So were here in New Zealand.....! Last stop before home :-( time has passed so quickly!
After many emotional goodbyes in the land down under we flew to New Zealand. The flight was very quick and before we knew it we had been thrown from 30 degrees heat to about 3......! It honestly felt and smelled like home because it was so cold! aaaaaaah!
We got to our hostel pretty late and the nights of drinking ourselves silly with our lovely friends from Aus had taken their toll! We were ill! Nat was worse.....! We spent our first few days in Auckland chilling out after a hardcore 2 months in Aus this was most needed! It was great because Tom and Emily were on our flight so we got to spend some more time with them before the infamous campervan adeventure! On Friday Chris and Jo turned up, followed closely by Sarah whom we hadnt met yet but we trusted Chris and Jo's judgement and then the games began! We went downstairs to the bar for a catch up and get to know Sarah, lots of fun and then bed before our exciting Saturday of picking up our van!
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Photos
To see more pics click on the link below, I have updated the album
http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=366666011/a=158635564_158635564/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=366666011/a=158635564_158635564/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Cairns
We set off for Magnetic island early the next morning, it took almost the whole day to get there, a few hours on the beach when we finally arrived was all we got.... :-( but what we liked what we saw, was very scenic even if it was short lived.
Up early again the next day to make our long journey to Cairns......last stop in Australia :-(
Cairns was a fun filled week, honestly we mainly drank lots of goon and partied the nights away....followed by lots of sleep and chilling out by the lagoon.
Cairns was the last stop so everyone tends to end up here on the Oz Experience. So it was one big party saying bye to people. There was always someone leaving the next day so it was a leaving party every night ha!
We did manage a road trip to Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas though. Me, Nat, Leila and Laura hired a car for the day setting off at 8am and heading to Cape Tribulation first. It was quite a drive most of which Leila did. We called our car Elvis...none of us can remember why now but it was a great idea at the time. Our little yellow car did so well on the rough terrain! We did a few walks through the forest to see where the rainforest meets the reef, again a beautiful sight. It was warm but it rained a little. The climates in Australia are so odd! We left cape Tribulation and made our way to Port Douglas which was a really cute little town by the sea. We sat and had some lunch here and a walk around the shops before heading back to Cairns for yet another big night because our friends Katie, Bills and Angus were arriving.
Our last night was really emotional.... :-( some of the guys that we had met on the coast were out and Andy is great on the guitar. It was open mic night in Gilligans ( this was the hostel we were staying in) and as he is so good we made him get up and perform. Bless him, he dedicated his first song to Me and Nats because we were leaving so we jumped up and danced....we were terrible we put him to shame! he on the other hand was amazing and had the crowd singing and dancing all night yeeeeeeey! We had so much fun and then lots of tears saying goodbye :-( and that folks was Australia. I am so so so sad to be leaving as I have made so many lifelong friends here and the memories will last a lifetime.
Up early again the next day to make our long journey to Cairns......last stop in Australia :-(
Cairns was a fun filled week, honestly we mainly drank lots of goon and partied the nights away....followed by lots of sleep and chilling out by the lagoon.
Cairns was the last stop so everyone tends to end up here on the Oz Experience. So it was one big party saying bye to people. There was always someone leaving the next day so it was a leaving party every night ha!
We did manage a road trip to Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas though. Me, Nat, Leila and Laura hired a car for the day setting off at 8am and heading to Cape Tribulation first. It was quite a drive most of which Leila did. We called our car Elvis...none of us can remember why now but it was a great idea at the time. Our little yellow car did so well on the rough terrain! We did a few walks through the forest to see where the rainforest meets the reef, again a beautiful sight. It was warm but it rained a little. The climates in Australia are so odd! We left cape Tribulation and made our way to Port Douglas which was a really cute little town by the sea. We sat and had some lunch here and a walk around the shops before heading back to Cairns for yet another big night because our friends Katie, Bills and Angus were arriving.
