We arrived in Brisbane around 16:30, Steve was waiting in arrivals, really good to see him again so soon! We headed to his house only stopping to pick up beer and pizza! It was so nice to get to Steve and Kate's, especially after being in the van for three weeks, they have 2 toilets and 2 showers, luxury! We eat pizza, drank beer and laughed a lot. Went to bed pretty early, got to pick up the spaceship tomorrow.
16/03/10
I've stopped smoking today!! Realised I'm 30 now and I've got to do it someday so why not today?! Got up early, abused the coffee machine and tried to come up with ways to dry my laundry faster. We got our stuff ready, had a final good shower and headed to BrisVegas. We got dropped off around 11 and Steve headed off to work. The van is in really good condition, it's bright orange and has 'SPACESHIP' written down the side so it's a proper 'look at us we're travellers' vibe to it! We left Brisbane and headed north on the Bruce Highway, and we decided to just keep driving. There had been news reports of a catagory 5 cyclone (cyclone Ului) heading inland over the next few days and it was due to hit just above the Sunshine Coast so we decided to drive as far north as we could, let the cyclone hit and then drive back down slowly avoiding the worst of the weather. We drove fo a good few hours and ended up in Gladstone where we went shopping, it was a novelty having a working fridge so we made the most of it by buying milk and butter! We found a rest stop and pulled up for the night. We had dinner and then tried to fathom out the van. It was akward to get anything out of the cubby holes because the mattress is on top and when the bed is out you can't get to any of your stuff, not even the fridge. These vans sound good in theory but they are just too small to function well. The Jucy is still the best we've had by far and that had it's faults! At least the van is nice to drive, time will tell I suppose.
17/03/10
I drove again today, I quite like it, besides it's about time I drove a bit! We just carried on north heading for Port Douglas. We just drove today and spent the night just outside Bowen.
18/03/10
It's windy this morning, the cyclone's on it's way! We just drove and drove again and made it to Cairns. The weather is a bit hit and miss, one minute it's boiling and sunny and the next it's windy and raining, told you, the cyclone's coming! We keep listening to the news, I think we'll miss the brunt of it but we're definitely in for some bad weather, I just hope it doesn't stop us from travelling back down to the sunny coast. Anyway, we drove through Cairns and headed towards Holloways Beach just north of the city, it's about 4km's away and of course when we got there there were 'no camping' signs everywhere! We turned around and got back on the highway to Trinity Beach so we thought we'd try there, we drove about 2km's to the coast and found a little parking spot right next to the sea (which is sounding very rough at the mo!) We stood by the side of the road and yes, the sea is rough, it's also crocodile territory so that's the extra element of danger for us tonight! Simon didn't believe me till I showed him the sign at the side of the beach that said 'WARNING! Crocodiles may inhabit this area', so basically to sum it up, there's a massive cyclone on the way, we're parked right next to the sea and there may be saltwater crocs about, perfect! It's a good job danger is my middle name ha ha!
19/03/10
Well we didn't get eaten although we were on high alert last night whilst cooking dinner! We drove 47km's north of Cairns to Port Douglas which is a quaint port town, it's like an upmarket Byron Bay for rich people! There's more yachts than surfboards so you get the picture. We wandered about a bit, it's only a small place but some nice little shops. We drove up to the lookout to get a good view, it's a bit misty today but you can see the whole of the bay. We looked through some leaflets we'd picked up and decided to go horseriding (I know!) up in Cape Tribulation which is a bit farther north. We decided to head up there so we could do it tomorrow, we drove most of the way when we had to turn down the road to get the ferry, ferry? We didn't know we had to get a ferry, it didn't say on any of the leaflets or on the map! It's $20 return and surprise surprise, we didn't have any cash on us so we had to go back to the nearest petrol station. The ATM wouldn't recognise our UK card and the cashier couldn't do cashback so we had to go all the way back to Mossman to go to an ATM! We decided to stay near Wonga beach which is inbetween Mossman and Cape Trib and head up there in the morning, doh!
