As previously mentioned, we had a couple of days to kill in Alice Springs before we headed down on the first leg of the trip to Adelaide. Now, to me the name Alice Springs makes me think of a lush desert oasis plopped right in the middle of the Red Centre… I was wrong… like the rest of the area it was hot and dusty… oh well! I guess it being so close to the geographical centre of Australia should have been a bit of a giveaway! After an evening of settling in to the YHA and partaking in a few drinks at a bed-bug ridden hostel we managed to escape, nice work Amy, we turned in for a well earned lie in!
Now, for the past 6 days or so we’d been living off cereal and sandwiches, so as you can imagine we were ready for some decent tucker and a good coffee! So in that spirit we decided to spend the day not as backpackers, but as flashpackers! So the next morning we sat ourselves down for breakfast at the best looking eatery we could find, and indulged in Eggs Benedict with smoked Salmon, fresh orange juice and one of the most gratefully received cappuccinos I’ve had in a long time! We relaxed chatted and gossiped for a good couple of hours before having a wander around the bustling (!!) centre of Alice Springs. We trawled every Didgeridoo shop we could find in the hope that Kat could find… the one… we failed. We browsed in a place that was not for browsing (You had to be there!), and I spent money I couldn’t really afford on a hat I’m not likely to wear again until I’m next in a desert… or perhaps on a ranch! It was an enjoyable stroll none the less, and along the way we got to learn a bit about the Opal industry that this part of Australia is so well known for.
4 of us had decided that we had to find a way of seeing the landscape around Alice Springs at its best, so naturally the sensible answer was to go on an hour long tour on the back of an animal that actually looks a bit out of place here, but is the best mode of desert transport… a Camel! So we spent the last hour of sunlight being carried across desert and scrub by our lumbering beast, it offered some pretty stunning views as the sun descended over the horizon (Pictures to be uploaded one day!). It was then time to slope back to the hostel to tidy ourselves up for one last knees up as sadly we were not all on the same tours out of Alice, and not all of us would venture on to Day 9 of the Adventure Tours Bus. We had a great meal out, and then went for a boogie that sadly ended prematurely, and without the tune that had become a bit of an anthem.
After getting up early to say goodbye to those that were leaving us… and after our rapid return to our beds after we’d said goodbye… we had a quiet day, with another wander around Alice and a conversation that led me to ask the rather poignant question… what about Kat though? (Again… you had to be there!). We caught up on a bit of laundry and checked our emails, before turning in for an early start. I don’t think Alice is somewhere that’ll stick in my mind, just the people I was with. It’s a bit of a ghost town that is really only a gateway to the Red Centre and the attractions, both natural and manmade, that you find there.
Well, I think that’s it for now… more catching-up will appear very soon, and you never know this might be up to date by the time I come home!!!
Now, for the past 6 days or so we’d been living off cereal and sandwiches, so as you can imagine we were ready for some decent tucker and a good coffee! So in that spirit we decided to spend the day not as backpackers, but as flashpackers! So the next morning we sat ourselves down for breakfast at the best looking eatery we could find, and indulged in Eggs Benedict with smoked Salmon, fresh orange juice and one of the most gratefully received cappuccinos I’ve had in a long time! We relaxed chatted and gossiped for a good couple of hours before having a wander around the bustling (!!) centre of Alice Springs. We trawled every Didgeridoo shop we could find in the hope that Kat could find… the one… we failed. We browsed in a place that was not for browsing (You had to be there!), and I spent money I couldn’t really afford on a hat I’m not likely to wear again until I’m next in a desert… or perhaps on a ranch! It was an enjoyable stroll none the less, and along the way we got to learn a bit about the Opal industry that this part of Australia is so well known for.
4 of us had decided that we had to find a way of seeing the landscape around Alice Springs at its best, so naturally the sensible answer was to go on an hour long tour on the back of an animal that actually looks a bit out of place here, but is the best mode of desert transport… a Camel! So we spent the last hour of sunlight being carried across desert and scrub by our lumbering beast, it offered some pretty stunning views as the sun descended over the horizon (Pictures to be uploaded one day!). It was then time to slope back to the hostel to tidy ourselves up for one last knees up as sadly we were not all on the same tours out of Alice, and not all of us would venture on to Day 9 of the Adventure Tours Bus. We had a great meal out, and then went for a boogie that sadly ended prematurely, and without the tune that had become a bit of an anthem.
After getting up early to say goodbye to those that were leaving us… and after our rapid return to our beds after we’d said goodbye… we had a quiet day, with another wander around Alice and a conversation that led me to ask the rather poignant question… what about Kat though? (Again… you had to be there!). We caught up on a bit of laundry and checked our emails, before turning in for an early start. I don’t think Alice is somewhere that’ll stick in my mind, just the people I was with. It’s a bit of a ghost town that is really only a gateway to the Red Centre and the attractions, both natural and manmade, that you find there.
Well, I think that’s it for now… more catching-up will appear very soon, and you never know this might be up to date by the time I come home!!!