Our last night was really emotional.... :-( some of the guys that we had met on the coast were out and Andy is great on the guitar. It was open mic night in Gilligans ( this was the hostel we were staying in) and as he is so good we made him get up and perform. Bless him, he dedicated his first song to Me and Nats because we were leaving so we jumped up and danced....we were terrible we put him to shame! he on the other hand was amazing and had the crowd singing and dancing all night yeeeeeeey! We had so much fun and then lots of tears saying goodbye :-( and that folks was Australia. I am so so so sad to be leaving as I have made so many lifelong friends here and the memories will last a lifetime.
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Airlie Beach and Whitsundays
We arrived in Airlie Beach in the afternoon in time to check in and have a kip before we got ready and all went out for FREE beer and nibbles which to backpackers is...well...not to be missed! Fab night out with all our friends from fraser and oz bus :-)
The next day we checked in for our boat and sailed at lunchtime. The first day we just got to know the people of the boat, had dinner, drinks and sailed into tongue bay where we anchored up for the night. The food was amazing considering they hardly had any means to cook it all. There were about 25 of us including crew which was a really good number because it meant we could all get to know each other and sit around in a big group. It got really chilly at night, being my usually cold blooded self i was moaning so the captain gave me his jumper aaaaaaaah! We sat up most of the night drinking goon and chatting to our new friends on the boat. Really nice evening. The sleeping accommodation wasn't the best but hey, its a sailing boat, so considering it was small the beds were ok. Me and nat shared a double which were in lines down the side of the boat and then there was like a big hammock above one side of the double for someone else to sleep in. me and Nat DID NOT hit the jackpot with the Canadian guy sleeping above us......snoring is an understatement at one point in the night i thought a steam train was coming through the gully! haaaaa! never mind! We were up early doors on the boat, breakfast at 7 sharp. We then all set of on the smaller boat onto Whitehaven beach. First we walked up the look out point which was pretty amazing, the views and colours were great, then back down to the beach......pictures speak for themselves....yet to be uploaded! In the afternoon me and Natalie went diving unaided for the first time ever.....of yeh! had lots of fun, lots of different marine life. We did this whilst the others went snorkelling.
After we got back to the boat we had a yummy lunch and then sailed to the next bay for the night. Unfortunatley because of lack of wind we didnt sail at all on our first day :-( motoring all the way. Once again we had a fab night of drinking games and dinner was lush also!
Up again early on the last day so we could make the most of the wind! We sailed back into Airlie for lucnhtime and because the wind got up we sailed all the way back! So much fun and we helped sail the boat with the other crew members. Such a great couple of days. It was a wicked experience and the whitsundays are a must, so beautiful.
The next day we checked in for our boat and sailed at lunchtime. The first day we just got to know the people of the boat, had dinner, drinks and sailed into tongue bay where we anchored up for the night. The food was amazing considering they hardly had any means to cook it all. There were about 25 of us including crew which was a really good number because it meant we could all get to know each other and sit around in a big group. It got really chilly at night, being my usually cold blooded self i was moaning so the captain gave me his jumper aaaaaaaah! We sat up most of the night drinking goon and chatting to our new friends on the boat. Really nice evening. The sleeping accommodation wasn't the best but hey, its a sailing boat, so considering it was small the beds were ok. Me and nat shared a double which were in lines down the side of the boat and then there was like a big hammock above one side of the double for someone else to sleep in. me and Nat DID NOT hit the jackpot with the Canadian guy sleeping above us......snoring is an understatement at one point in the night i thought a steam train was coming through the gully! haaaaa! never mind! We were up early doors on the boat, breakfast at 7 sharp. We then all set of on the smaller boat onto Whitehaven beach. First we walked up the look out point which was pretty amazing, the views and colours were great, then back down to the beach......pictures speak for themselves....yet to be uploaded! In the afternoon me and Natalie went diving unaided for the first time ever.....of yeh! had lots of fun, lots of different marine life. We did this whilst the others went snorkelling.
After we got back to the boat we had a yummy lunch and then sailed to the next bay for the night. Unfortunatley because of lack of wind we didnt sail at all on our first day :-( motoring all the way. Once again we had a fab night of drinking games and dinner was lush also!
