After returning to Rainbow beach after Fraser, we had a very chilled out night, back in civilization (well, just barely) before heading back onto the bus, (I nearly missed it, opps) and our next destination, Noosa!!!
Noosa is an awesome, holiday/tourist town, set right by the beach, we were so lucky and were greeted by lots of sun and blue skies. The place had a really cool vibe and a great fun/busy atmosphere, which I loved, and felt at home straight away!
So on our first day, we went kayaking in two man and one man kayaks! I went in a two man with Sidsel first, and our team work was awful, we just couldn’t time our strokes at the same time, which was rather funny and wet! After 40 mins or so of kayaking, we reached this small island, that was in the middle of the water and was free of people! So we moored up our kayaks, and had a whole island to ourselves, which was wicked cool, we went a bit crazy taking pics, and running around madly!
The next day in Noosa, it was my birthday!!!!! But my 22nd birthday; which makes it less exciting, as I am now beginning to get old….. My next exciting milestones is 30 and I don’t think that’s a good milestone, ha! Anyway, I woke up to the girls of the group, mainly Cathy and Gemma singing me happy birthday; followed by presents!!! Yay! I got Vodka (best present ever) and chocolate, which meant I could finally have a night off the goon, and onto something good! It was such an awesome start of the day, and so kind that the group all chipped in, to get me a present, it was just awesome. After that I went for a fancy brekky, a fry up, mmmmmm! Then I went and bought two books, since I’ve been in Oz, I have read soo much. I bought a new true blood novel, which I’ve already finished, and the Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (which I’ve finished too)!!! I read a lot here, and quickly and it was nice to buy something exciting; as usually the most exciting thing I’m usually buying is a pot noodle….. Or chocolate, but that’s always amazing, ha.
After that we all headed to the beach, woo, where we played in the sea, sunbathed, and read my new books, yay! In the evening we went out for a Chinese, delicious, sweet n sour! As well as a BIG surprise, the guys got me a birthday cake and candles, and sang to me, which was sooo wicked (and a bit embarrassing)!! After dinner we headed back home to play the deadly drinking game, RING OF FIRE, with my beautiful vodka J Then we dressed up as ravers, painting our faces, glow bands and headbands (which was also a joke at Gareth, as he is always wearing headbands). We headed out to an Irish pub, Murphy’s, which was really busy as it was a student night, so there was a great party vibe! So I continued to drink and dance my birthday away! It was a pretty special birthday, celebrating with awesome people, and on the other side of the world.
So the next day, as your guessing, I was RIDCIOUSLY hungover, banging headache and just general BLURGH symptoms, ha! It was also really emotional day, as all the group were leaving Noosa (most are on a shorter time frame than me). I loved Noosa, so wanted to stay longer. So Cathy, Gemma, Matt, Gareth, Louise, Sidsel and Gareth all got on the bus to Brisbane, without me, which was rather emotional, and a bit teary. It was so sad, because we had been traveling together for the last 3 and a half weeks together! We all got on so well and had great banter, we were like a little family unit; so it was very sad to say goodbye and be a lone traveler again! Boo hiss boo!
After a few days I got back into the swing of being a loner…. Uh, I mean lone traveler again, and was meeting lots of cool people again. That’s the great thing about traveling, you meet such different people and it’s so interesting to hear their stories, especially if there are from different countries!
On Wednesday I wanted to keep busy, so I went on an organised trip; Noosa’s big day out. Where we headed to the Emmundi marets, which are very famous throughout Aus! The market was huge and you had everything there, food, clothes, jewelry, massages, psychics, art, dvd etc, just everything! It had a really cool vibe, I bought some cool bracelets with my bday money; and there was lots of free food about, which is great when your eating on a budget!
After the markets, we headed to a nearby waterfall, which was really special, my first I’ve seen in Aus; and everyone ad to jumped off it! I’m not a big fan of heights, so I just stood there for a while, trying to psyche myself up, but instead, I became more hesitant! Then I just thought your only here once, so come on man; and I jumped!!! Woo, it was an awesome feeling, very cool to say I’ve jumped off a waterfall, I must say, happy days! After this we had a Barbie, good times.
Once we had all refueled from our tasty barbie, we headed over to the sunshine beach to go surfing!!!! Lucky no one else in the group had gone surfing before, so we were all novices! And gosh was it tricky, I have no balance or co-ordination, so it was difficult enough getting on the board, when the waves kept bombarding you. After getting on your board, you had to paddle, and then when you are right on the wave, jump up and ride the wave, sounds pretty easy, but it so wasn’t; in fact I sucked! It was only an hour or so of surfing, so not that long, and unfortunately I didn’t managed to stand up, as I’m a bit special that way! But it was awesome fun, and another thing ticked off the list. I may try it again, for some fun, but I’m not really a natural, ha!
The next day I went and ventured to the Noosa National Parks, and did a 6km walk along the coast, it was probably the most beautiful scenery and sights I have seen so far. I walked to Hell’s Gate, which is on the very edge of the Noosa coast, giving stunning views of the sea and Alexandria bay. After Hell’s gate, I walked along Alexandria bay, and as I was walking with my ipod blasting some tunes out, in my own world, and then I was like, huh?, why hasn’t that guy got any clothes on, or that person or that person…… Forgetting it was a NUDE beach, haha, so funny! But also rather rank, as they were mainly old, chubby and a bit freaky, so I sped up my walking, and headed over to Sunshine beach! Which was an awesome beach; and thankfully not a nude beach, sigh of relief!!! I chilled there for a while, reading, then headed back home, so I walked for around 4-5 hours, so a pretty good work out and all in thongs, pretty impressive, hey?! Lol!
As I write this I’m back in Brissie with Mary, after doing most of the east coast now! Woo! And it’s been an amazing journey and adventure, seeing great things along the way and meeting so many great people. For so long I wanted to have an adventure, and now here I am living and doing it, I really couldn’t be happier! Now I’m just recharging my batteries back in Brisbane with Mary; and enjoying having my own room, and not sharing with 15 other people, having free internet, (Oz internet is pricey, hence the gaps between my blogs) and good home cooked food, heaven!! I’m hoping to do my RSA training here too, which is Responsible Service of Alcohol, yes, you have to pay to do a course, to be able to serve/sell alcohol, so silly, oh well that’s the system. And I’m starting to look for jobs now, as unfortunately my funds are getting a bit low! So I’m gonna look for work further down, maybe a bar job or some office work in Sydney!!!!! Being back in Brisvegas is weird, as it was where I started my adventure, so I’ve been reflecting a lot about my travels, and what an amazing time I’ve had already. My highlights so far have to be Cape Tribulation (just beautiful), cantering on a horse along the beach, surviving a storm at Fraser and staying at Noosa, which is just a beautiful town; ooo and my very drunken night at the WhitSundays sailing! So, still having the time of my life! Will be in Brissie for a bit to sort out my next move/my life, before getting back on the bus and heading to Surfer’s Paradise; I wonder what Paradise is like?!
Until next time,
Angus x
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Fraser Island-An interesting camping experience.........
After leaving Kroombit, we all jumped back onto the Oz bus with our driver; Nipples, they all have weird names, but don't tell us why they are called them..... So far I have met Nipples, Trucker and Coaster; I been told Disco is a cool dude to travel with, so hopefully I will meet him on my next bus adventure! Anyways, after 11 hours of traveling, we arrived at Rainbow Beach!
So Rainbow Beach is a really exciting coastal town........ It has a population of around a 1000 people, but I never even saw that many people, so its a very small place! It basically has a small high street, a supermarket and a beach (which was pretty awesome; although the beach was covered with dead jellyfish, which you have to dodge as they can still sting ya, even when they’re dead!). Although not many people are residents in Rainbow, there are up to 10,000 people visiting each day (I've been told, not sure that fact is true.....) This is mainly because people stop at Rainbow beach to head to Fraser Island! I spent around 4 days in Rainbow beach and by the end of it was going crazy, as there isn't much to do; which really highlighted to me that I'm a city guy!
On Wednesday, surprise surprise we had to get up at 5.30am, which was painful; but it was to go and feed wild dolphins, which is deffo worth getting up for! We caught a ferry and went to Tin Can Bay. The dolphins we feed were humpback dolphins and there was a pod (family) of ten dolphins living in the area, and we meet two of the pod. I was given a dead fish (NICE) and then went down to the water, where it was shallow, and then held out my hand with the dead fish, and gave the dolphin its brekky! It was soo awesome to be able to feed a wild dolphin (another thing ticked off the list). Although it was strange seeing the dolphins, as they didn't look real to me, it was a surreal, but magnificent sight. The pack leader of this pod, I managed feed, and he actually had lots of scars on him. This is because other dolphins pass through the waters where this pod lives, and they can get very territorial, and thus get into fights, which surprised me slightly as dolphins are usually very gentle creatures. But all in all, awesome times; now I’ve just got to swim with some!
So, when we booked our tour for Fraser Island, we did a package with the Whitsundays as well, so we got it pretty cheap (yay); but what I didn't know until we arrived at our briefing, the day before we set off, was that we were going camping!!! This was a bit of a surprise for me, as I assumed (never a good thing to do) that we would be staying in a hostel. So, I’m not really a camping person, I like my home comforts and having showers, which we didn't get for 3 days over there. So after getting over that shock (ha) we were told more about what we were doing. We were put into groups of 8 and were given a 4w4, all our camping equipment and food to cook for the next three days. Everyone who had a driver's license could drive the 4w4, I decided not too, unfortunately, :( as I haven’t driven for nearly 4 years, so I didn’t think it would be a good idea driving a 4w4 for the first time, on the beach, with 7 other people's lives in my hand, ha!). So we were exploring the island for the next three days by 4w4, with a guide taking us to all the cool places. To travel around the island traveling involved driving on the beach, super awesome (even if I wasn't).
But before I continue, I should really tell you more about Fraser Island!!! So Fraser Island is located south of Brisbane, and is the largest sand island in the world; at 1840km squared. It has rainforests, lots of beaches/bays, sand dunes, swamps, freshwater lakes, and coastal heaths. It's a very beautiful place, as it is touched very little by humans, so it's a very natural/beautiful place; unspoiled by mankind’s interferences basically.
So after traveling in a 4w4 for the first time; it's very bumpy in the back, going over lots of uneven surfaces, dips and rocky hills! And many times jolting out of my seat and hitting my head on the roof, (fun times), we caught a ferry, and headed over to Fraser Island. Once we arrived we drove along the beach (just awesome) and then arrived at our camp. So this was the next shock; we weren't camping on ground or grass, but sand!!!!! Oh dear! So after getting over that shock, we started to set up camp, and attempted to put up are tents, and somehow make them stay up in the sand! Which actually didn't turn out to be too difficult, even for a novice like me! Ha!
With camp now set up we got back into our jeeps, and headed over to Indian Head summit. To get to the top of Indian we had to walk up a tricky rocky cliff climb (very difficult in thongs). This was at the north point of the island, and looks over at a 75km beach and the sea, a beautiful sight in the sun. This headland was also named by Captain Cook, when he passed it in May 1770, because of the aboriginal people he saw there. As we looked out to the sea, we were very LUCKY to see: a wild dolphin, some turtles; and wait for it........ a humpback whale!!!!! We saw the whale from quite a distance, but it was still an amazing sight, seeing the size of the whale, huge, and the power it had, when it crashed waves with its body, wicked cool stuff!!!
After that great experience, we headed back to camp before it got dark, and the tide got too high, otherwise we wouldn't be able to drive on the beach; and would have been stranded :O. We then had dinner, the food we were given for the trip was actually pretty good! The first night we had steak, my favorite, medium rare, yummers! I cooked the first night and it was pretty fun to cook camping style I must say, even if it was very sandy. So; about the sand, it was a bit of a nightmare, I mean I've always hated sand, since like forever, so going to the biggest sand island probably wasn't the best idea, ha! Anyways the darn sand gets everywhere, in your food (it gives the food a nice crunch texture) your ears, hair, toenails, fingers nails, in your pants and lots of really not fun places (you know what I mean), in my sleeping bag, all over my clothes, in my camera (bad times) just EVERYWHERE!! There was no escaping the evil stuff, ha! Which really added to the camping experience……
After dinner, everyone in our camp, got on the goon, and drank the night away socialising and getting to know each other. Our little group then headed to the beach, and chilled out in the darkness, and looked up to the sky, and stared at the stars, so cool; if only I knew more about constellations. So my first nights sleep was interesting, as we didn’t have any sleeping mats, so we were basically sleeping on hard, uneven sand (nice and comfortable). I woke up the next day feeling really refreshed…. with a really sore back and shoulders……. lol! But it’s all part of the experience, I guess!
