Arrival in Cairns
After
resolving a disruption to our flights from Bali down to Cairns, we flew via
Sydney and met our old housemate Dave who flew in from England to spend a month travelling down the east coast with us. On arrival at our
hostel the three of us went to satisfy a four-month craving for a good pub meal!
Despite being back in the easy life of western culture, the increase in cost of travel in Australia in
comparison to our last four months in Asia was a real shock! A large ensuite room in Vietnam
inclusive of breakfast, wifi and complimentaries might cost around £10 for the
two of us..... a scruffy single bed in a multi bed dormitory in Australia costs at least £15 and with breakfast, internet access or anything else costing extra ....and a pint of beer costs upwards of £6!!
Cairns
itself is a fairly small town and the most exciting things to do and see are a
drive out of town. We spent our first day checking out some of the local
beaches to the North - Palm Cove and Trinity Beach.
A
worthwhile tour we booked through our hostel was out to the Tablelands, a
forest national park in the hills inland from Cairns. This took us to several
waterfalls (including the one where Peter Andre’s Mysterious Girl video was
filmed!) and other bush walks in the area.
Although very
pricey, it would have been rude not to get out to the Great Barrier Reef
while staying in Cairns, so we took a day trip out there with Compass Cruises, snorkelling at different areas of the reef.
After a
day’s delay resolving a couple of problems with our pre-booked bus tickets to
get down the east coast, we embarked on our first Greyhound night bus south
down to Townsville and morning boat to Magnetic Island.
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| Dave's here! ... and we head to the beach at Palm Cove |
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| One of the bunch of waterfalls in the Tablelands we visited on the Barefoot tour |
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| Caroline and Dave brave the icy water for a much needed shower! |
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| Caroline getting into the spirit of the Herbel Essences advert (filmed at this spot) |
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| A slippery natural water slide |
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| The boat ride out to the Great Barrier Reef! |
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| Dave clings onto the cargo net while the boat driver hits full throttle! |
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| A pleasant ride back to land after a day on the reef |
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| A tropical Dave-fish |
Magnetic Island
We stayed
at one of Australia’s large chain hostels called Base on Maggy Island and
visited a Koala Sanctuary where we encountered lots of native wildlife and did a walk around the old fort from the Second World
War which gave us amazing views of the whole island.
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| Dave tickles the soft under belly of a croc! |
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| Caroline's turn with the snapper |
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| ...And now to tame the slithery python! |
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| They decided Steve looked untrustworthy and only let him hold the lizard that could camouflage itself as a turd! |
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| A cool spikey one! |
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| $15 to cuddle a koala?! I'll just have a photo of you holding it if that's alright? |
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| A friendly cockatoo |
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| Bird feeding time! Hundreds of tame colourful birds descend for a feed! |
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| Their scratchy claws clung on for more food, the greedy buggers! |
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| Sunny beach on the north of Magnetic Island |
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| A chilled out beer back at Base |
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| The three of us clamber up the fort on the Island |
Airlie Beach & the Whitsunday Islands
Next stop;
Airlie Beach – the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. Again while here it would
have been rude not to visit the stunning Whitsunday Islands and Whitehaven
Beach. Trips were very expensive but worth it. Our two-day sailing trip around the
Whitsundays included snorkelling, trying out our sailing skills and extensive sunbathing on deck and turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in Australia. Whitehaven
Beach is one of the most spectacular spots we’ve been to in our entire trip so
far!
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| The captain lets a GIRL drive the boat! |
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| A good crowd on the sailing boat out to the Whitsundays |
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| Time for a few beers and dinner whilst enjoying the sunset! |
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| Early brekkie before motoring on to one of the worlds finest beaches |
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| Our vessel |
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| Whitehaven beach from the hill behind - stunning! |
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| The three of us |
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| Not many places we'd rather be! |
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| Frisbee on a fine piece of Whitehaven! |
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| Obligatory holiday snap! |
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| Dave ready to go in his 'sexy-stinger-suit'! |
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| 'Elvis' came to say hello in a snorkelling spot in the Whitsundays |
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| Those spandex suits weren't only for looking good, they also were meant to prevent jelly fish stings |
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| A few turtles munched their way round the coral |
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| Cruising the big blue, soaking up the sunshine on the way home! |
The day after our trip to Whitsunday Islands Caroline flew back to the UK to see her granddad and be with her family following the recent diagnosis of her granddad having terminal pancreatic cancer.