Right… I suppose it’s time to face the music and update this thing! Well, seeing as about 3 months has passed without me finishing writing about what I was doing… I’m almost inclined to miss it out all together, but I won’t, one thing I will do to make the whole experience nicer for us all, is skim over the 3 day journey from Darwin to Alice Springs. To give you an overview, we drove around 1,500Km in 3 days, through what was mainly desert! We had a couple of stops on the way down with our driver Spud, the first of which was Katherine Gorge.
Now, I’ll get this out of the way… we didn’t do much once we got to Katherine, now it’s no that it wasn’t beautiful, because some of the views were spectacular, and it wasn’t that there wasn’t anything to do, there was a ferry ride we could have jumped on to check out one the main gorge from the water, it was just so hot! We felt almost obliged, despite the heat, to have a go at a bit of a walk, there were plenty on offer from half an hour to four hours (And even longer treks designed for masochists!). Now, before setting out we thought a couple of hours would be just fine, so we purchased a couple of icy cold bottles of water from the obligatory gift shop, strapped on our walking boots and hit the trail. Oh my word, within 10 minutes, I for one, was ready to turn back! However, seeing as by that point the only landmark we’d seen was the porta-cabin toilet we pressed on. To get to the first stop, the main look-out took us around 30 minutes… and by the time we got there we were all red-faced dripping with sweat, and fast running out of water! We stayed for 5 minutes, and then with a unanimous decision headed straight back for home! Now the view was nice, not mind-blowing but nice, and maybe had we carried on the views might have got better, but we weren’t going to find out! Ice cream was calling, and its shout was louder than a view of some trees! So with new inspiration we headed back double-time to relax in the shade with an Icy Pole or two! We got back exhausted, but not with the feeling of missing out, had budget been no issue a helicopter ride would have given us the opportunity to see all of the gorges (Of which there are 7) and had the eater levels not been quite as high we could have done a Jet boat trip, but with these options taken away from us we'd made the best of it, without leaving ourselves de-hydrated wrecks!
The second visit along the trip was a stop off at the Devils Marbles, large chunks of granite weathered down into giant marble like objects clad in the iron filled dust that covers this part of Australia, appropriately called The Red Centre. Formed over 1.7 million years by the erosion of the soft sandstone above, and eventually by the wind and rain sculpting them ever so slowly into something you'd (Despite the name!) never win in the playground. Plenty of fun was had clambering over these slightly odd objects that look as though they've been dumped by a spaceship, with many a photo opportunity to be had, we spent a good hour looking around before jumping on the minibus to hit the road again!
We also had a stop at the Daily Waters pub, which for me was certainly a highlight... for no other reason than partaking in a nice frost bottle of Cooper's Sparkling Ale... nice!
The rest of the time was spent bonding with everyone on the bus, learning our likes, dislikes learning about our families and friends, favourite food, drink, colour, what we did back home... seriously, when you're stuck on a bus for as long as we were with little to see other than kilometre after kilometre of outback, you get plenty of time just to chat, with the occasional yell of ROADTRAIN!!!!! Whenever we saw one of these mechanical desert snakes approaching! So, by the time we got to Alice Springs, a little group of us had bonded quite nicely, which was particularly good as we had 3 days to relax before starting on the next leg of the journey!
"Alice Springs and beyond" will be featuring on a blog near you soon (ish!)
Take care Y'all
Now, I’ll get this out of the way… we didn’t do much once we got to Katherine, now it’s no that it wasn’t beautiful, because some of the views were spectacular, and it wasn’t that there wasn’t anything to do, there was a ferry ride we could have jumped on to check out one the main gorge from the water, it was just so hot! We felt almost obliged, despite the heat, to have a go at a bit of a walk, there were plenty on offer from half an hour to four hours (And even longer treks designed for masochists!). Now, before setting out we thought a couple of hours would be just fine, so we purchased a couple of icy cold bottles of water from the obligatory gift shop, strapped on our walking boots and hit the trail. Oh my word, within 10 minutes, I for one, was ready to turn back! However, seeing as by that point the only landmark we’d seen was the porta-cabin toilet we pressed on. To get to the first stop, the main look-out took us around 30 minutes… and by the time we got there we were all red-faced dripping with sweat, and fast running out of water! We stayed for 5 minutes, and then with a unanimous decision headed straight back for home! Now the view was nice, not mind-blowing but nice, and maybe had we carried on the views might have got better, but we weren’t going to find out! Ice cream was calling, and its shout was louder than a view of some trees! So with new inspiration we headed back double-time to relax in the shade with an Icy Pole or two! We got back exhausted, but not with the feeling of missing out, had budget been no issue a helicopter ride would have given us the opportunity to see all of the gorges (Of which there are 7) and had the eater levels not been quite as high we could have done a Jet boat trip, but with these options taken away from us we'd made the best of it, without leaving ourselves de-hydrated wrecks!
The second visit along the trip was a stop off at the Devils Marbles, large chunks of granite weathered down into giant marble like objects clad in the iron filled dust that covers this part of Australia, appropriately called The Red Centre. Formed over 1.7 million years by the erosion of the soft sandstone above, and eventually by the wind and rain sculpting them ever so slowly into something you'd (Despite the name!) never win in the playground. Plenty of fun was had clambering over these slightly odd objects that look as though they've been dumped by a spaceship, with many a photo opportunity to be had, we spent a good hour looking around before jumping on the minibus to hit the road again!