Up again early on the last day so we could make the most of the wind! We sailed back into Airlie for lucnhtime and because the wind got up we sailed all the way back! So much fun and we helped sail the boat with the other crew members. Such a great couple of days. It was a wicked experience and the whitsundays are a must, so beautiful.
1770 and Kroombit
We only spent one day and night in 1770 as this was a compulsory stop but on reflection if we had more time I think this is somewhere i wouldnt have minded spending longer at. We were all so tired and our bodies ruined from Fraser that this was a nice place to chill out. So we did. Also it rained whioch we were not impressed about but hey ho, we have had about 7 days of rain in our whole trip so cant be bad! We left 1770 the next morning to head to Kroombit which none of us were that sure about but once we got there changed out minds. It was all a bit crazy. We got there had a lovely steak and salad lunch then in the afternoon there were lots of different activities. I wanteds to have a go at Clay Pigeon shooting so i took the plunge and did it, was fun! I managed to get one out of five, i was quite impressed with myself seeing as I hadnt done anything like this before. Then we got into groups and wrestled goats onto a ring and branded them - very odd! I of course did the branding as was too scared to do any wrestling ha!
After the activites we had dinner and then were shown to a strange little shed where we were told to dress up in fancy dress from the box. It was all like vistorian dresses and weird jackets! I think my jacket made me look like a ring master at the circus ha! So we then had to tackle the mechanical bull. Most people got on and thrown off within seconds on both goes but i got on and after a complete wipeout the first time was able to stay on the second and bought home the crown for the girls but one of the boys beat me by miles goddammit! He is a dutch farmer so I think he def had an unfair advantage for sure! It was a fun night, lots of booze followed the bull riding and a few hangover the next morning before we headed for Airlie Beach whooooop!
After the activites we had dinner and then were shown to a strange little shed where we were told to dress up in fancy dress from the box. It was all like vistorian dresses and weird jackets! I think my jacket made me look like a ring master at the circus ha! So we then had to tackle the mechanical bull. Most people got on and thrown off within seconds on both goes but i got on and after a complete wipeout the first time was able to stay on the second and bought home the crown for the girls but one of the boys beat me by miles goddammit! He is a dutch farmer so I think he def had an unfair advantage for sure! It was a fun night, lots of booze followed the bull riding and a few hangover the next morning before we headed for Airlie Beach whooooop!
Sunday, 17 May 2009
The Island that is FRASER!
Well what can I say I have just returned from Fraser Island and I can say without a doubt I had the time of my life.
Me and Nat were put in our groups the night before we set off and to begin with we didnt think the group would work but we were wrong. We had such a good group of people, everyone pitched in, we were all in it for a great time and well thats exactly what we had!
We left at 8am on the first morning and made our way to the ferry, it was party time from the word go and although our cr*ppy van didnt have a radio we didnt let that stop us, we sang all the way! Hence why i now have NO voice! We busted out some real classics all the way to Lake Mckenzie. We got to lake mckenzie and I dont know what everyone else expected but damn it was beautiful. This huge fresh water lake inbetween such thick green woodland but also sand dunes......crazy. The water tasted like evian. We spent a lot of the day here which was fortunate as we had to get a mechanic out to fix our humungous 4x4. The roof rack loaded with all of our stuff had broken.....yeh not good. This drunken guy turns up to fix it but hey it seemed to work! We then made our way to cromwells break with a convoy of about 6 vans who we had made friends with during the day. Once all parked up and tents erected we got stuck into making dinner. Burgers it was! So good. Then the goon drinking began as darkness fell on camp and the rest of the night is a blur - great fun had by all though ;-)
The second day we were a feeling a little bit worse for wwear to say the least but as always we pulled it together and packed up to drive to Lake Wabby. WOWZER! This was like a desert.......the half an hour walk from the car to the lake was well worth it. The photos tell it all. The contrast of the different surroundings was so odd. Again we spent most of the day here chilling out before heading up north to see Indian Head which again was a sight and then onto camp....though we didnt time things well and didnt make it to a campsite so the beach it was. Once we were set up though we had a wicked night. Both nights were so different, the first being busy with people and lots of crazy games, the second was all about group bonding. I honestly can say I had such an amazing time, the people were great, scenery out of this world! Also we managed to see the shipwreck on our last day before heading back which was teamed with seeing our friends who we didnt think we would see until Cairns so it was big cuddles and whooooping for about an hour! FAB FAB FAB time. Bring on the Whitsundays :-)
Me and Nat were put in our groups the night before we set off and to begin with we didnt think the group would work but we were wrong. We had such a good group of people, everyone pitched in, we were all in it for a great time and well thats exactly what we had!
