so on monday i went out on a sailing trip on a boat called Broomstick, which is a 76ft Maxi Adventure Yacht - for anyone who knows what that means - which used to be used for racing and is now a commercial touring b.oat. there was about 25 passangers and a crew of 4 on the boat.
we got on the boat in the afternoon and basically had a cruise around some of the islands before parking up for the night. apparantly the boat is capable of tipping up so the hand rails on one side are under water while the other side is up in the air, but on this day there was just no wind whatsoever so we went along under motor power. i cant say that i was that disappointed as i dont think my ankle or my stomach could have handled much adventerous sailing. the sleeping cabin was quite compact but surprisingly comfortable and easy to sleep in.
on the next day we went for a short walk to the lookout point on the main Whitsunday Island, before going down to the Hill Inlet part of Whitehaven Beach, where we spent the morning and lunchtime. again the afternoon was spent just sailing around under motor power, as again there was no wind, chilling out on the deck in the sun. in the evening there was a family of at least 4 dolphins, with at least one baby, swimming around the boat all night, looking for the squid and shrimp that were been atracted to the lights on our boat.
and then this morning we sailed back to Airlee Beach. the crew seemed to feel that the lack of wind had made the trip a bit boring but i have to say it was perfect for me, and they even admitted that they had never seen weather as good in the area as what we have had over the last two days.
My ankle feels a bit better, it was certainly easier walking off the boat than it was walking on, but the swelling and bruising hasn't really gone down, which I'm slightly concerned about. should i be? or is it still too early? walking is now just awkward rather than total agony so thats quite an improvement on sunday/monday
and as for photos, what you have to understand is that most of the computers i type these messages on are rubbish. the net connections are so slow it would take me all day to post a few photos. hopefully i'll get to a better hostel with better net connection soon.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Monday, 30 March 2009
oh dear. and it was all going so well
I've managed to fall and twist my ankle. on saturday we were staying at a place called Kroombit Cattle station. it was a really cool place and i was having a really good day. i did a walk up a nearby hill where i could look over there 10,000 acres of land, i did rifle shooting, learning how to swing a lasso and crack a whip. it was a really fun day. and then came the Goat Rodeo. my job was to catch the goat by the horns and drag into the centre circle, and whilst trying to change direction quickly in flip-flops i managed to turn and then go down on the side of my ankle. i still managed to catch the goat though. it started to swell almost straight away and got quite painful quite quickly. it just spoiled what would otherwise have been a great day because afterwards there was a mechanical bull to ride and various games played which I couldn't take part in.
so come on claire, I've been meaning to e-mail all week, what's your story? is at as good as mine? I hope your well and everything is okay
the majority of sunday was spent driving from kroombit to Airlie Beach, which didn't really help anything it all, but i was able to visit a chemist to stock up on strapping and drugs which improved things slightly, and this morning i woke and it has more visable bruising on it now. 
so come on claire, I've been meaning to e-mail all week, what's your story? is at as good as mine? I hope your well and everything is okay
the majority of sunday was spent driving from kroombit to Airlie Beach, which didn't really help anything it all, but i was able to visit a chemist to stock up on strapping and drugs which improved things slightly, and this morning i woke and it has more visable bruising on it now.
I'm going on a Whitsunday Islands Boat trip for the next couple of days so i am planning to sit on the deck with my feet up and do very little, and hopefully it might be a bit better by the time i get back. I hope this isn't going to spoil the rest of my trip, and i'm certainly going to try and not let it. it just takes so long to do anything now and its just very annoying.
hopefully things will be a bit better by the time i post again.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Fraser Island
Hello everyone. I've been on Fraser Island for the last few days so that's why I haven't posted for a while.
the trip i was on was what they called a three-day, two-night, self-drive safari on the all-sand Fraser Island. what this meant was that we were given a jeep, camping equipment, cooking equipment and an itinerary and then just shown the way to the ferry across. there were three buses on my trip and 10/11 people in each bus. in my bus there was only one other person who could drive and was over 21 so this meant that i was going to have to do some driving.
