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Hi everyone,
I have done so much since my last blog so i am going to try and sum it up and miss out the boring bits. After my last blog i went diving in the great barrier reef. I was a little worried about seeing sharks but as soon as i got my stinger suit on (a real sexy number i must add) and got in the water I wanted to see one. To my dissapointment though I didnt. This didnt make the diving any less, as it was amazing! the water was a cool 30 degrees very warm/hot. The coral and the fish I saw where something different and was a truely fantastic experience.
Another early morning I was on a rainforest and waterfall tour, and because of the floods there was only me and two other people on the tour. Not a bad thing as we got more time in places and more time with the guide. The First stop was the rainforest where I walked around a lake. I got to see a small kangaroo and a wild turkey ha. Also 3 leaches that were feasting on my legs, not nice, so at this point I turned around before I ran out of blood. The waterfall was really nice but couldnt swim in it because of the high flowing current caused by the high rainfall. A really good day spent in the more tradition areas of OZ.
I had made some good friends from england at the hostel I was staying in so for our last day in Cairns we went and had a bbq down at the lagoon on the front which was great fun even with a thunder storm.
After Cairns I headed for Magnetic Island. A very small island of the coast of townsville. There wasnt very man tourists on the island because of the floods people were avoiding the eastcoast. The first day on the island me and a few people I had met went for a hike. What we thought was gunna be and hour hike turned into a two and a half mission up a mountain ha all to find a waterfall, when we got there it was well worth the effort for a swim in a fesh water waterfall with a tree swing. The next day we hird out a moke (small beach buggy like car) and headed to the main sights of the island. It only took the afternoon as there wasnt many sights. We fed some parrots and saw a wild koala and some rock wallabies, a good way to spend an afternoon.
After Magnetic island I had to spend a night in townsville. The place is like a ghost town for tourists. The place was dead so didnt do anything here. I stayed in a room with this local that had just moved back to the town. We were chatting and then he decided to tell me he had dengue fever! I was like crap! so when he left the room i swatted any mossy in sight followed by a bath in mosquito repelant haha. I was releaved in the morning to find I had no bites pheeeeww!!
My next stop on the Oz Bus was airlie beach. The Oz bus is good as it stops at places along the way that you wouldnt normally go to. We stopped at a crocodile farm and watched some crocs feed and could get really close and fed some kangaroos, held a snake, croc and bird. Was really good fun.
On Arrival at AirlieBbeach I checked in and headed out to check the place out. It was a really nice place and had an enourmous lagoon on the esplande, as its still to far north to swim in the sea because of the jelly fish. Here is where you catch boats to do the whitsundays islands. I was on the 'British Defender' an ex racing boat that had won noumorous races. The boat was amazing and the sailing was even better. We were going at ridiclous angles in the water and at high speeds of about 17 knotts. You know its good when the crew are absolutly loving it also. At some points it felt like it was going to tip but i had a faith in the boat and the captian to had the biggest grin on his face the whole time. The first spot we stayed in we saw some turtles and went for a swim before having some drinks and going to sleep to get up early.
The next day we headed over to the world famous whithaven beach. It is breathtaking with the purest sand on earth. 98% pure silicon, so pure you could exfoliate, wash ur jewelry and even clean your teeth with it. After spending a good few hours here we headed out for some sailing to our next spot to do some snorkling. It was good but no barrier reef ;-). We watched the sunset and played some drinking games before heading to bed for our final day around the whtsundays islands. We woke early for some snorkling and a long sail back. All in all it was absolutly amazing place and we had great weather minus a bit of rain in the morning but that was fine. I met some really nice people on the boat so we all met up the night after the boat and headed out for some drinks.
The next stop after airlie beach was Kroombit. A cattle station that took about 8 hours to get to. We played some games on the bus which me resulting loosing and having to dance down the isle, very embarrasing but good fun. Kroombit was brilliant because it was a working station so it was still all authentic. Later that evening we ate some goat which was delicious and learnt how to crack a whip. Then went on the mechanical bull of which i managed to stay on the longest and won a free bar crawl in Sydney. There was bugs everywhere that night, falling from trees too in the toilet where i found a tree frog. The next day after being woken up by the farmer backfiring his motor bike outside our room we headed off to learn to lasso and catch a goat. Was a good laugh and was harder throwing the lasso than it looks. I caught myself an angry goat before letting it go. After the goat hearding we headed to our horses to muster up some goats. My horse was called silver. This was my first time riding so didnt know what to expect. But after a kick and a high ho silver of she went. It was good fun but my horse did have a best mate that it wouldnt leave alone. So a couple of times no matter how hard i tried it wouldn't move if it saw its friend go the other way. It was good fun and well worth a sore arse at the end of it all.
My next stop on the Oz bus was hervey bay. There wasnt much there so caught the bus the next day to rainbow beach. Here i would spend Australia day and head across to frazer island. There isnt much in rainbow beach apart from a beach so for australia day we headed there. It was packed with a really good vibe. Later that evening we got told there would be things going on in the beach but after heading down there, where we were dissapointed to find nothing going on. So we Started chatting to some locals who were celebrating the day. It was good fun but a little dissapointed at how not busy it was.
Frazer Island. I got picked up to help drive the car back to the hostel which felt great to get behind the wheel once again. I drove a big toyota that had no radio and a dodgy steering wheel. There was 8 of us in our car and I drove the first leg. We had to get the ferry across to the island which ment some deep sand driving to the ferry. I loved driving throughout the trip heading through some extremely deep, bumpy and thin tracks. We headed to lake makenzie a huge lake that has no wildlife in it because of the hight ph level. It was so clear with just sand everywhere. We set up camp the first night in dusk when the marsh flies are out in force. They are extremely annoying that bite you and then fly off. Pointless! Me and one of the guys, mark, headed out for some fishing but failed to catch anything before dinner. When we were eating there were lots of wild dingos about to see if they could pinch food or anything. Someone left some toothpaste in their tent with the door open and the dingos stole it. Also the next day the dingos stole our fruit bread, two loafs of the stuff. I found it funny as i dont like fruit bread haha. The next day we headed to a viewpoint and then to champagne pools after some difficult driving. It was an amazing place with naturaly formed rock pools with waves crashing over. It rained in the afternoon so we headed back to the camp before heading back out to another clear lake. The final day we headed to lake wobby which is more of a billabong at the end of a sand dune. The water was amazing so clean and clear a great way to end frazer island before heading back to mainland. A brilliant trip a real highlight for me for Oz so far.
That brings me to today where i havnent done much apart from catch up with things before heading to Noosa tomorrow morning for a night and then on to brisbane for a short stay after the flood destruction. A welcome change of scenery after being in rainbow beach for 4 nights.
I think I have covered my main highlights of Australia so far. There have also been some good nights out and have met some really nice people. If you want to ask anything just drop me a msg.
Hope everyone is okay back in the UK. Take care xx
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