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Wednesday 27th April 2011
Today we travelled to the Devils Marbles!
We learnt the story of why the Aboriginals names them this. it was because they saw cows grazing on the grass around the huge boulders of rock..the cows started getting sick-which was actually because of the poisonous plants that grew here-however the Aboriginals believed the Devil was poisoning the cows and these were his marbles...hence the name - 'The Devils Marbles'.
We got so many photos here posing with these huge pieces of stone! They are so pretty glimmering in the sun-shine, colours of red/orange and brown..I strongly advise a visit to see them.
We then drove on to a place called Wycliffe Well which was supposedly an alien sighting, so they now have a UFO centre here packed with information on the sighting. We got some great pictures here too and had loads of fun.
We drove to Barrow Creek for lunch -passing a car on fire! We saw the couple that luckily had managed to get out of the car and take most of their belongings too before it caught alight. Our driver was great he got out and checked that they were okay and they didnt need any extra help and people were on their way to take them to a safer location. We also passed a bush fire-the first one that I had seen since being in Australia..i was just so amazed at the severity of these natural fires and the sparsity too! it was huge!
We went on to a mango farm and got some home made mango ice-cream which was gorgeous, before passing the Aileron which stands 17metres tall-it is a statue of a man with his daughters and wife behind just close-by. This statue is worth $120,000 and it was built to represent a day when a car was transporting aircraft parts which ended up getting lost-most of these parts are called 'Aileron' which is a part of the wing, so they used these parts to make the statues.
We saw Kangaroos in a field and took time to watch them in their natural environment which was lovely, we then made our way to our hostel which was called Haven. We all met up for dinner tonight as this was the end of this part of our tour and we went to a pub called The Boss Saloon. This is famous for having a live webcam linked up so you can sit and eat dinner whilst your family at home can watch you!! There is also a method for your family to pay for drinks online for you and create a bar tab! This was so much fun!
Thursday 28th April 2011
This was my free day in Alice Springs, I spent the day sun bathing and relaxing for the next part of my trip tomorrow. As I said-I stayed in the hostel called Haven-they warn backpackers to stay in big groups as it can be a bit dangerous out at night but apart from that the hostel was great-it had a nice pool area out the front and great facilities-laundry room nice showers and the rooms were good too with big en-suite bathrooms and a big outdoor but covered kitchen.
Friday 29th April 2011
The day I left Alice Springs! There was a free breakfast included at the hostel too which was a bonus. I met my tour guide jerry which was AWESOME!! she was so so cool. I would definitely recommend Adventure Tours Australia to do this travel package with as they were brilliant and all the staff were the best.
we saw an amazing sun-rise today and went to a camel farm where we saw camels called tromedaries - these are 1 jumped camels. They imported 2,500 camels here to use them as camel trains..but the first ever camel here was called Harry. This farm also kept a dingo which they brought up from the wild so its now really friendly and used to humans. We also learnt all about the story of John Mcdale Stuart and his journey through Australia exploring. Our tour guide was so knowledgable and we learnt alot about Australia and its history as well as Aboriginal culture and beliefs.
We played games whilst on the journey to get to know the rest of our group as this was the 7 day part of my tour so we wanted to get to know everyone well and individually. We drove past a rock famous for its name 'FOOLURU'! Everyone on their way to Uluru passes this rock and they think that it is Uluru but it is a smaller one that now goes by that name fooluru.
We drove to Katajuda National Park which means 'Heads Many' in Aboriginal and we collected lots of fire wood for the evening. We went straight to the sunset of Uluru which was amazing, so so pretty, our tour guide provided us with Champagne and we got loads of group photos before heading back to camp where we had dinner and played drinking games.
Friday 30th April 2011
We woke up early this morning in preparation to go and se Uluru sun-rise. We got there just as the sun was coming up and we stayed for about an hour. it was gorgeous, the photos we got were amazing. The red, pink and orange colours in the clouds shining over Uluru were so nice. We then made our way to the Aboriginal Culture Centre where we learnt about the Mala walk which we were going to go on with an Aboriginal speaker later on explaining parts of their story that they have associated with the rock that is Uluru (Ayers Rock)
We learnt about the sacred areas of the rock that are known as mens or womens sacred points, and that if you dis-respect and take photos in these areas or steal anything from the rock then you get back luck in life until these are deleted, you have written in the 'sorry book' and/or you have returned whatever you have taken.