20/03/10
Well it's back to try the ferry again this morning and this time we actually got on it! It's the shortest ferry ride in the world, we were on it 2mins max! We drove about 20k's till we reached Cape Tribulation, by this time it was around 12:45 so we had to find the horse place pretty soon if we were going on the 13:00 ride. We went to an information centre and were told we were too late for today as they're only doing the morning treks. We booked onto it for tomorrow at 08:00, it cost $109 each. She directed us to a campsite down the road that was $24 per night. We drove down to see what it was like, I was up for staying 'cause I really wanted a shower but Simon wasn't keen on paying to stop somewhere. We got to the reception and it was closed till 15:30 but there was a sign that said 'Take a blue tag and come back when open to sort payment'. Well this was an opportunity I couldn't miss, we took a blue tag, drove onto the site, parked up by the showers, had a shower and then left before anyone was any the wiser! We dropped the tag off on the way out and scarpered ha ha! It's naughty I know but I REALLY needed a shower! We went back to the info centre and booked ourselves onto a croc spotting tour. We made our way back down to where we got the ferry and waited for our boat. Yan was our German/Aussie guide and he was lovely. It was so nice being on the water, the sun was shining, there was a nice breeze and no sign of a cyclone anywhere, it was perfect! We looked for crocs and before long came across a 4 year old just chillin by the bank. Yan told us that this croc would kill you even though he only looks small (approx 1metre), so we left him to it and moved on! We sailed past loads of mangroves and crossed the river and found a new mummy croc lazing in the sun in full view, it was great seeing her so close in the wild, she'd just had babies two weeks ago and they were a bit further downstream so we went to have a look. You could hardly see them they were that small but two babies were lying by the bank, only about 30cm long and dead cute!
After the trip we got back in the sweatbox and went back to Cape Trib which is in Daintree National Park, it's a massive rainforest so we're basically driving through the jungle, it's a lot like Thailand without the monkeys! We found a place to stay for the night, a large carpark for the rainforest and beach walks so even though we're sleeping with the bugs again it's free!
21/03/10
Woke up early this morning, we're going horse riding! We drove back to the campsite to wait for our lift to the ranch. We got picked up by Steve who is a dead ringer for Mick Dundee! He own's the ranch and was our guide for the ride. There was about 10 of us and we were the only English people. Only one girl had ridden before so we were all in the same boat. There was a little jack russell roaming about called Franklin so obviously Simon made a new friend while he waited to get his horse! We were all assigned a horse on our abilities, Simon got Billy and I had Topaz, my birthstone so that's a good omen! I was feeling a bit nervous but not like I was in India, even when Steve said we'd be trotting and galloping! They brought the horses out and we all got on and got ready to leave. We were split into two groups, Steve took us, I was put at the back which was fine by me and off we went! We were right next to the forest so we started off walking down off the ranch and along a mud track in the woods. I felt safe on Topaz so I was enjoying it so far! We walked along for a while then Steve told us we were gonna try trotting a little bit, he told us what to do, the horses knew what was coming so they helped out a bit and we trotted along for a few minutes, it was quite bumpy and although I enjoyed it I was glad when it was over! We continued walking through fields and on the track with the rainforest all around us, the views were amazing. We carried on climbing up and down hills and through streams until we came out of the woods onto the beach, it couldn't get better than this! The sun was shining, blue sky and sea and here we were riding down the beach, it was AMAZING! We stopped for some pictures and then rode back down the beach and into the woods again, we entered the 'oldest rainforest in the world' and rode through it for a good half hour, Topaz liked to brush past tree branches so I got up close and personal with a lot of the bushes, just glad the only big spider we saw was right at the beginning of the ride! We left the rainforest and came out into a clearing where we stopped for a drink and some crackers. After 20 mins we all got back on and headed out into open fields where we galloped a lot, it was awesome! Steve counted to three and we had to kick and shout to get them going, I was shouting "Yah Yah" and Topaz was giving it some, it was brilliant, I could have done it all day! Before we knew it we were back at the ranch, we'd been out nearly three hours but it seemed to go so quick. It was absolutely brilliant and has totally given me my confidence back with horses, Topaz was lovely and I just want to go again! Steve took us back to the campsite and we decided to leave Cape Trib and head towards Airlie Beach. Cape Tribulation is absolutely beautiful, it reminds me so much of Thailand, it's hard to describe but it's like a jungle paradise with palm trees and a beach so it's got everything, including crocs! I would definitely recommend coming here to everyone, I just wish we could stay longer.
