06/06/2008

Well, with only 2 days left in Australia we have very mixed feelings. While we're both really looking forward to Thailand and Singapore, then seeing friends and family very soon, we're going to miss this place tremendously. After exploring this country's most beautiful places we've become really attached to it and it's going to be really hard to leave.

Since the 30th we've put a lot more travelling under our belt. We stopped off at Mission Beach, a popular backpacker destination, where we had a look around and went on a walk to see if we could spot any Cassowaries. We'd heard loads about them and seen many road signs warning of their presence. They're supposedly large flightless birds, bright blue and green in colour, with a half-moon shaped bone protruding from the top of their heads. I say 'supposedly' because we're thinking it's all a tall Aussie tale for tourists. We haven't seen any and when we asked a woman at the Mission Beach tourist info centre where would be best to spot them, she just laughed. We drove for most of the day as the weather wasn't great, and found ourselves at Airlie Beach once more. We met up with Dani and went out for a few drinks before retiring to the van for some well earned kip. We were wakened the next morning before 7am by a lot of loud banging and a deep monotonous voice, "Morning, council". Some backpackers in a 'wicked' van had parked behind us blocking a gate and the council were trying to get through. Oops. We spent much of that day on the internet sorting out accommodation for Thailand and on our campsite washing clothes etc. Nothing exciting. We met Dani again, she was working that evening so we went for a walk along the beach and ended up at the pub.We left Airlie early the next morning and hit the road. We'd covered this section of the trip god knows how many times and we were keen to get it out of the way as there wasn't much to see or do on the way. We finished up at Maryborough, a fair distance south of Bundaberg, where the rain hit. And it hit hard. We woke the next morning to a very swollen Mary River and as we wheel-spun on the wet grass we were camping on we tuned the radio in to a local station. There was a lot of commotion about the weather, everyone was really happy that there'd been so much rain, despite how much flooding it had caused. All the dams in the S.E Queensland and N.E New South Wales region had filled up to 100% capacity overnight. One particular dam had been at 46% last August and was now at 100% for the first time in years.We continued south, fording several floods on the way although nothing too serious. We found ourselves back in Surfers Paradise before dark and took a drive up 'The Spit', a small peninsula north of Surfers city centre that gives great views of the tower blocks to the north. We watched the 'Aquaduck', an amphibious tour bus run full speed down a boat ramp, much to the delight of those on board. We spent the evening in Surfers Paradise, visiting Dracula's House of Horrors, which got pretty spooky especially in the pitch black rooms, and enjoyed some food at an Indian restaurant.We have no idea why, but for some reason our next point of interest was called the 'Natural Bridge'. There's nothing really bridge-like about it! A waterfall has broken through the roof of a cave, it's really cool to stand inside the cave behind the waterfall. It made for some great photographs. A couple of kilometres down the road we crossed back into New South Wales, and after navigating some really twisty mountain roads we pulled up in the infamous Nimbin town.I think I mentioned in the last blog that Nimbin is Australia's answer to Amsterdam. It's also home to "Mardi Grass", a large annual festival dedicated to legalising cannabis. We had just missed it, I'm not sure whether that's a bad thing or not though. Like I've heard about Amsterdam, it definitely helps to be open-minded if you happen upon this place. We wandered around the hippie town's many art and crafts stalls, picked up a couple of souvenirs and took a look at all the classic VW Kombis inside the museum before carrying on to Byron, where we finished the day taking a stroll along the beach and having a quiet one or two at the pub.The next day we hit Angourie, a legend of a town amongst Aussie surfers. I only found out about the place after reading an article on changes to the town since its birth in "Tracks", an Aussie surf mag. The town was born after one adventurous surfer decided he'd happened upon the world's most perfect wave and built himself a tree house close by. He then started to invite friends to his surf spot, and some liked the place so much they built proper houses there. Soon, roads shops and a school were all set up and a township was born. Interesting stuff.As it happens, the late adventurous surfer (I forget his name) had quite literally come across one of the world's most impressive waves and despite the small population of the town there was a considerable gathering