when i first got into australia there was a lot of talk about the cyclones in the north, and the fact that places like Fraser Island had needed to be evacuated. there was even stories about crashed oil tankers and spills and various other nightmare scenarios. thankfully the worst-case situations didn't come up, however it did mean we weren't allowed to go further north than the Pyoungan Rocks which as you can see from this map, http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/media/parks_and_forests/parks/maps/map_fraser_island.pdf means that there was an awful lot we couldn't get to, although the 4x4hire group did say that the only thing missing from the normal itinerary was Indian Head and the wreck of the Maheno.
on the first day we drove in glorious sunshine to the Lake Birrabeen, when we set up for an afternoon on the beach when it imediately started to chuck it down. as soon as we got off the beach it stopped and became gloriously sunny again, of course. I drove back from the lake to the Govi area on the eastern beach between Dilli Village and Eurong (map again). the beach driving was fine but some of the inland roads are quite scary. we set up camp just off the beach and had a really good night, cooking spaghetti and then just sitting round the campsite. the dingoes were bothering us all night, because we cooked at the campsite, and even in the morning they were brazenly just wandering through as they pleased while we ate breakfast.
on the second day we drove to Eurong and then to Lake Makenzie, where we spent a much more pleasant few hours on the lakeside than the previous day. the lake areas are just like beaches, with the added benifit of fresh rather than salt water, which makes swiming much nicer. we then went to the central station campsite to take advantage of the barbeque facilities. i again drove the return journey, and really didn't enjoy it. i am far too nervous a driver for these so-called roads and I really didn't have the confident just to gun it up some of the steeper areas.
this morning we drove a few miles up the beach, from where we walked a killer of a walk to yet another beautiful lake, this one called lake Waddy. this lake was pretty much a very large sand dune down into the water, and then a very steep shelving in the lake. here i again had a very pleasant swim and watched some of the more brave people running down the dune and then diving into the lake. after the walk back we then drove back to the mainland.
as i type it up it sounds like we haven't done very much but i had a really good time. i've been blessed with good groups of people all the way through this trip and this one was no exception. everyone was up for a laugh and nobody complained or tried to cause trouble, and all-in-all its been a really great few days. i'm glad i had a go at the driving but i'm glad the trip was reliant upon my driving, as we would have spent twice as long with me at the wheel, being overtaken by snails. fortunately the other driver in my jeep was in his element so i wasn't expected to do much drving
the trip i was on was what they called a three-day, two-night, self-drive safari on the all-sand Fraser Island. what this meant was that we were given a jeep, camping equipment, cooking equipment and an itinerary and then just shown the way to the ferry across. there were three buses on my trip and 10/11 people in each bus. in my bus there was only one other person who could drive and was over 21 so this meant that i was going to have to do some driving.
when i first got into australia there was a lot of talk about the cyclones in the north, and the fact that places like Fraser Island had needed to be evacuated. there was even stories about crashed oil tankers and spills and various other nightmare scenarios. thankfully the worst-case situations didn't come up, however it did mean we weren't allowed to go further north than the Pyoungan Rocks which as you can see from this map, http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/media/parks_and_forests/parks/maps/map_fraser_island.pdf means that there was an awful lot we couldn't get to, although the 4x4hire group did say that the only thing missing from the normal itinerary was Indian Head and the wreck of the Maheno.
on the first day we drove in glorious sunshine to the Lake Birrabeen, when we set up for an afternoon on the beach when it imediately started to chuck it down. as soon as we got off the beach it stopped and became gloriously sunny again, of course. I drove back from the lake to the Govi area on the eastern beach between Dilli Village and Eurong (map again). the beach driving was fine but some of the inland roads are quite scary. we set up camp just off the beach and had a really good night, cooking spaghetti and then just sitting round the campsite. the dingoes were bothering us all night, because we cooked at the campsite, and even in the morning they were brazenly just wandering through as they pleased while we ate breakfast.
on the second day we drove to Eurong and then to Lake Makenzie, where we spent a much more pleasant few hours on the lakeside than the previous day. the lake areas are just like beaches, with the added benifit of fresh rather than salt water, which makes swiming much nicer. we then went to the central station campsite to take advantage of the barbeque facilities. i again drove the return journey, and really didn't enjoy it. i am far too nervous a driver for these so-called roads and I really didn't have the confident just to gun it up some of the steeper areas.
