Showing posts with label OZ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OZ. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Rainy Coast?
After Fraser Island I headed south on the bus and stopped in a little town on the Sunshine Coast called Noosa. It started raining the day I arrived. There was a brief reprieve that first day and I set out to get some groceries and explore a little. I really wish the weather had been nicer when I was in Noosa, as it's such a quaint and charming little place. As with most places along the east coast, if you aren't doing something outdoors there isn't much else to do. That night and the following day it rained like nobody's business - torrential downpours. I read books and got organized and what-not. At least the backpackers I was staying was really great in terms of common areas to lounge around in, hang out, meet other folks, and even watch a little TV. I met a few really cool people there since we were all just hanging out, escaping the rain. The only folks who did anything fun were the surfers - apparently it was warmer in the water than outside. We were getting reports that the storm was going to get worse and there were flood warnings. I headed off the next morning on the bus and we barely made it to Brisbane. In fact, due to detours and traffic caused by flooding on the highway, we were very late and I missed my connecting bus to the Gold Coast. I got on the next bus a few hours later and that bus nearly didn't make it to the Gold Coast. The highway was being closed and the storm was worsening. The winds were picking up and people's BBQs were flying off the decks and what-not. It was not safe. I did make it to the Gold Coast and my friend, Lynn, picked me up.
I spent the next several days hanging out on the Gold Coast while Lynn went to work (she and I used to work at the same company back home and she's now working for them over here - her manager kept offering me jobs here... interesting pause for thought!). On the weekend we tried to make the best of the weather... Saturday we went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. I got to pet the kangaroos and hold a baby koala and a snake. It was super fun!! We saw all kinds of neat things: dingoes, wambats, tree kanagroos, different birds, etc. We went to see a movie: Samson and Delilah, which has won an award at Cannes this past week - it's about some Aboriginal kids in Australia's outback... I'd highly recommend seeing it. On Sunday we went to Byron Bay for the day - wow! What a fun little town. We walked up to the lighhouse (most easterly point in Oz) and toured around the little town (had to stop at the Byron Bay Cookie Company). Caught a bit of a cool show at a bar that evening before we left.
The storm wiped out all of the beaches along the Gold Coast, so on my last day there, as the weather was clearing up I managed to walk down part of it at Surfers Paradise. It's going to take a lot of time and money to recover from it. Parts of inland northern NSW and southern QLD are still swimming in water. On a high note - the drought is officially over for QLD. Although I'm sure that those whose houses are floating aren't too happy about it. So I didn't get to enjoy the sunshine of the coast too much here, but I've still managed to find some interesting things to do and it was great to hang out with Lynn for a few days.
I decided to fly to Sydney instead of continue my way down the coast by bus. Many roads are still closed and all of the beaches are closed, so visiting beach towns would be a little boring at the moment. It cost the same to fly as to take the bus and was 1.5 hrs of my time instead of 12 hrs. It was an easy decision. I arrived yesterday and the sun was shining here (they did get rain here for the past week too though). Today it's raining so I will finish up a few errands left to do before flying out to Japan in a couple of days! I'm excited to go to Japan!!! And I'm also eating as much hummus and peanut butter (not together) as I can before I leave since it will be three weeks before I expect I'll be eating them again.
I spent the next several days hanging out on the Gold Coast while Lynn went to work (she and I used to work at the same company back home and she's now working for them over here - her manager kept offering me jobs here... interesting pause for thought!). On the weekend we tried to make the best of the weather... Saturday we went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. I got to pet the kangaroos and hold a baby koala and a snake. It was super fun!! We saw all kinds of neat things: dingoes, wambats, tree kanagroos, different birds, etc. We went to see a movie: Samson and Delilah, which has won an award at Cannes this past week - it's about some Aboriginal kids in Australia's outback... I'd highly recommend seeing it. On Sunday we went to Byron Bay for the day - wow! What a fun little town. We walked up to the lighhouse (most easterly point in Oz) and toured around the little town (had to stop at the Byron Bay Cookie Company). Caught a bit of a cool show at a bar that evening before we left.
The storm wiped out all of the beaches along the Gold Coast, so on my last day there, as the weather was clearing up I managed to walk down part of it at Surfers Paradise. It's going to take a lot of time and money to recover from it. Parts of inland northern NSW and southern QLD are still swimming in water. On a high note - the drought is officially over for QLD. Although I'm sure that those whose houses are floating aren't too happy about it. So I didn't get to enjoy the sunshine of the coast too much here, but I've still managed to find some interesting things to do and it was great to hang out with Lynn for a few days.
I decided to fly to Sydney instead of continue my way down the coast by bus. Many roads are still closed and all of the beaches are closed, so visiting beach towns would be a little boring at the moment. It cost the same to fly as to take the bus and was 1.5 hrs of my time instead of 12 hrs. It was an easy decision. I arrived yesterday and the sun was shining here (they did get rain here for the past week too though). Today it's raining so I will finish up a few errands left to do before flying out to Japan in a couple of days! I'm excited to go to Japan!!! And I'm also eating as much hummus and peanut butter (not together) as I can before I leave since it will be three weeks before I expect I'll be eating them again.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Weekend-ing Aussie-style (in a 4x4)
However unlucky I was to get sick suddenly (sore throat and a cough) the day that I traveled from Airlie Beach to Hervey Bay, spending all my mobile credit receiving calls from the inept travel agent who was trying to book me into the same Fraser Island trip that he'd booked my mate, Vanessa and her friends on, and subsequently not even getting onto that same trip... My luck certainly turned around, or perhaps, as I tend to believe, it was meant to be that I spent an extra day in Hervey Bay, chilling out at the beach and starting the recovery from the sudden illness and heading off the following day on my own trip to Fraser with a group of whom I knew no one - only to find myself vacationing in some of the best weather you can ask for with some of the coolest folks.
