Hello!

Well it's been absolutely ages since we did a proper blog entry, mainly because of time and lack thereof but also the internet is very expensive in Australia and pretty unreliable in some places. I'll start from our time in Oz as there's not much to say about Singapore except that it's a city of malls and the only place ive not liked since coming away. Perhaps I'm biased because I was ill whilst I was there and was forced to trapse around the city with my bag on my back, finding different accommodation each day when all I wanted was bed!

Anyway we flew from Singapore to Darwin and then onto Cairns on 24th June. We were seated next to the emergency exit so the air hostess had to explain the evacuation procedure for each side and when we reboarded, since our help was gonna be needed incase of an emergency. Unfortunately however she had a lisp and her monologue required her to say 'evacuation' many times: so by the 4th time of her saying "ewacuwation ewacuwation" it was really difficult to suppress the giggles, as guilty as we felt!

By the time we arrived at our hostel the next day we hadn't had any sleep so slept most of the day instead. The next day was also wasted as we had boring stuff to sort out like laundry, and we have to do our own now! In the afternoon we took a walk into Cairns and were surprised, after having seen it in the dark the night before, that it was surrounded by mountains reaching through the clouds! Alsong the esplanade were all kinds of birds: storks, egrets, and pelicans.

Friday 27th was our first proper day out in Oz. We caught the bus to Kuranda, a small village in the mountains where we fed wallabies and kangaroos and held a koala, which are very fluffy but surprisingly heavy! We also saw two pythons fighting that had to be separated. Afterwards we did a 1hr jungle walk that came back along the Barron river. To get back down we descended the mountain by Skyrail which offered stunning views over the rainforest and included a stop at Barron Gorge and Waterfalls. We had packed lunches on the way down (can't afford to eat out all the time anymore) and couldn't have asked for a better view. In the evening Caroline got her first tattoo, of a bird, done on her ankle; she was quite nervous beforehand but quickly realised there was nothing to worry about and took it like a woman. Afterwards we watched Sex and ther City at the cinema, me with my head bowed in shame.

The next day we checked out and planned to head north but upon getting into town discovered there were no buses left and so we realised getting around wasn't going to be as easy as in SE Asia. Instead we booked a 2 day trip to Cape Tribulation and headed back to our hostel, our tail between our legs. So as not to waste the day we headed over to the Botanic Gardens and did a boardwalk, and then a short walk in the Mt Whitfield Park. This was one of the many areas in North Queensland where cassowaries roam free; large birds the size of an emu that can slice a human open with one kick of their large-clawed foot...so we kept an eye out for them. Running away isn't an option either as they can reach speeds of 40 km/h! Then we booked our Greyhound bus ticket down to Brisbane.

On the 29th we embarked upon our Cape Tribulation trip along a pretty road that winded a path between the moutains and the sea. Our guide told us about the cane toads and how their culling is encouraged. Apparently if you stick a cigarette in their mouths they explode, and they have been known to suck their guts back up and hop away after being run over! We had a croc cruise along the Daintree River where we saw 3 crocs along the bank: a 90 yr old male called 'Scarface' who had just feasted on a feral pig, a female, and a baby boy. Later on we enjoyed a boardwalk through the mangroves in the rainforest which can smell pretty bad! After getting dropped off at our dorm we did the walk up to Cape Tribulation beach, all the while keeping an eye out for any crocs around that inhabit the area. We took a wrong turn and scaled the cliffs to see the crashing waves below, and just as I thought "what better place to read Kerouac?" an eagle soared over our heads and so we thought it best to head back down. On our way back however the tide had come in and we could no longer see the bottom of the creek we had to cross to get back to our hotel. We had been warned not to cross if we couldn't see the bottom because crocodiles can sense people from miles away and can lurk at the bottom. Luckily our roommate from Sydney was there to spur us on and eventually we worked up the courage to cross, though it was much deeper than we had anticipated! Evidently if there were any crocs around they didn't think we were worth the effort! We spent the evening drinking with the dude from Sydney, who kindly bought me a jug of beer, and a guy from Melbourne. They were both in their 30's but looked much younger, as seems to be common over here.

On the Monday we set off to do the Dubuji boardwalk, another walk through the mangroves with brush turkeys scouring the floor. On the way back to Cairns we stopped at a lookout point to see the Daintree River flowing into the sea, then at Mossman Gorge-a river with big boulders lining its bed, and then at port Douglas where we just had enough time to get an ice cream.