We also had a stop at the Daily Waters pub, which for me was certainly a highlight... for no other reason than partaking in a nice frost bottle of Cooper's Sparkling Ale... nice!
The rest of the time was spent bonding with everyone on the bus, learning our likes, dislikes learning about our families and friends, favourite food, drink, colour, what we did back home... seriously, when you're stuck on a bus for as long as we were with little to see other than kilometre after kilometre of outback, you get plenty of time just to chat, with the occasional yell of ROADTRAIN!!!!! Whenever we saw one of these mechanical desert snakes approaching! So, by the time we got to Alice Springs, a little group of us had bonded quite nicely, which was particularly good as we had 3 days to relax before starting on the next leg of the journey!
"Alice Springs and beyond" will be featuring on a blog near you soon (ish!)
Take care Y'all
Right, firstly, I haven't dropped off the face of the planet, I've just been busy! And rest assured I'm not still in Darwin, in fact I'm already all the way back to Sydney where things started three months ago, so as you can imagine there is quite a lot to catch up on... so let's begin!
Now, some might think that travelling round the Northern Territory during the Wet Season, albeit the very end of the wet season wasn't such a great idea. Now in one way they might be right, and in other ways rather wrong! On the one hand, we couldn't take the road straight into Kakadu national park from Darwin (Which should take about 2.5 hours) due to flooding, instead we had to drive around the park south to the Kakadu Highway, adding about 3 hours onto the first drive, however this was nicely broken up by a "Jumping Crocodile" river cruise, which was rather good fun! The 15 people on the tour bus jumped off our lovely sir conditioned 4x4 and onto boat with suspiciously large amounts of meat on board (Not just the tourists!). So off we set for a hour cruising on a Salt Water croc infested river... it wasn't long till we found our first, and one of the crew started teasing the 4 meter croc! Now the aim of this was to get the crocs to show just how far they could jump out of the water when suitably motivated, and jump he did! A good 50% of his body leapt out of the water snapping at the fresh meat (Once again... not the tourists!). It was quite spectacular, and was just about the biggest croc we saw during the hour, but we saw plenty, and naturally there were plenty of opportunities to get photos, and to get to know the people on the tour (All thoroughly lovely people I'm pleased to report!). Once we'd had our hour and it was time to put foot on terra firma once more, we had the opportunity to handle a Python, so as the opportunity was there I had another reptile draped around my neck, considerably more lively than the one I handled on Magnetic Island, and a lot more active! Then it was the start of another big drive into Kakadu itself. After about 4 hours or so on the road, with the necessary breaks for buying snacks and the
like, we finally got into Kakadu itself, and stopped off at a lovely waterfall for a dip in some rather refreshingly cold water. We all swam around grinning like idiots enjoying a break from being on the road, and finding semi submerged rocks to sit on! After 30 minutes or so it was time to push on for another hour or so to the camp site where we'd be spending the night.
Along the way we were given a visual feast of scrub land dotted with deep green trees, and wetlands smothered under the rainfall of the last few months. It was quite a spectacle, and well worth attempting to fight the sleepiness that had started to creep in by mid-afternoon!
The camp itself was quite fancy, permanent tents that slept 6, and a kitchen/eating area that was also a mossie proof tent... not too shabby, one of the luxuries of travelling in the wet season up north (No swag camping allowed!). The evening was spent enjoying a drink or three... or seven, getting to know everyone on the tour that little better. We all introduced ourselves (Although by that time it was almost unnecessary!) and then spent time chatting about the usual, where are you going, where have you been, how long... so on and so on! Before we knew it, it was 1 in the morning, and with another early start ahead of us (5:30!), it was well and truly time to turn in for the night!
After a pretty decent night's sleep, and a bleary eyed breakfast of toast and tea it was time to hit the road again, ready for another hot and humid walk. Not, on getting put of the beautifully air conditioned bus we were hit with a wall of humidity, now the walk was only going to be at most an hour, but 15 minutes in we were really feeling the heat, and with walking boots and thick walking socks on my feet felt like they'd spent a good few minutes in the microwave! After a hot and stick 45 minutes we heard the not so distant sound of water, with our spirits lifted and a new spring in our step we jogged down dusty paths and clambered over boulders for just a few more minutes and there it was, a stunning waterfall with a lovely big water hole beneath for us to take a well earned swim in! After a lot of relaxing and a fair few photos being taken, it was time to hit the trail again! Now ahead of us was a walk back along pretty much the same trail that we walked down on, before veering off near the end towards another waterfall. Now the last waterfall was beautiful, a high churning tirade 30-40 meters or so high... this next one had quite a lot to live up to...and live up to it it did! It was s multi tiered fall, we could see two tiers although we were assured it was five in total. Each tier was relatively small, no more than 10 meters high, perfect for swimming under to get a
aquatic shoulder massage! As lovely as this was, a few of us couldn't help but wonder if the next step up, set back about 20 meters back from the top of the bottom fall was any better... our guide Bullfrog assured up it was, so a few of us made the effort to scramble up the rock to one side of the fall to make up our own minds. What we found was not only a fall that you could climb, and sit behind, but also a lovely view over most of the trees, out onto the area we had been walking, well worth the short climb up we thought!