It is meant to be the 'dry' season here on the east coast of Australia. Hard to believe as I sit here in Noosa, writing an update with torrential rain pouring down, leaving me and my fellow backpackers nearly stranded inside the hostel today. Good thing this is a lovely place with ample common areas to lounge about in and read books and check in on the interweb. For some reason we're having a very big storm for the rest of this week and when I was up in Airlie, as I think I mentioned, it wasn't a whole lot better. So the weekend on Fraser Island was a particular treat - clear blue skies (sometimes cloudless), lovely warm days, amazing white silica sand beaches, huge crashing surf, dingoes, sharks, turtles, gum trees - you name it - we experienced it. It was wonderful!!
So, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. Yes, it is only sand. There are only a few very small (like a few hundred meters in length) paved roads around a beach settlement called Eurong. Otherwise, there are no paved roads - only sand tracks which are maintained slightly by tractors when they get too rutted - most were very rutted though and interestingly difficult to navigate, but for the fact that everyone there is clearly driving a 4x4 vehicle. Our 4x4 vehicle was a large truck, outfitted with two long benches, with seatbelts (a must) for 8 others to sit in the back. Off we went, my fellow driver, Adrian and the 'kids' (all between 18-20 years of age, and too young to drive - you must be 21 with a license for at least 2 years in order to drive the vehicles there). We drove through gum tree forests and onto the east coast beach - basically a long beach all the way up the coast, which essentially serves as a highway. You must really look both ways before crossing, lest you get hit. Seriously.
On our way up to the middle, east side of the island where we were to camp for the night at a campground, we stopped in at Lake McKenzie - a freshwater lake whose blue hues completely amazed me. This was a freshwater lake that had blues like that of the Agean Sea! Wow! And amazingly soft, white, silica sand beaches surrounding it. Lake McKenzie is a big tourist draw and was undoubtedly very busy, but we loved it nonetheless. After the lake we made our way up the beach where we stopped at the main sites along the way - the famous Maheno shipwreck, the Pinnacles, and Eli Creek. Arriving shortly after at our campground, we set up camp and cooked a big BBQ and drank goon (very cheap wine in a bag). Even though I'm not meant to drink this stuff, I have been partaking since the sailing trip where the Scottish girls on my boat introduced me to cutting it with juice/cordial. Quite nice that way! The kids taught me a whole bunch of new drinking games - 4 girls from England traveling together and 3 boys from Germany. They were great fun!! Then we headed down to the beach at 9 PM (our camp noise curfew) where we could see pretty much every star in the southern hemisphere!! WOW!! We could very clearly see the Milky Way. I was able to visit, briefly, with Vanessa and her friends, since they were there for their second night at the campground. (the trip we booked was 3 days, 2 nights and we stayed at the same campground, situated very conveniently halfway up the island, so we didn't have to set up camp more than once)
Next morning we slept in and headed out just after 9 AM to see the north end of the island. We got to Indian Head where you climb to a very nice lookout and then trek down a beach for about 45 mins to get to a place where they have things that are called Champagne Pools. I had a crap sleep the previous night (side story to follow) and as a result was still feeling quite ill and decided halfway up the beach on our long trek to stop and thrown down my beach towel and told the crew to pick me up on the way back. I sat at the beach and rested, soaking up the sun - very nice. That weekend, there happened to be a fishing derby on the island, so there were heaps of locals there. Not surprisingly, the fishermen that I parked myself nearby to came over and offered me beer and kept me company while the others were off for an hour or more. That was really fun - learning more about Aussie culture and the fishing derby in particular. :) Back at the camp that night we had more goon and a big dinner and got off to sleep early. We had three tents and I was in one with Adrian and Anne. The first night I was woken up, not only by loud, drunk people, but also by very loud snoring from within my own tent. I turned over and shook Adrian, who very clearly awake, said "What?". Oops!! I said that I thought it was him snoring, but evidently not, since it was still going on. So I asked him to hit Anne! haha! Anyway, he woke her up and informed her, to her embarrassment, that she was snoring very loudly. The next night we resorted to videotaping it and embarrassing her further with the evidence the following morning.
Last day on Fraser we headed off to Lake Allom to see the turtles. We saw at least 20 of them. It was great! The girls were really keen to do it, so they made sure to wake us up so we could head out to do that by 6 AM! (I'm nearly starting to get accustomed to these early mornings) After that we drove back in, collected our tents and the one person who didn't want to come so early, and headed back down to the beach and straight for Lake Birrabeen, which is not unlike Lake McKenzie, but harder to get to (the sand tracks were crazily rutted and some steep hills to boot!), and in vast contrast there are very, very few people who visit it! There were only 2 or three groups of us at any time. We nearly had the beach and lake to ourselves! It was lovely!!! We spent about 2.5-3 hrs there and when it came time to leave and make our way back to the barge (the ferry that transported us to and from the island) we just didn't want to go.