After getting up, or should I say woken up at 6am by our guide, we had brekky (scrambled eggs and toast with orange juice; a good way to start the day) and then got back into our 4w4s to visit the next natural sight on the island; Lake McKenzie. Lake McKenzie is the most visited site of the island, and no wonder why, it is a truly beautiful and secluded place! The lake is only made up from rainwater, so when I swam in it (it was very cold) the water was so fresh, it was such a refreshing swim, in a beautiful setting with a beach, and a forest surrounding the rest of the lake, wow! The lake had tints of blue and green, which was a great sight, just a really amazing place.
After that we headed onto Eli Creek, which is the largest freshwater stream on the island! I swam from the mouth of the creek to the end, also very cold, but pretty cool. There was also a boardwalk along the creek and through the trees; looking onto and over the creek which was brill. It was a very chilled out place, I felt very at peace here, and there was less sand, which was a bonus!
After our day of sightseeing on the island, we headed back to our camp to have dinner! That night was a very interesting experience; to say the least…. Our guide said there was a chance it would rain during the night, so our group erected a plastic sheet covering all our tents to keep us rain free. As we all began to head to bed (on our sand mattresses) it started to rain lightly, and continued on most of the night, but I thought little of it, till later….. It was about 1am and I was fast asleep, dreaming happy thoughts, when I was suddenly awoken by a howling wind and my tent shaking!!! I was meant to be sharing my tent with Matt, but he never returned…… (I found out later that he was so drunk he passed out in the jeep!). So I was by myself, when the wind started to get really strong and the rain pelted my tent! I actually thought my tent was going to blow away, so I had to sit up and literally hold my tent up, parts of it had already started to collapse! So I had to be strong and keep it up against the howling wind and drenching of the rain! Ha! As all this was happening, all the girls in one of the next door tents were screaming, as our make-shift roof had collapsed and gone onto their tent! Causing their tent to leak and they got soaked, so they had to run out, find the jeep; and then spend the rest of the night in the cramped back of the 4w4!!! As well as this, some Irish guys who were rather drunk; hadn’t set there tent up correctly, and it blew away with half of their stuff it in!! So I managed to brave the storm, and keep my tent up by myself, whilst other people’s tent had blown away or leaked; so I was a lucky guy under the circumstances! It was a pretty eventful night and a fun experience, I have to say! It’s cool to say I’ve camped at Fraser Island, AND that I have survived a pretty big storm! All you could do during the storm was laugh anyway, not that I could really hear other people, as the wind was so powerful!
Another thing Fraser Island is very famous for is; dingoes!!! Which are wild dogs, very cute, but dangerous! They have attacked quite a lot of people on the island before, so we had to be on our guard. At our briefing, we were told that we would be guaranteed to see lots of dingoes, and we really did! One of the girls of our group, didn’t have a torch, so I helped her go back to her tent, when we arrived, her tent was shaking and moving a lot! We were like OKAY, what’s going on?! Suddenly a wild dingo jumped out, with its mouth full of food, it had found in the tent! It was the first dingo I saw, so we both got a bit of a shock; I hadn’t expect them to come right into camp. The following days, there were all around our camp, in search of food scraps. It’s very bad to feed the dingoes, as they will keep coming back for more, and if you don’t continue to feed them, they become aggressive. Many dingoes have to be killed each year, for coming into contact too much with people, and becoming a danger to visitors. These dingoes are also some of the last pure breed wild dingoes in eastern Oz, there are only thought to be 120 or so, left on the island. Once a boy wandered off by himself on the island, and was found dead, the dingoes mauled him to death, so on the island, your never meant to go anywhere by yourself! Especially at night when they are more active; or you may never been seen again! So that deffo added to the camping experience.
On our last day, we went to Lake Wabby, which is in the middle of the island. The lake is rather small, but gorgeous and surrounded by steep sand dunes, and just huge areas of sand, if felt like a desert; which was
just such a magical sight. This was probably my favorite place on Fraser, as it was just so different to what I had seen before.
So after 3 days and 2 days nights of camping, we had finished our time at Fraser, and what an eventful three days it had been! And it was a really great experience to have (despite my moaning, lol), and with such great people and such awe inspiring landscape! But when we got back to a hostel, it felt like a luxury, my own bed, with a mattress, a shower and sand free! Although it took a few days till, I was totally free of sand from my body and clothes, ha! But it’s another thing ticked off the list, but still plenty more to go!!!
Until next time,
Angus x
So Rainbow Beach is a really exciting coastal town........ It has a population of around a 1000 people, but I never even saw that many people, so its a very small place! It basically has a small high street, a supermarket and a beach (which was pretty awesome; although the beach was covered with dead jellyfish, which you have to dodge as they can still sting ya, even when they’re dead!). Although not many people are residents in Rainbow, there are up to 10,000 people visiting each day (I've been told, not sure that fact is true.....) This is mainly because people stop at Rainbow beach to head to Fraser Island! I spent around 4 days in Rainbow beach and by the end of it was going crazy, as there isn't much to do; which really highlighted to me that I'm a city guy!
On Wednesday, surprise surprise we had to get up at 5.30am, which was painful; but it was to go and feed wild dolphins, which is deffo worth getting up for! We caught a ferry and went to Tin Can Bay. The dolphins we feed were humpback dolphins and there was a pod (family) of ten dolphins living in the area, and we meet two of the pod. I was given a dead fish (NICE) and then went down to the water, where it was shallow, and then held out my hand with the dead fish, and gave the dolphin its brekky! It was soo awesome to be able to feed a wild dolphin (another thing ticked off the list). Although it was strange seeing the dolphins, as they didn't look real to me, it was a surreal, but magnificent sight. The pack leader of this pod, I managed feed, and he actually had lots of scars on him. This is because other dolphins pass through the waters where this pod lives, and they can get very territorial, and thus get into fights, which surprised me slightly as dolphins are usually very gentle creatures. But all in all, awesome times; now I’ve just got to swim with some!
So, when we booked our tour for Fraser Island, we did a package with the Whitsundays as well, so we got it pretty cheap (yay); but what I didn't know until we arrived at our briefing, the day before we set off, was that we were going camping!!! This was a bit of a surprise for me, as I assumed (never a good thing to do) that we would be staying in a hostel. So, I’m not really a camping person, I like my home comforts and having showers, which we didn't get for 3 days over there. So after getting over that shock (ha) we were told more about what we were doing. We were put into groups of 8 and were given a 4w4, all our camping equipment and food to cook for the next three days. Everyone who had a driver's license could drive the 4w4, I decided not too, unfortunately, :( as I haven’t driven for nearly 4 years, so I didn’t think it would be a good idea driving a 4w4 for the first time, on the beach, with 7 other people's lives in my hand, ha!). So we were exploring the island for the next three days by 4w4, with a guide taking us to all the cool places. To travel around the island traveling involved driving on the beach, super awesome (even if I wasn't).
But before I continue, I should really tell you more about Fraser Island!!! So Fraser Island is located south of Brisbane, and is the largest sand island in the world; at 1840km squared. It has rainforests, lots of beaches/bays, sand dunes, swamps, freshwater lakes, and coastal heaths. It's a very beautiful place, as it is touched very little by humans, so it's a very natural/beautiful place; unspoiled by mankind’s interferences basically.
So after traveling in a 4w4 for the first time; it's very bumpy in the back, going over lots of uneven surfaces, dips and rocky hills! And many times jolting out of my seat and hitting my head on the roof, (fun times), we caught a ferry, and headed over to Fraser Island. Once we arrived we drove along the beach (just awesome) and then arrived at our camp. So this was the next shock; we weren't camping on ground or grass, but sand!!!!! Oh dear! So after getting over that shock, we started to set up camp, and attempted to put up are tents, and somehow make them stay up in the sand! Which actually didn't turn out to be too difficult, even for a novice like me! Ha!
With camp now set up we got back into our jeeps, and headed over to Indian Head summit. To get to the top of Indian we had to walk up a tricky rocky cliff climb (very difficult in thongs). This was at the north point of the island, and looks over at a 75km beach and the sea, a beautiful sight in the sun. This headland was also named by Captain Cook, when he passed it in May 1770, because of the aboriginal people he saw there. As we looked out to the sea, we were very LUCKY to see: a wild dolphin, some turtles; and wait for it........ a humpback whale!!!!! We saw the whale from quite a distance, but it was still an amazing sight, seeing the size of the whale, huge, and the power it had, when it crashed waves with its body, wicked cool stuff!!!
After that great experience, we headed back to camp before it got dark, and the tide got too high, otherwise we wouldn't be able to drive on the beach; and would have been stranded :O. We then had dinner, the food we were given for the trip was actually pretty good! The first night we had steak, my favorite, medium rare, yummers! I cooked the first night and it was pretty fun to cook camping style I must say, even if it was very sandy. So; about the sand, it was a bit of a nightmare, I mean I've always hated sand, since like forever, so going to the biggest sand island probably wasn't the best idea, ha! Anyways the darn sand gets everywhere, in your food (it gives the food a nice crunch texture) your ears, hair, toenails, fingers nails, in your pants and lots of really not fun places (you know what I mean), in my sleeping bag, all over my clothes, in my camera (bad times) just EVERYWHERE!! There was no escaping the evil stuff, ha! Which really added to the camping experience……
After dinner, everyone in our camp, got on the goon, and drank the night away socialising and getting to know each other. Our little group then headed to the beach, and chilled out in the darkness, and looked up to the sky, and stared at the stars, so cool; if only I knew more about constellations. So my first nights sleep was interesting, as we didn’t have any sleeping mats, so we were basically sleeping on hard, uneven sand (nice and comfortable). I woke up the next day feeling really refreshed…. with a really sore back and shoulders……. lol! But it’s all part of the experience, I guess!
After getting up, or should I say woken up at 6am by our guide, we had brekky (scrambled eggs and toast with orange juice; a good way to start the day) and then got back into our 4w4s to visit the next natural sight on the island; Lake McKenzie. Lake McKenzie is the most visited site of the island, and no wonder why, it is a truly beautiful and secluded place! The lake is only made up from rainwater, so when I swam in it (it was very cold) the water was so fresh, it was such a refreshing swim, in a beautiful setting with a beach, and a forest surrounding the rest of the lake, wow! The lake had tints of blue and green, which was a great sight, just a really amazing place.
After that we headed onto Eli Creek, which is the largest freshwater stream on the island! I swam from the mouth of the creek to the end, also very cold, but pretty cool. There was also a boardwalk along the creek and through the trees; looking onto and over the creek which was brill. It was a very chilled out place, I felt very at peace here, and there was less sand, which was a bonus!
After our day of sightseeing on the island, we headed back to our camp to have dinner! That night was a very interesting experience; to say the least…. Our guide said there was a chance it would rain during the night, so our group erected a plastic sheet covering all our tents to keep us rain free. As we all began to head to bed (on our sand mattresses) it started to rain lightly, and continued on most of the night, but I thought little of it, till later….. It was about 1am and I was fast asleep, dreaming happy thoughts, when I was suddenly awoken by a howling wind and my tent shaking!!! I was meant to be sharing my tent with Matt, but he never returned…… (I found out later that he was so drunk he passed out in the jeep!). So I was by myself, when the wind started to get really strong and the rain pelted my tent! I actually thought my tent was going to blow away, so I had to sit up and literally hold my tent up, parts of it had already started to collapse! So I had to be strong and keep it up against the howling wind and drenching of the rain! Ha! As all this was happening, all the girls in one of the next door tents were screaming, as our make-shift roof had collapsed and gone onto their tent! Causing their tent to leak and they got soaked, so they had to run out, find the jeep; and then spend the rest of the night in the cramped back of the 4w4!!! As well as this, some Irish guys who were rather drunk; hadn’t set there tent up correctly, and it blew away with half of their stuff it in!! So I managed to brave the storm, and keep my tent up by myself, whilst other people’s tent had blown away or leaked; so I was a lucky guy under the circumstances! It was a pretty eventful night and a fun experience, I have to say! It’s cool to say I’ve camped at Fraser Island, AND that I have survived a pretty big storm! All you could do during the storm was laugh anyway, not that I could really hear other people, as the wind was so powerful!
