NEW YEAR ON THE BEACH, AND A STUDY INTO THE EFFECTS OF LOSING MEANINGLESS ITEMS ON THE TRAVELLER'S MENTAL HEALTH - Sam's Entry

I write this still decidedly half-cut from what has to be one of the best ever nights out of my life, let alone one of the best New Year parties ever. But I'll get there once I mull over our roaming of Queensland.

Leaving Cairns marked the longest amount of time we've ever spent anywhere - around 7 days on and off. Christmas Day was bizarre - we spent the morning eating cheese and crackers by the lagoon, then me and Dave went to an all-you-can-eat cook-your-own BBQ and saw away a 24-pack of beer. Boxing Day was equally unchristmassy, with a visit to Cape Tribulation in the car where we went looking for crocs in a mangrove forest and found a couple of great beaches where we collected little bits of coral and alien looking shells. We said our goodbyes to Mum, Jonathan and Josh, who were going on their own little adventure, and set off for Brisbane via the only town in the world to be named with numbers! 1770 (After Captain Cook, don't you know) was a severe disappointment; we had an apathetic tour guide take us round, murmuring that unless you gave him $50 there was nothing to do there. One pub, a beach dominated by territorial surfer bods and, just for kicks, a torrential downpour which made us hide inside playing Scrabble and Battleships (finally, my wounded pool-table pride is repaired by unquestionable board game dominance). The rain was absolutely fierce, and I had visions of weak 1770, population 40, washing away into the 12 foot waves of the ocean. I got over myself and went shopping for milk.

We arrived in Brisbane the day after, and found our hostel, which I love - it's a 1900's Victorian style place with an ancient manually operated lift. It's also on top of a nightclub, which is brilliant or ridiculously annoying depending on what mood you're in. We were really hoping for great roomates but didn't find anyone with any motivation, or even at the very least someone with a periodic need to move from bed. I turned my disappointment at the lack of social options into a grand plan to cook a good dinner for once, and got together a pepper, broccoli and chicken fillet teriyaki stir-fry. My cooking is really coming along and I think that Smartprice plus hideous amounts of seasoning to mask the dullness is a way of life now. I look forward to knocking up Laos Laap and Phad Thai at university!

When we got time to explore Brizzy, we both agreed (and heard from everybody) that it's a great place to live and work... just not to travel or holiday in. I won't go back to Brisbane and there have been far better places, but what we did see was both worthwhile and free - we checked out some museums, historical buildings, a botanic garden, the CBD with all the mad skyscrapers, and the giant Story Bridge. Having spent absolutely no money all day we indulged in a treat and went to the cinema to see Avatar which was absolutely brilliant. I think we're doing a good job of making collossal savings whilst sometimes remembering we're here to enjoy ourselves and not sit in a hostel all day thinking about how to 'get through it' without spending anything. Some people actually do sit indoors and read / watch telly all day, and it makes me wonder why they arn't just at home.

Speaking of home, mundane items such as toothpaste, shower gel, deoderant and porridge oats are becoming really emotional issues. The other day, Dave lost his toothpaste and shampoo, and looked like he was going to cry. It takes a lot to bring the big DC down, but $5 of lost goods really seared his soul. I also temporarily misplaced my document folder and decided it would be a good idea to ring up Greyhound and tell them that all my worldly belongings had been brutally stolen, such was my grief over a load of papers I have backed up on the internet anyway. The poor guy on the phone was really nice, saying "No worries mate, she'll be apples. We'll get ya on the bus, and I hope they catch the rotten b***ards!". My stuff had not been stolen; I just left it by the sofa in the foyer. Nevertheless, we are becoming ridiculously territorial about even the least important of our belongings because someone taking something from my bag equates to my house being burgled - it is my life! And to the person who stole my razor blades - I will find you.