At the campground the night before we saw several dingoes who came around to check things out. We were amply warned not to approach them or try to feed them or anything. They were interesting to watch. We also saw a dead shark that afternoon - some of the kids picked it up to take photos with it. It wasn't a very large shark, but definitely a shark! Given the surroundings, the weather and the great company, I have to say, this was a huge highlight of my trip and I'm very happy that, even though my plans did not work out the way they were initially meant to, I went ahead and took a chance on getting put into an unknown group of people and did it anyway!
I'm now on the Sunshine Coast with not a ray of sunshine to be seen!! This is not the norm for this time of year. I seem to have brought the kiwi winter with me or something... well, actually, it's not nearly as cold as NZ - I am still wearing my jandals (thongs in Aussie-speak) after all. I head down to the Gold Coast tomorrow to visit with a friend and former colleague, Lynn. No set plans after that and no idea how long I'll stay there. I have a few housekeeping things to take care of - like get a haircut!! Let's hope this big storm goes through faster than they are predicting so I can enjoy some more east coast sunshine!!
It is meant to be the 'dry' season here on the east coast of Australia. Hard to believe as I sit here in Noosa, writing an update with torrential rain pouring down, leaving me and my fellow backpackers nearly stranded inside the hostel today. Good thing this is a lovely place with ample common areas to lounge about in and read books and check in on the interweb. For some reason we're having a very big storm for the rest of this week and when I was up in Airlie, as I think I mentioned, it wasn't a whole lot better. So the weekend on Fraser Island was a particular treat - clear blue skies (sometimes cloudless), lovely warm days, amazing white silica sand beaches, huge crashing surf, dingoes, sharks, turtles, gum trees - you name it - we experienced it. It was wonderful!!
So, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. Yes, it is only sand. There are only a few very small (like a few hundred meters in length) paved roads around a beach settlement called Eurong. Otherwise, there are no paved roads - only sand tracks which are maintained slightly by tractors when they get too rutted - most were very rutted though and interestingly difficult to navigate, but for the fact that everyone there is clearly driving a 4x4 vehicle. Our 4x4 vehicle was a large truck, outfitted with two long benches, with seatbelts (a must) for 8 others to sit in the back. Off we went, my fellow driver, Adrian and the 'kids' (all between 18-20 years of age, and too young to drive - you must be 21 with a license for at least 2 years in order to drive the vehicles there). We drove through gum tree forests and onto the east coast beach - basically a long beach all the way up the coast, which essentially serves as a highway. You must really look both ways before crossing, lest you get hit. Seriously.
On our way up to the middle, east side of the island where we were to camp for the night at a campground, we stopped in at Lake McKenzie - a freshwater lake whose blue hues completely amazed me. This was a freshwater lake that had blues like that of the Agean Sea! Wow! And amazingly soft, white, silica sand beaches surrounding it. Lake McKenzie is a big tourist draw and was undoubtedly very busy, but we loved it nonetheless. After the lake we made our way up the beach where we stopped at the main sites along the way - the famous Maheno shipwreck, the Pinnacles, and Eli Creek. Arriving shortly after at our campground, we set up camp and cooked a big BBQ and drank goon (very cheap wine in a bag). Even though I'm not meant to drink this stuff, I have been partaking since the sailing trip where the Scottish girls on my boat introduced me to cutting it with juice/cordial. Quite nice that way! The kids taught me a whole bunch of new drinking games - 4 girls from England traveling together and 3 boys from Germany. They were great fun!! Then we headed down to the beach at 9 PM (our camp noise curfew) where we could see pretty much every star in the southern hemisphere!! WOW!! We could very clearly see the Milky Way. I was able to visit, briefly, with Vanessa and her friends, since they were there for their second night at the campground. (the trip we booked was 3 days, 2 nights and we stayed at the same campground, situated very conveniently halfway up the island, so we didn't have to set up camp more than once)
Next morning we slept in and headed out just after 9 AM to see the north end of the island. We got to Indian Head where you climb to a very nice lookout and then trek down a beach for about 45 mins to get to a place where they have things that are called Champagne Pools. I had a crap sleep the previous night (side story to follow) and as a result was still feeling quite ill and decided halfway up the beach on our long trek to stop and thrown down my beach towel and told the crew to pick me up on the way back. I sat at the beach and rested, soaking up the sun - very nice. That weekend, there happened to be a fishing derby on the island, so there were heaps of locals there. Not surprisingly, the fishermen that I parked myself nearby to came over and offered me beer and kept me company while the others were off for an hour or more. That was really fun - learning more about Aussie culture and the fishing derby in particular. :) Back at the camp that night we had more goon and a big dinner and got off to sleep early. We had three tents and I was in one with Adrian and Anne. The first night I was woken up, not only by loud, drunk people, but also by very loud snoring from within my own tent. I turned over and shook Adrian, who very clearly awake, said "What?". Oops!! I said that I thought it was him snoring, but evidently not, since it was still going on. So I asked him to hit Anne! haha! Anyway, he woke her up and informed her, to her embarrassment, that she was snoring very loudly. The next night we resorted to videotaping it and embarrassing her further with the evidence the following morning.