Noosa & Fraser Island
Dave and I
carried on and picked up a package deal taking us down to Noosa and Fraser
Island for a couple of nights in Noosa and a two day trip off road driving on
Fraser Island with a bunch of other backpackers.
The trip
took us a 3 hour drive away from Noosa up to Fraser before we got off the roads
and onto the sand. On the first day we drove up the island and visited a
stunning lake in land called Lake Mackenzie That night we stayed on the Island
and all got to know each other a lot better over a few drinks. The following
day we got up early and took a walk to another inland lake called Lake Wabby,
located at the bottom of some spectacular sand dunes before making our way
further up the island to a shipwreck, a creek water inlet into the sea and to
some wind-carved sand stone pinnacles. The following night we partied back in
Noosa with all the guys on our Fraser Island trip that we made good friends with.
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| Some of our new friends aboard a 4x4 on Fraser Island |
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| Not long until someone got a car stuck in the sand! |
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| Cruising the sandy beach along Fraser |
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| Relax..... we've got reliable hands at the wheel! |
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| Parked up at some huge trees in the centre of the island |
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| Camp fire on the go with sticky toasted marsh mallows. |
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| Who let him drive! |
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| Sandy footprints leading down to a spectacular lake in the centre of the island |
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| Splash! |
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| Dingo on patrol on Fraser Island |
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| A snapshot through a rusty hole in a shipwreck half way up the Island |
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| Our three vehicles pulled up next to the famous rock Pinnacles on the Island |
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| The ferry pulls up as a storm brews. Most vehicles get stuck on the steep sand step getting back onto land! |
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| Group shot at the after party! |
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| Another family photo! |
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| Dave and Jimbo get stitched up while they sunbathe! |
Brisbane
Dave got in
touch with his old friend Claire from college who now lives in Brisbane. Claire
put us up in the Grange area of Brisbane – an upmarket residential area just
outside the main city centre. She was amazing and spent all weekend with us, taking
us to all the cool places in and around Brisbane. The first day, she took us up
to a mountain overlooking the city and along the south bank walk along the
river in the city centre. We went along to a chilled out party at one of her
friend’s houses that evening for some music in aid of her missionary trip to
Chile.
On the
Sunday we took a trip up to the Glass House Mountains and Mooloolha beach
together. Since Claire lives in the real world, she had to go back to work on
the Monday so Dave and I booked our escape down the coast for later that day
after calling into the Arup office in Brisbane and walking around some more of
the CBD.
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| Brisbane from the hill on our approach on the bus |
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| Dave and I up Mount Coot-Tha |
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| Down on the river front |
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| Claire and Dave |
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| A wander round the city in the sunshine |
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| Claire's friend rocks out at her party in aid of her mission to Chile |
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| The three of us enjoying a view of the Glass House Mountains |
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| The Glass House landscape |
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| Dave and I wander round the city centre after a visit to Arup |
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| Hooking up with some friends from our Fraser Island trip |
Surfers Paradise, Coolangatta and Byron Bay
Our next
brief stop was at Surfers Paradise for one night just to see what the renowned
party scene was all about. We left early the next morning to spend the day at Coolangatta
40 mins south for some more relaxed sun and surfing before we jumped back on
the bus that night down to Byron Bay.
Many people
like Byron Bay for its hippy culture, nightlife and surf and sunshine. While in
Byron, Dave and I did a long coastal walk up to a lighthouse
overlooking the bay, some sea kayaking with dolphins and whales and a spot of
surfing. We hooked up with some of our friends from our previous Fraser Island
trip.
