Friday 22nd August 2008

After a 26 hour journey from Beijing to Sydney and from Sydney a flight back up to Cairns, we arrived safely in this tourist town. We arrived late at night and didnt have a hostel booked, so we caught a shuttle bus into town and stayed in the same place three years ago, which hadnt changed a bit; except is was a bit more expensive.

Saturday 23rd August 2008

Today we simply pottered around; we had a wonder into Woolworths the supermarket and spent the rest of the day by the lagoon.

Sunday 24th August 2008

Today we got ourselves organised! We bought a phone card so that we can contact home and each other just in case we get lost. We also bought a bus ticket for about $300, which will take us all the way from Cairns to Melbourne approximately 2,860 kms this is about 55 hours if we were to do it in one go, which we certainly wont. We spent the rest of the happy hour day in a bar and then went back to the hostel for baked beans!

Monday 25th August 2008

Unfortunately we were rudly awoken this morning by our good friends the 'Bed Bugs'. At 4 a.m. I heard a strange clicking noise. I turned on the light and found about 15 bed bugs on and around the edges of the bed and the sheets. I have never seen Dan get out of bed so quickly! Thank goodness the alarm was set for 6 a.m. as we had an early bus to catch, however, this did mean that we spent two hours with the light on killing these horrible creatures!!! Luckily we never really got anything out of our packs because the room was pretty dirty so they are OK but I was scratching invisible crepy crawlies for the next couple of days and Dan checks every bed at every hostel now. That saying 'ignorance is bliss' is quite true! Anyway, we left Cairnes on the 7 a.m. bus heading for Townsville. When we arrived we couldnt find anywhere to stay, everywhere was either full or the hostel receptions were shut. We went back to our trusty Lonely Planet Guide and looked up one of the more 'mid-range' hostels and headed for it. It looked easy to find on the map but it wasn't. After walking around the town and this rediculous steep hill towards a mountain walk in 26C heat (and I had a jumper on!), with our backpacks and hand lugage we eventually found our new home for the next three nights, Coral Lodge. This quant little building on the outskirts of town had a lovely self contained area available for us to use. The building was so old that the fridge was leaning over to one side and it kind of felt like you were falling over - subsidance maybe? We had a quick look around town and then had our first Aussie BBQ in the hostel garden!

Tuesday 26th August 2008

We were up early to catch the Townsville ferry over to Magnetic Island, a little piece of paradise just 8km from the mainland. Each part of the island has various named bays, Picnic Bay, Harbour Bay etc. We spent the day looking at the wildlife and catching the hopper bus from one bay to another, taking in the scenery and the array of different beaches. It was a lovely island but sun rays here were rediculously strong, this mixed with not putting on sun tan lotion quick enough meant that Dan and I were incredibly sun/wind burnt. When we arrived back in Townsville we looked like lobsters and people were tutting at us as they walked passed! We spent the rest of the evening in severe pain and hoped that we would feel better in the morning.

Wednesday 27th August 2008

We hoped to feel better but this we didnt; I was starting to realise what a chemical face peel would feel like. Our skin was so tight and little blisters started to appear on my legs (I hope you are not eating whilst reading this blog!) and can you believe that you can only buy one type of after sun over here, madness! We were determined not to let this get the better of us so we got up and headed to a Mall (best form of therapy in my book!) on the bus, which was very interesting, you thought the bus conversations in Thornhill were good, they are nothing on Townsville! In the evening we walked down to 'The Strand', a place very similar to 'The Esplanade' in Cairns. It has beautiful gardens, a remarkable Anzac Memorial Garden, BBQ areas and an outdoor pool area. We had a drink and watched the sun go down.

Thursday 28th August 2008

We checked out of our hostel thanking the most fantastic host John, the owner for a wonderful stay. We caught the 1 p.m. bus heading to Airlie Beach. We arrived in Airlie, this time pre-booking accomodation. We were dropped off by the water and walked over to our hostel, which was a huge bar with rooms in a mini rainforrest out the back. We had a great little room situated in between the trees, where lots of turkeys were running around (random!) making lots of noise. We spent the evening wondering around and had an early night.

Friday 29th August 2008

We had another 'get orgnaised day' where we booked a trip, the next bus stop and accomodation for the next town. We walked the Airlie Beach trail taking in the great views and beautiful shades of gem blue and green seas. Airlie also has its own lagoon, the nicest we have been to so far. This is a huge outdoor pool that looks over to the ocean! We spent the afternoon here and then had a BBQ in the evening using the free outdoor facilities.