Last day on Fraser we headed off to Lake Allom to see the turtles. We saw at least 20 of them. It was great! The girls were really keen to do it, so they made sure to wake us up so we could head out to do that by 6 AM! (I'm nearly starting to get accustomed to these early mornings) After that we drove back in, collected our tents and the one person who didn't want to come so early, and headed back down to the beach and straight for Lake Birrabeen, which is not unlike Lake McKenzie, but harder to get to (the sand tracks were crazily rutted and some steep hills to boot!), and in vast contrast there are very, very few people who visit it! There were only 2 or three groups of us at any time. We nearly had the beach and lake to ourselves! It was lovely!!! We spent about 2.5-3 hrs there and when it came time to leave and make our way back to the barge (the ferry that transported us to and from the island) we just didn't want to go.
At the campground the night before we saw several dingoes who came around to check things out. We were amply warned not to approach them or try to feed them or anything. They were interesting to watch. We also saw a dead shark that afternoon - some of the kids picked it up to take photos with it. It wasn't a very large shark, but definitely a shark! Given the surroundings, the weather and the great company, I have to say, this was a huge highlight of my trip and I'm very happy that, even though my plans did not work out the way they were initially meant to, I went ahead and took a chance on getting put into an unknown group of people and did it anyway!
I'm now on the Sunshine Coast with not a ray of sunshine to be seen!! This is not the norm for this time of year. I seem to have brought the kiwi winter with me or something... well, actually, it's not nearly as cold as NZ - I am still wearing my jandals (thongs in Aussie-speak) after all. I head down to the Gold Coast tomorrow to visit with a friend and former colleague, Lynn. No set plans after that and no idea how long I'll stay there. I have a few housekeeping things to take care of - like get a haircut!! Let's hope this big storm goes through faster than they are predicting so I can enjoy some more east coast sunshine!!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Airlie Beach/Whitsunday Islands
Holly and I arrived Thursday arvo at Proserpine Airport - about 1/2 hr shuttle ride to Airlie Beach where we stayed overnight. The hostel was a bit dodgy, but with the voucher from our sailing trip booking, the $16/night price tag made it worth tolerating. You may or may not be aware that Australia is home to he world's most stunning collection of deadly animals - most venomous snake, spider, jellyfish, etc, etc. As a visitor it does intimidate, but I remind myself that Aussies live here and go (mostly) unharmed. You just can't do stupid things like tramp through an overgrown garden or snorkel without a wet suit (or as they call it: a stinger suit). I've had some nightmares about whitetail and redback spiders though. Particularly after seeing my first really large, ugly, hairy spider poking around outside our hostel room door one evening. It was so big that in the pitch-black I still saw its black form moving. Too curious not to look, I shone my flashlight on it and now the image is permanently etched on my brain. After this Holly decided that she would wear he contacts in the shower. I went first the next morning and assured her that there were no creepy-crawlies in there, only to find out from her afterward that when she entered there was a frog. haha! Now, normally I wouldn't be bothered by a frog, but the really unnerving thing about this country (and not being familiar with all of the animals) is that you don't know which animal is dangerous and which isn't! So we were a little creeped out.
At any rate, off we went on our sailing trip on a new catamaran sailing cruiser thing. It was quite nice - even with a hot tub on the front! It wasn't heating up properly tho, so one night we did try it out but it was only luke-warm. There were 21 of us on the boat (excl the crew). Nice group - some were a bit quiet (mostly some girls who couldn't speak much English). The crew was good too. The unfortunate part of our trip was the fact that the agent who booked it for us was perhaps unfamiliar with the nature of the cruise and it seems this one had a strong push for diving. Most of what we did centered around finding good diving spots and, well, diving and some snorkeling in the same spots. Not much beach time at all - only a few hours one morning on what we were told was Whitehaven Beach, but on further investigation after the trip I've discovered that we were, in fact, north of it on Betty's Beach. It was a nice beach nonetheless and it would have been nicer to stay there longer and not be misled as to where we had landed. So I've got mixed reviews of the sailing trip as it wasn't as we'd hoped for, but it wasn't bad either - just could have been a little bit more of what we'd requested. The first day was very rough and we motored for a long way (several hours) and pretty much 80% of the passengers were green. I don't think anyone was actually sick tho. Luckily most of us had picked up these natural anti-seasick pills before we left (the key ingredient is apparently ginger) and if I hadn't taken those I don't think I would have survived!
The following day was a nicer day weather-wise, but the crew got up at 5:30 AM and set off for a 3 or 4 hour trip, motoring down to Whitsunday Island (and Betty's Beach) - which was a very rough trip and everyone was feeling horrible (even the ones with iron stomachs). The morning was spent hiking to the lookout and the beach, afternoon was spent in the water. We had a nice evening and full moon that night and the dolphins came around and swam around the back of the boat into the lights we had on, chasing fish. It was so great to watch them!! Later that day we convinced the captain to sail so we could all sit outside and enjoy the trip instead of motoring and making the ride rougher and having to stay inside, thus everyone feeling ill for 3 days in a row. It was really great to sit out on the boat and sail. So nice! I went in the water that day - was completely terrified of the reef and all the fish in it! But I got in - with much moral support from Holly and Dave (our captain - who was manning the dingy that day)! :) My grandmother informed me, when I spoke to her the next day, that sailing is really not in our genes (she dislikes the water too) - no kidding! And yet, we come from an island! Figure that one out.