this morning we drove a few miles up the beach, from where we walked a killer of a walk to yet another beautiful lake, this one called lake Waddy. this lake was pretty much a very large sand dune down into the water, and then a very steep shelving in the lake. here i again had a very pleasant swim and watched some of the more brave people running down the dune and then diving into the lake. after the walk back we then drove back to the mainland.
as i type it up it sounds like we haven't done very much but i had a really good time. i've been blessed with good groups of people all the way through this trip and this one was no exception. everyone was up for a laugh and nobody complained or tried to cause trouble, and all-in-all its been a really great few days. i'm glad i had a go at the driving but i'm glad the trip was reliant upon my driving, as we would have spent twice as long with me at the wheel, being overtaken by snails. fortunately the other driver in my jeep was in his element so i wasn't expected to do much drving
Monday, 23 March 2009
Brisbane
not sure what to say about Brisbane really. I haven't disliked the place but i could probably have done everything i did in one or at most two days but I was there for three and so it felt like i was constantly wasting time rather than rushing to fit everything in, like i have done for most of the rest of the trip. I dont seem to be able to get the balance right.
on the first day I wandered around the Queen St mall, which is the main pedestrianised shopping area of Brisbane, as well as looking around the Town Hall and related museum, the Modern Art Gallery and the Queensland Art Gallery.
on the second day i went on a tour of the Castlemaine XXXX brewery, which was fairly interesting for a tour that was mostly just looking at a large production line. there was a bit of history and explations of the technicalities of beer making that made it interesting enough. the 4 free beers at the end made it a very worthwhile way to spend a morning, although i did have to go back to the hostel for a bit of a snooze afterwards, a hangover is not a good thing to start with at 1 in the afternoon. Watched the Brisbane rugby league team playing in the evening in the hostel bar
On the third day i took a allday ticket on the various citycat/cityferries that operate on the river, and so saw some of the more external parts of the city, including an artifcial beach area and millenium eye-style big wheel on the riverside, botanical gardens and various park areas.
In the evening i rather aimlessly just wandered around for a few hours and had a strangely enjoyable evening walking with no destination in mind. i saw possums in the park and various other places that i had managed to miss over the previous three days. I also spent a very enjoyable hour watching a group of extremely bigoted and unpleasant Christian preachers getting shouted down and made to look ridiculous by a group of young girls, picking faults in eveyone of their arguments. extremely funny
I left Brisbane yesterday to travel up the coast to a place called Noosa. I was slightly worried on the bus in as the driver explaind it as a small coastal town mostly filled up with the retirees from Brisbane, but its actually quite nice, although i dont think i'd want to spend more than a day here. I wandered onto the beach and watched the surf festival/competition which was going on. and then went ona very pleasant walk through the nearby National Park, which went along the coastline and then back through the forest. I was supposed to be able to see wild Koalas in this forest but unfortunately i didn't see any, although i did see lots of wild turkeys.
i'm still in Noosa as i write this but i'm going to catch the bus to Rainbow Beach in an a hour or so, and it is from there that i will be going to Fraser Island. I think I'm camping on Fraser so 'm not sure when I'm going to get to post again.
I hope eveyone had a good time on saturday, whether at the stag do or in Nottingham
Sorry Mum, I've just realised that I forgot that it was Mothers Day yesterday.oops. Hope you had a good day whatever it was you did. love you and I'll post as soon as i can
Paul
on the first day I wandered around the Queen St mall, which is the main pedestrianised shopping area of Brisbane, as well as looking around the Town Hall and related museum, the Modern Art Gallery and the Queensland Art Gallery.
on the second day i went on a tour of the Castlemaine XXXX brewery, which was fairly interesting for a tour that was mostly just looking at a large production line. there was a bit of history and explations of the technicalities of beer making that made it interesting enough. the 4 free beers at the end made it a very worthwhile way to spend a morning, although i did have to go back to the hostel for a bit of a snooze afterwards, a hangover is not a good thing to start with at 1 in the afternoon. Watched the Brisbane rugby league team playing in the evening in the hostel bar
On the third day i took a allday ticket on the various citycat/cityferries that operate on the river, and so saw some of the more external parts of the city, including an artifcial beach area and millenium eye-style big wheel on the riverside, botanical gardens and various park areas.