Our days in Brisbane were quite uneventful, in contrast with New Year which was absolutely fantastic. We met back up with Mum, Josh and Jonathan and went to a Koala sanctuary to see all the Australian animals, which was really good - afterwards, we drove down to Tambourine mountain which was where they were staying for the night, then headed to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold coast for dinner. We had a really nice Italian meal and a load of Peroni's (standard) before moving on to goon. Josh decided to try and come out with us, and we all ran down to the beach to do the countdown and see the fireworks explode all over the coast. At some point I suddenly found myself with a really lovely Australian girl called Adele, and I hope to see her again - a bonus on top of a pretty fantastic night with my mate and my brother on a rammed beach. Unfortunately Josh got turned away for having the wrong shoes so we got him picked up and continued at a club through the entire night... before we knew it we were walking around on the street at 5.30am in daylight. I'm feeling worse for wear but I care little - settling down to some macaroni cheese with a big set of photos on my camera from a good night out (when was I wearing lipstick???) and a little notebook with New Year's Resolutions listed down, mostly about improving, but some about staying the same.

Our plans from here are to go back to Surfers Paradise tomorrow. I want to take some surfing lessons, and if I'm atrocious at it, there will still be loads of photos of me looking hard silhouetted against the Ozzie sun with a surf board in hand so I don't give a kangeroo's bottom.

Happy 2010. I'm willing to bet my left hand that this will be the craziest year of my life.

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Dave's Entry

Happy New Year Everybody!

2010 is upon us already, so strange to think that this time a year ago this whole trip was only a pipedream.
How are you all? Get in touch and tell me of your new years stories and happenings? I would love to hear from you guys.

So since we last blogged we have celebrated both Christmas & New Year out here, It's certainly a bit different to the festive season usually experienced back home. Usually Christmas Eve would be spent indoors wrapped up warm and checking out the best that BBC One has to offer from its catalouge of repeats. This year I spent it counting down in The Woolshed, the establishment crowned as the best bar in Queensland. It was excellent, the fact they shut at 12 on the dot due to liscensing laws however wasn't. Happy Christmas now leave was basically the call from the Dj. The usual standard Jumper and trouser procedure for Christmas day attire was thrown out of the window (not literally) into the 30 degree heat. We relaxed in the late morning on Palm Cove Beach just North of Cairns, steadily working away at our 24 pack of Victoria Bitter under the shade of the overhanging Palms. We did however manage to uphold a few traditions, such as sporting Santa Hats and feasting on Cheese and Crackers. Apart from that though we did have a typically Australian christmas which was both strange and fun. Christmas is a time for family though so thoughts did turn to home throughout, I'll be back next year to eat two years worth of Turkey so bear that in mind whoever is set to host :) To say it felt like christmas day though would be lying, it simply can't when you spend the whole day in swimmers. At this point I would like to say thanks to everyone for the cards, presents and christmas messages, if I haven't been able to thank you in person it's because Mother is keeping a close eye on the phone bill!

Later that day we went to a BBQ event at the Serpent hostel (The sister hostel of the Nomads Beach Resort where we were located) and we were all hyped up for a party after being sold the event on the basis of 200+ people turning up to celebrate the day. Well unfortunatly, Nomads seemed to have manufactured the truth slightly, and what was supposed to be a raging pool party turned into nothing more than a meet and greet with a few highly innapropriate drunk Americans roaming around. Can't complain really though, determined as we were to squeeze out the value of our 20 dollar tickets we proceeded to commandeer the BBQ and eat our own body weight in an assortment of meats, for the majority without sauce which was proving elusive. We headed back not long after piling and then emptying our plates and a day in the sun had tired us to the extent that we fell asleep before midnight.

The sleep turned out to be valuable in the end as the next day we got up early and headed up North on the Captain Cook Highway for the rainforest experience of Cape Tribulation and the Daintree national reserve. The multiple signs warning of potential crocodile activity nearby and the sign for Cassowary country put us all on the edge of our seats in our speedy little Toyota. Apart from not being able to go swimming on the beaches due to the marine stingers and saltwater Croc's it was a brilliant day out. We roamed around totally isolated beaches for hours picking up shells on the shore and walked through dense forest, getting eaten alive by Mosquitos with every step. It was really good to see a different and more tropical side to Australia though and to marvel at the way the rainforest met the beaches of the Northern East Coast. Luckily we managed to avoid the rain as we were back in the car and on the way back when it started to lash down from above. Cairns is just entering the wet season and the clouds certainly looked ominous. A home cooked meal for the first time in too long courtesy of Fay went down a treat that evening, finally getting some vegetables in our diet was not only pleasent but probably essential too. The pasta fuelled us for our last night out in Cairns. There was only one place we were heading. The Goon that Sam had so generously given me for Christmas was used to ready us for a long night partying and that it was too. The walk home at 3am wasn't too grand though, more so for the complete irrationality of it as the free shuttle bus was only 10 or so minutes away. Good excercise though to go with our vegetables earlier meant that we woke up feeling fit and firing the next day - the last part of that sentance is a complete fabrication of the truth.