The last day on the boat we headed up north to Hayman Island where we spent the morning diving and snorkeling before we headed back to Airlie Beach. Got together with a few of the folks from the trip at bar that evening for drinks and munchies and we were all suffering from the swaying, wooziness you get from being on a boat for a few days. Most had to go have a sleep that afternoon. The following day I said goodbye to Holly (who is returning to Canada today) and sorted out what I was going to do for the next few days. I booked a bus ticket to leave that evening to Rockhampton (lovingly called Rocky by the locals), beef capital of Australia - perfect place for me to dig into a nice juicy steak! haha! That's where I am today. It's a cute little town with pretty much nothing going on. I went to the Botanic Gardens and the free zoo within them. I'm happy for a little break (and a split in the travel times - would have taken nearly 14 hours for me to reach my next destination if I'd done it all in one go), but will be ready to head off tomorrow for some new adventures!!
At any rate, off we went on our sailing trip on a new catamaran sailing cruiser thing. It was quite nice - even with a hot tub on the front! It wasn't heating up properly tho, so one night we did try it out but it was only luke-warm. There were 21 of us on the boat (excl the crew). Nice group - some were a bit quiet (mostly some girls who couldn't speak much English). The crew was good too. The unfortunate part of our trip was the fact that the agent who booked it for us was perhaps unfamiliar with the nature of the cruise and it seems this one had a strong push for diving. Most of what we did centered around finding good diving spots and, well, diving and some snorkeling in the same spots. Not much beach time at all - only a few hours one morning on what we were told was Whitehaven Beach, but on further investigation after the trip I've discovered that we were, in fact, north of it on Betty's Beach. It was a nice beach nonetheless and it would have been nicer to stay there longer and not be misled as to where we had landed. So I've got mixed reviews of the sailing trip as it wasn't as we'd hoped for, but it wasn't bad either - just could have been a little bit more of what we'd requested. The first day was very rough and we motored for a long way (several hours) and pretty much 80% of the passengers were green. I don't think anyone was actually sick tho. Luckily most of us had picked up these natural anti-seasick pills before we left (the key ingredient is apparently ginger) and if I hadn't taken those I don't think I would have survived!
The following day was a nicer day weather-wise, but the crew got up at 5:30 AM and set off for a 3 or 4 hour trip, motoring down to Whitsunday Island (and Betty's Beach) - which was a very rough trip and everyone was feeling horrible (even the ones with iron stomachs). The morning was spent hiking to the lookout and the beach, afternoon was spent in the water. We had a nice evening and full moon that night and the dolphins came around and swam around the back of the boat into the lights we had on, chasing fish. It was so great to watch them!! Later that day we convinced the captain to sail so we could all sit outside and enjoy the trip instead of motoring and making the ride rougher and having to stay inside, thus everyone feeling ill for 3 days in a row. It was really great to sit out on the boat and sail. So nice! I went in the water that day - was completely terrified of the reef and all the fish in it! But I got in - with much moral support from Holly and Dave (our captain - who was manning the dingy that day)! :) My grandmother informed me, when I spoke to her the next day, that sailing is really not in our genes (she dislikes the water too) - no kidding! And yet, we come from an island! Figure that one out.
The last day on the boat we headed up north to Hayman Island where we spent the morning diving and snorkeling before we headed back to Airlie Beach. Got together with a few of the folks from the trip at bar that evening for drinks and munchies and we were all suffering from the swaying, wooziness you get from being on a boat for a few days. Most had to go have a sleep that afternoon. The following day I said goodbye to Holly (who is returning to Canada today) and sorted out what I was going to do for the next few days. I booked a bus ticket to leave that evening to Rockhampton (lovingly called Rocky by the locals), beef capital of Australia - perfect place for me to dig into a nice juicy steak! haha! That's where I am today. It's a cute little town with pretty much nothing going on. I went to the Botanic Gardens and the free zoo within them. I'm happy for a little break (and a split in the travel times - would have taken nearly 14 hours for me to reach my next destination if I'd done it all in one go), but will be ready to head off tomorrow for some new adventures!!
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
More OZ
Greetings from Down Under!! I am happy to be here in the lovely warm weather of NSW. Enjoying some more of the sights of Sydney. Yesterday I went on a day trip with Holly to the Blue Mountains. It's actually not mountains, but rather a plateau. The misty air there makes the area blue (hence the name), and that mist is due to all the 100+ species of eucalyptus trees that populate the national park. It was quite beautiful and we had a nice day for it! Sorry, I don't have the energy to post more on it at the moment.
Today we sorted some more things out travel-wise. Amongst other things, I decided to go back to the place where I've stored my bags and get my cycling shoes... I've just seen so many cyclists and I know I'll have some opportunities if I want to hire a bike while on the east coast. Might as well at least take a couple of things that are easy to transport so I can REALLY ride a bike. :) We also visited a neighbourhood here called Glebe!!! How cool is that? It's a funky little neighbourhood not unlike my own back home! :) For anyone visiting here, I'd highly recommend the cafe/restaurant Holly introduced me to there: Badde Manors. Yum!! While walking down one of the main streets here today we also ran smack into 3 guys we'd met back a month or so ago in NZ!! How random is that????!!!! We joked back then that we'd run into each other in Australia. It really happened! Ha! And they were only in the city for the day - quite literally! Wow! These are the totally random and cool things that happen while traveling!
Tomorrow we head north and we're in for quite a treat. Sun, sand, water. Yeah, we're in need of a holiday so here we go!
