together at teh back of the boat to eat.  Harvey, our skipper, gives a talk about the area, the history, the coral, teh islands and the reef in general. very good, quite knowledgable. he has been doing this for 10yrs and this is his last trip. he is going to be a truck driver. go to bed about 9.30 as we are up at 6am. try to sleep, but weather is a bit wild and the rain is getting really heavy, so water is very rough - end up being seriously rocked all night.

4th April 2007

up at 6am - engine wakes me and breakkie is served. sail for about 2hrs, going south around the whitsundays until we get to Whitehaven beach. its 98.5% pure silica. its so white, its almost like sandy snow. Apparently its the purest in the wordl, even more thatn Fraser island which is 95%. go up to a viewpoint first. its a short walk through the "bush". view is of whitehaven beach, really is beautiful. its an absolute tropical wonderland - like something you see in the really expensive holiday brochures!! A deserted beach with pure white sand, with pure clear sparkeling aquamarine water. Everything just glistens in the early morning light. head down to the beach for a few hours of lazy swimming a nd sunbathing. have to wear the ever so sexy stinger suits in order to go swimming!! laze about for a while and then head back to the boat for lunch. after lunch, sail for about 2hrs to our next snorkeling site. the wind has picked up massively and the waves are getting bigger. boat is rocking all over the place. we are all on deck as its too stuffy and cramped down below. its seriously rough, some of us have given up reading in favour of holding on! we are all watching one guy, who is lying on the roof. we are all waiting to see how long before he thrown off by the waves!  have to say really enjoyed it, it made the sailing part of the trip much more interesting!  decided it was best not to use the loo while it was moving in all directions!!  surprisingly, no one gets sick. go to a calmer spot for the next snorkeling bit. its a spot where only 2 boats are allowed to moore at once, so wait a few mins for one boat to move off.  back on with the fabulous stinger suit! the crew throw some bread overboard and teh fish go nuts. its like a feeding frenzy. they do it while you swim in amongst them. its nuts, really cool. there are fish chomping away right in front of your eyes. its so brilliant. again the colours of the fish and coral are just beautiful. its literally like someone got a highlighter and coloured them in. visibility is good too - so get to see loads. back on board and sail to find a calm spot to sleep for the night. Skipper promises to find a calmer spot than last night, but the winds we had earlier, im not too hopeful!! Literally, rock over to a calm little bay and anchor for the night.  there are a few other boats moored as well - its the only calm spot around! have a shower and a few drinks. dinner is served and everyone has a good laugh.

5th April 2007

up ridiculously early - boat starts engines at 5.45. we are going snorkeling at 6.15. I can honestly say i have never been in the ocean at 6.15!! apparently, you can see turtles out here - so fingers crossed.  on with the stinger suit - yipee! its quite cold this morning, so the water is a warmer option than being on deck. jump in and the water is lovely. visibility isnt perfect, but you can still see alot. Unfortunately, I dont see any turtles, but some of the others do. they are reportedly quite massive. back on board for breakfast. its another rocky sail back to Airlie Beach. typical, the weather improves the minute we get back to shore. one of the guys looses his phone overboard, just as we are heading back into dock. back on dry land - weird feeling that you are still rocking. you can really feel it when you are in the shower. have a nap and still feel like the bed is rocking. go for lunch abd then wander around town for a while. meet up wiht the others for a few drinks for the evening. the pub is heaving, mostly with people back from a few days on board different boats. Am knackered, so go to bed about 10ish.