Another thing Fraser Island is very famous for is; dingoes!!! Which are wild dogs, very cute, but dangerous! They have attacked quite a lot of people on the island before, so we had to be on our guard. At our briefing, we were told that we would be guaranteed to see lots of dingoes, and we really did! One of the girls of our group, didn’t have a torch, so I helped her go back to her tent, when we arrived, her tent was shaking and moving a lot! We were like OKAY, what’s going on?! Suddenly a wild dingo jumped out, with its mouth full of food, it had found in the tent! It was the first dingo I saw, so we both got a bit of a shock; I hadn’t expect them to come right into camp. The following days, there were all around our camp, in search of food scraps. It’s very bad to feed the dingoes, as they will keep coming back for more, and if you don’t continue to feed them, they become aggressive. Many dingoes have to be killed each year, for coming into contact too much with people, and becoming a danger to visitors. These dingoes are also some of the last pure breed wild dingoes in eastern Oz, there are only thought to be 120 or so, left on the island. Once a boy wandered off by himself on the island, and was found dead, the dingoes mauled him to death, so on the island, your never meant to go anywhere by yourself! Especially at night when they are more active; or you may never been seen again! So that deffo added to the camping experience.
On our last day, we went to Lake Wabby, which is in the middle of the island. The lake is rather small, but gorgeous and surrounded by steep sand dunes, and just huge areas of sand, if felt like a desert; which was
just such a magical sight. This was probably my favorite place on Fraser, as it was just so different to what I had seen before.
So after 3 days and 2 days nights of camping, we had finished our time at Fraser, and what an eventful three days it had been! And it was a really great experience to have (despite my moaning, lol), and with such great people and such awe inspiring landscape! But when we got back to a hostel, it felt like a luxury, my own bed, with a mattress, a shower and sand free! Although it took a few days till, I was totally free of sand from my body and clothes, ha! But it’s another thing ticked off the list, but still plenty more to go!!!
Until next time,
Angus x
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Living in the outback as a cowboy!
Hey hey hey!!!
So, on Sunday (10th) evening I arrived at Kroombit Cattle Station (after a ten hour journey on the bus, which was actually pretty fun, lots of crazy singing, being creative with foil, I made a boat, but it SUCKED, and the item game, as well as beautiful scenery the whole way). Kroombit is in the outback, which is near Rockhampton, the beef capital of Australia, ooo exciting..... Before I arrived there we made a pit stop, and had a game of bowls, but barefoot, pretty exciting eh?! I was in a team with Gareth, and we played against everyone from the bus, and managed to get into the final, and won, wahey! It was actually quite a fun/chilled out game, the aim is to bowl your ball and to get as near as possible to a white ball on the other side of the pitch, and the nearest ball to the target wins, a pretty simple game! But the balls curve which makes it more tricky and its pretty hard to get the right pace. I was usually too hard or too soft, I couldn't get in the middle, lol! Anyways Kroombit was in the middle of nowhere, which you expect in the outback, on our big Oz bus, there was about 20 of us, and we all got on really well, which made the time at the cattle station more fun!!!
When we arrived we were given a bandana and a cowboy hat to get into the vibe of the place, so I felt like a bit of cowboy myself! We then had dinner; we were given some meat to eat, but weren't told till later that is was goat, it was delicious and had a similar taste to lamb, but better, and sweet potato, YUM! I then ate a bit of a goat testicle (sounds revolting) but it didn't taste that bad, it was just the thought of eating that was worse, all pyschological and that! We then had dinner, which was beef roast, which was awesomeee, haven't had a roast for ages, so it was a real treat, and the beef was great, and top notch gravy, mmmmm beef! As you can tell, being a traveller, I try to eat cheaply to save money, so having a roast is a big thing when travelling. Anyways....
After dinner we had a go at cracking a whip, which was awesome, the cowboy man could do it so powerfully, it was so loud, to make the sound so loud, you had to go faster than light or sound, one of those, I can't remeber, lol! I gave it a go and we had to wear funky googles when doing it, to protect ourselves, it was actually quite tricky as you had to do all these fancy arm movements, but really quickly to get the cracking sound of the whip. I managed to do it a few times, which was very satisfying and made me feel more like a cowboy, yehaaa (for some reason that made me think of Jesse from Toy Story)!
After that some of the group had a go on the mechanic bull, although I didn't go on it, as I had a dodegy back, so gave it a miss! And I'm glad I did, as the bull was called Nutcracker and it really was for the guys, I think a few of them won't be having kids (OUCH)! Ha! The bull was so powerful, it managed to throw people off which such force, crazy stuff!
The next day we had to get up at 6am for breakfast, boo hiss boo, I'm always getting up so early here, it sucks, I need my 8 hours, lol! After breaky (as the aussies say) we headed out, to go lassoing! First, I decided to have a go at clay pigeon shooting, with a big ass shotgun! I've never touched a gun before, let alone shot one, so it was pretty exciting!! I had to wear headphone things, as the noise when the guns fires is very loudly. Anyways on my first try, I was like wooo, as the power of the gun when you shot it was pretty forceful; you have to hold the gun really tight up against your shoulder to reduce the impact. It was pretty difficult aswell, because the targets moved really quickly in the air, and you have to have a really good eye. I had 5 goes as the rest of the group were watching me, pressure!!! I kept missing, oh dear.... but managed to finally shoot one on my 4th go, thank god! Lol! It was actually a good feeling hitting the target, and seeing it break up and hit the floor, very satifying and a great first gun experience, ha! I'm sure many more are to come....... But remeber kids, guns are dangerous, so be careful, lol!
After that we all had a go at lassoing, practising on a dead goats skull, to try and lasso it! Basically you have a big rope and you swing it over your head and have to use the hoop/loop at the end of the rope to catch the goat and then pull it back, to tighten the grip round it. It was actually pretty difficult to get the action right, but I managed it a few times! To be honest I kinda sucked, I think I needed more time to pratcise, and perfect my action, ha! So after a quick pratcise we got to have a go for real!!! We went into a goat pen, where there were lots of goats obviously and lots of poo all over the floor...... NICE! I had flip flops (thongs) on, so I manged to get poo all over my beautiful thongs and on my feet, which was rather lovely... Anyway we had a competition to see who could lasso a goat the quickest, then drag it out of the pen and then pretend to brand it for 5 seconds!
It was pretty tough as you had to first, catch the goat, whilst it was trying to run away for its dear life. First I had to try and lasso a goat, but I was pretty rubbish, as the goats kept running away from me, dam them! So eventually I had to call it quits, and instead just ran up to a goat, grabbed it by the horns and pull it out of the pen, so we could brand it! After running after the goats for a bit, like a lonney, I managed to grab one and drag it out of the pen, whilst getting pooo all over me, yay! So that was great fun (no really it was :D), a real good cowboy experience, and I know what your thinking, no our team didn't win!
After that we went on a bush walk to experience the scenery, high up on the hills, and it was just breathtaking; just pure nature, with no signs of human interference, it was awesome and really showed you were in the middle of nowhere! On the way back, we saw another tour group, who were throwing boomerangs, in a beautiful setting, a huge open field with horses all around! It was actually awesome as the boomerangs actually did come back, which I've never seen before, I didn't think it could actually be done, but it can and it was a very cool sight!
After that, our time at the Cattle Station had ended; and we said our farewells and jumped back onto the Oz bus, heading to our next destination Rainbow Beach, which is near Fraser Island! My next blog will be all about my intersting camping experience on Fraser........
Until next time,
Angus x
So, on Sunday (10th) evening I arrived at Kroombit Cattle Station (after a ten hour journey on the bus, which was actually pretty fun, lots of crazy singing, being creative with foil, I made a boat, but it SUCKED, and the item game, as well as beautiful scenery the whole way). Kroombit is in the outback, which is near Rockhampton, the beef capital of Australia, ooo exciting..... Before I arrived there we made a pit stop, and had a game of bowls, but barefoot, pretty exciting eh?! I was in a team with Gareth, and we played against everyone from the bus, and managed to get into the final, and won, wahey! It was actually quite a fun/chilled out game, the aim is to bowl your ball and to get as near as possible to a white ball on the other side of the pitch, and the nearest ball to the target wins, a pretty simple game! But the balls curve which makes it more tricky and its pretty hard to get the right pace. I was usually too hard or too soft, I couldn't get in the middle, lol! Anyways Kroombit was in the middle of nowhere, which you expect in the outback, on our big Oz bus, there was about 20 of us, and we all got on really well, which made the time at the cattle station more fun!!!
When we arrived we were given a bandana and a cowboy hat to get into the vibe of the place, so I felt like a bit of cowboy myself! We then had dinner; we were given some meat to eat, but weren't told till later that is was goat, it was delicious and had a similar taste to lamb, but better, and sweet potato, YUM! I then ate a bit of a goat testicle (sounds revolting) but it didn't taste that bad, it was just the thought of eating that was worse, all pyschological and that! We then had dinner, which was beef roast, which was awesomeee, haven't had a roast for ages, so it was a real treat, and the beef was great, and top notch gravy, mmmmm beef! As you can tell, being a traveller, I try to eat cheaply to save money, so having a roast is a big thing when travelling. Anyways....
After dinner we had a go at cracking a whip, which was awesome, the cowboy man could do it so powerfully, it was so loud, to make the sound so loud, you had to go faster than light or sound, one of those, I can't remeber, lol! I gave it a go and we had to wear funky googles when doing it, to protect ourselves, it was actually quite tricky as you had to do all these fancy arm movements, but really quickly to get the cracking sound of the whip. I managed to do it a few times, which was very satisfying and made me feel more like a cowboy, yehaaa (for some reason that made me think of Jesse from Toy Story)!
After that some of the group had a go on the mechanic bull, although I didn't go on it, as I had a dodegy back, so gave it a miss! And I'm glad I did, as the bull was called Nutcracker and it really was for the guys, I think a few of them won't be having kids (OUCH)! Ha! The bull was so powerful, it managed to throw people off which such force, crazy stuff!
The next day we had to get up at 6am for breakfast, boo hiss boo, I'm always getting up so early here, it sucks, I need my 8 hours, lol! After breaky (as the aussies say) we headed out, to go lassoing! First, I decided to have a go at clay pigeon shooting, with a big ass shotgun! I've never touched a gun before, let alone shot one, so it was pretty exciting!! I had to wear headphone things, as the noise when the guns fires is very loudly. Anyways on my first try, I was like wooo, as the power of the gun when you shot it was pretty forceful; you have to hold the gun really tight up against your shoulder to reduce the impact. It was pretty difficult aswell, because the targets moved really quickly in the air, and you have to have a really good eye. I had 5 goes as the rest of the group were watching me, pressure!!! I kept missing, oh dear.... but managed to finally shoot one on my 4th go, thank god! Lol! It was actually a good feeling hitting the target, and seeing it break up and hit the floor, very satifying and a great first gun experience, ha! I'm sure many more are to come....... But remeber kids, guns are dangerous, so be careful, lol!
After that we all had a go at lassoing, practising on a dead goats skull, to try and lasso it! Basically you have a big rope and you swing it over your head and have to use the hoop/loop at the end of the rope to catch the goat and then pull it back, to tighten the grip round it. It was actually pretty difficult to get the action right, but I managed it a few times! To be honest I kinda sucked, I think I needed more time to pratcise, and perfect my action, ha! So after a quick pratcise we got to have a go for real!!! We went into a goat pen, where there were lots of goats obviously and lots of poo all over the floor...... NICE! I had flip flops (thongs) on, so I manged to get poo all over my beautiful thongs and on my feet, which was rather lovely... Anyway we had a competition to see who could lasso a goat the quickest, then drag it out of the pen and then pretend to brand it for 5 seconds!
It was pretty tough as you had to first, catch the goat, whilst it was trying to run away for its dear life. First I had to try and lasso a goat, but I was pretty rubbish, as the goats kept running away from me, dam them! So eventually I had to call it quits, and instead just ran up to a goat, grabbed it by the horns and pull it out of the pen, so we could brand it! After running after the goats for a bit, like a lonney, I managed to grab one and drag it out of the pen, whilst getting pooo all over me, yay! So that was great fun (no really it was :D), a real good cowboy experience, and I know what your thinking, no our team didn't win!
After that we went on a bush walk to experience the scenery, high up on the hills, and it was just breathtaking; just pure nature, with no signs of human interference, it was awesome and really showed you were in the middle of nowhere! On the way back, we saw another tour group, who were throwing boomerangs, in a beautiful setting, a huge open field with horses all around! It was actually awesome as the boomerangs actually did come back, which I've never seen before, I didn't think it could actually be done, but it can and it was a very cool sight!