In the evening i rather aimlessly just wandered around for a few hours and had a strangely enjoyable evening walking with no destination in mind. i saw possums in the park and various other places that i had managed to miss over the previous three days. I also spent a very enjoyable hour watching a group of extremely bigoted and unpleasant Christian preachers getting shouted down and made to look ridiculous by a group of young girls, picking faults in eveyone of their arguments. extremely funny
I left Brisbane yesterday to travel up the coast to a place called Noosa. I was slightly worried on the bus in as the driver explaind it as a small coastal town mostly filled up with the retirees from Brisbane, but its actually quite nice, although i dont think i'd want to spend more than a day here. I wandered onto the beach and watched the surf festival/competition which was going on. and then went ona very pleasant walk through the nearby National Park, which went along the coastline and then back through the forest. I was supposed to be able to see wild Koalas in this forest but unfortunately i didn't see any, although i did see lots of wild turkeys.
i'm still in Noosa as i write this but i'm going to catch the bus to Rainbow Beach in an a hour or so, and it is from there that i will be going to Fraser Island. I think I'm camping on Fraser so 'm not sure when I'm going to get to post again.
I hope eveyone had a good time on saturday, whether at the stag do or in Nottingham
Sorry Mum, I've just realised that I forgot that it was Mothers Day yesterday.oops. Hope you had a good day whatever it was you did. love you and I'll post as soon as i can
Paul
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Sydney to Brisbane
I left sydney on Saturday morning on what turned out to be a bit of a nightmare journey because the air conditioning on the bus was broken. the only highlight of the long days drive was that we stopped for lunch at a Koala hospital, which was very cute.
We stayed at a place called Surf Camp for the night, where we would be having our free surf lesson in the morning. surfing really isn't for me. the currents are very strong out here and I am far too clumsy and uncoordinated to have any chance of getting up on a board.
Spent the next few days in a place called Byron Bay, which was absolutely lovely. the hostel i stayed at had free bike hire so on the second day there i took one out, and those people who say youi never forget how to ride a bike are lying, because it was really hard at first, but once i got the hang of it again I had a really nice morning, riding through the back streets and some of the wooded areas. apart from that did nothing more interesting that laze around on the beach and have a bit of a splash in the sea for a couple of days. I've been to lots of places that I would like to visit again and spend more time, but I think I would actually like to live in Byron Bay. Lots of nice places to get food and some weird little shops, and some great beaches too
On that second day after i took the bike back to the hostel, I went to meet some people on the beach, and I had been there for about half an hour and had just gone for a splash in the sea when from absolutely nowhere the sky filled with totally black clouds, and it started to absolutely chuck it down with rain that even the hostel owner said was like nothing he'd seen there before. It was a 15minute walk back to the hostel and by the time I got there i was drenched, as was our towels and everything else, so we played volleyball in the heated swimming pool during a thunderstorm, as there was no way of drying ourselves anyway.
The next day was absolutely glorious again, so much so that I managed to get myself burned for the first time, which was annoying as I had been being really careful not to let myself become a lobster.
Left Byron Bay on Tuesday evening for the short ride up the coast to a place called Surfers Paradise, which was nothing like as nice. got there on St Patricks day evening so once i checked in there was no time to do anything and the bus was picking up to move on to Brisbane at 5 the following evening. I know it isn't fair to judge a place on less than one day but with a name like that I was expecting a little town full of surfers. Instead it was a big and rather soulless high rise city full of blocks of flats overlooking the beach and a generic shopping area. I only really had time for a quick walk along the shopping streets and then back along the beach, stopping to look at the kite surfers
Left Surfers for Brisbane in the evening again so I didn't do anything last night apart from some laundry, although i did get some good photos of the sunset from the bus
We stayed at a place called Surf Camp for the night, where we would be having our free surf lesson in the morning. surfing really isn't for me. the currents are very strong out here and I am far too clumsy and uncoordinated to have any chance of getting up on a board.
