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G'day!
Hope everyone is well. Sorry it's been a while but we've been having too much fun!
We have recently spent a month down under in Australia. To be honest Australia wasn't the high on our list for places to visit, but due to all the hype about the place and the fact that we were going to be in the neighbourhood we thought we would pop in and take a look.
We flew into Sydney very early in the morning with only one nights accomodation booked as we were flying the following day to Cairns. As it was a beautiful day we decided to make the most of it, so we walked from the hostel, through the botanical gardens to get some amazing pictures of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge while the sun was shining. While walking around the gardens we saw a tree covered in fruit bats, they were disgusting! There were hundreds of them!
The next day we got a quick flight up the coast to Cairns where we then had to make a decision as to what we were going to do for the next 4 weeks as we had nothing planned! We stayed in a hostel that had the strangest combination of people on reception, first there was Gloria a very old and small woman/warhorse! Then there was Natalie, a 20 something with a broken leg, and the biggest boobs we have ever seen, which were quite dangerous for anybody in the close vacinity when she hopped across the reception!!! Gloria didn't hold back on what she thought, but she was a great help in sorting out our travel arrangements.
So we headed up the coast for a couple of nights in Port Douglas, the home to the celebs, before being picked up for a 5 day 4 night trip to Cape Tribulation (the rainforest). On the way to the Cape we stopped at an animal sanctuary where we got our first glimpses of kangaroos and crocodiles. Cape Trib was a strange place, accessable only by a ferry on a pulley, and as there is no police presence on the other side, the locals tended to do as they pleased when they pleased! Most commonly drinking and driving, so needless to say we were a bit anxious. The village basically consisted of 3 B & B's and a shop, so it was fairly remote. Despite the continous rain (proving its rainforest status!) we managed to go on a couple of treks through the rainforest, which was cool to see the different vegetation and see mangroves as well. We also went on a night trek, where we got to see some animals, (most are nocturnal), such as possums and dragons. The coast line was beautiful and we spent quite a lot of time walking along the beach, praying for the sun to come out! Eventually it did, on our last day when we went snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. Having been assured we would see turtles, we didn't, but we did see many beautiful fish , such as parrot fish, and some amazing corals. So then it was back on the bus to Cairns, where on the way we stopped at the Daintree River and went on a crocodile cruise, where we saw 2 big crocs, which was pretty cool.
The following day we picked up "Bruce" our camper van, ready to drive down the coast back to Sydney. Our first night we stopped in Mission Beach, a lovely small town, and we camped right by the beach. We continued our drive down the coast averaging about 4 hours a day. It was lovely being able to stop when we wanted and pull off the raod to visit places we had read about, such as National Parks, or waterfalls etc. Our next major stop was Airlie Beach where we went on a tour to the Whitsunday Islands. The Islands were beautiful and White Haven beach was outstanding, the whitest sand we have ever seen, with the bluest sea. We also saw loads of stingrays on the shoreline. In the afternoon we went snorkelling at a small reef by one of the islands, where we got to swim with green turtles, it was amazing! On our continuing journey South, on our way to Fraser Island we had the rear passenger side tire blow out on the highway. Andy handled it very well as the van was veering all over the road. With no mobile phone and the closest town 20km away we had to flag down another car to borrow a mobile and call roadside assistence. Thankfully all was sorted out the following morning and we were back on our way. We also stopped at Hervey Bay where we did a tour to Fraser Island, a huge sand island. Captin Kangaroo our guide, was strange but funny! It was cool driving down the beach which is a registered highway, as well as an international runway! Apparently pedestrians have the right of way over both planes and cars so can set up their beach stuff where ever they like and the cars and planes have to go round them! Hilarious! We saw Eli Creek, which was a gushing spring water creek, pouring out 40 million litres of water per hour, and so created quite a lot of pressure on your legs as you paddled through it. We also saw a ship wreck, and the coloured sands. In the afternoon we went to Lake McKenzie in the middle of the island, which had beautifully blue water, although it was freezing cold! We stopped at Brisbane for 1 night, which was nice to be in civilisation for an evening, and then headed on down to Port McQuiare where we had the best fish and chips ever! (well i think anyway(Ali))!! Then it was down to the Blue Mountains, where we stayed at Katoomba. The 2 nights on the van there were freezing! We didn't have a heater and so went to bed wearing as many clothes as physically possible as well as hats and gloves, and yet we still froze! It was insane! Despite that we had a beautiful crisp clear blue day to go for a hike along the cliff tops taking in the views. Which were stunning. We walked down to some huge waterfalls, and then around the cliff to the 3 sisters rock formations, which according to aboriginal legend are 3 sisters who were turned to stone to stop the sisters running away with 3 tribesmen they had set their sights on. However, the person who had cast the spell died, so couldn't reverse it and so they remain. (Personally we think its just rock formations!!). We walked down part of the Great Stairway and into the first of the sisters and then carried on round the cliff tops to a town called Leura. Leura is renouned for its Devonshire Tea and Scones, so to be polite we had to have some, and they were delecious! Well worth the walk!
Then it was back to Sydney, we went back to the harbour bridge this time to walk across it and climbed one of the towers to get a good view of the harbour and opera house. We also spent a bit of time shopping which was nice although expensive. And then our treat, we had dinner at the top of the Sydney Sky Tower, and it was amazing! It was a 3 course all you can eat buffett, with lots of delicious seafood, and we tried kangaroo steak! Which we didn't like, it was quite gamey! But we had a wonderful evening and it was lovely slowly revolving around watching Sydney skyline!
The next day it was off to New Zealand, and we were both very excited...
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