Today we sorted some more things out travel-wise. Amongst other things, I decided to go back to the place where I've stored my bags and get my cycling shoes... I've just seen so many cyclists and I know I'll have some opportunities if I want to hire a bike while on the east coast. Might as well at least take a couple of things that are easy to transport so I can REALLY ride a bike. :) We also visited a neighbourhood here called Glebe!!! How cool is that? It's a funky little neighbourhood not unlike my own back home! :) For anyone visiting here, I'd highly recommend the cafe/restaurant Holly introduced me to there: Badde Manors. Yum!! While walking down one of the main streets here today we also ran smack into 3 guys we'd met back a month or so ago in NZ!! How random is that????!!!! We joked back then that we'd run into each other in Australia. It really happened! Ha! And they were only in the city for the day - quite literally! Wow! These are the totally random and cool things that happen while traveling!
Tomorrow we head north and we're in for quite a treat. Sun, sand, water. Yeah, we're in need of a holiday so here we go!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Sydney
After being out in the wilderness, for all intents and purposes, for the week prior, landing in Sydney was a culture shock for sure. It's a very big and busy city and I wasn't so sure on the first day how I was going to feel about it since my senses were a bit overwhelmed. I was pleasantly surprised tho, that Sydney is a really great city!! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I arrived late in the evening and my friend, Narelle, whom I'd met on the south island in NZ picked me up at the airport - she lives in Sydney. She drove me around a bit and gave me a quick orientation of the city and then I stayed over at her flat that night and she cooked a nice Aussie BBQ for me. It was really great to sleep in a warm flat on a comfy bed after a week on the cold ground! Although, I have to say, I'm now keen to camp when I travel - just need a little bit more equipment and a warmer sleeping bag! It's such a cheap and easy way to travel!!
The next morning in Sydney Narelle and I drove out to famous Bondi Beach and had brunch on a cafe patio. It was a grey, rainy day, but it was still warmer than NZ!! This is a big surf beach which is apparently always very crowded with lots of chic looking, buff people - it was quite empty when we were there. I did see a lot of surfers tho. In the afternoon Narelle dropped me downtown at the backpackers I was staying at for the remainder of my trip and I got myself organized and settled. The next day the weather improved significantly and I spent the entire day walking the city - down to Circular Quay and The Rocks, around the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, the Botanic Gardens, and back into the city again. I was fairly tired when I got back to the backpackers around 5 PM, but after eating something I ventured out again to Darling Harbour where I visited the aquarium. I really enjoyed that - I got to see all kinds of sharks and crocodiles and their newest addition - a sea mammal called a dugong.
The following day I set off on the ferry from Circular Quay to a suburb called Manly, situated across the bay in north Sydney. I met up with my friends, Elly and Ness, and we spent the day at the surf beach. It was the hottest day I've experience since last summer in Canada - 27 degrees!! And the first time, other than to enjoy the hot pools in NZ, that I've actually gotten into my togs (bathing suit). Later that afternoon I returned to Sydney to meet up with Narelle and set off for dinner and a concert at the Hordern Pavillion. It was really cool to go to a show in a foreign country and the venue was awesome - not to mention the show itself!
My final day in Sydney I went back to Manly to visit with Elly and Ness again and hang out at the beach one more time before heading back to chilly NZ. Brrrrr. I really liked Manly - if I were to live in Sydney that's where I'd like to be. It was a quaint little place with a laid back beach culture. I flew back to Welly that evening and now I'm making preparations to pack up all of my things and leave here for good in a few short days. I can't believe it's winding down to my last weeks now. Whoa!! And I'm not so sure I'm really ready to come back to reality...
Here are some photos from the trip.
Koala at Cape Otway
Sunset on Johanna Beach
The Grampians National Park
Sydney Opera House from the ferry
The next morning in Sydney Narelle and I drove out to famous Bondi Beach and had brunch on a cafe patio. It was a grey, rainy day, but it was still warmer than NZ!! This is a big surf beach which is apparently always very crowded with lots of chic looking, buff people - it was quite empty when we were there. I did see a lot of surfers tho. In the afternoon Narelle dropped me downtown at the backpackers I was staying at for the remainder of my trip and I got myself organized and settled. The next day the weather improved significantly and I spent the entire day walking the city - down to Circular Quay and The Rocks, around the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, the Botanic Gardens, and back into the city again. I was fairly tired when I got back to the backpackers around 5 PM, but after eating something I ventured out again to Darling Harbour where I visited the aquarium. I really enjoyed that - I got to see all kinds of sharks and crocodiles and their newest addition - a sea mammal called a dugong.
The following day I set off on the ferry from Circular Quay to a suburb called Manly, situated across the bay in north Sydney. I met up with my friends, Elly and Ness, and we spent the day at the surf beach. It was the hottest day I've experience since last summer in Canada - 27 degrees!! And the first time, other than to enjoy the hot pools in NZ, that I've actually gotten into my togs (bathing suit). Later that afternoon I returned to Sydney to meet up with Narelle and set off for dinner and a concert at the Hordern Pavillion. It was really cool to go to a show in a foreign country and the venue was awesome - not to mention the show itself!
My final day in Sydney I went back to Manly to visit with Elly and Ness again and hang out at the beach one more time before heading back to chilly NZ. Brrrrr. I really liked Manly - if I were to live in Sydney that's where I'd like to be. It was a quaint little place with a laid back beach culture. I flew back to Welly that evening and now I'm making preparations to pack up all of my things and leave here for good in a few short days. I can't believe it's winding down to my last weeks now. Whoa!! And I'm not so sure I'm really ready to come back to reality...