After another half an hour or so lounging around under the falls and in the water, munching on an apple or two, it was time to push on for another hour or so in the truck to fin a nice spot for lunch. After salad wraps with a cold Sausage or two, we spent another couple of hours on the road, making our way up to an Aboriginal rock art site, where we spent an hour or so wandering around seeing a number of art sites, being told the stories behind what we were seeing. Now as the afternoon was drawing on the weather had begun to close in, and by the time we were wandering round the skies had decided to open. This didn’t deter us intrepid travellers from walking up to a lookout at the end of the rock art trail to see a view of Arnheimland... well... that was the idea anyway, but by the time we got to the top, we were all soaked to the bone, and visibility had been reduced to all of about 20 meters or so. Instead of a beautiful vista, what we got was a sheet of grey... you might think that travelling round the Northern Territory during the Wet Season wasn't such a great idea ;-) Well this didn't dampen our spirits, and on the way back to the shelter of truck you could see six or seven of us line dancing, and belting out a rendition of "Singing in the Rain"!
Then we had just a short drive we were at another camp site for another night in a swanky permanent tent, an intimate 2 person affair this time, well, 2 people and a load of mosquitoes! Thankfully the ever resourceful Amy got a mossie coil going do dispatch of the unwelcome guests! After another long day we were all suitably tuckered out, and we were all in our sleeping bags nice and early. Once again, we had another long drive, this time to get out of Kakadu, and drive west towards Litchfield NP, for another set of waterfalls! Naturally we all took the opportunity to catch up on some more sleep! It's surprising just how easy it is getting to sleep in the back of a 4x4 going over bumpy washed out roads! The waterfalls were once again beautiful, although I think the second was preferred by most people, mainly due to the fish in the first that thought they'd find out what tourists taste of (Lets hope they don't send the culinary review to the crocs)! Thankfully I managed to get away wound free, although I think I was just about the only one!
As the day was closing in, it was time to head back to Darwin to get off the bus and say farewell to those people not continuing down to Alice Springs. Now of course the only way we could do that was by spending the evening in one of the pubs in town, The Vic, a bit of food, a few drinks and some silly games! Games included Knights, Knaves and Mounts, The Box Game, Drinking Contests, Making Paper Planes and playing the Didgeridoo (Well part of an old vacuum). We had
mixed success with the competitions, although I did win the Didge playing, although in all fairness it was only due to my supporting team making more noise than anyone else! After a bit of dancing to finish of the night it really was time to say goodbye to a couple of people we all would have liked to be staying with us for the rest of the journey, cheers Susan and Mr. T, it was a lot of fun! With that done it was time for us to turn in for the night, getting ready for an early start, and the big 3 day drive down to Alice Springs.
Now I think that's quite enough story telling for the time being, watch out for the thrilling tale of a Km drive through nowhere, coming to a Blog near you soon!
Much love to all that deserve it!
Now, some might think that travelling round the Northern Territory during the Wet Season, albeit the very end of the wet season wasn't such a great idea. Now in one way they might be right, and in other ways rather wrong! On the one hand, we couldn't take the road straight into Kakadu national park from Darwin (Which should take about 2.5 hours) due to flooding, instead we had to drive around the park south to the Kakadu Highway, adding about 3 hours onto the first drive, however this was nicely broken up by a "Jumping Crocodile" river cruise, which was rather good fun! The 15 people on the tour bus jumped off our lovely sir conditioned 4x4 and onto boat with suspiciously large amounts of meat on board (Not just the tourists!). So off we set for a hour cruising on a Salt Water croc infested river... it wasn't long till we found our first, and one of the crew started teasing the 4 meter croc! Now the aim of this was to get the crocs to show just how far they could jump out of the water when suitably motivated, and jump he did! A good 50% of his body leapt out of the water snapping at the fresh meat (Once again... not the tourists!). It was quite spectacular, and was just about the biggest croc we saw during the hour, but we saw plenty, and naturally there were plenty of opportunities to get photos, and to get to know the people on the tour (All thoroughly lovely people I'm pleased to report!). Once we'd had our hour and it was time to put foot on terra firma once more, we had the opportunity to handle a Python, so as the opportunity was there I had another reptile draped around my neck, considerably more lively than the one I handled on Magnetic Island, and a lot more active! Then it was the start of another big drive into Kakadu itself. After about 4 hours or so on the road, with the necessary breaks for buying snacks and the
like, we finally got into Kakadu itself, and stopped off at a lovely waterfall for a dip in some rather refreshingly cold water. We all swam around grinning like idiots enjoying a break from being on the road, and finding semi submerged rocks to sit on! After 30 minutes or so it was time to push on for another hour or so to the camp site where we'd be spending the night.
Along the way we were given a visual feast of scrub land dotted with deep green trees, and wetlands smothered under the rainfall of the last few months. It was quite a spectacle, and well worth attempting to fight the sleepiness that had started to creep in by mid-afternoon!