We did a 10k base walk round Uluru which took us 3 hours, followed by the Mala walk. This was a great way to hear about the Aboriginal beliefs and actually understand them further by an Aboriginal them self which I found a great experience.
I advise if you visit Uluru to take a fly net as they are so bad here and they dont stay away from you at all! -definitely worth the $8!!
After this we made a stop to get any extras for the evening such as snacks or alcohol. We then went back to camp, had a lovely dinner and sat round the fire drinking and playing games.
Sunday 1st May 2011
Today we travelled to Kings Canyon-this was the best day that I had in the outback! Surprisingly most of us preferred it to Uluru. The journey there took 3hours, and once we got there we prepared for the hike up the Canyon! the first part requires you to walk up very very steep high steps! It is unbelievably high and exhausting-and the nick name for this part is actually called 'Heart-Attack Hill' My advice is to take plenty of water and use the toilet before you start, as there is no where to go once you are on your way!! Wear good walking shoes and wear sun lotion definitely-eat breakfast as you WILL need energy!! This was well worth it, the views were spectacular and the colour of the rock itself is gorgeous, it shines bright red and its just amazing to see.
We had lunch at a town called Mala after our walk and then dropped off half of our tour group as they were only with us for 3 of the 7 days. We continued on to the Mala campsite and stopped again one more time for refreshments before arriving.
Monday 2nd May 2011
We drove to the town of Cooper Pede today which is where they founded the Opal. We had our very own go at 'noodling'. This is when you look through the stones and rocks for opal crystals and then using water to shine them up and see the colours in the stones to check that they are good valuable finds. After we found our own Opals we went to our accommodation for the night-this was an underground cave house that had really low ceilings but it was so cosey, it was lovely. The walls and everything were just stone as the house had been dug out- you could even dins pieces of Opal in the walls if you were lucky!
We went just next door to the Opal museum and learnt information about Opals and who founded them. We also learnt how they extract the Opals and watched them noodle them, file them, grind them down and then shine and polish them up-it was really interesting! We also learnt the value of the Opal and how each colour is worth more and the way that they put the backings on the necklaces change the whole price of the item of jewellery. We watched a 20 minute video on the information and how their methods have improved and how much money they make from finding and selling Opals.
If you travel here in April/May- please take warm clothes! it was freezing!!
We then went downstairs in the museum and we got to walk around a house that they made for display that is dug out of a cave- the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, the lounge- we saw the electrics on the stone and how they fit them all in. We also had a demonstration of just how dark it can get down there at night!!
We went to the shop that was also part of the museum and got a chance to buy Opals too.
After this we all went back to our accommodation and played a game of Trivial Persuit until we had to leave to go to a Kangaroo farm. We went here to get the chance to hold a baby Kangaroo!! This place was also full of Aboriginal art that you could purchase. We met the baby joey called Azza ---soooo cute!!! He rolled out of a blanket from the mans arms and started hopping around the place all dis-orientated! So cute! We all got photos holding him! :-)
We went out for dinner tonight to a pizza restaurant opposite our accommodation, and it was really nice.
Tuesday 3rd May 2011
We drove 3hours today, passing through the town of Glendambo- it has the tiniest population ever-it has more sheep than people!! We then drove to the salt lakes and saw the Railway that is still used today. We got so many group photos today messing around. it was a great day! So much fun. We then went to a town called Pumba which means 'Pine Tree' and we looked through the town, it was so so pretty.
We then drove through a town called Woomera ..otherwise known as-GHOST TOWN!! We even played a game called 'Spot the person=get the points'!!
We drove on to Port Augusta..driving over a run-way that was actually part of the road!!! - It was so cool!!! They just stop the traffic when they need it for the aircraft -we got so many photos here and whenever cars drove past we would all Mexican Wave haha was so good.