Here are some photos from the trip.
Koala at Cape Otway
Sunset on Johanna Beach
The Grampians National Park
Sydney Opera House from the ferry
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
OZ - Victoria and South Australia
Greetings from OZ!!
I left Wellington and flew direct to Melbourne over a week ago now. Spent 2 days in one of the former national capitals (frankly I'm not sure how many capital cities this country has had, but it's been at least three now). What a great city! Highlights from my perspective were the Queen Victoria Market, St. Kilda, and just hanging out with some great friends! I was fortunate enough to meet up with, now a long time friend (met back in October and been reconnecting whenever we can ever since), Elly, and her friend Vanessa. The two of them flew over from Christchurch the previous day. Another newbie to the group of people I've met while traveling, Dan, also flew in the day I did, and then we met two cool peeps at the backpackers, Tom and Dark Cloud and the group of us got on so well we hung out both evenings in the courtyard. Tom brought his guitar and he and Dan entertained the rest of us one night, while Elly and Ness got out the gin they'd bought at duty free. haha. I'll leave the story at that!
Original plans dictated that Elly, Ness, Dan, and I were to do the Great Ocean Road trip together. In true form, Elly's plans changed, and so Dan and I went ahead with the trip ourselves. Which was cool as he'd just come back from Tasmania with a tent and since we had such a heck of a time getting a rental car for a decent price we decided to camp and save some coin. Yes, first off, the rental car situation was a surprise - who knew so many folks rent cars on the Easter weekend (which, btw, when you are traveling you wouldn't know is coming up since you never keep track of holidays - hard enough to remember which day of the week it is!!). Secondly, I know what you're thinking - I camped!! I can count on one hand the number of times I've camped in my lifetime. Doesn't help to have grown up under the Marriott umbrella. We weren't really adequately prepared for everything, but I got myself a cheap sleeping bag (which in hindsight I should have spent some money on - wasn't warm enough) and we made do.
So off we went on the Great Ocean Road - final destination Adelaide the following Sunday. Everything in between would be a decision made on the fly. Best way to travel! We took two days to drive the road. It was really beautiful, even though the weather didn't fully cooperate with us - misty and rainy the first day. We visited the lighthouse at Cape Otway, which is nestled in the Otway National Park and near here we were so very fortunate to see koalas in the wild!!!! A whole bunch of them! I was so excited!!! Luckily the rain cleared up that first night and we had stopped at a famous surf beach called Johanna Beach near dusk and decided to camp there which was one of the coolest things we did on the trip. The only facilities there were national park-style outhouses. We had sandwiches for dinner and used my Swiss Army knife to cut things. Next day we finished up the Great Ocean Road and headed inland.
We'd decided to do something different and head up to the Grampians National Park. This is a mountainous region in the middle of Victoria. It's really beautiful. Here we stayed at a holiday park (camping park) with several hundred other families and the like - Easter weekend in full swing. At least we had facilities. There were kangaroos EVERYWHERE there - they are even bold enough to come into the campground and bum food off people and scrounge through the bins!! Unfortunately I was always so awestruck when I saw them that I kept forgetting to take photos and I have none! We almost hit some on the road at dusk - which is a common hazard up there. We stayed there two nights since we figured we'd do at least one mid-length hike (about 3 hours) and several smaller ones, as well as do some activities through the cultural centre there. We did do a few hikes - one we drove a ways to where we saw some Aboriginal rock painting and several others to beautiful lookouts. But the longer hike took a back seat to lounging on a patio since we were pretty tired due to lack of sleep... at night the temperatures dipped below 10 degrees even though it was very warm during the day. We learned how to play the didgeridoo (well I did - Dan already knew how) and throw boomerangs which was fun, but a little anticlimactic, as our 'guide' was fairly unenthusiastic.
Upon leaving the Grampians we headed up further north toward Mildura - and wine country. I saw the Lindemans winery from the road on the drive in to Mildura. We'd originally planned a route through a desert, but our plans got chucked when we got to the road only to find out it was a 4x4 only road - common in rural OZ. So we had to turn back to the highway, adding a fair bit of time to our trip. We eventually made our way there and found that Mildura, while a bit sleepy, is a nice little place on the Murray River - the largest river in Australia apparently. We stayed at another holiday park here for one night and went into town to a microbrewery and hung out on the beach at the river where our campground was situated. The temps dropped again that night and I just couldn't cope. The previous two nights Dan had given me his warmer sleeping bag, but that night since we were told it was going to be warmer overnight I decided to give it back to him. Middle of the night I ended up sleeping in the car! You gotta do what you gotta do.
Next day we had a long drive into South Australia and on to Adelaide. The temperature was getting progressively warmer. We saw heaps of dead roos on the highway. From what I've been told it's a bad area for that. Saw more wineries as we approached Adelaide - I saw Wolf Blass here. Memories of my wine-drinking days. I do miss the wine! We were quite short on time when we arrived in Adelaide - I had to be at the airport around 3 PM. As a result I saw very little of the town (beaches looked nice from the air tho). Even though it was Easter Sunday, you could tell (and I've been told by a few people now) that Adelaide is a very sleepy town. Not much going on at all and quite a small city. Big suburbs, but small city. So I dropped Dan in backpacker central to find himself a place to stay and headed off to drop the rental at the airport and hop my flight to Sydney. Which is where you'll find me tonight updating you. But I'll have to fill you in on Sydney in a new post in a couple of days perhaps.