After that, our time at the Cattle Station had ended; and we said our farewells and jumped back onto the Oz bus, heading to our next destination Rainbow Beach, which is near Fraser Island! My next blog will be all about my intersting camping experience on Fraser........
Until next time,
Angus x
Friday, 8 October 2010
The Oz Experience Adventure Begins (and the wheels of the bus go round and round...and the camels roam free!!!)
Hey peeps, so since my last blog, I have started travelling on the Oz Experience Bus, which is awesome! Its a bus, that has 24 seats, so it's quite a small and sociable/personal bus; which is taking me from Cairns all the way south down to Adelaide. The great thing about the bus is that you can jump on and off at a stop for how ever long you want (ie how much you love/loathe the place!) The Oz Experience has a bus driver/guide who are great, really fun/crazy and tell you the history about areas, what they would recommend to do, basically they help you with your trip and they can book your accomendation if your feeling lazy; I've also played the crazy game, that is WINDOW BINGO!!! The only negitive of the bus, is that there isnt that much leg space for a 6'2 guy, ha! Travelling down the east coast in parts, makes it easier as well, as they journeys are shorter and more compact, and the scenery I have passed is just breath taking! The bus has been great, as a lone traveller, as I've met some really cool people, and I'm now travelling with a group of 8 people, Matt, Cath, Gemma, Gareth, Louise and Sicdly (her name is spelt wierd, they are from Denmark), Ailie (Scottish) and the rest are from the UK, who I met on the bus. It's great to be travelling with a group, as its alot of fun, doing different activities together in the day, cooking dinner as a group and then partying by night! So since I hopped on the bus at Cairns, I've been travelling with these guys; from Cairns to Mission Beach, Magnectic Island and now Airlie Beach/Whitsundays. So the question is, what have I been doing at all these places?!
My first stop was Mission Beach, where I stayed for one night. But before we got there we had a pit spot at a crocadile farm, which was so awesome; because I got to hold some aussie animals! First I held a baby croc, which was cool, very slimy/scaly skin, I had a parrot on my shoulder, ARGH MATEY, and wait for it........ I even managed to challenge myself to hold a snake, which was a bit freaky as it wrapped itself around my neck and started hissing, ha, but it was so cool to do, and you only live once! I also got to hold a dingo, they are wild dogs, but the one I held was so tame and was falling asleep in my arms, nearly as cute as Lottie :O, obviously in the wild they aren't like this, they are dangerous and have attacked people; so I will be staying away from them when I go to Fraser Island! I also feed some kangers, which was cute as they held you arm, as they ate from your hand, so cute! I then saw some of the crocs being fed, and boy, these animals are so deadly, their jaws are so powerful, more than twice as strong as a shark's jaw!! Ouch!!!
After the croc farm we went through the wettest town in Australia, Babinda (cool name). Beacuse its the wettest place down under; it was awarded the Golden Gun boot, and the locals are very proud of this. Tully, which is near Babinda also gets alot of rain, so the two towns are big rivals, competing for the gumboot; and they get very competitve. One year Babinda beat Tully and the Tully people couldn't believe they lost, they thought they had much more rain so they hired lawyers, it turned out that Babinda didn't have a post office, so they couldn't be called a town, so Tully won it that year! So you get how crazy competitive these two towns are towards each other, for being super wet, I wouldn't be so proud myself!!! Tullycurrenlty holds the record of the wettest year in 1950 with 7.9 metres (glad I'm not living there)!!!
So after stopping off on all those places, I arrived at Mission Beach! Mission Beach is a pretty small place, so not much was going on, but the beach was beaut, just a shame the weather wasn't as great! I had my first barbie, burgers and sauages, yummers, and my first experience of the vileness that is called goon. What is goon you ask? It's the most aweful wine ever, basically its really cheap, poor, quality wine (it has fish bones it in :O), but it gets ya drunk quickly, so it does the trick; even though after every sip I wanted to barf! Lovely image there for you all!!! So that's all I really got up to in Mission Beach; and the next day I jumped back on the bus with some of the gang I met on the previous bus, heading over to Magnetic Island.
Magnetic Island is just offshore of Townsville, so we had to get a ferry over there! Magnetic Island got it's name from Captain Cook; when he found it, in the 1770s; because his compass went crazy on the island (apprantly due to a magnetic vibe), sounds a bit like Lost, huh?! So, the hostel we stayed at was awesome, it was less than 1 metre from the beach, heaven! I stayed in a beach hut (so cool), which was right by the sea, so it was a great sight to wake up to; and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks! I went on the Forts Walk, which was SUCH an effort in the heat, alot of uphill climbing with a hangover.... But I managed to spot some wild koolas, as around 700 live in the area! We managed to spot a mum and baby koola, so cute!!! I really wanted to stroke them, but koola's have chlamydia, and this causes them to go blind; so I didn't think it was a good idea to touch one! At the top of the hill/mountain, there were awesome views of the whole island, a beaut sight! In the evening me and some of the group sat at the beach at night, playing drinking games with goon, happy days!
The next day, we hired a Moke, (a four wheeled buggy) which you can drive around the island, so we got to explore the city more; and it was a topless car, which was great in the hot weather, and the breeze was good times! We went over to Horseshoe bay, and all 8 of us, in groups of 4 went tubing! Basically you sit in a tube and get pulled along the sea, by a speed boat, which was awesome, we went really fast and it was a bit of a rush! We then went to part of the island where wild rock wallabies live, where we feed them carrots, and these critters look similar to kangers! So, Magnetic Island was such a great secluded place to be, very chilled out, although I don't think I could have stayed longer than 3 nights, because I felt it was just a bit too secluded for me; but it really was a very beautiful and tranquil place to be!Living on an island was very cool!
We then got back onto the Oz Experience, heading over to Airlie Beach. On the way there, we passed through Bowen, which was where the film Australia, with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman was filmed (a very bad film, as I found out with Helen!). Airlie Beach is a small town, and it's name is a bit silly, as it doesn't actually have a beach(!) so the locals had to make a manmade a beach, so they could keep it's name! The main reason for visting Airlie Beach is that is by the Whitsundays; which are a number of continental islands, 74 in total. That night arriving in Airlie beach, all the people on the bus went out together into town, which was a fun night, and there was lots of free alchol, which is always good! Altough that night I stayed at my worst hostel so far though, as I was about to have a shower and saw a cockroach, YUK, my first ever, not a pleasant sight....... I checked out the next day!
So on Wednesday (I loose track of days and dates so easily when I'm on holiday, ha) Matt, Gemma, Cathy and I went on our sailing trip to the Whitsundays! Our boat was called Habibi, which had a crew of 3 and there were 18 passenegrs! The people on the boat were great, as they were from all over the world, Canada, the states, Germany, Denmark, France, so a great mix of people; and great company for the next two nights! During the trip we visited Whiteheaven beach, which has been listed as one of the best beaches in the world, and the world's top eco friendly beach. The sand is 98% silica, so its very white, and it squeaks when you walk on it, cool huh! I also went snorkling again, in a really cool sexy stinger suit...... On my snorkel adventure I managed to spot a turtle, which was such an awesome sight! The second night we had a barbie on the boat and then played some drinking games; 'Ring of Fire', but with 2 packs of cards, I have never been so drunk, and I passed out on the deck with the stars above me, happy days! It was great being in the Whitsundays, it was such a beautiful place, the islands were an awesome sight and I felt very happy on the sea! Although its takes a while to get used to the rocking on the boat, especially when sleeping; when we came back on land, I still felt like I was rocking!
So I've got one more day in Airlie Beach, and then I'm getting back on the Oz bus with the gang, and heading to Kroombit, a cattle station in the middle of nowhere, where it's compulsory to stay for a night! Here we can ride a mechanic bull and go quad biking! I will kinda of get to experience a little bit of the outback. After that I'm heading onto Hervey Bay to go Whale watching!!! It's a tough life........
Until next time, Angus x
My first stop was Mission Beach, where I stayed for one night. But before we got there we had a pit spot at a crocadile farm, which was so awesome; because I got to hold some aussie animals! First I held a baby croc, which was cool, very slimy/scaly skin, I had a parrot on my shoulder, ARGH MATEY, and wait for it........ I even managed to challenge myself to hold a snake, which was a bit freaky as it wrapped itself around my neck and started hissing, ha, but it was so cool to do, and you only live once! I also got to hold a dingo, they are wild dogs, but the one I held was so tame and was falling asleep in my arms, nearly as cute as Lottie :O, obviously in the wild they aren't like this, they are dangerous and have attacked people; so I will be staying away from them when I go to Fraser Island! I also feed some kangers, which was cute as they held you arm, as they ate from your hand, so cute! I then saw some of the crocs being fed, and boy, these animals are so deadly, their jaws are so powerful, more than twice as strong as a shark's jaw!! Ouch!!!
After the croc farm we went through the wettest town in Australia, Babinda (cool name). Beacuse its the wettest place down under; it was awarded the Golden Gun boot, and the locals are very proud of this. Tully, which is near Babinda also gets alot of rain, so the two towns are big rivals, competing for the gumboot; and they get very competitve. One year Babinda beat Tully and the Tully people couldn't believe they lost, they thought they had much more rain so they hired lawyers, it turned out that Babinda didn't have a post office, so they couldn't be called a town, so Tully won it that year! So you get how crazy competitive these two towns are towards each other, for being super wet, I wouldn't be so proud myself!!! Tullycurrenlty holds the record of the wettest year in 1950 with 7.9 metres (glad I'm not living there)!!!
So after stopping off on all those places, I arrived at Mission Beach! Mission Beach is a pretty small place, so not much was going on, but the beach was beaut, just a shame the weather wasn't as great! I had my first barbie, burgers and sauages, yummers, and my first experience of the vileness that is called goon. What is goon you ask? It's the most aweful wine ever, basically its really cheap, poor, quality wine (it has fish bones it in :O), but it gets ya drunk quickly, so it does the trick; even though after every sip I wanted to barf! Lovely image there for you all!!! So that's all I really got up to in Mission Beach; and the next day I jumped back on the bus with some of the gang I met on the previous bus, heading over to Magnetic Island.
Magnetic Island is just offshore of Townsville, so we had to get a ferry over there! Magnetic Island got it's name from Captain Cook; when he found it, in the 1770s; because his compass went crazy on the island (apprantly due to a magnetic vibe), sounds a bit like Lost, huh?! So, the hostel we stayed at was awesome, it was less than 1 metre from the beach, heaven! I stayed in a beach hut (so cool), which was right by the sea, so it was a great sight to wake up to; and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks! I went on the Forts Walk, which was SUCH an effort in the heat, alot of uphill climbing with a hangover.... But I managed to spot some wild koolas, as around 700 live in the area! We managed to spot a mum and baby koola, so cute!!! I really wanted to stroke them, but koola's have chlamydia, and this causes them to go blind; so I didn't think it was a good idea to touch one! At the top of the hill/mountain, there were awesome views of the whole island, a beaut sight! In the evening me and some of the group sat at the beach at night, playing drinking games with goon, happy days!
The next day, we hired a Moke, (a four wheeled buggy) which you can drive around the island, so we got to explore the city more; and it was a topless car, which was great in the hot weather, and the breeze was good times! We went over to Horseshoe bay, and all 8 of us, in groups of 4 went tubing! Basically you sit in a tube and get pulled along the sea, by a speed boat, which was awesome, we went really fast and it was a bit of a rush! We then went to part of the island where wild rock wallabies live, where we feed them carrots, and these critters look similar to kangers! So, Magnetic Island was such a great secluded place to be, very chilled out, although I don't think I could have stayed longer than 3 nights, because I felt it was just a bit too secluded for me; but it really was a very beautiful and tranquil place to be!Living on an island was very cool!
We then got back onto the Oz Experience, heading over to Airlie Beach. On the way there, we passed through Bowen, which was where the film Australia, with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman was filmed (a very bad film, as I found out with Helen!). Airlie Beach is a small town, and it's name is a bit silly, as it doesn't actually have a beach(!) so the locals had to make a manmade a beach, so they could keep it's name! The main reason for visting Airlie Beach is that is by the Whitsundays; which are a number of continental islands, 74 in total. That night arriving in Airlie beach, all the people on the bus went out together into town, which was a fun night, and there was lots of free alchol, which is always good! Altough that night I stayed at my worst hostel so far though, as I was about to have a shower and saw a cockroach, YUK, my first ever, not a pleasant sight....... I checked out the next day!