We stayed at a hostel tonight in a place called Quorn! Haha very ironic scenes as Im a Vegetarian lol- we stayed in a converted wind-mill-mill lol. It was so pretty, it was cute and had quite a big lounge and kitchen. The rooms were separate-but it had a really nice feel to it.
We learnt tonight that we had stayed where the film 'Wolf Creek' was filmed and the most recent murder of a backpacker was 7 years ago in Bottany Bay!! Freaky!!
Wednesday 4th May 2011
This morning we drove to Olsons Bagge for a 2hour climb up the Flinders Ranges (these are the mountain ranges here and Olsenns Bagge is one of the mountains we could climb) These mountain ranges have been around for 800 million years -they even have an earth quake metre here to measure the quakes -we saw this in the petrol station and we wrote in the book there to say that we had viewed it. We climbed Olsons Bagge which is a 6k walk but didnt feel that far-we got so many photos up here :-)
We then rode camels today!!! This was so much fun!! And so cheap-$25 dollars each!! They put me on the naughty camel as my tour guide said she puts people that would react to this Camel in the funniest way on it haha which I certaintly did lol! It was hallarious. The leader at the front got our Camel trotting haha It was real good fun. He then wanted to prove a point that these animals really are placid and friendly as most people think of Camels as agressive animals. So he got me to get back on the Camel with no saddle and slide down and sit on its neck...I was so scared of hurting it but he said that its neck is the strongest muscle and the Camel really didnt mind. it was good fun and a great experience lol.
We went back to the Mill for our second night staying here-we had dinner and then went upstairs to see the art that they had there which was all mainly Aboriginal pieces such as bags, skirts, an old bike and other randomn things and instruments.
Thursday 5th May 2011
Today we drove to Warren Gorge to look at yellow footed wallabies -we saw some and it was really cool-we had to go super early to make sure we caught them. We then drove to Devils Peak mountain for an 8k walk. It was very rocky like yesterday but when you reach the top you have to climb up through huge rocks and shimmy on our bums to get to the top-the lookout was amazing!! You could see the whole of Port Augusta and Quorn up here!! - You will notice when you travel the Red Centre/Outback..that you never ever have phone reception...well---you get it up here lol!! Good walking shoes are needed and also snacks as its a long old walk and you may want to relax before heading back down! Also a jumper as its freezing at the top..but when you are actually walking it gets so hot! Its crazy. Good exercise haha. There is a book up the top that you can sign to say you have been up there too which is cool.
We then started the end of our travels to Adelaide ...We arrived and said our goodbyes!! It was sooooo sad!! I met Bryony that I met earlier in the tour-she was going on a pub crawl...I literally got ready in 20 minutes to go and get CRUNK!
I was staying in a hostel called Shakespeare International Backpackers-it looked so small from the out side but it was disceiving! The kitchen and seating area was nice and big and the rooms were nice too. I would recommend this hostel here-even though there are better known ones just next door-this one was much cheaper.
Friday 6th May 2011
Today was just a nice day to check out the City of Adelaide, it had a lovely atmosphere, the shops were great and it just had a good feel to it. We were a bit delicate today so it was perfect to relax before the next leg of our journey to Melbourne from Adelaide.
Saturday 7th May 2011
Today we saw Australias largest lake which is 2,500km long! We drove an hour to the grampians to do rock climbing for 2.4k this was gorgeous, the views were amazing here, and it didnt feel too long after what we had been used to!!
We then got to our campsite as today involved alot of driving-we were staying in 3 different blocks each with 10 rooms in each. I have never experienced weather so cold might I add....wowzers!!!
This accommodation was so nice, it was cosey, comfortable ..so so cute but yet modern at the same time! It had little fires and a lovely kitchen..just felt like a lovely home for the evening!!
Sunday 8th May 2011
This morning we headed right for our next walk of 2.4k up the grampians which were so so steep-and another 2.4k walk back towards the bus for our lunch. We stopped at a lovely beach where we stopped to see the whales! This was really cool, we could just see the dark outlines of them in the water-and one of the women had an amazing camera which picked this up really well.
We saw the bay of islands which have been eroded after time by the salt and waves. We then went to another beach that had a shipwreck, it was a shame about the weather-but still this was really cool and hey-what can you expect being that far South at this time of year !!
