EAST COAST OZ!!!!! (not perth and fremantle)

Hi guys, sorry its been so long since we updated- consequently this is a huge one covering 1 month of travel up the east coast from Melbourne - Cairns. Love you all xxx

Sunday 27th June 2010

Can't quite believe that we are finally leaving Melbourne. I cannot even explain how amazing the 8months living here have been!!! Truly lives up to its reputation as 3rd most liveable city in the world!!!

But I was so excited to get on the road travelling again: We had a couple of leaving dos and lots of goodbyes and then set off on the overnight train to Sydney. Already been to Sydney but was great to have longer to explore the beautiful city.

We spent a few days basically walking miles and miles- absolutely knackered! We took a train to the Blue Mountains and visited the Echo Point and the 3 Sisters rock formation- miss my wee sisters! We also spent a day taking the ferry to Manly beach and then walking about 10km to Spit. And of course we spent a lot of time around Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Last time we visited Sydney we were spoilt by our friends Kim and Brian and enjoyed champagne at the Opera Bar and cocktails in a revolving sky-high bar!!! We also got all dressed up and Steven took me to the ballet at the Sydney Opera House….no such luxuries this time…well and truly back roughing it and penny pinching!

July 1st: Next stop was Byron Bay- we took a greyhound bus overnight (therefore saving on a nights accommodation) and arrived in lovely Byron Bay. Stayed in probably the dirtiest, grottiest hostel ever- but was a great place for socialising with lots of other travellers so had a blast (back on the goon- remember the cheap wine in a foil bag!), or maybe the truth is that we got drunk to make the place more bearable!!!!

We did a big walk uphill to the Cape Byron lighthouse - the most easterly point in Australia. Saw a couple of dolphins too. Although the weather is quite cold- we still had bright sunny days. Found a gorgeous secluded spot on a beach and had lunch and chilled out. Byron is a very cool hippy town- so laid back and alternative. Visited their brilliant monthly markets too- lots of cool stuff.

5th July: Next stop was just a few hours on a bus- Brisbane. It's a pretty city but just not very exciting- certainly not a patch on Melbourne! They do have a lovely southbank area with a pretty manmade beach. Didn't too much in 'Brissy' but luckily we had an amazing hostel and could just chill on their lovely roof terrace with drinks and an unbelievable view of the city!

8th July: Another few hours north up the east coast and our next stop Noosa! It's funny how you meet lots of the same people on the way up the coast…
We booked 5nights in a lovely apartment so we could relax and enjoy cooking good food and do laundry etc…it looked like a house from neighbours- old aussie style.

We fell in love with Noosa- lots of money here- if we hit the bigtime we want a house here on the water with a boat parked outside (we can dream!). Did lots and lots of walking here and explored lots. Watched the sun set on Main Beach and then the rain started- everyone fled but we waited and were so lucky as dolphins started giving us a performance! Lots of surfers here too- a very cool place.

We did a massive walk one day (about 8 hours) over to sunshine beach then on to the national park. Walked for 4 hours without seeing a single person in the National Park! Then the last few hours of the walk were busier- lots of little bays with amazing surfers catching their waves! Spotted 2 wild Koalas high up the eucalyptus trees!

We spent a day at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo- was amazing but not as good as Singapore zoo! Did love getting up close to the kangaroos and koalas though!

13th July: Next bus took us north again to Hervey bay- take off point for Fraser Island!!!! This was without a doubt one of my favourite places in Australia and perhaps in the world!!! Words cannot describe this incredible sand island (largest sand island in the world)- it blew me away!
There are no roads as such so we were in a 4wheel drive truck thing and the bumpy rough roads were so much fun. We visited crystal clear lakes- the clearest water you will ever see- Lake Mackenzie was like a dream. We also walked through Pile Valley- a sub tropical rainforest

The following day was even more incredible- we drove along the 75mile beach-it was so amazing and breathtakingly beautiful not to mention really fun bumping along. Though Steven did come quite high out of his chair at one point, lucky he had a seatbelt on or he would have banged his head on the roof which often happens here. But he unfortunately came back down and landed on the seatbelt buckle and hurt his back- ripped through his shorts and cut him in the bum!!!

