We took our third flight of the trip from Auckland to Cairns, our excuse being the massive ocean and the lack of ferries. We had expected a grilling like in the Australian customs programme, but fortunately the staff were sound and we sauntered through with no issues. We arrived into Cairns late but were ultra organised (go us) and had already booked a bus, which was waiting for us as soon as we left the airport and brought us to our hostel Dreamtime.
We spent a day settling into Australia and then the next day we rented a car and set off on a road trip for two days around Cairns. We first drove through the outback in search of all kinds of wierd and wonderful creatures. We spotted turtles at Lake Eacham, a platypus which is officially the maddest animal to ever exist, many Brush Turkeys and massive termite mounds (which we didn't manage to photograph as we were on a main road and didn't fancy hanging out the car window to get a fuzzy mediocre snap).
We went to see a curtain fig tree. Fig trees grow around another existing tree until they strangle their host tree to death. Not very neighbourly behaviour. This particular one, then fell on another tree, which created the curtain effect. Australia, like New Zealand, has a real prehistoric feel about it. Everything is massive. You feel dwarfed by the size of the trees. This one was too big to fit in a picture.
Our final stop on the first day was Coffee Works, a centre dedicated to all things coffee. All of the ingredients of a cup of coffee are grown/reared in the vicinity, the coffee beans, the sugar and the cows for the milk. They have a tasting room where you can try loads of different roasts and beans from Australia and beyond. We morphed into connaisseurs, or so we like to think. They also produce chocolate and you can try as much as you like. It was the best day ever.
We had a bit of a drive up to Cape Tribulation where we were spending the night and exploring the following day. The second day, we had some locally made biodynamic ice cream for breakfast, yes we are adults, and then spent some time walking around the area. Cape Tribulation is in the Daintree National Park which is famous as the area where the rain forest meets the great barrier reef. It has loads of beautiful beaches and eerie mangrove swamps. Unfortunately, they are also home to crocodiles and jelly fish so we did not go for a dip.
We then drove down to the Mossman Gorge, which is a beautiful area with rainforest and clear waters. It had crocodile free swimming, but of course we hadn't any togs with us, lesson learnt. We were keeping an out for Cassowaries, which are massive birds, the biggest land animal in Australia. They look like a cross between a bird and a dinosaur. They also disembowel people if their frightened. We learned about the disembowelment after we returned from the road trip, and were then pretty happy we hadn't happened across one.
Our final stop of the day was the pretty coastal town of Port Douglas where we stopped for the most measly slice of quiche ever and left quite hungry.
Back in Cairns, we organised a snorkelling trip in the Great Barrier Reef. We booked with a company called Compass, which is the cheapest option available, just our style. Fortunately for us, not everyone thinks the same and they didn't have enough people to run so we got an upgrade with Reef Experience. Score. It was a brilliant day, even better than we expected. There are so many fish, some of them just swimming around you. Loads of them are crazy, bright colours, some are even neon, tipping a hat to the eighties. At one stage we were swimming. Niamh turned to say something to Emmet, but when she turned was face to face with a turtle, which had come up for air. Niamh also saw a shark. The sharks up North are not dangerous and are quite small in shark terms. They don't really bother with you, if you leave them alone and don't try poking them in the eye for the craic, so we avoided doing that. The reef was beautiful too. You see pictures and see it on TV, but it's amazing when you are there, swimming right above it. It was one of the highlights so far for sure.
That night it was movie night in the hostel, so we sat back and chilled after a long day, all swam out and nicely burnt. The next day we were heading to Airlie Beech. We were getting the night bus, so we hung around Cairns all day getting coffee and going to the cinema (to see Argo, which was alright). Then we got the bus that night for another long, uncomfortable journey. Poor us.