I left Wellington and flew direct to Melbourne over a week ago now. Spent 2 days in one of the former national capitals (frankly I'm not sure how many capital cities this country has had, but it's been at least three now). What a great city! Highlights from my perspective were the Queen Victoria Market, St. Kilda, and just hanging out with some great friends! I was fortunate enough to meet up with, now a long time friend (met back in October and been reconnecting whenever we can ever since), Elly, and her friend Vanessa. The two of them flew over from Christchurch the previous day. Another newbie to the group of people I've met while traveling, Dan, also flew in the day I did, and then we met two cool peeps at the backpackers, Tom and Dark Cloud and the group of us got on so well we hung out both evenings in the courtyard. Tom brought his guitar and he and Dan entertained the rest of us one night, while Elly and Ness got out the gin they'd bought at duty free. haha. I'll leave the story at that!
Original plans dictated that Elly, Ness, Dan, and I were to do the Great Ocean Road trip together. In true form, Elly's plans changed, and so Dan and I went ahead with the trip ourselves. Which was cool as he'd just come back from Tasmania with a tent and since we had such a heck of a time getting a rental car for a decent price we decided to camp and save some coin. Yes, first off, the rental car situation was a surprise - who knew so many folks rent cars on the Easter weekend (which, btw, when you are traveling you wouldn't know is coming up since you never keep track of holidays - hard enough to remember which day of the week it is!!). Secondly, I know what you're thinking - I camped!! I can count on one hand the number of times I've camped in my lifetime. Doesn't help to have grown up under the Marriott umbrella. We weren't really adequately prepared for everything, but I got myself a cheap sleeping bag (which in hindsight I should have spent some money on - wasn't warm enough) and we made do.
So off we went on the Great Ocean Road - final destination Adelaide the following Sunday. Everything in between would be a decision made on the fly. Best way to travel! We took two days to drive the road. It was really beautiful, even though the weather didn't fully cooperate with us - misty and rainy the first day. We visited the lighthouse at Cape Otway, which is nestled in the Otway National Park and near here we were so very fortunate to see koalas in the wild!!!! A whole bunch of them! I was so excited!!! Luckily the rain cleared up that first night and we had stopped at a famous surf beach called Johanna Beach near dusk and decided to camp there which was one of the coolest things we did on the trip. The only facilities there were national park-style outhouses. We had sandwiches for dinner and used my Swiss Army knife to cut things. Next day we finished up the Great Ocean Road and headed inland.
We'd decided to do something different and head up to the Grampians National Park. This is a mountainous region in the middle of Victoria. It's really beautiful. Here we stayed at a holiday park (camping park) with several hundred other families and the like - Easter weekend in full swing. At least we had facilities. There were kangaroos EVERYWHERE there - they are even bold enough to come into the campground and bum food off people and scrounge through the bins!! Unfortunately I was always so awestruck when I saw them that I kept forgetting to take photos and I have none! We almost hit some on the road at dusk - which is a common hazard up there. We stayed there two nights since we figured we'd do at least one mid-length hike (about 3 hours) and several smaller ones, as well as do some activities through the cultural centre there. We did do a few hikes - one we drove a ways to where we saw some Aboriginal rock painting and several others to beautiful lookouts. But the longer hike took a back seat to lounging on a patio since we were pretty tired due to lack of sleep... at night the temperatures dipped below 10 degrees even though it was very warm during the day. We learned how to play the didgeridoo (well I did - Dan already knew how) and throw boomerangs which was fun, but a little anticlimactic, as our 'guide' was fairly unenthusiastic.
Upon leaving the Grampians we headed up further north toward Mildura - and wine country. I saw the Lindemans winery from the road on the drive in to Mildura. We'd originally planned a route through a desert, but our plans got chucked when we got to the road only to find out it was a 4x4 only road - common in rural OZ. So we had to turn back to the highway, adding a fair bit of time to our trip. We eventually made our way there and found that Mildura, while a bit sleepy, is a nice little place on the Murray River - the largest river in Australia apparently. We stayed at another holiday park here for one night and went into town to a microbrewery and hung out on the beach at the river where our campground was situated. The temps dropped again that night and I just couldn't cope. The previous two nights Dan had given me his warmer sleeping bag, but that night since we were told it was going to be warmer overnight I decided to give it back to him. Middle of the night I ended up sleeping in the car! You gotta do what you gotta do.
Next day we had a long drive into South Australia and on to Adelaide. The temperature was getting progressively warmer. We saw heaps of dead roos on the highway. From what I've been told it's a bad area for that. Saw more wineries as we approached Adelaide - I saw Wolf Blass here. Memories of my wine-drinking days. I do miss the wine! We were quite short on time when we arrived in Adelaide - I had to be at the airport around 3 PM. As a result I saw very little of the town (beaches looked nice from the air tho). Even though it was Easter Sunday, you could tell (and I've been told by a few people now) that Adelaide is a very sleepy town. Not much going on at all and quite a small city. Big suburbs, but small city. So I dropped Dan in backpacker central to find himself a place to stay and headed off to drop the rental at the airport and hop my flight to Sydney. Which is where you'll find me tonight updating you. But I'll have to fill you in on Sydney in a new post in a couple of days perhaps.
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