We saw the rock known as London Bridge, there is a big patch in the middle that had eroded away- we heard the story of it that people used to drive their cars on to it and sit and have lunch there-then they stopped this from happening as they started to worry that it would erode away one day. This was then brought in to force-however people could still walk out onto the rock. One day there was a family that had just managed to get back in time and it had fallen down literally minutes after they had left. The only problem was that there was one couple that had got stranded out on the end of the rock...they got on the news and got interviewed-however they did not want this - as they had been meeting up in secret- turns out they were having an affair and got caught this way!!
We drove to Campbell to look around and see the hostel - we drove to Lochheart Gorge, this was very pretty. We then drove to the 12 Apostles - which apparently there have only ever been 9! And now there are 8 as one fell down in the 80's!
We saw them at sunset which was really gorgeous and we got some great photos. We got to the hostel and chilled out. This hostel was in the agreement with Adventure Tours Australia as it was already pre-arranged and booked for our tour group to stay here. This hostel was lovely-it was like a hotel, very nice, big modern and very clean. It also had strange toilets...I wasnt too sure on these-as you flushed the toilet it had sinks attached to the top basin of the toilet which had running re-cycled water that was cleaned from the un-used water in the toilet so that it saved energy and water and you could wash your hands in there.....funnily enough no-one understood the hygiene aspect of this-therefore no-one used these sinks! They also had automatic light switches to cut costs that turn off after 10 minutes-this was very clever.
Monday 9th May 2011
We drove back to the 12 Apostles today to see them at sun-rise and with some more light today. They were just as pretty as the night before. We then went to a wildlife park where we saw wild Koalas in the trees and gorgeous birds that were not shy at all and kept coming down to land on our arms, shoulders and heads lol. This was cool.
After this we drove to a small town called Horsham!-like near where Im from in the UK! -we had lunch here and then had a walk around to check it out. It was a very small town, cute and pretty.
We then went to Bell Beach where they hold their surfing championships to look around.
We then went to a shopping outlet to shop around for an hour before driving on to Melbourne. We arrived here at 6pm.
I stayed at Melbournes International Backpackers which was a nice hostel, the rooms were decent, not too special here but the kitchen and internet area was pretty big and the showers were great. It wasnt too cheap here though-but i figure as its a big City like Sydney thats why its more pricey to stay in hostels here. I re-united here with Claudia and Lissy that I had met earlier on my tour! This was great and we chatted all night, we went out for some drinks.
Tuesday 10th May 2011
Today I had to be up so early- 5am to get a taxi to the Victorian Arts Centre here to catch my coach that was taking me back round to Sydney. This was a small group of us, only 14 of us. We were travelling through the Gibsland area, through Koromba-home of the worlds longest earth-worm! - 4metres long!
We saw Wilsons promontory -this is where the Pacific and the Southern Ocean join. We also saw marsupials! -Marsupials are animals that form more outside of their bodies as apose to inside their mothers stomaches-for example Kangaroos as they have their pouches, also Koalas and Wombats.
We went to Wilsons Promontory Park and saw protected Koalas. We also learnt that the worlds most 5 poisonous snakes are here in Australia!-one drop of venom from one of these snakes is enough to kill half a million mice!!
We went to a little town called Foster-this was also very cute and had a nice little clock that symbolised it. We also drove up Silcocks hill to a scenic lookout - we saw a wind-farm which was actually really pretty. We also saw an example of a 'Boat-tree'-This is a tree that Aboriginals have used to carve a boat out of but they have doen it in such a way that they dont kill the tree off.
We drove to East Gippland-shire and got a ferry to Koala island to do a Koala walk - we saw more here in the trees.
We drove to Lakes Entrance and we went to our hostel - this was really nice too-but as I said before so freezing. This was accommodation that Adventure Tours Australia had also pre-booked. It was also dorms outside with about 10 of us in each again. Before we went to bed we took a walk to the beach over a lit up bridge. It was really pretty.
Wednesday 11th May 2011
Today we drove to Buchan, this is the home of the snowy country. We drove up mountains with a sheer drop, this was actually quite scary in a bus-not too good if you have vertigo!!