We arrived in Airlie Beech, which is another really touristy Australian town, but is a nice place. Airlie Beach was a stop off for us to break up the journey South. We stayed in Nomads which is a resorty style backpackers place. Not really our cup of tea, it feeels a bit like a cattlemart, but was grand for a few days. Unbeknowst to us we arrived on Halloween. Our room mates were all sound and we all headed out for a big night out. They were more prepared than us and had bin bags and accessories to make a costume, we had to go as ourselves. As it turns out, dressing up is not a big deal in Australia so we didn't stand out as the boring feckers who didn't bother. We had a great night and partied hard.
Everyone was dying the next day and mucho sleep was to be had by all. We eventually peeled our sore bodies from our beds and went to the lagoon to swim and sit in the sun for a bit. Niamh told me that my legs look normal now with a tan, as opposed to the usual old man looking numbers I have. Is this a complement? I'm not so sure. Then a few days later a seventy year old women with nude coloured socks pulled up her calves told him she saw better legs on a chair. Poor Emmet and his bony old man legs.
The following night we headed onto Noosa, which is the town you go to as a base for Fraser Island. Noosa is a really nice area. The local residents didn't want it turn into a high rise Australian version of Tenerife like a lot of the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. They battled with the council for years and prevented this type of development. They have created a massive national park just outside the town that has loads of amazing wildlife and beautiful walks. We got a couple of nights at another Nomads included in the trip so reluctantly stayed there. It was as souless as the previous one and had all the ridiculous strict rules and no drink policy, as they want you to spend money in their bar. It is probably the worst hostel we have stayed in on the trip. It is clean and has most of the faciltiies you need, but is missing a human touch. As we said earlier, it feel like a cattlemart, people in people out, more dollars in the cash register. When you living out of a rucksack, you need the places you stay in to have a homely feel, neither Nomads hostel we stayed in had this. Rant over, I feel better now.
Frazer Island is the biggest sand island in the world and is about a two hour drive away from Noosa. We booked the trip without knowing a whole lot about it, which we don't normally do. Niamh normally insists on wandering for several hours to price check and do some internet research. We had a briefing before we left for the trip and we a little apprehensive, as it was not what we expected. We would be driving around in 4 by 4's but everyone would get the chance to drive. So basically your putting your safety in the hands of strangers. On top of that there wasn't the option to get full insurance, so you would be liable for any damage to the jeep up to a thousand dollars each even if your not driving. The tour turned out to be really good and we really enjoyed it, however better insurance would have reduced the nerves a little.
The island was beautiful and we had a good group with us. Our guide Adam was sound too. We had three jeeps and took it in turns to have a bash at driving alone the beach and through forest off road tracks. We visted lots of beautiful lakes, waded through a crystal clear creek and went to see a ship wreck. We saw dingos, dolphins, jellyfish and turtles. We didn't see any of the poisonous snakes but we did see a massive Huntsman spider dead in the toilet. We are hoping not to see a live one but I believe that unlikely in this country. Later that night we had food and sat around the table playing drinking games. Myself and Niamh polished off our two bottles of $5 bottles of red wine. Oh yeah, budget drinking at it's best. It was a great night and the next day we did more of the same and headed back on the ferry.
We got back and everyone went for a shower and we went for a bite to eat with a German guy and girl, Christian and Nicole that were on the trip with us. Later everyone met in the bar for more beers and we all had a great night. Another hangover day the following was to be had but not as bad as the last.
On our final day in Noosa we went for a walk. It was the day of the Melbourne cup, so the whole town was decked out. Anyway, here is some photos of stuff.
We went for a walk in the National Park in search of Koalas and spotted one in a tree, which was great. One guy working in the hostel told us it took him three months to spot one. So either he is is rubbish a looking at trees and noticing there is a little bear sitting in it, or we got lucky. Either way, job done. We took some photos and we headed to sit on the beach. I buried Niamh in the sand for a while and then we strolled back to the hostel for some grub. We had a nice quite night and had dinner with Lachlan, a Scottish lad we met on the Frazer Island trip. Emmet showed him all of the 548 photos on the Ipad, he is a very patient person.
From here it's onto Brisbane where Emmet may convince more people to see all of our holiday pictures.In the meantime here is our impressive collection of photographs of sign posts.