A stirring breakfast of a salad bowl full of porridge and it was time to hit the road. Our first trip on the Greyhound! We were heading down to Agnes Waters and the sleepy little coastal town of 1770. We spent from 12 midday on the 27th until 9am on the 28th travelling down the eastern coast. Luckily i managed to catch a few hours of sleep here and there and so the journey passed okay. The rain though seemed to be following us as basically all we did on the 28th was sit in listening to the monsoon and playing scrabble or battleships. It was fairly depressing but sometimes it is nice just to totally chill out for the day. A whole day indoors would have been too much though so as twilight approached and the rain stopped Sam and I went exploring and stumbled through some Jungle paths to find a totally unihabitated beach, with the sea crashing down on the rugged and rocky coastline. It was quite a sight and we took many pictures whils't climbing about like young lads exploring all the rockpools. It really felt like we were the first two sets of eyes to have ever seen that beach such was the isolation of it. The journey back, in the dark, was slightly more scary. First of all the rocks climbing back up the rockface were slippery, sharp and of course hidden from us by the dark. My maglight had to perform wonders and thankfully did a good job. Moving through the jungle was downright scary though. With bats ahead, crabs scuttling below, and who knows what else lurking and crawling all around us we decided the only logical thing to do was run. So we did. Making it to the main road was quite an absolute relief. That night we had a pretty early one as Agnes Waters and 1770 with a population of 2080 combined didn't have much on offer in terms of nightime entertainment.

The next day we were on the move again, this time to Brisbane. In Australia, from Cairns to Brisbane on a bus is 30 hours. That's all within one state, Queensland. You can drive here for 2 days pretty much non stop and not leave the state that is the scale of the place. It is huge! The journey down to Brisbane took all day. Waking up in Brisbane the next day, on the 30th, the plan was to go out and see the sights. We managed to see the Story Bridge, the CBD, St Johns Cathedral, the Museum of Queensland and Avatar. So Avatar is a 3d movie and not a sight but it was awesome all the same. Brisbane is a really cool place to just wander around.
A day of sightseeing in any new place is always a good thing to do. It gives you a good feel for the area.

The 31st. New Years Eve. A brisk walk around the Botanic Gardens in the morning was good fun, giving us really good views of the river and the Story Bridge, I also got good photos of Sam chasing a bird. It's not all national geographic photography but it is quite amusing. Later in the day we met back up with Jonathan, Josh and Fay at the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary. It was a really good afternoon out, getting to see animals of all kinds, Koalas of course, Crocodiles, tasmanian devils and even getting to stroke kangaroos in their expansive enclosure. After our afternoon out with the animals, it was time to ring in the new year, in style, at Surfers Paradise which is about an hour south of Brisbane on the east coast. A lovely dinner at an Italian resteraunt in town was prelude to a night of partying. We actually saw in the new year standing on the beach watching the fireworks. It was incredible, people from all over Australia had flocked to Surfers to see in the new year and celebrate together. The town was packed! We spent the rest of the evening partying in one of the nightclubs in town before calling it quits in the very very early hours of the morning. Somewhere around 5am.

Today, new years day, has been spent as it should be in a hazy state due to a total lack of sleep and one to many swigs of cheap Australian wine. As i write this it is 5:40pm and it won't be long before i climb up the bunk and into bed for the night.

The festive season away from home has certainly been different. I have learned alot since i started travelling. The most poignant though certainly is the worth of my family and friends back home. I say this in the utmost sincerity, that while being half the world away in gorgeous locations with almost permanent sunshine is great fun, I still dearly miss my friends and my family. You guys are what drive me forward and keep my feet moving even when the path gets tough. Don't forget that you are with me every step i take. I hope you are all well, i hope your year was as good as mine was, and i also hope that 2010 brings you all the joy, happiness and prosperity that you all deserve.

David.