The views were spectacular. We then drove past a mans house which lived in this town..only one other person lives in this town-his brother-and they dont speak. This man was as if he was from the film 'Wolf Creek' He had old cars our the front of his house, old vans, he had teddys hung up, old signs, bikes hung from rope in the trees, a kangaroo made from straw and signs saying 'Backpackers come in, I sell Snacks and Petrol' ...This was so strange as he clearly didnt. He also had animals rotting carcuses and skulls hung from the trees round his house. CREEPY!!!!
We then drove to an old school which was actually an old tiny barn which a lady used to teach small children inside- it was the smallest little barn and she also had dead animal skulls round her front gate. This was kinda cool but also kinda creepy, she had a book inside that you could sign and write something about her school. Her name was Jane!
We drove up Barry Way past Snowy River-Aboriginals used this river as a guide to bring fresh supplies of water and also so if they need to go out and hunt they use it as a way to guide them, this is very beneficial for them.
We made our way to the Australian Alps to a village by the name of Thredbo. We got ready to hike to 'The Roof Of Australia' -up Mt Kozciuszko' - Australias highest mountain. We walked up to the lookout point, we had to get a chairlift up most the way as it was just so so steep! We didnt stay up there too long as the chairlift closed early afternoon and walking back would have been way too much of a challenge as it was getting dark and it was snowing so much there were really bad blizzards, you couldnt even see your hand infront of your face.
When we got back to our accommodation we all got in the jacuzzi which was so so nice and much needed after almost freezing to death!! Even though it was this cold I would still recommend this as the views were just spectacular and I would definitely do it again, we had so much fun today! :-)
We then had lots of drinks tonight and played drinking games in the bar that was part of our accommodation- this took a little while to get into as it was so cold we couldnt relax-but once the alcohol had set in then it was better lol-more numb!!
Thursday 12th May 2011
Today we drove to Canberra!! We drove to the Parliament House and listened in on a Political debate. This was actually very beneficial to us as we were lucky to have them discuss the top of immigration, this was good as we knew we could all follow it and its such a broad topic we could all understand what was happening-as apose to a new Australian Law that we may not have heard about.
We then walked around the City-it is such a pretty City and actually quite small considering its the Capital of Australia.
Next was the Australian Museum of Art which we sat in on a 360degree rotating movie presentation - so our chairs were moving as it played. We saw more Aboriginal Art and Australian pieces that symbolise the country-for example Boomerangs, War pieces and the stuffed Tazmanian Tiger. After this we then made the rest of the way to Sydney.
I said my goodbyes and then got out at Chilli-Blues Backpackers in Kings Cross. Now Kings Cross has a bad reputation of being dangerous and people starting fights here all the time, but if you stay in the right places-then its just like anywhere else! This hostel is pretty small-but for Sydney its so so so cheap! Most hostels in Sydney are about $30 a night but this one is $18 and includes a free breakfast, free internet and its got a friendly atmosphere-its also a 2minute walk to the train station and has a $8 fee for airport transfers if you want to do this rather than the train. Its not the best decorated-but if your cust cotting or working in Sydney then this is a good place to stay-however if you want the best impression of Sydney-Central area is good as its close to everywhere-or Bondi as thats the less city-like area but also so close to everywhere but its prettier!!
Friday 13th May 2011
Today I was just planning my trip to New Zealand more and I booked my flight back to sunny Cairns for after my New Zealand trip!! :-)
Saturday 14th May 2011
Today I got the train to Circular Quay-this is the train station you need to go to see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. This is also where the ferry port is to take you to all the nice beaches in Sydney that you cant walk to-for example, Manly Beach.
I met my friend that I used to work in Novo Shoes in Bondi with called Carina! We caught the ferry to Manly which costs $13 unless you have a student card which means you can get it for just over $5. We had a really nice lunch in a pizzeria and enjoyed cocktails, it was such a good day - I highly recommend Manly beach as its so pretty and there is so much to do there and so many places to eat. I then went to a Travel Agents and booked my accommodation for Christchurch for my arrival into New Zealand.
Carina and I then met up with our old manager at the Shoe shop and we all caught up which was really nice :-)
After this it was time to head back to the hostel so I caught the train back.
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