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Flora's travells
Well hello everyone.
Ok so sorry for not updating but we have been on an amazing tour in the outback of Western Austrailia, where the internet cafes are scarce as is pretty much everything else! We had a wicked time but first I have to finish Singapore!
So that night we did manage to get out and go to the night safari, which was basically a zoo in the dark and an expensive one too! It was cool to see some lions and tigers but when it says you can get close to them , it all depends on how tired they are and how much they want to come out from behind their rocks!! We did see a jaguar (from behind a glass cage) which was stunning, it sat there looking straight at us looking hungry and when it yawned we saw its huge fangs! We saw lions and tigers from a distance and went to watch an animal show at the end of the tour. We were all waiting for them to bring a tiger or something out and were dissapointed when all we got were prarie cats and beevers!
During the next day we bought tickets for cable cars that took us across the water over to the man made island of Sentosa. The islans itself was a very strange experience. The whole place is man made and it is one big tourist attraction. No one actually lives on the island. There are signs everywhere saying 'have a nice day' and the buses were playing cheesy songs! The beach there is man made, the sand is imported from Indonesia, and you look out to the docks where there are huge oil tankers lining the horizon, very wierd!
We went to the aquarium whilst we were there which was cool and then went to see a dolphin show with pink dolphins, yep pink!! They said it is the only place in the world with pink ones, I'm convinced they just painted them, adding to the man made mania!! (what a mouthful!)
That night we went up to the swiss hotel where they have a nightclub on the 72nd floor. The view was amazing, the skyline had numerous high rise buildings and the bridge that went across to Sentosa was lit up over the water.
We lost rob and james and so (both of us having no phones) chris went back to get his and I walked round for half an hour, we made contact and found them down at Clarke Quay watching the fireworks. From here we went on to a bar in town and met up with a couple who were staying in our dorm. There was a club upstairs and everyone had had just enough to drink shake some moves on the dancefloor!!
The next day I got the MRT to Bugis village (leaving the others in bed!) and went to look around some shops and try some clothes on!! (needed some reatail therapy!) I had lunch there and went back to sit on some comfy sofas and chat to a couple of people staying and working in the hostel. That evening was our last so we had a meal and went to bed early considering we had to be up at 5, eager to get to our next destination!
So now we are Austrailia!! We have had some wicked times here although we have been here less than 2 weeks. When we first arrived a bloke at the airport helped us to find somewhere to stay and we got picked up from the airport and taken to our hostel.
The hostel we stayed in for our first three nights was basically full of people who were working during the day and going out to get absolutely plastered every night!! They came in at 5 and had to be up at 7! So far our experience of Perth has not been brilliant especially the area we stayed in first called Northbridge. We both felt very uneasy and a bit threatened, I think it is better if you are working but otherwise there is not a lot to do. On the 3rd day we went into a tour place to ask about train times and ended up booking a tour up the east coast for 300 quid!! It was worth every penny.
On the first morning we were picked up from our hostel at half 6, a bit bleary eyed and went on to pick up 16 other people. Naturally at first no one was very talkative but after the first couple of hours we were starting to chat and get to know people.
Our first stop was the Pinnacles, which are rock formations made from limestone where old tree roots used to be before, the sand was blown away.
The view out over the landscape was amazing. You looked behind you at golden sand and forward out over the ocean and the white sands on the beach. We stopped off for lunch where everyone mucked in to help. Our tour guide, Matt wandered off and came back with a bobtail lizard (!), which was cool and everyone rushed over for a hold. After lunch we carried on to the next sight which was sandbording!! We arrived at a place in the outback where there were hills of sand and were produced with a board that was like a snow board but obviously was for use in a far warmer climate!! After umming and erring about whether to go up to the top (it was pretty high) I lugged my board up, spent a couple of minutes looking down and slid off to rush down the hill, by which time Chris had found the higher slope and was standing up on his board ready to descend!! (He described his ability to sanboard as a "duck to water"!!) He came down the hill and landed in a heap, where I thought for a minute he had broken something but promptly got up and did it again! After another couple of goes myself (yes I went down the higher one), we continued to our nights accomodation. On the way there the landscape was getting more and more scarce and flat and I saw a couple of dead Kangaroos on the side of the road.
That night (after a lot of driving) we arrived at Kalbarri (not before stopping at the bottle shop!) and everyone helped to prepare the evening meal, which consisted of a huge stir fry cooked on a big outdoor hot plate.
That night everyone sat and chatted and got to know each other a bit more.
After a good nights sleep we were awakened at half six (shock to the system!) and piled back onto the bus to continue to our next destination. On the way there we stopped at our first sight By half nine (A.M.) we had basically rock climbed down and up a canyon and a few people and done some absailing. By the time we got back to the top, after hauling ourselves up rocks with 25++ meter drops my, heart was going slightly faster than usual!! (and the leaftlet said moderate exercise, yeah right!).
We were all starving by this point but it was a long way from lunch and suprisingly our next destination! This was the stramatalites, which are the oldest living organism on earth and give you a glimpse of what earth looked like millions of years ago. After this we continued to shell beach which is a beach with no sand, made up from billions of shells, hence the name. By this time the weather was not brilliant so we headed to our next hostel. Here we had a swimming pool and pool table and a shop or two!! Our phones still didn't work though! We all sat round and ate and then went for a walk on the beach.
On Wednesday we went to Monkey Mia, which is a beach that has nothing to do with monkeys, but where we could feed wild dolphins, which I did and see camels and pelicans on the beach. A few of us had breakfast in a small cafe there and then wandered along the sand and played some volley ball.
We left here at half 11 in the morning and had a loonngg drive to Canarvon, arriving there at about 8 that evening!
This was a sheep farm in the middle of nowhere but was really cool and we all sat around a bonfire after eating untill about half one just chatting and playing games, it was a brilliant evening, very chilled out.
The next day we went on a boat trip at coral bay. It was a five hour trip and we got to see mantarays, reef sharks, turtles, dolphins, and lots of fish and coral. I say we I was seasick for half of it so spent this time lying down with a towel over my head!! I didn't see the sharks snokelling but Chris did and said it was amazing. I saw the mantaray, which is a massive huge angel fish shaped creature which can be up to about 4 or 5 meters wide (I think!), anyway preety big, but only over the side of the boat, again chris went in to see this and said they saw three that they got to swim with. I snokelled with some very pretty fish and saw turtles and dolphins. It was definately worth while, but would have been better had I not been feeling so very green!!
After returning slightly sunburnt we all clambered back onto the bus to endure yet another long jouney (can you see a patern?!) Fom here we drove to Exmouth where we had charcole kebabs, and a fire, (not intentional!) Luckily we had a retired fireman who sorted the burning fat out, whilst we stood from afar!! That night we all sat around and played some drinking games and generally socialised.
The bunch of people on this trip were such a good lot and everyone got on really well, I think our driver got the least sleep out of all of us so did very well to stay awake for the driving. He was 22 from South Africa, really nice guy and it was cool to have someone around our age group who knew what they were ding but was also up for a laugh and joined in with us. We had a lot of people in their twenties but also some older but everyone got on well.
There are a couple more days to go but I will have to update them tomorrow as we are starving! I have been up to the counter four times now to extend my time on here!!
We will try to update pics tomorrow as we have found an easier way to do it. We have 1038 of them!!!
Anyway, hope everyone is well,
Missing you all loads,
Lots of love, Flora and Chris xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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