The camp itself was quite fancy, permanent tents that slept 6, and a kitchen/eating area that was also a mossie proof tent... not too shabby, one of the luxuries of travelling in the wet season up north (No swag camping allowed!). The evening was spent enjoying a drink or three... or seven, getting to know everyone on the tour that little better. We all introduced ourselves (Although by that time it was almost unnecessary!) and then spent time chatting about the usual, where are you going, where have you been, how long... so on and so on! Before we knew it, it was 1 in the morning, and with another early start ahead of us (5:30!), it was well and truly time to turn in for the night!
After a pretty decent night's sleep, and a bleary eyed breakfast of toast and tea it was time to hit the road again, ready for another hot and humid walk. Not, on getting put of the beautifully air conditioned bus we were hit with a wall of humidity, now the walk was only going to be at most an hour, but 15 minutes in we were really feeling the heat, and with walking boots and thick walking socks on my feet felt like they'd spent a good few minutes in the microwave! After a hot and stick 45 minutes we heard the not so distant sound of water, with our spirits lifted and a new spring in our step we jogged down dusty paths and clambered over boulders for just a few more minutes and there it was, a stunning waterfall with a lovely big water hole beneath for us to take a well earned swim in! After a lot of relaxing and a fair few photos being taken, it was time to hit the trail again! Now ahead of us was a walk back along pretty much the same trail that we walked down on, before veering off near the end towards another waterfall. Now the last waterfall was beautiful, a high churning tirade 30-40 meters or so high... this next one had quite a lot to live up to...and live up to it it did! It was s multi tiered fall, we could see two tiers although we were assured it was five in total. Each tier was relatively small, no more than 10 meters high, perfect for swimming under to get a
aquatic shoulder massage! As lovely as this was, a few of us couldn't help but wonder if the next step up, set back about 20 meters back from the top of the bottom fall was any better... our guide Bullfrog assured up it was, so a few of us made the effort to scramble up the rock to one side of the fall to make up our own minds. What we found was not only a fall that you could climb, and sit behind, but also a lovely view over most of the trees, out onto the area we had been walking, well worth the short climb up we thought!
After another half an hour or so lounging around under the falls and in the water, munching on an apple or two, it was time to push on for another hour or so in the truck to fin a nice spot for lunch. After salad wraps with a cold Sausage or two, we spent another couple of hours on the road, making our way up to an Aboriginal rock art site, where we spent an hour or so wandering around seeing a number of art sites, being told the stories behind what we were seeing. Now as the afternoon was drawing on the weather had begun to close in, and by the time we were wandering round the skies had decided to open. This didn’t deter us intrepid travellers from walking up to a lookout at the end of the rock art trail to see a view of Arnheimland... well... that was the idea anyway, but by the time we got to the top, we were all soaked to the bone, and visibility had been reduced to all of about 20 meters or so. Instead of a beautiful vista, what we got was a sheet of grey... you might think that travelling round the Northern Territory during the Wet Season wasn't such a great idea ;-) Well this didn't dampen our spirits, and on the way back to the shelter of truck you could see six or seven of us line dancing, and belting out a rendition of "Singing in the Rain"!
Then we had just a short drive we were at another camp site for another night in a swanky permanent tent, an intimate 2 person affair this time, well, 2 people and a load of mosquitoes! Thankfully the ever resourceful Amy got a mossie coil going do dispatch of the unwelcome guests! After another long day we were all suitably tuckered out, and we were all in our sleeping bags nice and early. Once again, we had another long drive, this time to get out of Kakadu, and drive west towards Litchfield NP, for another set of waterfalls! Naturally we all took the opportunity to catch up on some more sleep! It's surprising just how easy it is getting to sleep in the back of a 4x4 going over bumpy washed out roads! The waterfalls were once again beautiful, although I think the second was preferred by most people, mainly due to the fish in the first that thought they'd find out what tourists taste of (Lets hope they don't send the culinary review to the crocs)! Thankfully I managed to get away wound free, although I think I was just about the only one!
As the day was closing in, it was time to head back to Darwin to get off the bus and say farewell to those people not continuing down to Alice Springs. Now of course the only way we could do that was by spending the evening in one of the pubs in town, The Vic, a bit of food, a few drinks and some silly games! Games included Knights, Knaves and Mounts, The Box Game, Drinking Contests, Making Paper Planes and playing the Didgeridoo (Well part of an old vacuum). We had
mixed success with the competitions, although I did win the Didge playing, although in all fairness it was only due to my supporting team making more noise than anyone else! After a bit of dancing to finish of the night it really was time to say goodbye to a couple of people we all would have liked to be staying with us for the rest of the journey, cheers Susan and Mr. T, it was a lot of fun! With that done it was time for us to turn in for the night, getting ready for an early start, and the big 3 day drive down to Alice Springs.
Now I think that's quite enough story telling for the time being, watch out for the thrilling tale of a Km drive through nowhere, coming to a Blog near you soon!
Much love to all that deserve it!