We have ten weeks in total to travel Australia. Our plan is to travel the East Coast from Cairns down to Melbourne over a period of eight weeks. We will spend four weeks volunteering in exchange for accomodation and food, if someone will have us, and four weeks actually travelling, which is not a lot of time considering the distance. We will then travel back up to Sydney and spend the two weeks period over Christmas and New Year with friends and family.
 |
| This our first picture of a turtle, National Geographic eat your heart out! |
 |
| A platypus...Seriously, give us a call National Geographic. |
We went to see a curtain fig tree. Fig trees grow around another existing tree until they strangle their host tree to death. Not very neighbourly behaviour. This particular one, then fell on another tree, which created the curtain effect. Australia, like New Zealand, has a real prehistoric feel about it. Everything is massive. You feel dwarfed by the size of the trees. This one was too big to fit in a picture.
Our final stop on the first day was Coffee Works, a centre dedicated to all things coffee. All of the ingredients of a cup of coffee are grown/reared in the vicinity, the coffee beans, the sugar and the cows for the milk. They have a tasting room where you can try loads of different roasts and beans from Australia and beyond. We morphed into connaisseurs, or so we like to think. They also produce chocolate and you can try as much as you like. It was the best day ever.
We had a bit of a drive up to Cape Tribulation where we were spending the night and exploring the following day. The second day, we had some locally made biodynamic ice cream for breakfast, yes we are adults, and then spent some time walking around the area. Cape Tribulation is in the Daintree National Park which is famous as the area where the rain forest meets the great barrier reef. It has loads of beautiful beaches and eerie mangrove swamps. Unfortunately, they are also home to crocodiles and jelly fish so we did not go for a dip.
 |
| Emmet posing on a rock. |
We then drove down to the Mossman Gorge, which is a beautiful area with rainforest and clear waters. It had crocodile free swimming, but of course we hadn't any togs with us, lesson learnt. We were keeping an out for Cassowaries, which are massive birds, the biggest land animal in Australia. They look like a cross between a bird and a dinosaur. They also disembowel people if their frightened. We learned about the disembowelment after we returned from the road trip, and were then pretty happy we hadn't happened across one.
Our final stop of the day was the pretty coastal town of Port Douglas where we stopped for the most measly slice of quiche ever and left quite hungry.
Back in Cairns, we organised a snorkelling trip in the Great Barrier Reef. We booked with a company called Compass, which is the cheapest option available, just our style. Fortunately for us, not everyone thinks the same and they didn't have enough people to run so we got an upgrade with Reef Experience. Score. It was a brilliant day, even better than we expected. There are so many fish, some of them just swimming around you. Loads of them are crazy, bright colours, some are even neon, tipping a hat to the eighties. At one stage we were swimming. Niamh turned to say something to Emmet, but when she turned was face to face with a turtle, which had come up for air. Niamh also saw a shark. The sharks up North are not dangerous and are quite small in shark terms. They don't really bother with you, if you leave them alone and don't try poking them in the eye for the craic, so we avoided doing that. The reef was beautiful too. You see pictures and see it on TV, but it's amazing when you are there, swimming right above it. It was one of the highlights so far for sure.
That night it was movie night in the hostel, so we sat back and chilled after a long day, all swam out and nicely burnt. The next day we were heading to Airlie Beech. We were getting the night bus, so we hung around Cairns all day getting coffee and going to the cinema (to see Argo, which was alright). Then we got the bus that night for another long, uncomfortable journey. Poor us.
We arrived in Airlie Beech, which is another really touristy Australian town, but is a nice place. Airlie Beach was a stop off for us to break up the journey South. We stayed in Nomads which is a resorty style backpackers place. Not really our cup of tea, it feeels a bit like a cattlemart, but was grand for a few days. Unbeknowst to us we arrived on Halloween. Our room mates were all sound and we all headed out for a big night out. They were more prepared than us and had bin bags and accessories to make a costume, we had to go as ourselves. As it turns out, dressing up is not a big deal in Australia so we didn't stand out as the boring feckers who didn't bother. We had a great night and partied hard.