Saturday 30th August 2008

We were up early and checked out of the hostel, leaving our bags in storage for the day as the bus was a late pick up. We walked along the esplanade at 7.30 a.m. and had a look around at the local saturday market, filled with great jewlery, home made fruit juices and great paintings; dont worry we didnt buy anything, foods a bit more important! We then headed to the bus stop and made our way to the Proserpine River to go on a Whitsunday Croc Safari! Since we were lucky enough to see the Great Barrier Reef last time we were here, we thought rather than taking a sailing trip to the Whitsunday's we would see a different part of the area. The croc trip was fab! We met some really fun people, including a family that live about 6 miles from Aunty K and Uncle Russ and visit the Hill Ridware pubs often, as well as a Kiwi couple that thought that the trip was the best thing they had done ever (they were in their 50's as well which was a bit worrying!); they were so funny because every time they saw anything, like a flower, they kept saying "WOW" and "REALLY". In the morning we had a tour of the flood planes, looking at the fauna and wildlife, including a grass snake which I held! We then had a great lunch, the best and most filling food we have had since we have been away. In the afternoon we spent two hours on the river looking for crocs and saw loads, well about 10. They are huge, fierce looking creatures that usually scattered when the boat went near. At one point, as the boat turned the corner, two crocs were wrestling in the water, we sat back and watched the action as these two beasts fought it out in the water. They soon gave up as this kind of movement uses up a lot of their energy reserve. After a fantastic day, we headed back to the hostel, collected our bags and waited for the bus to take us to our next stop. The bus arrived on the dot and took us two hours south to Mackay. We arrived late on a Saturday night (never a good thing when you are carrying everything you own through the equivilant of Guildhall Walk!) and found our hostel for the night.

Sunday 31st August 2008 - Happy 14th Birthday Alice!

As the hostel last night only had one night available today we had to walk, with our stuff to the other side of town to the only other hostel in the area. Larakin Lodge is the most friendly hostel we have ever stayed in. We left our stuff and then headed out into the town to make the most of the free sunday activities the town has to offer. The free bus took us around the town stopping at a great marina with a lovely beach attached, then onto the Botanicle Gardens looking over the lagoon, then stopping in town for a spot of lunch. We spent the evening making beans in the communal kitchen and then got bored so headed to the nearest bar for a quick glass of wine!

Monday 1st September 2008

Up early to rent a car and head out to Finch Hatton Gorge and Eungella Naitonal Park to see the platypus. The car was fantastic and the roads were very easy to read and follow. We stopped off at the gorge first and decsended on a 4km walk to reach it. The views were amazing but it certainly wasn't warm enough to swim, I pushed Dan but obviously not hard enough, I will try harder next time! We left there and headed to the national park, where the car climbed the steep hills to the top. We stopped and started a walking trail to reach the 'Window Box Views' of the Pioneer Valley. The views here were amazing (have a look at the photos), it looked like you could see the whole world! We then grabbed a coffee at a stop recommended by others, 'The Hideaway', a strange little cafe in the middle of nowhere that is covered in glass gems, the sort you get at the bottom of a fish bowl! We then drove down to the 'Broken River' and no we couldnt fix it. Travellers gather here to catch a glimpse of the platypus. We waited 2 hours but all we saw were rubbish turtles! Apparently 20 minutes after we left one came out, so another backpacker told us, typical! We headed back to Mackay and spent the evening in an Internet Cafe we had found in the Aussie Yellow Pages.

Tuesday 2nd Septemer 2008

Had a quiet day at the Mackay Bluewater Lagoon, a fantastic outside pool area (similar to the others we have mentioned) with water slides and various pools for different people. We then caught the bus at 8 p.m. heading for Hervey Bay, which took 10 hours but we slept the whole way so wasn't too bad. Wednesday 3rd September 2008 We arrived in Hervey at 5.55 a.m. and caught a bus to our hotel, a lovely place where we have our own room, TV and DVD player and we only share the bathroom with two other people - bliss. Its amazing how much you take these things for granted until you live without them for 2 weeks! We are living in a little house attached to the hostel so its really great to have our own space for a few days. We walked along the Esplanade, where you can frequently see dolphins swimming around, and then had a potter around the supermarket to buy our beans for the next few days. We spent the evening chatting to our new house mates a great French couple and watched Neighbours!!!!!! For those of you into it can you please tell me what happened to Sam - shes not in it and Libby and Dan are together (whoops sorry if you didnt know the future of Neighbours!), also the new blonde women turns evil and gets Karl struck off the GP list - dun dun dun! Thursday 4th September 2008 Its raining - we can hear you all laughing from here! We plan to spend the day sleeping, eating and watching DVD's. More soon XXX