We drove back to the ferry and then headed south back down the Bruce Highway. We drove for a few hours, went through Cairns, Innisfail, Ingham, Townsville, Ayr and into Home Hill where we stopped at a comfort stop (with showers woo hoo!) I was knackered and fell asleep and that meant Simon went to bed without any dinner, ooops!
22/03/10
Woke up and it's pouring down, we're close to where the cyclone hit so we're feeling the after effects! It's really muggy today, it's overcast and raining (a lot!) but it's so bloody hot your just sweating doing nothing! As we're driving past the sugar cane fields you can see the damage the cyclone has done, most of the fields are flooded and the creeks are swollen, I just hope the road stays clear! As we carried on the weather is definitely getting worse, just heard on the news that the Brucie is shut at Rockhampton which ois a bit futher south than we're going today so hopefully it'll be sorted by the time we get there! We turned off the highway towards Airlie Beach, you can see what the cyclone has done now, there's trees pulled up, signs blown over, just general chaos! There's debris all over the place, it's pissing it down but luckily the wind has gone so it's not as dangerous as it could be! We drove through Airlie and onto Shute Harbour, as we were driving down to it there were workmen fixing the powerlines that had blown over and we could see sails of boats that were in the trees, they'd been beached and blown onto the rocks and actually into the mangroves and trees on the shoreline, it was very surreal! We parked up and went to have a look at the damage. There were four boats up on the beach on their sides, one katamaran washed up onto the rocks and one that had actually sunk! We headed back to Airlie, it's so weird actually driving through all this, it's something you usually see on T.V! The only problem is I'm not sure we're gonna be able to get on the Great Barrier Reef at this rate, I'm gonna be gutted if we can't but this is nature so there's not much we can do about it! Not sure what we're gonna do now, most of the shops are shut as the power is out and like I keep saying, it's absolutely chucking it down!
We decided to drive 20 mins to Proserpine to see if anything there is open but when we go there most of it was shut so we decided to drive to the Peter Faust Dam to see if it was busting but when we got there it looked normal! On the way back we saw a few flooded roads which looked pretty cool, I was just glad the road we were on was o.k! We headed back to Airlie for the night, I've never seen rain like it before, torrential downpour, just sheets of rain pouring down and running off the road, it's proper mental! We got back to Airlie and went for a beer, it was the only thing we could do! We parked up on a carpark along with about 10 other campervans for the night, it seems pretty safe.
23/03/10
Made it through the night, it's still a bit overcast this morning but at least it's not raining! We booked a tour, a day trip on the 'Camira', a katamaran around the Whitsundays and snorkelling on the reef so I can't wait! $278 for both of us and I reckon it'll be well worth it. Sent an e-mail to Mum, Dad and Steve to let them know we've survived the cyclone ha ha!