So on Wednesday (I loose track of days and dates so easily when I'm on holiday, ha) Matt, Gemma, Cathy and I went on our sailing trip to the Whitsundays! Our boat was called Habibi, which had a crew of 3 and there were 18 passenegrs! The people on the boat were great, as they were from all over the world, Canada, the states, Germany, Denmark, France, so a great mix of people; and great company for the next two nights! During the trip we visited Whiteheaven beach, which has been listed as one of the best beaches in the world, and the world's top eco friendly beach. The sand is 98% silica, so its very white, and it squeaks when you walk on it, cool huh! I also went snorkling again, in a really cool sexy stinger suit...... On my snorkel adventure I managed to spot a turtle, which was such an awesome sight! The second night we had a barbie on the boat and then played some drinking games; 'Ring of Fire', but with 2 packs of cards, I have never been so drunk, and I passed out on the deck with the stars above me, happy days! It was great being in the Whitsundays, it was such a beautiful place, the islands were an awesome sight and I felt very happy on the sea! Although its takes a while to get used to the rocking on the boat, especially when sleeping; when we came back on land, I still felt like I was rocking!
So I've got one more day in Airlie Beach, and then I'm getting back on the Oz bus with the gang, and heading to Kroombit, a cattle station in the middle of nowhere, where it's compulsory to stay for a night! Here we can ride a mechanic bull and go quad biking! I will kinda of get to experience a little bit of the outback. After that I'm heading onto Hervey Bay to go Whale watching!!! It's a tough life........
Until next time, Angus x
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Craziness in Cairns!!!
Hello people of the UK!!!
It's been a while since my last update (I've been so busy), so I thought it was about time I told you all what I've been up too!!
So on Saturday, I ventured into the city centre and decided to have a cultured day, where I visited the Cairns regional art gallery, which has some intersting work, such as 'Pisatols and Pavola', where an artist had grown up in a gun cultured family, so her artwork was about mixing the harshness of guns, with the more sweet things in life. With the aim of trying to give out the the message that even with the sweet, guns are a dangerous thing, so it was putting out a positive message. I also visited an Aborginal Arts centre, where aborginals from the local area had displayed their work and it was for sale. There were awesome pieces of artwork such as handmade boomerangs, didgeridoos (hard to spell). The aborginals paint about dreamworlds (which are stories about their tribe history, how they live or animals in their area); the work was totally stunning and I could have bought alot of the paintings (But the joys of being on a backpacker budget stoped me)!
So do you guys feel like a history lesson?! I thought I would explain a little about the aborginals, and how they have had a difficult life in Australia, and what has happened to them. Basically.......
The aborginals have been living in Australia with nature in harmony, for roughly 30,000 years, long before Captian Cook found the country. Since the 'white folk' entered Australia, aborginals were persecuted, and were killed for many centries, which people got anyway with, as there was no law to protect the aborginals and it shows how the aborgianls were viewed more as cattle then people. In the ealry 1900s, they were excluded from voting, pension rights, all these basic privalges citizens should have, so they were treated as second class citizens in their own country. It wasn't until 1949 they had the right to vote; now aborgianls are treated better by the country, but are still seen as being at the bottom of society and they have had very difficult lives; and now many now have become alcholics, which I see regulary in Cairns. This is only a very basic history of the aborginals, but it is intersting (I think) to find out about the lives of the first people to inhabit Oz and how they become persecuted by the whites.
On Sunday I went to the Great Barrier Reef, starting with an early start of 5.30, oh the joys, I'm such a morning person, with my cheery persona and great bed hair; but it was totally worth it!!! I went to Port Douglas, which is North of Cairns and snorkeled at the Agincort Ribbon Reef, visiting three barrier reef sites in the area. This reef, was an outer reef, which means it's less polluted and less harmed by humans, it's more untouched, so it's a more beautiful site. The company I went with, Silver Sonic, where the only company who had exclusive rights to visit it, so there weren't too many people, which was great! At first I found snorkling quite difficult, as whenever I went underwater, I instinctively held my breath, whereas the snorkel allows you be able to breathe underwater easily, so after quite so time, (lol), I finally manged to relax and do it properly! This allowed me to stay in the water for long amounts of time and look around the reef, without having to come up for air; and the snorkel allowed me to see the reef with perfect clarity. It was just such a magical sight; there was a whole diferent world down there, which you definalty wouldn't expect from looking at the surface. I saw soo many amazing fish, of all varities, colours and sizes; unfortuanlty I didn't manage to spot any turtles, but on the last site I managed to see a reef shark!!! These fellows aren't particulary big, or too dangerous, so I manged to keep my distance and watch it as it swam around, it was just awesome. So after a full day of snorkeling/swimming, meeting some cool people, I was exhausted but so happy to have been there. It was also (I think...) the first time I've swam so far out in the ocean, and it's just amazing how powerful the current is, I would be snorkeling underwater for a while, and then when I lifted my head up, I would be somewhere, totally different, which made me aware of how powerful the tide/ocean is! Being at the Great Barrier reef was just such a different experience, as you see a whole different world, and it's great to say I've been to one of the seven natural wonders of the world one down, six more to go!!! Going snorkling really opened my eyes up to nature, and how important it is we perserve it, as well as giving me to the bug to try suba diving at some point for sure!!
On Monday I had a two day trip to Cape Tribulation/Daintree world heriatage rainforest, and this has to be my favorite place I visited yet by a long shot. First we went on a river cruise on the Daintree river and went croc spotting!!! The crocs that lived in the Daintree river were salwater crocs, we manged to see two, first was Nelson a fully grown mature male and an 18 month croc, which was rather small, especially it's body, but it had a large tail, (unfortunalty it wasn't the best time/season to see crocs, mating season is soon, so we just missed out). New born crocs have a very low survival rate, as they are very vulnerable when they are young to many birds of prey, so their first two years of growth is very tough; and the majority don't surivive. Many people think that alot of people are killed by crocs, but there is only one death a year. One funny fact is that at alot of the beaches and places near water where crocs inhabit, they have signs, written in English saying 'warning crocadiles are in this area', so bascially don't go for a swim or you may have a surprise and loose a toe or something, but it is also written in German, as 80% of croc attacks are on Germans (so either crocs have an appetite for them, or the Germans are just silly and a bit too curious!!!) After this we headed onwards to a boardwalk of the rainforest, which was just WOW, it felt so sureal to be in a rainforest, it was a very magical place, I'm telling ya! I saw a huge number of plants, and trees, which were just beautiful, and so differenrent to what we have back in the UK. Most of the trees are very talll, as they are fighting upwards to get sunlight, and then you have plants which gow all along and up the trees, and basically live off the tree, very clever things! I also saw my very first spider, a hunter spider, which was small, but had long thin (creepy) legs and packs a powerful bite! On the tour we also managed to see a dragon lizard, which was very well camflouged on the tree and so still; which allows it to avoid attacks from predators such as snakes. Our guide, Deb, also told us about green rainforest ants, which you can eat; and their bums taste of an acidic lime zingy taste, which some people tried, I was going to, but wigged out at the last second! After this, the tour group went their seperate ways depending on where we were staying for the night. I stayed at the Ferntree hostel, which was so awesome, very secluded and quiet. What made it awesome was that I only shared the dorm room with one other person; Meredith, (an amercian girl, who was studying a semester in townsville), but visiting Cape Trib as she was on holiday, she was really cool and we went for dinner together later that night at a funky restaurant and had a good cooked meal! So basically it was a luxury as a packpacker to be sharing a room with just one other person and having an en suite, happy days!! But before that, I ventured to the Myall beach, which was so beautiful, white soft sand, a blue sea, which was around 26 degrees. But I didnt go in for a swim, as there are jelllyfish in the sea at the moment, and the box jellyfish season is approaching, these jellyfish have very poisonous tenclaes, and they can cause excruciating pain, one of the worst pains imaginable I have been told, so I deffo wasn't rsiking that! I then went to a more secluded beach, were there were very few people, it was so peaceful, and I was just in Heaven!! I also went to the look out point, where you could see the whole beach and the surrounding rainforest, I could have stayed there forever, ha!
The next day I decided to really push myself into uncertainty, as I decided to go horse riding for the first time, crazy I KNOW!!! Our tour guide, told me about it and really recommened it, and I thought you only live once, and just had to have a go! I was slightly nervous and apprehensive, being a total novice, but the guys paired me up with Billy, an old timer, who was an easy ride for a beginner! So on the ride, we went through parts of the rainforest which were privatly owned, so I wouldn't have been able to see them otherwise and, seriously words cannot describe how amazing it was!!! Later on we headed onto the beach and I cantered for the first time along the beach and then again in the rainforest! It was such an amazing feeling, riding a horse fast along the beach, it was such a rush! So I was so glad that I pushed myself to do something, very out of my comfort zone and, it was probably my favorite experience so far!
The next day we left Cape tribulation (to my sadness, it was such a beautiful, secluded place in the world, were I could happily live forever), and headed onto Mossman Gorge. This is a part of the rainforest and is protected, and looked after by a local aborginal tribe and has many laws protecting this special area. The Mossman river flows through here and there are huge boulders in the river, it's a perfect place to swim and cool down (which I did, the water was a bit chilly at first!!). In the summer when it gets very hot, many aussie's come to places like these (waterholes) which are safer as the sea becomes full of dangerous stingers (jellyfish).
We then headed to Port Douglas, which is a beautiful port town, north of Cairns and has a 4 mile beach, happy days!!! Unfortunalty I only had half an hour to explore it, but it had a great vibe to it, and I will definalty try and go back some time for longer. After that we headed home, back to my hostel, which I really love, the staff are awesome, and really friendly, there's a pool, and hammocks to chill under, it's going to be difficult to leave as I've really settled in, but I feel I've done everything I want to, so it's time to move on. Tonight is pizza and beer night at the hostel, woo, so it should be a fun last evening at Tropic Days with everyone!
So that sums up what I've been doing for the past few days! Yesterday and today, I'm just having lazy days, reading in the hammock (The Girl with the Drago Tattoo), which I'm enjoying much more than I expected, and going into town, which I have now become much more familar with and don't get lost as most, I really have no sense of direction (but it's getting better.....) I've also resisted the urge to go to the casino and gamble!!! I've basically been waiting till Friday morning, where I'm getting on the Oz Experience Bus. For those of you who don't what it is, bascially it's a bus catered for backpackers with a tour guide, which takes you to different places all over Aus, and they help you to arrange things to do on your trip; the great thing about the bus pass is, that it allows you to jump on and off at different stops, for however long you want! I've got the Cobbler pass which takes me all along the east coast, from Cairns all the way down to Adelaide. So tomorrow morning, I'm getting up at dawn (half five, YUK), catching the bus, and heading to my first stop Mission Beach. Misson Beach is a few hours drive south of Cairns, and I'm staying there for just one night, as it's quite a small place, so there isn't a huge amount to do. Then the next day I jump back on the bus and onwards to Townsville and Magnectic Island, where I planning to stay a wee while, and who knows maybe stay longer if I like the place, and possibly get a job?! Just going with the flow, is one of the many joys of being a backpacker! So I'm really looking forward to the next stage of my adventure and seeing yet more sights!
Until next time, Angus x
PS, sorry I haven't put up any more photos, many places don't allow it, like the hostel (because of virus etc), so it's very difficult to upload them, which is so frustrating as I've nearly maxed out my space (300/400 pics) and I really want to show you guys all the amazing sights I have seen, as it's so difficult to put them into words! So please bear with me!
It's been a while since my last update (I've been so busy), so I thought it was about time I told you all what I've been up too!!
So on Saturday, I ventured into the city centre and decided to have a cultured day, where I visited the Cairns regional art gallery, which has some intersting work, such as 'Pisatols and Pavola', where an artist had grown up in a gun cultured family, so her artwork was about mixing the harshness of guns, with the more sweet things in life. With the aim of trying to give out the the message that even with the sweet, guns are a dangerous thing, so it was putting out a positive message. I also visited an Aborginal Arts centre, where aborginals from the local area had displayed their work and it was for sale. There were awesome pieces of artwork such as handmade boomerangs, didgeridoos (hard to spell). The aborginals paint about dreamworlds (which are stories about their tribe history, how they live or animals in their area); the work was totally stunning and I could have bought alot of the paintings (But the joys of being on a backpacker budget stoped me)!