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| Dave tears up the dance floor in Surfers Paradise |
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| The view across the bay towards Surfers Paradise on the horizon from Coolangatta |
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| Dave and I trek up to a light house overlooking Byron Bay |
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| The cracking view from the top! |
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| Paddling in after some sea kayaking with dolphins and migrating whales |
Sydney & the Blue Mountains
The 17 hour
night bus onwards down to Sydney was a long and uncomfortable one! We arrived
late morning and checked into our hostel in the dodgy (but relatively cheap)
Kings Cross area and then got in touch with Caroline’s friend Hannah living in
Sydney at the moment. We met up with her and a friend a half hour ferry ride
away from the city at Manly Beach for the afternoon before Dave, Jimbo (who we
met back on our Whitsunday trip) and I toured round the Opera House and Harbour
Bridge. During the weekend while Hannah was around, we also walked the coastal
walk around from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach where we did a barbecue with
Hannah and some of her friends.
On our
final day in Sydney, we took the chance to visit the Blue Mountains and did a
round walk from Echo Point and the Three Sisters to Leura Falls and back.
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| One of the many snaps we got of the Opera House! |
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| The Sydney city scape on the ferry over to Manly |
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| A huge ferry leaves the harbour bound for Miami |
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| The Harbour Bridge at sundown |
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| The Opera House all lit up after dark - probably more impressive at night time |
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| Dave shouts us a beer at the Opera House! |
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| Meeting up with Hannah and her friend in a city centre chocolate shop |
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| Tucking into a beach front bbq! |
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| Coogee Beach with Hannah |
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| Dave feeds a cockatoo a snack in the Blue Mountains |
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| Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains |
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| An epic view from high up the the Blue Mountains |
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| Me and the three sisters |
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| The three sisters sparkle in the late afternoon sun |
Melbourne
Rather than
endure another 13 hour night bus down to Melbourne Dave and I made the
excellent decision to take a faster and cheaper 1.5 hour flight. The weather in
Melbourne was noticeably colder, wetter and more changeable. After just a
couple of days exploring different areas of the city including the CBD and St
Kilda, it was time for Dave to fly home again. We went for a slap up meal on
the main street before his flight!
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| Melbourne city centre on a grey day! (or grey bit of the day - you get all four seasons every day in this city) |
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| One of the funky university buildings in the centre |
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| You need to watch out for those rhinos on skateboards (trams!) |
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| The Melbourne F1 track - just another road most of the time! |
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| Bye bye Dave... its been a hell of a trip! |
Great Ocean Road, Adelaide and back to Melbourne
With a
little over a week before Caroline flew back out from the UK to Melbourne, I
decided to try and gather some people together to share a road trip to Adelaide
via the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians National Park. Myself and a French lad
Anthony hired a car in Melbourne and set off stopping over for a couple of
nights in a cool hostel in Apollo Bay part way along the GOR where we met a new French travel mate, Aline. Here, me and the Frenchies spent another day
in the area photographing abundant koala bears that were chewing through all
the eucalyptus trees in the Otways National Park and hiking along the Beech
Forest walks.
We
travelled on along the GOR and up to the Halls Gap in the Grampians where we did
more hiking up to some spectacular lookouts and pinnacles.
It was
another six hour drive over to Adelaide where we stayed for a couple of nights
before parting ways again. I flew back to Melbourne the night before Caroline
arrived and met her the next day after her painful two-day trip back down
under!
The two of us
explored the city together for a couple of days and prepared for the next stage
of travel in New Zealand.......
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| Some wind swept coastline south of Melbourne |
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| Koala and eucalyptus lined the road near Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road |
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| ...the lazy buggers just chew gum and get high all day! |
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| This one must have fallen out of his tree! |
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| Triplet Falls in the Beech Forest near Apollo Bay |
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| Me and my French travel mates, Aline and Anthony |
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| Anthony parks up our Focus |
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| The Twelve Apostles |
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| Me and the Frenchies! |
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| More ocean eroded coastline along the GOR |
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| The start of an epic sunset in the Grampians |
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| Things just got more spectacular at the top of Mt Williams, the highest peak in the Grampians |
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| The sky goes red as the sun dropped behind the mountains |
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| The Grampians during the daytime, every bit as spectacular! |
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| Amazing views and The Pinnacle |
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| A good spot for a nap in the sun! |
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| Roaring Mackenzie Falls |
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| The long straight Aussie roads to Adelaide |
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| Adelaide - out of town on the tram at Glenelg beach |
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| Sunset on the plane back to Melbourne to meet Caroline! |
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| Back in Mebourne, this time in the sunshine! |