So with a week in Cairns under my belt, it was time to look at what was outstanding on the "Must do" list of Northern Queensland. I'd done the Bungee, explored Cape Tribulation via the Daintree Rain forest and enjoyed a brief trip through Port Douglas. I'd spent time lounging in the hostel pool and the public Lagoon, and spent rainy afternoons in the shopping centre, and watching an awful film at the Cinema (If you get the chance to see The Good Shepherd... don't!). the only thing left was to go and visit the only living thing that you can see from space (And the thing that kills the surf on the top half of the coast!)... The Great Barrier Reef. So on Monday morning, bright and early I jumped on the shuttle bus from my new, out in the middle of nowhere hostel (Well, I had a couple of free nights to use up!), to be on the deck of the twin hulled Ocean Spirit by 8:00, to head to the rather exclusive Michaelmas Cay.
So with a safe flight to Darwin under my belt I leave the East Coast behind. I've had a lot of fun over the last few weeks traveling up the coast, have met some really fantastic people, and made some great friends. These are not just people I want have met traveling, but people that I want to continue to have in my life in some way or another, all of which I'd like to see again, whether it's in England... or when they next visit the Land Down Under!
Well, tomorrow I start my journey around the Northern Territory, the Red Center, South Australia, and then Victoria ending in Melbourne... once I've had my fill of Australia's second city, I'll be back in Sydney to face reality! It's going to be a very busy 3 weeks or so!
Much love to everyone.
Michaelmas Cay is one of the most important reserves for marine bird life on the Great Barrier Reef, and is surrounded by a 7Km stretch of the reef itself. There are only 3 tour boats that are licensed to stop there, so even at it's busiest there is still plenty of space for everyone to snorkel (Only 50 people at a time are allowed onto the Island itself). And after 2.5 hours under engine power we arrived, and with clear blue skies and the sun shining, it was perfect snorkeling weather... so snorkel we did! After donning stinger suits to help prevent Jellyfish stings, and slipping on the rather cumbersome flippers, mask and snorkel, it was time to once again enter another world!
The corals themselves were just about the same as I'd already seen around the Whitsunday islands, but nothing could prepare me for the massive array of tropical fish and other aquatic life under the shimmering ocean surface. The stretch of reef around Michaelmas Cay is home to 1000 different species of fish, and other weird and wonderful life forms such as Sea Slugs and Giant Clams. As you can imagine, upon plunging into the tropical waters I was faces with a rainbow's worth of colourful fish, some plain, some intricately patterned but all fascinating, ranging from less than an inch long, to over 2 feet! In a way I wish I knew more about exactly what it was I was looking at, but in no way did that detract from the visual spectacle on offer!
The two stints of snorkeling were broken up with a tour on a glass bottom boat, where we got to see some of the reef a little further out from the island itself, during which we saw a massive Manta that was around 1.5 metres in diameter, impressive stuff! We were also served with a delicious buffet meal including an array of cold meats and fresh, in the shell prawns... yummy! With all the fun of the day over with, we headed back for Cairns under sail power, driven by winds of up to 25knots. This was accompanied with live music and a chilled glass of Aussie Sparkling Wine, all in all a very civilised was to spend a day at the reef (Especially as we paid $70 less than everyone else, I love free upgrades!). The evening was spent in the rather less civilised surroundings of The Woolshed, a backpacker bar that had become a bit of a regular place for us to spend our evenings!
My last morning was spent checking out of my hostel and getting back into the Cairns CBD, booking accomidation for the next couple of nights in Darwin, and organisig transport to and from the Airport. This was rewarded by spending my last afternoon with friends, havinf a fun time swimming and relaxing in the Lagoon, and sharing some food and Ice Cream before saying goodbye for one last time, well 4 or 5 times actually!So with a safe flight to Darwin under my belt I leave the East Coast behind. I've had a lot of fun over the last few weeks traveling up the coast, have met some really fantastic people, and made some great friends. These are not just people I want have met traveling, but people that I want to continue to have in my life in some way or another, all of which I'd like to see again, whether it's in England... or when they next visit the Land Down Under!
Well, tomorrow I start my journey around the Northern Territory, the Red Center, South Australia, and then Victoria ending in Melbourne... once I've had my fill of Australia's second city, I'll be back in Sydney to face reality! It's going to be a very busy 3 weeks or so!
Much love to everyone.
So upon arriving in Cairns I met up with a lovely chap called Matt that I've not seen for a little while, we shared a drink or two to catch up on what we'd both been up to and then Matt mentioned he might be doing a Bungee jump... and after turning to my chum Ed and grinning, we'd agreed to join. Now it's very easy to say yes to something like that from the comfort of a bench in a bar with a cold beer in front of you... which is why on Monday morning we weren't quite so sure it was a good idea... turns out no-one was sure it was a good idea. Now the Bungee site is about a 20 minute drive out of town, and the oly way the company will come ond pick you up is if someone has paid to do the jump in advance... turns out that person was me, and then inspired by my actions 2 others agreed and did the same so we could take a few spectators along! So with our money handed over all that was left was to wait for about an hour to be picked up.... a surprisingly long hour! Once in the minibus disclamer sheets were handed round, basically signing away any right to take legal action against the organisers in case something was to go... ahem.... wrong, they really know how to install a sense of confidence don't they?! Upon arriving we suddenly realised that 50 meters isn't so high up after-all, once again... very easy to think that whilst your feet are placed firmly on the ground! So we were all revved up to go, only to be told it would be another half hour or so as the crew were on their lunch break, awesome, more waiting! As the minutes ticked by, we all started to go a bit quieter as we had time to lok up at the platform, which startet to look higher and higher as time ticked on! Finally the time had come, and we started the long walk up the staircase to one side of the tower to the jump platform. I can safely say that the higher we got, the more it was sinking in exactly what we were about to do, and the crazier it seemed! Once at the top I had a few minutes to contimplate whether I actually wanted to do this, that question popped into my head again as the towel was being wrapped round my ankles (They assured me it was a NASA certified towel!), and then again as I had to hop towards the edge... and looked over, and the countdown begins...