So do you guys feel like a history lesson?! I thought I would explain a little about the aborginals, and how they have had a difficult life in Australia, and what has happened to them. Basically.......
The aborginals have been living in Australia with nature in harmony, for roughly 30,000 years, long before Captian Cook found the country. Since the 'white folk' entered Australia, aborginals were persecuted, and were killed for many centries, which people got anyway with, as there was no law to protect the aborginals and it shows how the aborgianls were viewed more as cattle then people. In the ealry 1900s, they were excluded from voting, pension rights, all these basic privalges citizens should have, so they were treated as second class citizens in their own country. It wasn't until 1949 they had the right to vote; now aborgianls are treated better by the country, but are still seen as being at the bottom of society and they have had very difficult lives; and now many now have become alcholics, which I see regulary in Cairns. This is only a very basic history of the aborginals, but it is intersting (I think) to find out about the lives of the first people to inhabit Oz and how they become persecuted by the whites.
On Sunday I went to the Great Barrier Reef, starting with an early start of 5.30, oh the joys, I'm such a morning person, with my cheery persona and great bed hair; but it was totally worth it!!! I went to Port Douglas, which is North of Cairns and snorkeled at the Agincort Ribbon Reef, visiting three barrier reef sites in the area. This reef, was an outer reef, which means it's less polluted and less harmed by humans, it's more untouched, so it's a more beautiful site. The company I went with, Silver Sonic, where the only company who had exclusive rights to visit it, so there weren't too many people, which was great! At first I found snorkling quite difficult, as whenever I went underwater, I instinctively held my breath, whereas the snorkel allows you be able to breathe underwater easily, so after quite so time, (lol), I finally manged to relax and do it properly! This allowed me to stay in the water for long amounts of time and look around the reef, without having to come up for air; and the snorkel allowed me to see the reef with perfect clarity. It was just such a magical sight; there was a whole diferent world down there, which you definalty wouldn't expect from looking at the surface. I saw soo many amazing fish, of all varities, colours and sizes; unfortuanlty I didn't manage to spot any turtles, but on the last site I managed to see a reef shark!!! These fellows aren't particulary big, or too dangerous, so I manged to keep my distance and watch it as it swam around, it was just awesome. So after a full day of snorkeling/swimming, meeting some cool people, I was exhausted but so happy to have been there. It was also (I think...) the first time I've swam so far out in the ocean, and it's just amazing how powerful the current is, I would be snorkeling underwater for a while, and then when I lifted my head up, I would be somewhere, totally different, which made me aware of how powerful the tide/ocean is! Being at the Great Barrier reef was just such a different experience, as you see a whole different world, and it's great to say I've been to one of the seven natural wonders of the world one down, six more to go!!! Going snorkling really opened my eyes up to nature, and how important it is we perserve it, as well as giving me to the bug to try suba diving at some point for sure!!
On Monday I had a two day trip to Cape Tribulation/Daintree world heriatage rainforest, and this has to be my favorite place I visited yet by a long shot. First we went on a river cruise on the Daintree river and went croc spotting!!! The crocs that lived in the Daintree river were salwater crocs, we manged to see two, first was Nelson a fully grown mature male and an 18 month croc, which was rather small, especially it's body, but it had a large tail, (unfortunalty it wasn't the best time/season to see crocs, mating season is soon, so we just missed out). New born crocs have a very low survival rate, as they are very vulnerable when they are young to many birds of prey, so their first two years of growth is very tough; and the majority don't surivive. Many people think that alot of people are killed by crocs, but there is only one death a year. One funny fact is that at alot of the beaches and places near water where crocs inhabit, they have signs, written in English saying 'warning crocadiles are in this area', so bascially don't go for a swim or you may have a surprise and loose a toe or something, but it is also written in German, as 80% of croc attacks are on Germans (so either crocs have an appetite for them, or the Germans are just silly and a bit too curious!!!) After this we headed onwards to a boardwalk of the rainforest, which was just WOW, it felt so sureal to be in a rainforest, it was a very magical place, I'm telling ya! I saw a huge number of plants, and trees, which were just beautiful, and so differenrent to what we have back in the UK. Most of the trees are very talll, as they are fighting upwards to get sunlight, and then you have plants which gow all along and up the trees, and basically live off the tree, very clever things! I also saw my very first spider, a hunter spider, which was small, but had long thin (creepy) legs and packs a powerful bite! On the tour we also managed to see a dragon lizard, which was very well camflouged on the tree and so still; which allows it to avoid attacks from predators such as snakes. Our guide, Deb, also told us about green rainforest ants, which you can eat; and their bums taste of an acidic lime zingy taste, which some people tried, I was going to, but wigged out at the last second! After this, the tour group went their seperate ways depending on where we were staying for the night. I stayed at the Ferntree hostel, which was so awesome, very secluded and quiet. What made it awesome was that I only shared the dorm room with one other person; Meredith, (an amercian girl, who was studying a semester in townsville), but visiting Cape Trib as she was on holiday, she was really cool and we went for dinner together later that night at a funky restaurant and had a good cooked meal! So basically it was a luxury as a packpacker to be sharing a room with just one other person and having an en suite, happy days!! But before that, I ventured to the Myall beach, which was so beautiful, white soft sand, a blue sea, which was around 26 degrees. But I didnt go in for a swim, as there are jelllyfish in the sea at the moment, and the box jellyfish season is approaching, these jellyfish have very poisonous tenclaes, and they can cause excruciating pain, one of the worst pains imaginable I have been told, so I deffo wasn't rsiking that! I then went to a more secluded beach, were there were very few people, it was so peaceful, and I was just in Heaven!! I also went to the look out point, where you could see the whole beach and the surrounding rainforest, I could have stayed there forever, ha!
The next day I decided to really push myself into uncertainty, as I decided to go horse riding for the first time, crazy I KNOW!!! Our tour guide, told me about it and really recommened it, and I thought you only live once, and just had to have a go! I was slightly nervous and apprehensive, being a total novice, but the guys paired me up with Billy, an old timer, who was an easy ride for a beginner! So on the ride, we went through parts of the rainforest which were privatly owned, so I wouldn't have been able to see them otherwise and, seriously words cannot describe how amazing it was!!! Later on we headed onto the beach and I cantered for the first time along the beach and then again in the rainforest! It was such an amazing feeling, riding a horse fast along the beach, it was such a rush! So I was so glad that I pushed myself to do something, very out of my comfort zone and, it was probably my favorite experience so far!
The next day we left Cape tribulation (to my sadness, it was such a beautiful, secluded place in the world, were I could happily live forever), and headed onto Mossman Gorge. This is a part of the rainforest and is protected, and looked after by a local aborginal tribe and has many laws protecting this special area. The Mossman river flows through here and there are huge boulders in the river, it's a perfect place to swim and cool down (which I did, the water was a bit chilly at first!!). In the summer when it gets very hot, many aussie's come to places like these (waterholes) which are safer as the sea becomes full of dangerous stingers (jellyfish).
We then headed to Port Douglas, which is a beautiful port town, north of Cairns and has a 4 mile beach, happy days!!! Unfortunalty I only had half an hour to explore it, but it had a great vibe to it, and I will definalty try and go back some time for longer. After that we headed home, back to my hostel, which I really love, the staff are awesome, and really friendly, there's a pool, and hammocks to chill under, it's going to be difficult to leave as I've really settled in, but I feel I've done everything I want to, so it's time to move on. Tonight is pizza and beer night at the hostel, woo, so it should be a fun last evening at Tropic Days with everyone!
So that sums up what I've been doing for the past few days! Yesterday and today, I'm just having lazy days, reading in the hammock (The Girl with the Drago Tattoo), which I'm enjoying much more than I expected, and going into town, which I have now become much more familar with and don't get lost as most, I really have no sense of direction (but it's getting better.....) I've also resisted the urge to go to the casino and gamble!!! I've basically been waiting till Friday morning, where I'm getting on the Oz Experience Bus. For those of you who don't what it is, bascially it's a bus catered for backpackers with a tour guide, which takes you to different places all over Aus, and they help you to arrange things to do on your trip; the great thing about the bus pass is, that it allows you to jump on and off at different stops, for however long you want! I've got the Cobbler pass which takes me all along the east coast, from Cairns all the way down to Adelaide. So tomorrow morning, I'm getting up at dawn (half five, YUK), catching the bus, and heading to my first stop Mission Beach. Misson Beach is a few hours drive south of Cairns, and I'm staying there for just one night, as it's quite a small place, so there isn't a huge amount to do. Then the next day I jump back on the bus and onwards to Townsville and Magnectic Island, where I planning to stay a wee while, and who knows maybe stay longer if I like the place, and possibly get a job?! Just going with the flow, is one of the many joys of being a backpacker! So I'm really looking forward to the next stage of my adventure and seeing yet more sights!
Until next time, Angus x
PS, sorry I haven't put up any more photos, many places don't allow it, like the hostel (because of virus etc), so it's very difficult to upload them, which is so frustrating as I've nearly maxed out my space (300/400 pics) and I really want to show you guys all the amazing sights I have seen, as it's so difficult to put them into words! So please bear with me!
Friday, 24 September 2010
Hello Cairns and HELLO 30 degrees!
Good morning everyone (well it is here!)
So I arrived in Cairns on Thrusday night after a delayed flight, and was straight away, hit by thewarm weather, its just under 30 degrees! Although today it's very humid, so it feels even hotter!! I have now been staying at my first hostel for the past two nights! It's called Tropic Days and is actually really great, I'm sharing a room with 2 others, but the people who stay each night changes frequently, I've got a good comfortable bed and a toilet and shower near me, lol! The hostel has a swimming pool and hammocks, so it's all very relaxing and chilled. My hostel is a bit further out then most from the CBD, but it's worth it as the place is great and the staff are very friendly and helpful. I have to say it has been a weird leaving Mary and being on my own in a city where I know no-one, so I've had alot of mixed emotions from excitement and seeing new places to argh, I can't believe I'm here all by myself, lol! But I've meet some cool people, I've met quite a few Irish people, who are all really nice and friendly! There is such a diverse group of people from Germans (they seem to be alot), French, Russia, the list goes on, so it's great to interact with so many different people!
I'm really starting to embrace the backpacker lifestyle, it's just awesome, as you have so much freedom to do whatever you want, whenever and there are so many sights to see, I'm very spoilt for choice! Since arriving in Cairns I've explored the CBD, been to the lagoon, which was soo very beautiful and tranquil, and I have been to Rusty's Fruit market, which had the most delicious fruits such as mangoes (my favorite fruit) papayas, pineapples, you name it they had it, all freshly grown produce! I bought some apples and they were so tasty and fresh, very refreshing in the heat! Cairns is very much a backpacker city, there are hostels and backpackers everywhere, so it has a very party feel to the city, especially at night, which is great fun! Although saying that, I'm not sure Cairns is my kind of place, I think you can usually feel a place and whether it's suits you or not, and I'm not grasped by Cairns, I think Sydney and Melbourne will be more for me! I was planning to try and find some work in Cairns, and I think I will still browse about for work, but I not sure I want to stay here to long term; one of the joys of a backpacker is you can get up and go at any time!
Today I'm off to explore the Cairns Museum and Cairns Regional gallery, so something a bit cultured! But tomorrow, is what I'm looking forward to, as I'm going snorkling at the Great Barrier reef, cannot wait!!! I'm heading to the Port Douglas area, and visiting the outer reef areas, which are meant to be more beautiful, as they have been less touched and polluted than the ones nearer to the shore! I'm also thinking of booking a tour to head into the Dantee rainforest and spend a night there, so we will see!
Until next time, Angus x
So I arrived in Cairns on Thrusday night after a delayed flight, and was straight away, hit by thewarm weather, its just under 30 degrees! Although today it's very humid, so it feels even hotter!! I have now been staying at my first hostel for the past two nights! It's called Tropic Days and is actually really great, I'm sharing a room with 2 others, but the people who stay each night changes frequently, I've got a good comfortable bed and a toilet and shower near me, lol! The hostel has a swimming pool and hammocks, so it's all very relaxing and chilled. My hostel is a bit further out then most from the CBD, but it's worth it as the place is great and the staff are very friendly and helpful. I have to say it has been a weird leaving Mary and being on my own in a city where I know no-one, so I've had alot of mixed emotions from excitement and seeing new places to argh, I can't believe I'm here all by myself, lol! But I've meet some cool people, I've met quite a few Irish people, who are all really nice and friendly! There is such a diverse group of people from Germans (they seem to be alot), French, Russia, the list goes on, so it's great to interact with so many different people!