Everyone was dying the next day and mucho sleep was to be had by all. We eventually peeled our sore bodies from our beds and went to the lagoon to swim and sit in the sun for a bit. Niamh told me that my legs look normal now with a tan, as opposed to the usual old man looking numbers I have. Is this a complement? I'm not so sure. Then a few days later a seventy year old women with nude coloured socks pulled up her calves told him she saw better legs on a chair. Poor Emmet and his bony old man legs.
The following night we headed onto Noosa, which is the town you go to as a base for Fraser Island. Noosa is a really nice area. The local residents didn't want it turn into a high rise Australian version of Tenerife like a lot of the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. They battled with the council for years and prevented this type of development. They have created a massive national park just outside the town that has loads of amazing wildlife and beautiful walks. We got a couple of nights at another Nomads included in the trip so reluctantly stayed there. It was as souless as the previous one and had all the ridiculous strict rules and no drink policy, as they want you to spend money in their bar. It is probably the worst hostel we have stayed in on the trip. It is clean and has most of the faciltiies you need, but is missing a human touch. As we said earlier, it feel like a cattlemart, people in people out, more dollars in the cash register. When you living out of a rucksack, you need the places you stay in to have a homely feel, neither Nomads hostel we stayed in had this. Rant over, I feel better now.
Frazer Island is the biggest sand island in the world and is about a two hour drive away from Noosa. We booked the trip without knowing a whole lot about it, which we don't normally do. Niamh normally insists on wandering for several hours to price check and do some internet research. We had a briefing before we left for the trip and we a little apprehensive, as it was not what we expected. We would be driving around in 4 by 4's but everyone would get the chance to drive. So basically your putting your safety in the hands of strangers. On top of that there wasn't the option to get full insurance, so you would be liable for any damage to the jeep up to a thousand dollars each even if your not driving. The tour turned out to be really good and we really enjoyed it, however better insurance would have reduced the nerves a little.
The island was beautiful and we had a good group with us. Our guide Adam was sound too. We had three jeeps and took it in turns to have a bash at driving alone the beach and through forest off road tracks. We visted lots of beautiful lakes, waded through a crystal clear creek and went to see a ship wreck. We saw dingos, dolphins, jellyfish and turtles. We didn't see any of the poisonous snakes but we did see a massive Huntsman spider dead in the toilet. We are hoping not to see a live one but I believe that unlikely in this country. Later that night we had food and sat around the table playing drinking games. Myself and Niamh polished off our two bottles of $5 bottles of red wine. Oh yeah, budget drinking at it's best. It was a great night and the next day we did more of the same and headed back on the ferry.
We got back and everyone went for a shower and we went for a bite to eat with a German guy and girl, Christian and Nicole that were on the trip with us. Later everyone met in the bar for more beers and we all had a great night. Another hangover day the following was to be had but not as bad as the last.
On our final day in Noosa we went for a walk. It was the day of the Melbourne cup, so the whole town was decked out. Anyway, here is some photos of stuff.
We went for a walk in the National Park in search of Koalas and spotted one in a tree, which was great. One guy working in the hostel told us it took him three months to spot one. So either he is is rubbish a looking at trees and noticing there is a little bear sitting in it, or we got lucky. Either way, job done. We took some photos and we headed to sit on the beach. I buried Niamh in the sand for a while and then we strolled back to the hostel for some grub. We had a nice quite night and had dinner with Lachlan, a Scottish lad we met on the Frazer Island trip. Emmet showed him all of the 548 photos on the Ipad, he is a very patient person.
 |
| Another enviable wildlife shot of a Koala's arse |
From here it's onto Brisbane where Emmet may convince more people to see all of our holiday pictures.In the meantime here is our impressive collection of photographs of sign posts.
 |
| No. Sorry, no different sized dogs please. |
No comments:
Post a Comment