24/03/10
Up early, had to be at the bus stop for 07:10! I thought the awning was gonna blow off the van last night, it was well windy and it was raining when we woke up, not a good sign! We got a minibus from Airlie town to the harbour and boarded 'Camira', a big purple mean looking katamaran and before long we were heading out of the harbour and onto the open seas, it's stopped raining but for how long?! We had a short journey to Daydream Island where we picked up a few more people and then headed towards Hook Island and Whitsunday Island. Due to the weather the waves were rather large to say the least and it was difficult to sit still let alone walk anywhere! About 20mins into the journey it started peeing it down and everyone got pretty soaked, it was quite funny! It wasn't too bad as the sun came back out and it was hot again so we all soon dried off. A couple of people felt seasick and one girl sitting near us actually puked over the side of the boat which was quite funny but only 'cause it missed us! I felt a bit dodgy but I'm not sure if it was the sea or the free wine I'd been drinking. After about an hour and a half we stopped to go snorkelling on the reef, the water wasn't too clear thanks to the cyclone but we were willing to give it a go. We all put stinger suits on (very flattering, NOT!) and got our fins (mine were pink) and masks. We decided to take a floatation noodle with us so we could just float and look at the coral, much easier and it turned out to be a good idea. Groups of us got into a smaller boat and were taken near to the coral. Visability was poor but you could still see plenty of coral and fish so it was real cool to be snorkelling on the Barrier Reef! After what seemed like 10mins but was actually 40, we got called back in for morning tea, coffe, tea and cake. We carried on around the Whitsunday Island down to Whitehaven Beach where we got off the boat again and had an hour on the beach to soak up some rays (the sun was definitely out now!) and have a swim if we wanted. The beach was amazing, 98% silica which means it's bright white and doesn't get hot as it reflects the sun's rays so it's perfect for hot days and no shoes! It was a bit battered 'cause of the cyclone but it still looked stunning! Back on the boat we had salad, BBQ fish, steak and snags and it was lovely! The sea was much calmer now so everything stayed on the plate and the wind had died down so it was a beautiful day in paradise. After lunch we headed around the bottom of the Whitsunday Island past Hamilton Island on the way back to Airlie. It was a brilliant ride, big waves, big splashes, big sunshine, we sat on the trampoline at the front of the boat and chilled out, I could've fallen asleep if I didn't think I was missing out on the amazing views! The journey back took a good two hours, we had the sails up and the engine off and we were flying through the water, it was a proper sailing experience, the crew were really friendly and it was good watching them work the katameran which was a proper racing boat. We got back to Airlie around 18:00. We'd had a full day on the water and it was brilliant, I'd recommend it to everyone! We went back to the booking office where we booked this trip and we've booked a scenic plane flight over a massive area of the reef and Whitehaven for tomorrow afernoon. It's cost $520 but we're gonna see so much and from a perfect viewpoint so I knoe it's gonna be worth it. What a couple of days we're having, life is pretty good don'tcha think?! Found a place to have a hot shower so I even got to wash my hair, could this day get any better?
25/03/10
Another windy day. The lady from Air Whitsunday rang and told us the flight was definitely on so thats good. We drove to Whitsunday Airport which is on the way to Shute Harbour and went to check in. There were three other people on our flight and we were the only English. Our pilot came and showed us to the plane. It looked really small with a propellor and water floats, proper little sea plane! We all got in, belted our lifejackets to ourselves, buckled up and put our headsets on. The pilot told us it might be a little bumpy on take off but not to worry! He was right, my stomach flipped a few times on the way up! Once we were up we flew out over Daydream Island and out towards Hayman Island. It was amazing flying this low, you got a brilliant view of everything, all the boats still washed up on the rocks at Shute Harbour, the 5 star resort on Daydream Island, all the trees and river inlets on the islands. We carried on flying out to the outer reef, we flew through a rain cloud for a few minutes which was scary at points but before long we were back in blue skies and nearing Bait Reef, seeing the reef from this perspective was absolutely awesome! I've seen pictures before but this was breathtaking, almost surreal. We flew over Bait Reef round towards Hook Reef and we flew over the heart shaped reef in the middle of Hook Reef. It looked so pretty, a feat of nature, a perfect heart made out of coral! We got down low so we could get some pictures of it then the pilot said he was gonna take us down and skim across the water inbetween the coral for a few moments, this was BRILLIANT! We were skimming across the water in the middle of the Barrier Reef, how cool is that?! The pilot took us up again and we flew down theWhitsunday passage towards Whitehaven Beach. This was good 'cause this was where we'd sailed on 'Camira' yesterday, the beach looked aazing from the sky, bright white! We flew over Whitsunday Island which is the largest of the 74 islands, mainly covered in trees it looked like a giant golf course! We headed back over some smaller island and back over Shute Harbour to the airfield. We had a bit of a bumpy landing but it was brilliant! Seeing the reef like that was truely amazing, I'll never forget it as long as I live, it's times like this you realise quite how awesome nature is!
