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Hi Everyone, Can't believe I've not updated my blog since Saturday morning in Brisbane - it's now Saturday evening a week later at Magnetic Island - a lot further up the Queensland coast and my last stop before Cairns my departure point from Australia.
Saturday in Brisbane was a cultural day - art galleries, museums and the cinema all thoroughly enjoyable. The cinema being the best - met four ladies who invited me for dinner with them afterwards - had such a laugh mainly calling men - it must be a common bond all over the world amonst women the inadequacies of men.
Sunday Australia Zoo - absolutely wonderful - felt a little emotional at first - lots of pictures everywhere of Steve Irwin but the zoo itself is fantastic. Quite a way out of Brisbane but well worth a visit.
Monday left Brisbane at 6 p.m. by train and arrived 16 hours later at Airlie Beach - wasn't such a bad journey slept (with aid of a tablet) for most of the time.
It was raining when I arrived in Airlie Beach at my accommodation - well I use the word loosely. It was the worst I've stayed in so far - ripped lino on the floor and bare brickwork on the walls with ants running along the joins. I also had to share a bathroom with five other rooms and one of the inhabitants wasn't really the cleanest person in the world - think at one point he was making a dirty protest. Airlie beach is the place that you get to the Whitsunday Islands from and I was so excited about seeing them - the reef round them is supposed to be magical. I get there and everything is cancelled because they're expecting a cyclone. The only thing that was going out was an Ocean Raft - so booked on that for the Thursday - when I booked it they had to tell me that the ride was as rough as guts - whatever that meant.
Wednesday I met up with Harriet and Jez - they'd just got back from a cruise round the Whitsundays - we spent the afternoon and evening together - I'd not spoken to many people for a couple of days and neither had Harriet - so poor Jez's ears bled.
Thusday - my trip was cancelled because the day before it had been extremely rough and a guy had fractured his spine - so no more Ocean Rafting. There is absolutely nothing to do in Airlie Beach it you don't go on a boat trip. Spent the day again with Harriet and Jez - poor guy.
Friday - up early on way to Magnetic Island - arrived here early afternoon - tried to book snorkeling and kayaking - same old story nothing go out waiting for the cyclone to hit. Staying in a log cabin in the rain forrest - sounds exciting but it's very scary - I've never seen anything like the creatures that live round here - seen them in animal planet but when you see them close up they are frightening. There's an animal sanctury next door to the hostel - I've held a koala, wombat, snake, black parrot and a crocodile with its mouth taped up.
The cyclone is about to hit here within the next hour so that should be something - it's been down-graded so they don't think it will do much damage - hoping that the wildlife don't come out tonight if it's chucking it down. Will have to get used to them before I go to Borneo - I guess there will be bigger meaner things there.
Love to everyone - will blog again before I head off for Borneo
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