Spent the next few days in a place called Byron Bay, which was absolutely lovely. the hostel i stayed at had free bike hire so on the second day there i took one out, and those people who say youi never forget how to ride a bike are lying, because it was really hard at first, but once i got the hang of it again I had a really nice morning, riding through the back streets and some of the wooded areas. apart from that did nothing more interesting that laze around on the beach and have a bit of a splash in the sea for a couple of days. I've been to lots of places that I would like to visit again and spend more time, but I think I would actually like to live in Byron Bay. Lots of nice places to get food and some weird little shops, and some great beaches too
On that second day after i took the bike back to the hostel, I went to meet some people on the beach, and I had been there for about half an hour and had just gone for a splash in the sea when from absolutely nowhere the sky filled with totally black clouds, and it started to absolutely chuck it down with rain that even the hostel owner said was like nothing he'd seen there before. It was a 15minute walk back to the hostel and by the time I got there i was drenched, as was our towels and everything else, so we played volleyball in the heated swimming pool during a thunderstorm, as there was no way of drying ourselves anyway.
The next day was absolutely glorious again, so much so that I managed to get myself burned for the first time, which was annoying as I had been being really careful not to let myself become a lobster.
Left Byron Bay on Tuesday evening for the short ride up the coast to a place called Surfers Paradise, which was nothing like as nice. got there on St Patricks day evening so once i checked in there was no time to do anything and the bus was picking up to move on to Brisbane at 5 the following evening. I know it isn't fair to judge a place on less than one day but with a name like that I was expecting a little town full of surfers. Instead it was a big and rather soulless high rise city full of blocks of flats overlooking the beach and a generic shopping area. I only really had time for a quick walk along the shopping streets and then back along the beach, stopping to look at the kite surfers
Left Surfers for Brisbane in the evening again so I didn't do anything last night apart from some laundry, although i did get some good photos of the sunset from the bus
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Sydney
I have had a really good time in Sydney. AFter the rushed pace of New Zealand and the first few days in Oz, it was really good being based in one place for a while, being able to sleep in a bit later and not have to rush to try and fit everything into a short space of time. Also being able to stay with some of the people I met on the OZ bus has been good too.
Tuesday was spent walking across the harbour Bridge and then walking up one of its pillars, and then walking across the circular area to thh Opera House.
I woke up with a stunning migraine on Wednesday so i had avery slow day wandering around the streets of sydney and then the Botanical gardens, stopping occasionaly to write out a postcard. if you're all lucky you might actually get them b efore i get home, if I can find a post office tomorrow.
on Thursday morning I went and looked around the SYdney aquarium which was great, and then in the evening I went on a boat trip around the Harbour with the group from the bus and then went to a bar for the rest of the evening.
On Friday I went on a bus trip out of the city to the Blue Mountains which was amazing. Probably the nicest place I've been, except possibly Milford SOund, although its a close run thing. Even with my hangover it was a really great place with some great walks up and down the cliff sides. as part of the trip we also went to a place called Sceneic WOrld, which had an absolutely terrifying train ride down the cliff side to the boardwalks that go through the forest at the bottom. the train was the st eepest incline train in the world a nd went down a 50degree slope. it was worse that the trams in San Fransisco
Tuesday was spent walking across the harbour Bridge and then walking up one of its pillars, and then walking across the circular area to thh Opera House.
I woke up with a stunning migraine on Wednesday so i had avery slow day wandering around the streets of sydney and then the Botanical gardens, stopping occasionaly to write out a postcard. if you're all lucky you might actually get them b efore i get home, if I can find a post office tomorrow.
on Thursday morning I went and looked around the SYdney aquarium which was great, and then in the evening I went on a boat trip around the Harbour with the group from the bus and then went to a bar for the rest of the evening.
On Friday I went on a bus trip out of the city to the Blue Mountains which was amazing. Probably the nicest place I've been, except possibly Milford SOund, although its a close run thing. Even with my hangover it was a really great place with some great walks up and down the cliff sides. as part of the trip we also went to a place called Sceneic WOrld, which had an absolutely terrifying train ride down the cliff side to the boardwalks that go through the forest at the bottom. the train was the st eepest incline train in the world a nd went down a 50degree slope. it was worse that the trams in San Fransisco
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