Tuesday we had a very early start to catch our Greyhound bus down to Townsville. The scenery is awe inspiring all along the east coast it seems. There's an element of vastness here in the landscape that reminds me of America, especially after coming from cramped and crowded SE Asia. We tried a few hostels in town, one above a bar full of Yorkshire alcoholics who bombarded us with chatter whilst we had our heavy bags on our backs until we were able to make our escape to the Civic. In the afternoon we, or rather I, climbed Castle Hill (Caroline gave up half way), which proved to be difficult work but well worth the effort as once at the top I had a 360 degree view around Townsville out to Magnetic Island and inland to the mountains. Once at the bottom we wandered along the beachfront and I had some banana choc cheesecake and a macchiato (I seem to have developed a taste for coffee-type drinks for the first time). In the evening we randomly came across a professional didgeridoo player giving a performance at the cultural centre. Our attention was grabbed immediately as his voice sounded like something from the soundtrack to 'Into The Wild'. We had missed an hr of the show so I asked for a discount and was surprised when the lady offered us tickets for $10 each instead of $20. The guy was brilliant and showed the instrument was much more flexible than I had originally thought it to be, to be honest I just thought it was a novelty instrument. He did a kind of rap/beatboxing solo on it which was very impressive and then played with 4 classical musicians, providing an ambience behind their playing, and then also singing with them. Back at the hotel a tame possum was sitting on the fence and let us feed him bread and stroke him, they're just as soft as koalas! We shared a dorm with an Austrian guy waiting for the winds to pick up so he could kiteboard, and a German guy who gave us recommendations for New Zealand.

On Wednesday 2 July we caught the ferry over to Magnetic Island where we were lucky to have secured accommodation at Arcadia Beach Guesthouse. Steve picked us up in a green Rolls Royce (!) and then gave us a mini tour of the island. The place was great and included free use of canoes and bikes etc; we immedtiately felt at home and fell in love with the place. Especially our safari tent which was a double bed on a wooden floor with power...in a tent! The island had lots of wildlife especially birds. Most notable were the curlews, stork-like birds that gave out a shrill haunting cry throughout the night that sounded like someone was being murdered! Also around were huge bats, noisy lorikeets, sea eagles etc. In the evening we headed for the rocks to wait for the wallabies to come down so we could feed them. They were still very wild animals though and the slightest movement would send them all back up the hill. So we sat patiently cross legged. Caroline even got to feed a mum with a joey in her pouch! In the evening we met Laura, a 26 yr old girl from Bristol, who we followed down the pub to watch the Queensland vs New South Wales game with. We also met Louis, an English guy working on the island, and Keith, a super nice guy from Melbourne who literally bought me, and everyone else, beer all night until 1 in the morning. Later we headed back to a small house party at an older, very liberal couples place. She kept the red wine flowing whilst we all took turns to play guitar and sing along to Floyd, Dylan, Oasis, Young, and Zeppelin-it probably sounded terrible but at the time was great fun haha! At 4 am we decided to call it a night.

Woke up very hungover cursing all those nice people who had given me drink all night, but at least managed to make it to the beach (what better place to recover from a hangover?!). Couldn't be bothered to cook so decided to endure the shame of buying a pot noodle. A new couple arrived, Rob and Helen from Birmingham- she a soon-to-be primary school teacher, and he a studying doctor, so we sat up and chatted for the night whilst trying to lure a possum down from the trees.

After 2 nights in the safari tent we wanted to stay longer but no rooms were available so we moved into the bogstandard tent with Laura. The 3 of us went for a canoe ride in the sea but unfortunately didn't see anything (rays and turtles were possibilities), and then we hung out on the beach for the afternoon. Late afternoon we met up with Rob and Helen and went and bought lots of food for a BBQ on the beach. In Oz they have public BBQs for anyone to use, usually by the sea. After feeding the rock wallabies again- including ticky, mangy, and manky-we caught the bus down to Horseshoe Bay and started cooking. We had fresh burgers and sausages, veggie skewers, corn on the cob, and bananas in melted chocolate. I think we all agreed it was one of the best BBQs we'd ever had, including the possum who knabbed one of our corns. We all had bottles of Rose and soon were very drunk so headed to a pub before getting the bus back. On our walk back to the resort we were approached by a rather simple guy called Peter who I think was harmless but did scare us a little- asking us if he could travel with us before telling stories about someone he knew who met with a rather nasty end in a factory.

Sat 5th again woke up and took the bus to the start of the Forts Walk which was dry and arid and a bit too long to be enjoyable with a hangover. The command and signal towers were also not as impressive as I had hoped, though they did offer fantastic views of Magnetic Island. The forts were used to guard against Japanese invasion during WWII: the guns were never fired however, except accidentally at an American vessel. At the end of the walk we met up with Laura and went to the seafood restaurant where I got baramundi and chips which is just like a fishier cod, if that makes sense. I plonked myself down for the evening infront of the TV and chatted to some new arrivals whilst Caroline headed for bed.

The next day we said goodbye to Laura and made plans to meet up again in Queenstown. Rob and Helen caught the same ferry as us; Rob and I gambling some small money at the blackjack table at the casino in town before we all got the bus down to Airlie Beach where we are currently. We managed to get a good deal on a room with 2 double beds and set about booking a trip to the Whitsundays. We soon found out that all was booked up for today (Mon 7th) though and drove a hard bargain for a package deal for the Whitsundays and Fraser Island for the next 7 days. Today we have just made preparations for the sailing trip, getting alcohol and other such necessities.

That's about it for now. Will try not to leave it so long until we do another proper update. Thanks for reading.

Tom

xxx