5... what am I doing.
4... I can't do this.
3... it's only $100 wasted.
2... right I'm outta here...
1... No I'm not, I'm so jumping.
GO!... **** it!
I'm so pleased I jumped, the freefall was awesome, scary, thrilling, seeing the ground approaching fast, feeling the cord take the strain, and seeing the world disapear again as I spring back into the air being tossed around like a ragdoll! Naturally as I was hanging there waiting for the Dinghy to paddle out to come fetch me I had a massive grin on my face. Any regrests? Sure, I didn't go up for another jump... still, it was only 50 meters, there are bigger jumps out there for me to challenge myself with!
After that I needed to do something a bit more low key, so for the next day 8 of us hired a people carrier, and went up the coast to Cape Tribulation, and the Daintree rainforest. We got up noce and early to make the most of the day, and after stopping off for a bit of brekkie made ourway up to Daintree, where we stopped off for a nice stroll in the rainforest towards Mossman Gorge. Naturally the forest was a humid mass of trees, weird and wonderful plant life, and as many bugs as you could want to see. How the humidity might have been a bit of an irritation, were it not for taking a swim in the fast flowing waters of the river running through the gorge. I went in for a bit of a paddle, and jus as my feet started to go numb I knew I had to take a dip, I think it was just about the most refreshing sensation I've felt in a long time, icy cold water running past you as you hold onto a rock to avoid being washed away! After hopping out of the water after 15 minutes or so, we moved a litle further north to take in a river tour where we saw wild saltwater Crocs, treesnakes and tree frogs, we also had the rare oppertunity of seeing a Crocodile nest being guarded by the expectant Mum, who didn't look too happy to see us, so naturally we made a hasty retreat before heading back to the shore. Again more driving north to Cape Tribulation itself, where we wandered down to the beach for a bit of a walk, and a head to head race between Lucy and myself (Well I needed my adrenaline rush for the day!), I'll be a gent and not publish the outcome... ;-) As it was getting dark it was time to head back to Cairns via Port Douglas, for a couple of quiet drinks and an early-ish night!
We've had a couple of lazy days since, although I hope to make a trip to the Reef before I fly to Darwin on Tuesday for the next leg of my travels... the long slog back to Sydney!
Much Love to everyone.
5... what am I doing.
4... I can't do this.
3... it's only $100 wasted.
2... right I'm outta here...
1... No I'm not, I'm so jumping.
GO!... **** it!
I'm so pleased I jumped, the freefall was awesome, scary, thrilling, seeing the ground approaching fast, feeling the cord take the strain, and seeing the world disapear again as I spring back into the air being tossed around like a ragdoll! Naturally as I was hanging there waiting for the Dinghy to paddle out to come fetch me I had a massive grin on my face. Any regrests? Sure, I didn't go up for another jump... still, it was only 50 meters, there are bigger jumps out there for me to challenge myself with!
After that I needed to do something a bit more low key, so for the next day 8 of us hired a people carrier, and went up the coast to Cape Tribulation, and the Daintree rainforest. We got up noce and early to make the most of the day, and after stopping off for a bit of brekkie made ourway up to Daintree, where we stopped off for a nice stroll in the rainforest towards Mossman Gorge. Naturally the forest was a humid mass of trees, weird and wonderful plant life, and as many bugs as you could want to see. How the humidity might have been a bit of an irritation, were it not for taking a swim in the fast flowing waters of the river running through the gorge. I went in for a bit of a paddle, and jus as my feet started to go numb I knew I had to take a dip, I think it was just about the most refreshing sensation I've felt in a long time, icy cold water running past you as you hold onto a rock to avoid being washed away! After hopping out of the water after 15 minutes or so, we moved a litle further north to take in a river tour where we saw wild saltwater Crocs, treesnakes and tree frogs, we also had the rare oppertunity of seeing a Crocodile nest being guarded by the expectant Mum, who didn't look too happy to see us, so naturally we made a hasty retreat before heading back to the shore. Again more driving north to Cape Tribulation itself, where we wandered down to the beach for a bit of a walk, and a head to head race between Lucy and myself (Well I needed my adrenaline rush for the day!), I'll be a gent and not publish the outcome... ;-) As it was getting dark it was time to head back to Cairns via Port Douglas, for a couple of quiet drinks and an early-ish night!