We left Airlie pretty much straight away, we had a brilliant time here, sat through the aftermath of a massive cyclone, been sailing, snorkelling and flying on the reef, rock on! We drove all the way down the Brucie through Mackay, Sarina, Rockhampton to just past Mount Larcom where we decided to stop for the night. Awesome day.
26/03/10
Woke up early, couln't figure out where I was for ages, I think all this travelling about is addling my brain! We got back on the highway and headed down past Bundaberg, we were just tootling along when CRACK(!) a bloody stone flew up off the road and cracked the windscreen, we couldn't believe it! All the driving we've done, all the places we've been and now we crack the windscreen, I can't believe we did it here and not in NZ where the roads are 100 times worse! Well we weren't about to tell the spaceship people and get our bond taken off us so we drove through Childers into Maryborough where we saw a windscreen repair shop. We were told it could be fixed in half an hour for $66 so we were pretty chuffed about that!
We carried on heading to Hervey Bay once we were fixed, it's a nice place but it's just like any other port town so we had a quick look and decided to leave, this is the place where you'd get the ferry to Fraser Island for day trips and seen as though we're not doing that we headed to Tin Can Bay which is near Rainbow Beach which is where we're going tomorrow.
27/03/10
I got up before Simon and found some toilets and showers so I was happy! when Simon woke up we left Tin Can Bay and drove to Rinbow Beach, well, we went to Inskip Point first to have a look but it was mainly small camping areas and the ferry point to get to Fraser Island. On the long drive back to the main road to Rainbow Beach a dingo crossed the road in front of us! It was brilliant to see one wild, we took a pic and then it ran off so we carried on! Got to Rainbow and parked up, the beach is amazing so we decided to chill for a few hours. The waves were pretty big, fun at first but then one took my legs from under me and I went spinning round underwater so I didn't like it much after that! We spent the next couple of hours dozing on the beach, what a way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We decided to head to Noosa this evening so we didn't have to drive loads in the morning so we went and had a shower (2 in one day, wow!) and left Rainbow Beach. I drove us out of town and into Gympie which is a bit farther south, we were looking for a supermarket but couldn't find one so I drove out of town towards the Brucie. Just getting out of town when a police car turns around and puts his lights on behind me. I pulled over and thought 'oh s***!'. The copper came up to me and told me I was doing 100km/h in an 80km/h zone. He was really lovely, dead friendly, he asked me for my licence and breathalysed me. He went back to his car to get his paperwork and Simon laughed 'cause he's driven hundreds of k's on this trip and definitely not stuck to the speed limit and then I drive and I get pulled for speeding! We had to see the funny side! The copper came back and gave me a $200 fine! He told me I'd need to pay it asap but if I went home and accidentally forgot to pay it, it would ultimately get shredded as I wasn't an Australian citizen! He told me this was 'unofficial' advice and it was up to me what I decided to do, what a sound copper, need more of him in England! He said basically that I've got a souvenier fro QLD Police (my ticket) that I can frame when I get home! He gave us directions to Noosa and off we went, it was the best copper experience I've ever had (and I've had a couple!). I drove very carefully to Noosa and after a bit of driving about we found Sunrise Beach so this is where we're stopping. Noosa seems quite posh and very nice from what I've seen but it is dark! There's a nice town centre with lots of restaurants and bars and it's quite busy as it's Saturday night.
28/02/10
Got woken up at 08:00 by a man from the council asking us if we knew it was illegal to sleep in our vehicle! Of course we said no so he told us it was a $1000 fine and although he won't charge us this time he's taken out registration and we're to stay in campsites from now on. Good job we've only got one night left 'cause we're definitely not gonna start paying now ha ha! Simon was pissed 'cause he had to get up so that was amusing! We packed up and drove out of Noosa (after we'd had a nice cup of tea sitting on the beach) towards Caloundra. We drove down the coast past Maroochydore and Mooloolaba and into Caloundra. We had a look at a couple of beaches and decided to spend the afternoon on Moffetts Beach. It's really nice here, quite busy today but the beach is nowhere near packed. We chilled out for a good few hours, we came off the beach around 17:00ish, had a shower and now just contemplating where we should stop for the night. Just sitting here and suddenly thousands and I mean thousands of bright blue, green and red lorikeets have flown over and perched in two massive trees near the beach. The noise they are making is unbelievable, so loud it's untrue! I wish I could record it 'cause it's deafening! Hope we don't get busted tonight, can't be arsed to have to drive round looking for another place to stop. Can't believe two weeks is up and the van's going back tomorrow. I'm happy and gutted at the same time! No more living in a van, we get to live in luxury at Steve and Kate's but it means it's only three weeks till we've got to go home! This would be fine if it didn't mean I'd have to go back to work ha ha!