I'm really starting to embrace the backpacker lifestyle, it's just awesome, as you have so much freedom to do whatever you want, whenever and there are so many sights to see, I'm very spoilt for choice! Since arriving in Cairns I've explored the CBD, been to the lagoon, which was soo very beautiful and tranquil, and I have been to Rusty's Fruit market, which had the most delicious fruits such as mangoes (my favorite fruit) papayas, pineapples, you name it they had it, all freshly grown produce! I bought some apples and they were so tasty and fresh, very refreshing in the heat! Cairns is very much a backpacker city, there are hostels and backpackers everywhere, so it has a very party feel to the city, especially at night, which is great fun! Although saying that, I'm not sure Cairns is my kind of place, I think you can usually feel a place and whether it's suits you or not, and I'm not grasped by Cairns, I think Sydney and Melbourne will be more for me! I was planning to try and find some work in Cairns, and I think I will still browse about for work, but I not sure I want to stay here to long term; one of the joys of a backpacker is you can get up and go at any time!
Today I'm off to explore the Cairns Museum and Cairns Regional gallery, so something a bit cultured! But tomorrow, is what I'm looking forward to, as I'm going snorkling at the Great Barrier reef, cannot wait!!! I'm heading to the Port Douglas area, and visiting the outer reef areas, which are meant to be more beautiful, as they have been less touched and polluted than the ones nearer to the shore! I'm also thinking of booking a tour to head into the Dantee rainforest and spend a night there, so we will see!
Until next time, Angus x
Thursday, 23 September 2010
The Outdoor Life
Hey all!
So since my last post I have been enjoying the weather even more and making the most of it, by spending my time in the great outdoors!
As my profile picture shows, I've been kayaking, along the Brisbane river! Which was so awesome, it was my first experience kayaking, so it took me a little bit to get used to, and to handling the paddle! It was hard work on the arms, and I'm a bit weedy, so it took a while! But I really enjoyed it, and will deffo be going again; it was so great to be on the water and admire the view as I paddled!
So yesturday I went to the Australian Zoo, which was founded by Steve Irwin, the Crocadile Hunter!!!! This was such a great experience as I got to encounter Australian wildlife hands on! I held a koola, so cool, I was warned they are quite smelly, but the chap I got didn't, which was good and he was a very docile, chilled out dude (so cute); although they had sharp claws, ha! I also saw my first kangeroo, or kangers, and I got to feed them, which was so wicked, they held my arms, as it ate from my hands. These kangers were very used to being around humans, so they were very releaxed around people and they were quite happy if you petted them, which I did! Roo's are definalty my favorite animal I have encountered so far! I have some good pics with both these animals which I will upload soon! I also saw some elephants, and got to feed them too, these guys were pretty old and so big, they seemed like ancient animals, (lol) and there trunks were awesome, as it used this to eat the food you gave it, although when they got lettuce and celery, they didn't eat it! I then saw some tigers, which were just beaut, they gave off vibes of power and were very sure of themseleves! After this I saw a croc show, which was super awesome, it was great to see one go for food, they are very quick when they jump towards their prey, blink and you miss! It really educated me on how powerful these creatures are, lets hope I don't see any :O They are supposedly quite fast as well, so I would have no chance, ha! There has been much history written about people who have been killed/eaten by crocs, as they hide by banks and jump out at the oblivious prey! So they are very dangerous, but are mostly in northen Oz, I'm not really travelling in this area, thank god! I'm also saw a bird show and finally got to see the Aussie bird, cookerburra, which was very quite and nosiy! I also saw parrots, soo cool, they even flew over my head!
So my adventures are now coming to a close in Brisbane, with Mary, its been great!!! Thanks Mary, you rule! I've really aclimatised to Aussie land, and I'm ready to head out by myself (I hope), so now the adventure really begins and I think the next week is going to be a big learning curve! I'm heading to Cairns tonight, which is at the top of the coast and is currently around 30 degress, yes mon!!! I'm hoping to sky dive (don't freak out Mum!!!), maybe learn to scuba dive and visit the Great Barrier reef! So tonight I will be staying at my first hostel, it's meant to be a good one, as it was recommended in the Lonely Planets, so we will see!!
Until next time, Angus x
So since my last post I have been enjoying the weather even more and making the most of it, by spending my time in the great outdoors!
As my profile picture shows, I've been kayaking, along the Brisbane river! Which was so awesome, it was my first experience kayaking, so it took me a little bit to get used to, and to handling the paddle! It was hard work on the arms, and I'm a bit weedy, so it took a while! But I really enjoyed it, and will deffo be going again; it was so great to be on the water and admire the view as I paddled!
So yesturday I went to the Australian Zoo, which was founded by Steve Irwin, the Crocadile Hunter!!!! This was such a great experience as I got to encounter Australian wildlife hands on! I held a koola, so cool, I was warned they are quite smelly, but the chap I got didn't, which was good and he was a very docile, chilled out dude (so cute); although they had sharp claws, ha! I also saw my first kangeroo, or kangers, and I got to feed them, which was so wicked, they held my arms, as it ate from my hands. These kangers were very used to being around humans, so they were very releaxed around people and they were quite happy if you petted them, which I did! Roo's are definalty my favorite animal I have encountered so far! I have some good pics with both these animals which I will upload soon! I also saw some elephants, and got to feed them too, these guys were pretty old and so big, they seemed like ancient animals, (lol) and there trunks were awesome, as it used this to eat the food you gave it, although when they got lettuce and celery, they didn't eat it! I then saw some tigers, which were just beaut, they gave off vibes of power and were very sure of themseleves! After this I saw a croc show, which was super awesome, it was great to see one go for food, they are very quick when they jump towards their prey, blink and you miss! It really educated me on how powerful these creatures are, lets hope I don't see any :O They are supposedly quite fast as well, so I would have no chance, ha! There has been much history written about people who have been killed/eaten by crocs, as they hide by banks and jump out at the oblivious prey! So they are very dangerous, but are mostly in northen Oz, I'm not really travelling in this area, thank god! I'm also saw a bird show and finally got to see the Aussie bird, cookerburra, which was very quite and nosiy! I also saw parrots, soo cool, they even flew over my head!
So my adventures are now coming to a close in Brisbane, with Mary, its been great!!! Thanks Mary, you rule! I've really aclimatised to Aussie land, and I'm ready to head out by myself (I hope), so now the adventure really begins and I think the next week is going to be a big learning curve! I'm heading to Cairns tonight, which is at the top of the coast and is currently around 30 degress, yes mon!!! I'm hoping to sky dive (don't freak out Mum!!!), maybe learn to scuba dive and visit the Great Barrier reef! So tonight I will be staying at my first hostel, it's meant to be a good one, as it was recommended in the Lonely Planets, so we will see!!
Until next time, Angus x
Friday, 17 September 2010
Life in Brisvegas
Yo yo mofo's!!! How are you all?!
So I've been living in Brissie for a while longer with my crazy aunt, Mary, and its been a fun packed few days in the sunshine state of Queensland!
On Wednesday, I headed into Brisbane, into the South Bank area, which is the cities culutral backbone of the city; full of art galleries and performance arts, museums and the state library. South Bank is also a big recreational area, where lots of individual sporting activities take place eg running (there are so many runner's, as the climate makes it great), kayaking (which I hope to do soon), rock climbing and alot of personal training sessions occur, we saw one, and it looked pretty hardcore :O and a manmade beach, awesome!
To get to South Bank we caught a City Cat, which is a ferry that goes all along the Brisbane river, and is just such a beautiful journey, where you are travelling along the river combining nature, man and technology with high office skyblocks, companies situated along the river and very wealthy people who can afford property right by the river, amazing homes (lucky bastar....., lol). Many people use the City Cats to travel to work, so its kind of like the tube system in London, but instead of the underground, it's on the river (which is so mucher better and so serene, as well as less croweded and sweaty) I couldn't think of a better way to start the day, the water makes me feel very at peace!
After the very enjoyble journy, we arrived at South Bank, where we went on the Wheel of Brisbane, which is like a mini London eye; allowing us to see all the sights of the city such as the Gabba (cool name, huh?!), which is a big sports stadium where cricket and aussie football rules are played! Mary and I then did a very long walk, around 6km, along the Brisbane river, which was, oh, so beautiful with the sun shining and the calming presene of the river with various plants and fauna along the way, such as weird birds with hook like beaks, called Australian white Ibis' and some form of creepy lizards, ha! We continued up some smallish cliffs, to the top of Kangeroo Point (no kangers are around the area, so it a kinda random name for it, lol), where there is a spectular view of the city, overlooking the Brisbane River, towards the CBD, looking at skyscrapers, and the many bridges which connect the city around the river. South Bank also has the Griffins University, which is such an amazing location to go to uni, so there were lots of students about, why couldn't Oxford Brookes have been there, lol!!! Mary and I then continued on and walked over the Storey bridge, which was breath taking, although cars go over it too, which causes the bridge to viberate alot, which makes the bridge feel like its moving/!
One part of Aussie life I'm still adjusting to, is how dark it gets, so quickly, by 6pm, its pitch black, this is because Queensland don't do daylight saving, like the UK, which I really appreciate alot more now! This also makes Oz people to enjoy the sun more, so alot of people are active early in the morning eg running/doing sports before work or after, before it gets dark early, and making the most of the weather. Not having daylight saving does have its advantages though, as when it gets really hot in the summer above 30 degrees, by 6pm, when it gets dark, it get much cooler! So the Aussie's are a bit smart that way!
So on Thruday Mary and I went to the local RSPCA, as Mary wanted to get a dog! And wow, I have a never seem so many goregous dogs (apart from Lottie, nothing can beat her)! They all seemed so lonely and desperate for human companionship! There were so many we could have taken home! Unfortunalty we left empty handed, as alot of Australian dogs, epecially, the kelpie bread and cattle dogs, have very strong legs; and are likey to jump over high fences easily; and to be never been seen again by there owners. Hence why there are lots of dogs at the RSPCA, so its required to have fences of around 6 foot which we didn't have :( So unfortunalty we couldn't take home Odie (we soo wanted him) or Maggie, Jack or Gizmo, sad sad times! But Mary is now on the hunt for puppies instead (as you can train them not to jump over fences), fingers crossed we find some very cute ones-and soon!
Thrusday afternoon we headed into Brisbane CBD, and explored the city, which is a very busy, lively place, full of cafe's, coffe shops, restuarants and lots of shops! Sadly I didn't spend anything :( We then explored the Botanic gardens, which were so peaceful and elegant, which such different plants and trees than the UK, obviouly because of the climate (pics to follow)
In the evening we headed to Fortitude Valley, known as the valley, which is the place to party (we didn't do that though.....) and instead ventured to China Town for dinner. Thrusday night we stayed at the Treasury hotel in the centre of Brisbane, a five star hotel baby, living in luxury!!! A huge hotel, lots of space, beautiful furnishings, top service and top notch food! If only I could live there, keep dreaming eh?! Ooo, not to mention the grandest and most comfortable beds ever, was sooo hard to get up this morning!
Next door to the Tresury Hotel is the Old Tresury building, which was the former treasury building (hence the name, clever, huh) for the government, and is a very old builing in Australian terms, a very grand and impressive historical architeture of the city! But the most exciting part of the building is that it is now a casino, open 24 hours a day, woohoo! So I had my first experience at gambling. I played on the slot machines first, called pokies over here, and won a bob or two, whlist drinking a vodka and coke, oh what a life! It all seemed rather alien at first, but as I got used to it and won some money, I got more into it, maybe a bit too much.... No wonder why so many people are addicts, ha! I then went into the main room and played roulette, where I bet 2.50 bucks on my lucky number 2, and won 100 bucks, so now 2 is even more my lucky number! So I had a rather awesome first gambling experience and went home around 150 bucks richer (Mary won 3 three time more than me), drinks on me, or should I say on Mary, ha! But remember guys, gambling is addicitive, and you don't always win, so be careful...... HA!
I've been trying to put pics up here, but have been struggling to at the moment, and Mary's laptop isn't helping, as it's a bit crappy :O Shhh, don't tell her I said that..... So hopefully you will see some up soon!
Until next time, Angus x
So I've been living in Brissie for a while longer with my crazy aunt, Mary, and its been a fun packed few days in the sunshine state of Queensland!