We left at 8am on the first morning and made our way to the ferry, it was party time from the word go and although our cr*ppy van didnt have a radio we didnt let that stop us, we sang all the way! Hence why i now have NO voice! We busted out some real classics all the way to Lake Mckenzie. We got to lake mckenzie and I dont know what everyone else expected but damn it was beautiful. This huge fresh water lake inbetween such thick green woodland but also sand dunes......crazy. The water tasted like evian. We spent a lot of the day here which was fortunate as we had to get a mechanic out to fix our humungous 4x4. The roof rack loaded with all of our stuff had broken.....yeh not good. This drunken guy turns up to fix it but hey it seemed to work! We then made our way to cromwells break with a convoy of about 6 vans who we had made friends with during the day. Once all parked up and tents erected we got stuck into making dinner. Burgers it was! So good. Then the goon drinking began as darkness fell on camp and the rest of the night is a blur - great fun had by all though ;-)
The second day we were a feeling a little bit worse for wwear to say the least but as always we pulled it together and packed up to drive to Lake Wabby. WOWZER! This was like a desert.......the half an hour walk from the car to the lake was well worth it. The photos tell it all. The contrast of the different surroundings was so odd. Again we spent most of the day here chilling out before heading up north to see Indian Head which again was a sight and then onto camp....though we didnt time things well and didnt make it to a campsite so the beach it was. Once we were set up though we had a wicked night. Both nights were so different, the first being busy with people and lots of crazy games, the second was all about group bonding. I honestly can say I had such an amazing time, the people were great, scenery out of this world! Also we managed to see the shipwreck on our last day before heading back which was teamed with seeing our friends who we didnt think we would see until Cairns so it was big cuddles and whooooping for about an hour! FAB FAB FAB time. Bring on the Whitsundays :-)
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Noosa, Australia Zoo and Bushcamp
We left Brisbane with all of our luggage in tow and headed for the train station hoping to go to Australia Zoo on route but once again because we were unorganised this wasnt possible because of time! oooops! So we decided to head for Noosa anyway and go to the zoo from there. After 2 hours on the train and another hour on a public bus we were in Noosa. Staying at Koalas hostel.
Noosa is a small place but very friendly and nice little shops and beaches. We went to Australia zoo the following day which was FAB! At the same time as being so good it was also very sad as there are a lot of memories of Steve Irwin around. Lots of tributes to him etc, very sad to see when you see his young family without him but they clearly share their love for animals as are activlely involved in the success of the zoo. We fed kangaroos, stroked the koalas, saw a tiger being sick ( that was gross!), fed the elephants, saw a tasmanian devil ( ugly!) and watched a live crocodile feeding. Clearly we saw lots more too but its just too much to remember. Lots of pictures to come! We have spent a lot of time chilling out here after lots of partying. So we left Noosa on Friday for Bushcamp where we were to camp and then do lots of canoeing. We hadnt been briefed about this trip at all and I had called a few times to ask what we needed to bring and they were so vague so we were a little worried! Anyhow we left for bushcamp late afternoon and after shopping for food we turned up to be greated with our hammocks to sleep in underneath some tarpooling( spelling?!?!) I can safely say we were all freeeeeeeeeeeeezing! I slept with so many clothes on and only my nose out of my sleeping bag to breath! Me = not happy bunny! Though i got on with it as this is all part of the experience right?! ha! So earlyish rise the next day, carried our canoes down to the water, had a very very brief lesson on the bank how to canoe and off we went. It was funny at first as our biggest fear was falling in after the guy running the tour had told us there were lots of brown spotted stingwrays in the water - Steve Irwin ran into one of these.......! We made it down river to where we got off to trek to the beach - one of the boys fell in the water on the way and it took ages to get him back in! We later