in the water. We decided against joining them as the break was already crowded and our own surfing abilities didn't quite match up to the local standard. We'd probably have gotten in the way.As we carried on south we passed through Coffs Harbour, where we saw some more surf but decided our time for getting our feet wet would be at Port Macquarie the next day (today). The waves ranged from 3 feet to 5 feet and were well spaced which made for some easy surfing. I stayed in for a little longer than Laura and by the time I got out she had spaghetti bolognaise ready for me. What a star! 11/06/2008The rain is really loud on the tin roof of our villa. I know that outside is very hot and humid, so I'm glad of the air conditioning in our unit. Thankfully we have had better weather since landing in Thailand, and hopefully we have more of yesterday's sunshine to come.We landed in Bangkok on the night of the 8th as planned, it was a shame to say goodbye to Australia, we'd had a nice walk round Sydney the day before and there were no traumas dropping off the van and catching our flights on Sunday. We had already packed everything we would need into Laura's wheeled bag so we could leave mine with the airport security and only have half the luggage to haul around Thailand. No sooner had I dropped my bag off than we were bundled into a very posh limousine-like mini van and transferred to our hotel.Everything you hear about the road laws here is true, there are none. There are no speed limits, traffic lights are to be used as guides only, and pick-up trucks speed by packed full of people and animals. Zebra crossings are no more than funny white lines on the road, only there to waste paint, and trying to cross at one is no more productive than trying to cross anywhere else. It's not uncommon to see 3 kids on a motorbike with no helmets, the eldest one being 10 years old. Despite all this we haven't seen a single crash, and we feel safe when riding around in the MPVs. It's all down to common sense, and all the drivers here use it.The hotel we stayed at first was a little out of Bangkok, but we had a little walk around the nearby town anyway. The next morning we got a shuttle bus through to the airport again and hopped on a flight to Phuket. When we arrived at Phuket airport we were accosted by hundreds of people offering taxi services, hotels, and numerous tourist attractions. We were warned by Laura's travel guide not to book anything before leaving the airport as the people there often try to rip-off the tourists.We ended up at a hotel near Patong beach, on the west coast of Phuket Island with a transfer to Phuket town and a boat across to Phi Phi Island, all for just over £30 for both of us. Oh, and breakfast was included. Living is cheap here!Ao Patong was really nice, although very touristy. We decided that was a good thing as we felt a little more comfortable having other English speakers around. For some reason all the locals thought we were Aussies though!?! Everywhere you go here someone is trying to sell you something. You have to learn not to listen otherwise you never get anywhere and you disappoint the salesperson by not buying their goods or services.We boarded a large wooden boat with low roofed cabins bound for Phi Phi the next morning. The trip was pretty uneventful and we booked ourselves into the 'Banyan Villa' complex for two nights. This soon became four as we decided two days wouldn't be enough to see all the place has to offer. We now check out on the 14th. We spent all of yesterday exploring the inhabited part of the island after checking in and got around most of it. We found ourselves climbing a really steep staircase at one point that seemed to go on forever, and after about what seemed like half an hour of climbing (it wasn't, but it seemed like it) some Canadians coming the other way told us we were half-way up. The path brought us out at a fantastic lookout, from where we could see the opposite mountain, the comparatively thin strip of land connecting the two, the entire inhabited part of the island adorning this strip, and the two beautiful bays with the crystal clear waters. It was quite a view but, horrifyingly, neither of us had a camera on us. We'll have to go back up again one day I think. There was a picture up there of the same view just after the tsunami hit, it was interesting to see which buildings had survived, and thought provoking to once again see the devastation that was caused. We stumbled across a really cool bar, called the Sunflower. It was rebuilt entirely by the owner, Max, after the tsunami. We're already regulars there.We have a tour of the southern island booked for tomorrow afternoon, which we're both looking forward to. It's where "The Beach" was filmed, and is supposed to be stunningly beautiful. Hopefully we'll get some snorkelling mixed in too.Hope everyone's well back home, not long 'til we're back now.Love, James and Laura xxSorry Again!Pics will be up soon, slow internet!