Spotted some wild dingoes on the beach and then one got abit too close to me- I kinda freaked cos they can attack/kill humans! We also spotted lots of migrating whales from Indian Head lookout- such a treat! Waded through the stunning Eli creek and then for one of our absolute highlights: a tiny 7seater plane took us on an unbelievable and truly beautiful scenic flight over Fraser Island. Viewing the sand dunes, the maheno shipwreck (ship made in Dumbarton) and the crystal clear lakes from the sky was an amazing sight! Steve was in his element as he got to sit in the co-pilot seat- though he was under strict instructions not to touch anything!!! Landed back on the beach- brilliant!

16th July: Back in Hervey Bay we hired bikes and cycled about but not so much to see/do. Then yet another overnight bus (im pretty good at sleeping on them thankfully) to Airlie Beach. Had quite a few drinks in Airlie with some friends we had made in Fraser Island! Booked a last minute sailing trip (3days/2nights) on the Whitsundays! Whitehaven beach is the type of beach you don't believe exists- finest, softest white sand that is 98% silica so we cleaned our teeth and jewellery with the sand! The trip was a mix of sailing around, walks to beaches, good company and snorkelling on the reef (which Steven loved- he was swimming alongside a huge turtle for ages and said it was so amazing!). Did some kayaking too in the beautiful waters and saw baby sharks.

20th July: Arrived in Townsville and spent 1 night but didn't really take to it so decided to head straight to Magnetic Island. Took a short ferry over to this tiny, relatively unspoilt tropical looking island. Stayed in the Base hostel here which was pretty good- I mean the dorms were tiny and the toilets a fair walk away when you need in the middle of the night but I swear when you're sitting on their deck on the beach with a cocktail in hand- you could be in a 5star resort! So maybe we got carried away with the 5star feeling and treated ourselves to a lovely meal at a restaurant down the road- Man Friday. We had the most delicious Mexican meal in a gorgeous outdoor setting surrounded by lots of wild animals: strange looking long legged birds that we were informed were Bush Stone Curlews and possums who were eating dorito chips Mexican style!

So the popular way to get around this tiny island is by topless car or moke- very cute go kart like cars! We had a blast driving around and exploring and I loved the car- it was very girlie!!!! Felt like we were a million miles from Australia- very different. Stopped at lots of bays and lookout points. Went to see wild rock wallabies and they were amazing- about 30 of them came to see if we had food and we were feeding them and a few of them had baby joeys in their pouches which was the cutest thing ever!!! That evening, back at the hostel, we started a pub quiz, we were in a team with our 3 dorm mates and then there was a power cut so we all just headed to bed! Funnily enough when Lina was there- there was also a powercut! Pay your bloomin' bills!!! Haha!

25th July: 6hours on the greyhound bus and we arrived in Cairns. Stayed in a brilliant hostel which is lucky as it rained a lot here so we were in the hostel a lot! Walking around Cairns is not what I expected- its like a holiday town in Spain- full of restaurants and bars and tourist shops. We visited the night markets and saw the beautiful manmade lagoon area- just as well they have that as you cant swim in the sea here- too many crocs!

We visited a place called Kuranda- a village in the Rainforest that thrives on its craft markets. We also did a 3 day trip up further North- amazing time visiting the Daintree River- where we did a river cruise spotting wild crocodiles and a huge Python. Then further on we made it to Cape Tribulation- where the rainforest meets the reef. It's the world's oldest continually living rainforest! We had an excellent guided walk through the rainforest learning about its flora and fauna. We stayed at Cape Trib Beach House- but we were right in the middle of the rainforest so lots of creepy crawlies and we had a GIANT spider at our window- found out it wasn't poisonous though- just a Golden Orb- we became fascinated by watching its web progress over the 2 days and saw it catch a super huge moth and eat the whole thing!
Cannot believe what im about to say but…there is only 1 shop in the area that we could walk to and they sold….IRN BRU! So you'll have trouble finding irn bru in the cities (only specialist Uk shops stock it and they are rare) but you visit the only shop in the rainforest and you'll get it there!!! Rained at night and nothing to do in evenings so we played A LOT of scrabble!

29th July: After there, we visited beautiful Mossman Gorge and then headed to the absolutely gorgeous town of Port Douglas. Very beautiful, wealthy place - another place we'd like a holiday home! Had a great night in their lovely bars, also relaxed on 4mile beach and then headed back to Cairns where we would now leave the East Coast of Australia and head to the Top End and the Red Centre!

xxxxx