found out that they were being stupid and thats how he fell in! Boys will be boys! Me and Natalie needed the little girls room when we got to the beach so walked back to the pub which we saw on the way. It was such a long way we decided to lie in the pub grounds instead of doubling back on ourselves to the beach. It was really nice and peaceful. Lots of wildlife around us, we even saw some wild kangaroos, one wiht a joey in its pouch! So cute! So making it back to camp eventually after yet another hard slog in the canoe we all ached a lot! By now Natalie was experiencing big problems with her lips. She had drunk some fruit juice and had an allergic reaction but it was gradually getting worse :-( So after another freezing night at camp we left and took her to hospital. She got treated and medication for the swelling. So headed back to the hostel where we are now for a few days. I have been filing my days with lots of reading and beaching while nat recovers. Katie, Angus and Billy came back from camp on Tuesday and we had a fab night out with them and the other guys they met on thier bushcamp experience. Lots of silly drinking games in our dorm before some geek off dancing in the hostel bar. Leave for Rainbow beach and the infamous Fraser Island trip on thursday. Me = very excited!
Noosa is a small place but very friendly and nice little shops and beaches. We went to Australia zoo the following day which was FAB! At the same time as being so good it was also very sad as there are a lot of memories of Steve Irwin around. Lots of tributes to him etc, very sad to see when you see his young family without him but they clearly share their love for animals as are activlely involved in the success of the zoo. We fed kangaroos, stroked the koalas, saw a tiger being sick ( that was gross!), fed the elephants, saw a tasmanian devil ( ugly!) and watched a live crocodile feeding. Clearly we saw lots more too but its just too much to remember. Lots of pictures to come! We have spent a lot of time chilling out here after lots of partying. So we left Noosa on Friday for Bushcamp where we were to camp and then do lots of canoeing. We hadnt been briefed about this trip at all and I had called a few times to ask what we needed to bring and they were so vague so we were a little worried! Anyhow we left for bushcamp late afternoon and after shopping for food we turned up to be greated with our hammocks to sleep in underneath some tarpooling( spelling?!?!) I can safely say we were all freeeeeeeeeeeeezing! I slept with so many clothes on and only my nose out of my sleeping bag to breath! Me = not happy bunny! Though i got on with it as this is all part of the experience right?! ha! So earlyish rise the next day, carried our canoes down to the water, had a very very brief lesson on the bank how to canoe and off we went. It was funny at first as our biggest fear was falling in after the guy running the tour had told us there were lots of brown spotted stingwrays in the water - Steve Irwin ran into one of these.......! We made it down river to where we got off to trek to the beach - one of the boys fell in the water on the way and it took ages to get him back in! We later found out that they were being stupid and thats how he fell in! Boys will be boys! Me and Natalie needed the little girls room when we got to the beach so walked back to the pub which we saw on the way. It was such a long way we decided to lie in the pub grounds instead of doubling back on ourselves to the beach. It was really nice and peaceful. Lots of wildlife around us, we even saw some wild kangaroos, one wiht a joey in its pouch! So cute! So making it back to camp eventually after yet another hard slog in the canoe we all ached a lot! By now Natalie was experiencing big problems with her lips. She had drunk some fruit juice and had an allergic reaction but it was gradually getting worse :-( So after another freezing night at camp we left and took her to hospital. She got treated and medication for the swelling. So headed back to the hostel where we are now for a few days. I have been filing my days with lots of reading and beaching while nat recovers. Katie, Angus and Billy came back from camp on Tuesday and we had a fab night out with them and the other guys they met on thier bushcamp experience. Lots of silly drinking games in our dorm before some geek off dancing in the hostel bar. Leave for Rainbow beach and the infamous Fraser Island trip on thursday. Me = very excited!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)