On Wednesday, I headed into Brisbane, into the South Bank area, which is the cities culutral backbone of the city; full of art galleries and performance arts, museums and the state library. South Bank is also a big recreational area, where lots of individual sporting activities take place eg running (there are so many runner's, as the climate makes it great), kayaking (which I hope to do soon), rock climbing and alot of personal training sessions occur, we saw one, and it looked pretty hardcore :O and a manmade beach, awesome!
To get to South Bank we caught a City Cat, which is a ferry that goes all along the Brisbane river, and is just such a beautiful journey, where you are travelling along the river combining nature, man and technology with high office skyblocks, companies situated along the river and very wealthy people who can afford property right by the river, amazing homes (lucky bastar....., lol). Many people use the City Cats to travel to work, so its kind of like the tube system in London, but instead of the underground, it's on the river (which is so mucher better and so serene, as well as less croweded and sweaty) I couldn't think of a better way to start the day, the water makes me feel very at peace!
After the very enjoyble journy, we arrived at South Bank, where we went on the Wheel of Brisbane, which is like a mini London eye; allowing us to see all the sights of the city such as the Gabba (cool name, huh?!), which is a big sports stadium where cricket and aussie football rules are played! Mary and I then did a very long walk, around 6km, along the Brisbane river, which was, oh, so beautiful with the sun shining and the calming presene of the river with various plants and fauna along the way, such as weird birds with hook like beaks, called Australian white Ibis' and some form of creepy lizards, ha! We continued up some smallish cliffs, to the top of Kangeroo Point (no kangers are around the area, so it a kinda random name for it, lol), where there is a spectular view of the city, overlooking the Brisbane River, towards the CBD, looking at skyscrapers, and the many bridges which connect the city around the river. South Bank also has the Griffins University, which is such an amazing location to go to uni, so there were lots of students about, why couldn't Oxford Brookes have been there, lol!!! Mary and I then continued on and walked over the Storey bridge, which was breath taking, although cars go over it too, which causes the bridge to viberate alot, which makes the bridge feel like its moving/!
One part of Aussie life I'm still adjusting to, is how dark it gets, so quickly, by 6pm, its pitch black, this is because Queensland don't do daylight saving, like the UK, which I really appreciate alot more now! This also makes Oz people to enjoy the sun more, so alot of people are active early in the morning eg running/doing sports before work or after, before it gets dark early, and making the most of the weather. Not having daylight saving does have its advantages though, as when it gets really hot in the summer above 30 degrees, by 6pm, when it gets dark, it get much cooler! So the Aussie's are a bit smart that way!
So on Thruday Mary and I went to the local RSPCA, as Mary wanted to get a dog! And wow, I have a never seem so many goregous dogs (apart from Lottie, nothing can beat her)! They all seemed so lonely and desperate for human companionship! There were so many we could have taken home! Unfortunalty we left empty handed, as alot of Australian dogs, epecially, the kelpie bread and cattle dogs, have very strong legs; and are likey to jump over high fences easily; and to be never been seen again by there owners. Hence why there are lots of dogs at the RSPCA, so its required to have fences of around 6 foot which we didn't have :( So unfortunalty we couldn't take home Odie (we soo wanted him) or Maggie, Jack or Gizmo, sad sad times! But Mary is now on the hunt for puppies instead (as you can train them not to jump over fences), fingers crossed we find some very cute ones-and soon!
Thrusday afternoon we headed into Brisbane CBD, and explored the city, which is a very busy, lively place, full of cafe's, coffe shops, restuarants and lots of shops! Sadly I didn't spend anything :( We then explored the Botanic gardens, which were so peaceful and elegant, which such different plants and trees than the UK, obviouly because of the climate (pics to follow)
In the evening we headed to Fortitude Valley, known as the valley, which is the place to party (we didn't do that though.....) and instead ventured to China Town for dinner. Thrusday night we stayed at the Treasury hotel in the centre of Brisbane, a five star hotel baby, living in luxury!!! A huge hotel, lots of space, beautiful furnishings, top service and top notch food! If only I could live there, keep dreaming eh?! Ooo, not to mention the grandest and most comfortable beds ever, was sooo hard to get up this morning!
Next door to the Tresury Hotel is the Old Tresury building, which was the former treasury building (hence the name, clever, huh) for the government, and is a very old builing in Australian terms, a very grand and impressive historical architeture of the city! But the most exciting part of the building is that it is now a casino, open 24 hours a day, woohoo! So I had my first experience at gambling. I played on the slot machines first, called pokies over here, and won a bob or two, whlist drinking a vodka and coke, oh what a life! It all seemed rather alien at first, but as I got used to it and won some money, I got more into it, maybe a bit too much.... No wonder why so many people are addicts, ha! I then went into the main room and played roulette, where I bet 2.50 bucks on my lucky number 2, and won 100 bucks, so now 2 is even more my lucky number! So I had a rather awesome first gambling experience and went home around 150 bucks richer (Mary won 3 three time more than me), drinks on me, or should I say on Mary, ha! But remember guys, gambling is addicitive, and you don't always win, so be careful...... HA!
I've been trying to put pics up here, but have been struggling to at the moment, and Mary's laptop isn't helping, as it's a bit crappy :O Shhh, don't tell her I said that..... So hopefully you will see some up soon!
Until next time, Angus x
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
G'day from down under!!!
G'day from down under guys!
So, after 25 hours of travel, 3 or 4 movies later, enduring some screaming children on the first leg (fun... I love kids so much....) and and a few vodka and cokes on the flight, and I've arrived safety in Brisbane and I'm in Aussie land, hurray! The weather here is amazing, stepped off the plane into 25 degrees baby!
I'm staying in Brisbane at the mo with my aunt, in the Manly area, which is an awesome water bay village!
Its been my first full day in Brissie/Brisvegas (as the aussie's call it); and I went into town and walked along Morton Bay, which is soo beatuful and has a wicked cool harbour. I had lunch at a fish restaurant, I ate Mahi-mahi, a popular Australian fish, delicious, overlooking the habour! I've been soaking up the atmosphere of Australia, which is very different to the UK: the building are very different, eg some homes are made from timber with tile/tin roofs, this is as it keeps the homes much cooler, everything is priced in Aussie dollars, so I'm getting used to a new currency and the people are very chilled out, the roads are very americianised, which is slighlty strange, and the widlife is very different eg mangrove tress, which grow in the sea, and parrots and kookaburra's (anyone heard the kookaburaa song? I'm sure I was taught it at lower school, ha)!
I have done some boring adult stuff today (unfortunalty) such as setting up an Oz bank account, getting a medicare card (in case I'm ill, fingers crossed I'm not) and a phone, so I can contact you guys! Its been strange without having one for a few days, I felt less connected, lol!
My body clock is still adjusting to the new time zone and getting over jet lag, urgh, and I'm already getting used to the weather, its going to be 25 degrees tomorrow and its only spring, bring on summer, ha!
Tomorrow, the plan is to head into the CBD (central business district) of Brisbane and travelling to South Bank, and catching the city cat, which is a ferry up Brisbane river and then maybe on to the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary or maybe going on a Ballon ride or a theme park, so much to see and explore! So we will see what we are feeling tomorrow!
Until next time,
Angus x
So, after 25 hours of travel, 3 or 4 movies later, enduring some screaming children on the first leg (fun... I love kids so much....) and and a few vodka and cokes on the flight, and I've arrived safety in Brisbane and I'm in Aussie land, hurray! The weather here is amazing, stepped off the plane into 25 degrees baby!
I'm staying in Brisbane at the mo with my aunt, in the Manly area, which is an awesome water bay village!
Its been my first full day in Brissie/Brisvegas (as the aussie's call it); and I went into town and walked along Morton Bay, which is soo beatuful and has a wicked cool harbour. I had lunch at a fish restaurant, I ate Mahi-mahi, a popular Australian fish, delicious, overlooking the habour! I've been soaking up the atmosphere of Australia, which is very different to the UK: the building are very different, eg some homes are made from timber with tile/tin roofs, this is as it keeps the homes much cooler, everything is priced in Aussie dollars, so I'm getting used to a new currency and the people are very chilled out, the roads are very americianised, which is slighlty strange, and the widlife is very different eg mangrove tress, which grow in the sea, and parrots and kookaburra's (anyone heard the kookaburaa song? I'm sure I was taught it at lower school, ha)!
I have done some boring adult stuff today (unfortunalty) such as setting up an Oz bank account, getting a medicare card (in case I'm ill, fingers crossed I'm not) and a phone, so I can contact you guys! Its been strange without having one for a few days, I felt less connected, lol!
My body clock is still adjusting to the new time zone and getting over jet lag, urgh, and I'm already getting used to the weather, its going to be 25 degrees tomorrow and its only spring, bring on summer, ha!
Tomorrow, the plan is to head into the CBD (central business district) of Brisbane and travelling to South Bank, and catching the city cat, which is a ferry up Brisbane river and then maybe on to the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary or maybe going on a Ballon ride or a theme park, so much to see and explore! So we will see what we are feeling tomorrow!
Until next time,
Angus x
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Lift off approaches!!!
Hello people!!!
So it's twelve hours until I arrive at Heathrow to check in with Mary (for those of you who don't know, I'm travelling over with my aunt who lives in Brisbane and staying there for the first part of my travels, Mary has been in the UK for a few weeks, so it will be great to travel with her and have some crazy aunt company), and lift off is at 11.55! I'm flying with Singapore Airlines, which I have been told are a great airline to travel with, providing lots of films and entertainment systems, which is right up my street! I'm sure the first leg of the journey, 13 hours, will fly by...... (Pun intended, ha!) which will arrive in Singapore for refueling for a couple of hours, then continuing on to Brisbane! I'm travelling for around a total of 25 hours (oh dear), and arriving around 7.30pm Oz time; so its gonna be a longgg flight; and I'm sure I will arrive in Brisbane looking great, ready to take on the world........
I've said most of my farewells to family and friends already, and its been emotional! Thanks for all the great send off's people, you are all awesome and I'm going miss every one of you, :( ,sad face ! It's feels strange that instead of packing for uni, that I've been packing (much lighter, may I add) to go to Australia!!! Weird!!!
Everything feels rather surreal at the moment, after all the planning and dreaming of going, I can't quite believe its actually happening; and I'm off to the other side of the world, crazy times!!! I'm full of excitement, and becoming more hyper each moment, as I write this, so I don't think I'm going to get much sleep! I've recorded X Factor, so I'm going to get my last fix off it, before I head off, bring on the auditions and crazy people!!
Until next time,
Angus!
So it's twelve hours until I arrive at Heathrow to check in with Mary (for those of you who don't know, I'm travelling over with my aunt who lives in Brisbane and staying there for the first part of my travels, Mary has been in the UK for a few weeks, so it will be great to travel with her and have some crazy aunt company), and lift off is at 11.55! I'm flying with Singapore Airlines, which I have been told are a great airline to travel with, providing lots of films and entertainment systems, which is right up my street! I'm sure the first leg of the journey, 13 hours, will fly by...... (Pun intended, ha!) which will arrive in Singapore for refueling for a couple of hours, then continuing on to Brisbane! I'm travelling for around a total of 25 hours (oh dear), and arriving around 7.30pm Oz time; so its gonna be a longgg flight; and I'm sure I will arrive in Brisbane looking great, ready to take on the world........
I've said most of my farewells to family and friends already, and its been emotional! Thanks for all the great send off's people, you are all awesome and I'm going miss every one of you, :( ,sad face ! It's feels strange that instead of packing for uni, that I've been packing (much lighter, may I add) to go to Australia!!! Weird!!!
Everything feels rather surreal at the moment, after all the planning and dreaming of going, I can't quite believe its actually happening; and I'm off to the other side of the world, crazy times!!! I'm full of excitement, and becoming more hyper each moment, as I write this, so I don't think I'm going to get much sleep! I've recorded X Factor, so I'm going to get my last fix off it, before I head off, bring on the auditions and crazy people!!
Until next time,
Angus!
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Welcome!
Hey guys :) and welcome to my blog!
Here to keep all you lovely people update with all my crazy antics down under and to keep in contact with you!
My blog is pretty basic at the moment, but I will start to, and continue to update it along my travels in many internet cafes, I'm sure!
Enjoy (hopefully........)
Here to keep all you lovely people update with all my crazy antics down under and to keep in contact with you!
My blog is pretty basic at the moment, but I will start to, and continue to update it along my travels in many internet cafes, I'm sure!
Enjoy (hopefully........)
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