29/03/10
Woke up early, hopefully the last day of waking up boiling to death! I sat by the beach waiting for Simon to wake up then we headed into Brisbane to drop the van off. Managed to find the place, only got lost once so that was pretty good going! Steve cam and we headed back to his for three weeks of relaxing.
30/03/10
Now we're at Steve and Kate's we're not planning on doing much but chillin so the blog might get a little thin from here on in!
4/04/10
Happy Easter Sunday! Joe and Nat came round for a BBQ and a few beers. It was really good to see them again, we had a good night even if it was a little tame! Me and Simon were the last standing and that's saying something, Nat's usually a little beer monkey!
6/04/10
Me, Simon and Steve went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary today. It's a bit like Steve Irwin's only smaller and with less croc's! We saw plenty of kangaroos, two of the had joeys in their pouches which was pretty cool, never seen that before. We walked around and saw fresh and salt water crocs, never seen a croc so big, it was humungous! Glad we didn't see any salties when we were up north, they are the biggest things I've ever seen! We also saw loads of snakes, possums, lizards, dingo's, encidas, birds, turtles emu's, cassawaries, tree kangaroos e.t.c. The tazmanian devils were inside as it's breeding season for them and we also didn't see any wombats which I was gutted about but we did see a lot of koalas and they were all awake at the same time which is another first for me! They were all sitting in their tree stumps and it was all the girls together. The keepers tried introducing a male to the group but the ladies were having none of it! They were snorting and snarling at him and fighting him if he got too near, he had about 12 female koalas after him! I've never heard koalas make noise let alone noises like this, it was so funny! After a good attempt the keepers took the male back to his male friends and left the ladies to recover. They were all awake and looking round and a couple were jumping from tree to tree to find a good spot, this was definitely the highlight of the day for me! After we'd had a good walk round and I'd had a good look in the giftshop we went to the surf club for dinner. Had a brilliant day, knackered now though!
11/04/10
Sunday today and seen as though we haven't done much all week we decided to go to Burleigh Heads to meet one of Steve's friends (also called Steve) and go spend the day jetskiing, wakeboarding and chillin. We drove avout an hour to meet Steve2 and his family. Me and SImon went for a wallk to the shop and when we came back Steve and Kate were nowhere to be seen and niether were the carkeys! We couldn't get any of our stuff out of the van so we just had to sit on the grass and wait for them to come back. About an hour later they returned, they'd been out on Steve2's boat and they'd left the keys hidden in the cool box! Anyway, after that fiasco the rest of the day was great. Me and Steve had a good thrash on the jetski and then he let me and Simon take it out so we thrashed it then too! We went on Steve2's boat and most of them had a go wakeboarding but it was turning dusk and I didn't fancy being shark bait so I declined! One of Steve2's friend had a go and when he'd finished he said he'd seen a fin and was convinced it was a bull shark. Steve2 had a go after but he was clearly pooping himself, especially when we all saw the fin! He got back in the boat and we waited for a minute then we saw two dolphins swimming around, it was amazing and we were all relieved, no shark just dolphins! We headed back to land and decided to head home as it was getting late. We had fish and chips on the way home so it was another perfect day!
15/03/10
Went to Wet N' Wild this afternoon. It was really good, we went on a few of the rides, the queues were quite big but we made it on as many as we could in the time we had! We had to get a taxi there and back because Steve was at work so the taxi there cost us $24 and the taxi back cost us $42!! Proper got ripped off by the Gold Coast Taxi firm!