We've had a couple of lazy days since, although I hope to make a trip to the Reef before I fly to Darwin on Tuesday for the next leg of my travels... the long slog back to Sydney!
Much Love to everyone.
BUNGEE!!!
Hello again, well I'm moving up the coast fast so I had better give you all another update! First up, sailing... well I say sailing, but for that you need wind, what we had was a slight breeze! That small fact aside it was a lot of fun! The boat I was on was a Maxi class racing boat called Condor, in its day it was quite the champion, winning most of the races in the Maxi class, including the Sydney to Hobart 3 times! Now I'm not sure what I was expecting, but let's say the sleeping arrangements were, erm, snug at best! And due to a lack of air con and a lot of sunny weather, below deck things were rather hot and stuffy, by the second night I'd learnt my lesson... sleep on deck! All the air conditioning you need, and what better way to be woken up than by the sun creeping over the horizon, awesome! The 3 days on the boat were spent mainly sunning ourselves on the deck (There's not much to do on a racing boat with no wind!), reading, and naturally as soon as was socially acceptable, enjoying a drink or two. However these stints of inactivity were nicely broken up by a stop off at the stunning Whitehaven beach, which was stunning, white sand so fine you can polish your jewelery with, and so pure that it doesn't need refining to be made into glass! We also had a couple of opertunities to snorkle over the reefs that grow round some of the 74 islands that make up The Whitsundays. Having never snorkled before this was a pretty amazing experience, a window into an utterly alien landscape filled with some really weird stuff! Good pratice for snorkling over the Great Barrier Reef, which is something I hope to do over the next few days or so. We had a really nice gorup on the boat, a good mix of guys, girls and nationalities that made the lack of wind not so much of a problem! Upon returning to Airlie Beach I had a chilled evening with a few friends, in preparation for my last early bus on the East Coast... next stop Townsville!
Now, Townsville is really just a gateway to get to Magnetic Island, just about the last place going north that you can see Koalas in the wild. Now there isn't a whole lot to do on Magnetic Island other than relax, which is no bad thing! A bit of a bonus was that myself and a friend were looking through their jukebox casully and were asked to do a bit of manual labour, lugging 20 or so beer kegs into the Hostel's cellar, in exchange for free drinks at the bar and a cooked breakfast the next day... nice, and well worth half an hour of our time! I did at last get to see a wild Koala though, a few of us went down to a local animal sanctury to see (and handle!) some of the local wildlife, incluing Crocs, Lizards and snakes, and on the way out did a little bush walk and saw a lone, motionless Koala! I don't think it was stuffed! The bar at the Hostel was just about the only nightlife on the island, but a fun time was had, and once again I found myself dancing on tabletops with a little cheer squad... I'm a shy retiring one... honest! In all fairness it was at the request of the barman, and in exchance for a couple of shots of Tequila... good deal if you ask me!
Now if all that relaxing wasn't enough, the next stop up the coast, Mission Beach, was yet another relaxathon! The weather was awful, so we just spent our time round the rather lovely Hostel, which was just a big house converted for backpackers. Really nothing to report from there, we sat around chatting, playing pool, making cups of tea, relaxing in the pool, and watching the occasional movie... and in my case bouncing around due to a build up of energy with no real release! That'll be something I plan to fix now I'm back in civilisation, Cairns! With any luck I'll manage to find an outlet for some of this energy before I jump in a car with a trio of girls that I'm going to Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas with... otherwise I'll drive them mad!
Well, take care everyone, hopefully I'll have something exciting to report in the next day or so!
Now, Townsville is really just a gateway to get to Magnetic Island, just about the last place going north that you can see Koalas in the wild. Now there isn't a whole lot to do on Magnetic Island other than relax, which is no bad thing! A bit of a bonus was that myself and a friend were looking through their jukebox casully and were asked to do a bit of manual labour, lugging 20 or so beer kegs into the Hostel's cellar, in exchange for free drinks at the bar and a cooked breakfast the next day... nice, and well worth half an hour of our time! I did at last get to see a wild Koala though, a few of us went down to a local animal sanctury to see (and handle!) some of the local wildlife, incluing Crocs, Lizards and snakes, and on the way out did a little bush walk and saw a lone, motionless Koala! I don't think it was stuffed! The bar at the Hostel was just about the only nightlife on the island, but a fun time was had, and once again I found myself dancing on tabletops with a little cheer squad... I'm a shy retiring one... honest! In all fairness it was at the request of the barman, and in exchance for a couple of shots of Tequila... good deal if you ask me!
Now if all that relaxing wasn't enough, the next stop up the coast, Mission Beach, was yet another relaxathon! The weather was awful, so we just spent our time round the rather lovely Hostel, which was just a big house converted for backpackers. Really nothing to report from there, we sat around chatting, playing pool, making cups of tea, relaxing in the pool, and watching the occasional movie... and in my case bouncing around due to a build up of energy with no real release! That'll be something I plan to fix now I'm back in civilisation, Cairns! With any luck I'll manage to find an outlet for some of this energy before I jump in a car with a trio of girls that I'm going to Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas with... otherwise I'll drive them mad!
Well, take care everyone, hopefully I'll have something exciting to report in the next day or so!
